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Comment by talys_cat | Hacker News Reader

*torture screaming at the background

ARE YOU ENJOY MY LINUX? IT'S FULL OF JOY, RIGHT? YOU ARE HAPPY!!! YOU ALL WILL BE HAPPY!!!

___

seriously though, I do enjoy my arch, but I would never force someone to use linux by not providing help. It's basically same vibe, as with Microhard forcing it's AI vision of OS. Don't be that toxic, your relatives needed your help, and not your narcissism.

If you really think, they need to switch, show them the benefits of it. Show them nice UI, ease of use. Ensure, all their needs can be fulfilled by a given set of apps.

it's currently not possible to go linux, if you need photo editing - darktable and rawtherapee are just not there yet. Very far from there, honestly, if you compare with stuff like capture one - by contrast DT and RT would feel like a masochistic toys. I have to keep dual boot because of that.

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It's not toxic to not offer infinite support for a platform you don't have familiarity with. Just like if you are vegan it's not toxic to refuse to prepare a meaty hamburger.

Yes, a toxic version of this exists, but simply refusing to do a thing isn't toxic.

So we compare living creatures killing with helping to setup a wi-fi.

Sometimes setting up wi-fi feels like it requires an animal sacrifice to the elder gods.

Grilling a hamburger isn't killing a cow sorta like how an analogy is a useful illustrative tool even when not literally accurate.

See! Even a terrible analogy can get the point across.

If that's making it difficult for you to understand the comparison, I can select another. I think most folks could understand the analogy, but I'm happy to accommodate you if it's unclear.

> It's not toxic to not offer infinite support for a platform you don't have familiarity with.

OP never said he is not familiar with Windows anymore ...

He clearly said that his condition for helping them is if they install Linux. Those two are totally different statements.

I even find that a rather flimsy excuse that you made up. I do not work with MacOS, does that mean i can not help somebody with MacOS? Google kung-fu and i can figure it out. How about Linux ... OS2 lol ... If you have even a bit of basic knowledge, a OS or program is all about Googling the answer these days (or even AI / LLM answering it for you).

We can have a discussion about people being lazy and pulling the "but X family member will solve the issues with my PC/Laptop/Tablet/Smartphone". I simply taught the family members who really want to learn, how to properly Google for issues. It did not matter to me that they use MacOS, or Windows.

Same with internet security, Windows is no issue for safety as long as the people using it, know what they can open and what they can not open. The moment you teach somebody the proper way, all those "support" calls vanish as their system stays clean of viruses and bots.

The whole "i will not help you unless you install Linux" ... that is toxic behavior. Instead of helping people by actually teaching them the basics, and those basics are operating system agnostic... his solution is a bit of blackmail.

(not OP)

I'm the computer support person for a few family members, and my familiarity with Windows these days is getting so minimal that the only way I may be able to continue to offer support is if they switch to Linux anyway.

So, rather than an ultimatum, it's more just practicality.

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