My article December 24 generated an undeserved repercussion. More than 20 comments not counting mine, while some excellent contributions from my colleagues do not even have a congratulatory comment. In addition to regretting the unfairness of the situation, I think the issue deserves some reflections.
A short guide on how to read Diego
So that no one believes that I am misunderstood genius, I'm going to start by saying that the title was not one of my best ideas. Many were so offended that instead of reading what I wrote, they ended up reading and commenting on what they think I wanted to write. There are people within the free software community who have more the behavior of members of a cult than of computer users and, any criticism of Linux, regardless of the strength or not of the arguments, gets on their nerves.
In some way, they are like those who, without having medical training, ask severe punishments for the unvaccinated on social media. They spent years sharing bars and transportation with potential HIV patients, measles, hepatitis, meningitis and other contagious diseases. What they are afraid of is not the Covid, it is those who think differently.
Note: To be clear, I have both doses of Sputnik and when they call me I will give myself the third.
These readers fell into the title trap that I inadvertently set for them. Give me an importance that I do not have. I am someone relatively anonymous who writes in one of the millions of blogs about Linux and free software, what I say or do not say is irrelevant since no one is going to use my opinion to decide to use or not to use Linux. But, I offended the sensibilities of those who believe that disseminators should limit ourselves to the "good Linux-Microsoft poop" scheme
If my article is as stupid as many claimed, common sense indicates that it is best to ignore it. In a week it would have vanished into the archives. Linux Adictos. In two months I wouldn't even have remembered if I had written it. However, not only did they comment on it, they shared it on social networks and someone even made a video answering me. Of course, all with partial or completely distorted quotes of what I said to justify their holy indignation.
Be careful, I'm not saying that the article is good. I say that those who think it is bad do so for the wrong reasons.
The origins of infamy
My post is based on a creativity technique called "Assumption reversal." It is about taking a common statement, turning it around, and drawing conclusions from it.
I took the statement "Linux is very difficult" and transformed it into "Linux is very easy" in fact, in some things it is much easier than Windows.
Suppose someone wants to ditch the Microsoft operating system, but is concerned that Linux is too complicated What better argument than an article from a guy who says it's actually so easy that his users are getting lazy?
I have nothing against ease. In fact, I find it silly to waste time manually configuring things that can be done automatically. I have written several compilations recommending Snap and FlatPak packages and positively reviewed proprietary applications for the time savings involved in using them. I believed that, with the analogy of the food industry, diets and gyms, it would be clear that what I was proposing is to find alternative ways for the user to learn what they were learning when Linux had to be configured by hand; system operation, component roles and security policies.
It could also have sparked an interesting debate. Should developers put effort into projects like multi-record package formats, flashy app stores, and new graphical installers? Wouldn't it be better if Linux remained as in its origins as a highly configurable and secure operating systemeven if it means not having a broad base of home users?
Many readers of LinuxAdictos are not ready for these types of articles, or most likely I am not ready to write them. Maybe next time.
Anyway, my advice to avoid disappointment is not to give my posts an importance that they do not have.
Happy year to all!
The worst thing is not the criticism, but the fanaticism of those who criticize. The world is lost.
Hello:
I'd rather see the glass half full than half empty. It seems positive to me that there are so many people who read your publications.
In relation to the fanaticism that you say, it seems to me that it is characteristic of the times. I also see it the other way around, people who get into Gnu Linux forums to claim that Microsoft is the best and the rest is poop. Intolerance is present not only in the world of computing, but in all areas of life, poor for those who think differently from what is politically correct.
regards
Relax Diego, I was the one who joked that we are getting old, but the truth is that I love your notes.
You know what? If you can write something that makes other people mobilize, generate things in others ... That is a very good thing, the worst that can happen to you is to write something that does not generate anything.
In life things have to happen to us, because if nothing happens to us, it is because we are already dead, and it is similar to what you feel now with GNU-Linux, but the difference is that people will pass and GNU-LINUX will continue to exist, like institutions.
We don't need a manual to read you, it's like explaining a joke ... Don't let the magic get lost and keep it up.
Thanks for the comment.
Negative comments don't bother me, irrelevant anger bothers me.
After that article I posted a letter from a free software advocate responding to a feminist who repeats the false accusations against Stallman.
I end the article by saying that you are either a feminist or a defender of free software (Change a feminist for any other cause that has nothing to do with free software), that is a statement worth discussing.
What happens is that in this society of selfishness, clickbait and other diseases of the mind it is common that techniques are used to make the reader react or anything is used to discredit a movement and I believe that most of the users of GNU / Linux go through life waiting for who will be the next to attack the system, the community or the movement.
It is obvious that many follow your page Diego and I cannot affirm it but that critical and to a certain extent defensive mentality seems to be common in GNU / Linux users (for something we have decided to use GNU / Linux instead of Windows in the first place, no?).
I follow your page through RSS, I follow several pages but rarely do I comment on anything. In case I think I mentioned in the comment on your last article that my intention is not to offend, only to invite reflection and now that I think about it, I created that I applied your own technique to ask yourself if with the passage of time you would not have lost your motivation? XD
It was not my intention Diego, sorry if I made you react in any negative way. Personally, I prefer pure content where it is spoken bluntly, double intention, and without applying reaction techniques to the reader (there is plenty of it with social networks as well as replicating their techniques on web pages and blogs), also when you start with that game all of a sudden everyone is playing with the same rules and you no longer have a healthy coexistence.
Before I followed many pages on free software but because of those techniques I stopped following them.
I like the content of your page, what you and your colleagues write, I will try to participate more and thank you for the content you publish every day. (It would be comforting to know that in the future they are not going to fall into reaction techniques since, as I said before, there is already plenty of that on the internet).
Merry Christmas and a happy new year to the entire team at Linux Adictos and your readers!
I return the greetings.
Just a clarification. I did not write the article with the intention of provoking. I really believe that making it so easy for users is dangerous and that the user must be prepared.
It is not the first time that I write on the subject. Some time ago I was writing a series recounting my WordPress abandonment by Jekyll (I had to interrupt it due to the break beyond any repair of my previous computer, but I hope to get it back soon)
Good morning (or afternoon):
I have arrived late to the article and, I just read it. I have understood your position and I even agree with it because I am one of those veteran users who used to spend days trying to make that winmodem work that had (almost) no support in GNU / Linux.
I am and I work as a web programmer and, it is true that, except for some occasions (said bluetooth mouse), everything is plug and play. Which is good, because it allows me to disengage from the problems of the system to focus on the problems of my work, ha ha.
I suppose that the rest of the users are of the style, they prefer to focus on the specific issues of their work and ignore those related to the system.
That is, I agree with you but I think it is the price that must be paid for the maturity of the project.
Greetings.
Keep in mind that being a web programmer you are aware of the security problems of your computer and of how responsible you have to be with what you do. So the article does not apply to you.
Your problem is that you are Argentine and therefore very very tiring and that, fortunately, we do not hear you, but you can tell from a thousand leagues that you are Argentine just because of the way you write it shows a thousand leagues, without knowing anything about you always I have had it very clear that you are Argentine. I practically don't read any of your articles, one very occasionally, because you are very very, very tired, it is not pleasant to read you at all.
Hi Diego. I find myself quite surprised with the significance of your previous post. It is not that I agree with what "who wants to offend is offended" (which I am), but that at the time I read your article (before anyone commented) and I even partially agreed, longing for the moments to resolve miscellaneous problems and learn in the process. I, as a reader of this type of blog and an almost exclusive user of Linux for a long time (I do not give the data because there will always be someone who surpasses you and the data is not the important thing here) I appreciate your publications. Without creativity and free thinking (respectful) you can't get anywhere ... And neither in free software ... Let's not end the behaviors that we criticize so much in the users of other platforms. Come, continue with the smile and with life!
Thanks for your comment
False, the criticisms were well deserved. Diego's alleged "arguments" were anything but solid, he was only based on subjectivities in the environment that he has attached himself to, being only the minimum within the world of Linux, which cannot be defined as a whole. It was a children's article, practically a whimsical immature protest. It is evident to note that who seemed nervous and with the creeps, it was Diego himself and in this text there is also a nervous counter response and a childish attitude of "Nobody understands me, I tell the truth."