 So there is a long-standing argument over why you shouldn't use Linux and that argument is is that it's too complicated now I've talked about Linux being hard to install many times over the course of the life of this channel And I still stand by the fact that for brand new users people who are non-technical Linux is a little bit hard to install mostly because when you try to enter a boot menu and You try to tell someone how to enter a boot menu. I should say you can't tell them how Specifically for their computer because it's different on every single computer, you know It's either delete or f12 or sometimes it's escape sometimes. It's you know f2 Nobody knows right? It's for whatever reason computer manufacturers and motherboard manufacturers have chosen to make the boot menu just different on every single motherboard and Computer out there. So that's that that part of the Linux experience is still what I consider Hard and the reason why I'm using the air quotes is because it's not hard for Most people just the people who are non-technical when I've made this argument in the past A lot of people come back at me like Matt if people have made the choice to switch to Linux and know what Linux is chances are They are Technologically minded enough that they can do that and I think that that is a good response to that argument So let's just say that I've lost that argument and that Linux is mostly easy to install for the people who are Interested in installing it. So once you've moved past insulation part of you know, the Linux experience is Linux too complicated That's the question that I have to ask today And I think that if you were to make the argument of Linux being overly complicated 10 years ago Five years ago, maybe but definitely 10 years ago I think that you'd have some room to play because definitely 10 15 years ago Linux was more complicated Audio often didn't work all the time on all hardware Wi-Fi cards Really didn't work hardly at all unless you had the exact one that won't work with Linux Things like file sharing was way worse 15 years ago a whole bunch of things were just worse 15 10 15 years ago because the technology just hadn't been developed yet the software wasn't where it is today So if you were making that argument back in, you know, 2008 2005 something like that Sure, Linux was definitely more complicated in that era The question is does that argument still hold weight today? And I don't think that it does even if you are a longtime Windows user and you have Developed muscle memory for the Windows UI You can come to Linux and not have a hard time at all adapting to the overall experience mainly because the vast majority of Desktop environments, which is probably what you're going to start out on they all use Somewhat similar Experiences to Windows, you know, there's a bar along the bottom maybe along the top But usually along the bottom There's a menu that has all your applications in it on the other side There's a system tray and some icons and stuff. It looks like a Windows experience now Obviously there are exceptions the GNOME experience is way different and you can Argue with me later over whether or not that's a good or bad thing but the idea is is that usually when you hop into a New user friendly distribution whether it's Linux Mint or, you know, Kaboom 2 or Katie Neon or something like that any of the mainstream Really any Linux distribution outside of like gentoo or arch or Linux or scratch or something like that You're going to experience some kind of desktop environment that mimics in some ways the way Windows works It's just kind of the paradigm we as a species have settled on and that Similarity even though there are going to be differences or it's going to make you more comfortable almost immediately Now this argument could have also applied 15 years ago because a lot of the experiences when it comes to desktop environments applied back then as well some of it even more so because GNOME 2 was around and that was more of a Windows-like experience with menus all over the place and stuff like that But I feel over the course of the last few years the experience when it comes to desktop environments has cleaned itself up and become more Professional and I don't know if professionals the right word but more polished and that polish has led it to feel in Some ways more like Windows but also not necessarily more like Windows but more of a Cohesive experience that people are familiar with and comfortable with even if it's not exactly like Windows is and I think that that has decreased the complexity people face once they have Linux installed So if we take that argument out of the whole thing people being confused by the UI the next thing you have to talk about is software and Alternative software and this is where things get a little bit more murky because obviously when you switch to anything new you're going to have to Find alternatives to the things that you used to use. It's not always true in every Sphere of life, but specifically when it comes to software you're if you're gonna switch to something new in the software sphere You're gonna have to learn it whether that's finding alternatives or learning something new whatever So when you switch to Linux, that's definitely a process that can be complicated But I don't think in this day and age It's overly complicated and if you've managed to jump the hurdle of downloading an ISO Putting it on a USB key finding your way through the boot menu nonsense Installing your Linux distribution getting your user created all this stuff You've you've managed to get that far to the point where you can start making software selections You've probably somewhere along the line learn how to use a search engine. I'm just assuming and these days and hell even five years ago, but definitely these days There are any number of blog posts out there telling you great alternatives to the popular software So if you want to find alternatives to Photoshop, you've wanted to find alternatives to premiere or Whatever and basically everything that you use on Windows. There's some kind of alternatives now You can argue over whether or not the alternatives are as good as the stuff on Windows That's an argument for another day, but we have alternatives and they're very very easy to find add on top of that software centers Have become way better than they were five or ten years ago ten years ago They probably didn't even exist on Linux or if they did they were in such Early stages that they weren't very good like discovered was pretty bad up until just a few years ago Now it's really really good Good um software depending on where you're using it whether it's the snap store or on fedora Which is the get home software center? Whatever is a very good app store for people to go to to find software And you know it has descriptions and screenshots and all this stuff and if people want to find alternatives to their software They just go to the app store, which they're used to doing on their previous platforms probably You know, it's just easier to find software today than it ever has been now Somebody is going to argue. Well, yeah, Matt There's a whole bunch of different file formats and or package formats out there and that's really overly confusing and yeah I can you can argue that the whole flat packs versus snaps versus native packaging that can be very complicated But the vast majority of people don't know or don't care those things exist until they want to right until they go searching out that information They'd probably have never even realized what they're installing because the if you're a brand new user You're not gonna care about any of that stuff But instead you're going to and go to your software center and just download whatever they offer and you know You'll use the software. You won't even know that you've downloaded a snap or downloaded a flat pack That's the vast majority of new users now once you become more Technology-minded and you've decided you're gonna start tweaking with Linux a little bit more You know, maybe then you'll start learning some of the jargon and start learning with the differences between these package formats are and stuff like that Obviously the more deep into the technology you get when it comes to Linux the more complicated It's going to be but that's not any different than it is with Windows or Mac OS The more you delve deep into those operating systems the more complicated it's going to get It's just the way of software from vast majority of new users You're just going to If you are a new user and you're just wanting to use a web browser and a few pieces of software And that's all you want to do. You're never going to dive deep So those alternative packaging formats are never going to matter to you So I don't think that that is a good argument, you know making Linux more complicated So overall the question then for me or the answer to the question of whether or not Linux is too complicated these days Is just absolutely not if you get past installation, which I agree I think most people who are interested in installing Linux can do I don't think that you can argue that it is too complicated and I think that that is a good thing I think that for the longest time Linux had a reputation for being for developers only and it is Finally coming to a point where it can shed that reputation because it is so Fairly easy to install but also really easy to use for the most part now obviously again You can make it more complicated, but if you're just going to use it like a normie you're gonna have a good experience it's not gonna be overly complicated and I think that that is a wonderful thing because The easier it is for new users to use the more people will use Linux and the more people use Linux is You know makes the world a better place So that is it for this video if you have comments on this argument You can leave those in the comment section below and love to hear from you You can follow me on massive honor odyssey those links will be in the video description You can support me on patreon at patreon.com Slash the link cast links for liberapay and YouTube will be in the video description as well If you'd like to support me there Thanks, everybody who does support me on patreon YouTube you guys are all absolutely amazing without you the channels We're not being anywhere near where it is right now. So thank you so very much for your support I truly do appreciate it. You guys are all Absolutely amazing seriously. Thank you very much. Thanks everybody for watching. I'll see you next time