[nevrthepfhor]

People choose proprietary software because proprietary software doesn't make you memorize and type things like "systemctl suspend" for the most basic of tasks such as putting your computer to sleep.

They don't want to find, audit, install, and evaluate dozens of obscure third-party extensions to make their OS usable.

They want options for setting their background image besides Fit to screen.

And they want to be able to use their friend's computer without having to learn how to use all their friend's customizations.

[_emacsomancer_]

> People choose proprietary software because proprietary software doesn't make you memorize and type things like "systemctl suspend" for the most basic of tasks such as putting your computer to sleep.

Nothing says that all free software will be good or user-friendly (systemd is an excellent case-in-point). But you can choose a better alternative.

Proprietary software sometimes has short-term convenience benefits, but even thinking slightly-longer-term quickly shows that it's never worth it.

Even with less-than-ideal software like systemd, it's still miles better than proprietary alternatives. Yes, you may have to run "systemctl suspend"* to put your computer to sleep, but you don't end up with Candy Crush embedded in your program launcher, or over-12-years-outdated bash, etc.

[*] It's pretty easy to wrap 'systemctl suspend' in something friendlier, such as a shortcut.

[nevrthepfhor]

Yes, Windows Home is awful, but I believe I got a Windows 10 Pro key for ten dollars. I think I used the same key on two different computers. No Candy Crush, slightly better control over the system.

It would be nice to have an OS that's actually fun and intuitive for normal people (nevermind me), not stripped down and sanitized, and also doesn't have corporate bloat and massive data collection by default.

[_emacsomancer_]

> an OS that's actually fun and intuitive for normal people (nevermind me)

That's no version of Windows, in my experience. I suffered through Windows 3.1x to XP to Vista to Window 7 (and tried out Windows 10), and none of these were fun or intuitive, certainly not compared to what I used immediately before (Atari ST) or immediately after (Ubuntu Feisty Fawn).

In 2019, Ubuntu is far more intuitive and manageable for an ordinary person. No going to the internet to download dubious software (or getting malware through the Windows Store, as per my Windows 10 experience), no weird Candy Crush and 'telemetry' (data siphoning) or any of that Microsoft sort of goodness.

[nevrthepfhor]

Driver issues alone disqualify Ubuntu versus Windows (where are all the three-monitor setups and touchscreen laptops?). So does the complete lack of desktop background options. And having to hold down `Alt` to make the Suspend button appear (which doesn't say Suspend on it by the way). Even the word suspend is so serious like you're punishing your computer, not putting it to bed.

Ubuntu is all business all the time. A five year old would get bored of it within five minutes. iPads are probably crack cocaine in comparison.

Settings doesn't even have an appearance and personalization section. Ubuntu is more stripped down than a Holocaust victim. And there's nothing fun about the Holocaust.

[ghostly_s]

This is just....such a bizarre example. What Linux desktop environment are you using that provides no more user-friendly method to sleep the system than the `systemctl` command? Or are you suggesting command-line-only installs should have a better interface for this? What would the precedent be for that use-case?

[nevrthepfhor]

Ubuntu is indeed bizarre (tried 18.10 and 19.04). It's either lock, restart, or shut down. Otherwise I get to have fun at the command line.

And multiple monitors hasn't been anything but a pain either.

I was told that Ubuntu is about as friendly as Linux gets. Sure, it's more usable than say Devuan or OpenBSD, but that's nothing to brag about. It's nowhere near ready for primetime.

[ghostly_s]

Well, I don't use Ubuntu, but it seems like they have hidden the suspend button behind a modifier key[1]. How inane. FWIW, personally I don't think Ubuntu is as friendly as Linux gets. You might want to check out something like Elementary OS. Though pretty much any other desktop environment won't have weird unintuitive stuff like this going on.

1. https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubuntu-help/shell-exit.html.e...

[soulofmischief]

All of those are design choices. None of that has anything to do with open source.