I'm Bad For Linux
Today I came to a startling realization. I think I’m bad for Linux.
A couple of my kids do after school sporting programs. They’re not school related, so someone needs to drive them to the facility. The facility is far enough from our house it doesn’t make sense to drop them off, drive home, and then come get them when they’re done. Because of that, I usually pack something to do and hang out with all the other parents watching their kids.
It’s pretty common to see parents sitting, working on whatever. I’ve seen spreadsheets, and documents, and blah blah blah. You know the regular stuff. Today, I edited a couple documents. I installed an app or two from the app store. I did a quick search in my Documents to find a file I’d misplaced. All stuff I’d seen other parents do dozens of times, but this time I caught one of the other parents watching my screen clandestinely. When they noticed I had noticed, they quickly looked away guiltily but came right back as soon as I started working again.
At first I thought this as pretty odd. It’s not like I was doing anything half a dozen other parents weren’t doing at that exact time, right? That’s when I started to think about it.
The other parents were sitting there on their elegant and shiny Windows machines or Macs, clicking around their UI with practiced ease. Editing their documents in Word or Excel or some other editor approximating WYSIWYG. I was on my 10 year old X1 Carbon, stickers covering the lid with logos for Git, Mastodon, vim, Python, and of course, Linux. I’m using Zorin, and my UI is pretty normal looking, but this whole time I hadn’t used a GUI based app. I’d installed software with apt. I edited with vim. I searched with find. It was then I realized that I was reinforcing the impression of Linux people have had of it since the 90s. It’s hard to use and it’s all cryptic commands you have to remember and type in.
I thought about using more GUI based tools when people are watching me and seeing me working. After all, I don’t need to use vim. I can use a text editor in the GUI. I can search with Nautilus. I can install apps through the graphical app store. It’s not going to hurt my workflow overly much to change things up just a little, and it might stop the side-eye from other parents. But no, I don’t think I’m going to do that. I’m working the way that I’m comfortable doing things, and I just don’t think I should have to change the way I’m doing things because some rando is looking over my shoulder. It would probably look better for Linux if I wasn’t using methods that scare the average computer user, but I guess I’m just bad for Linux.
Sorry everybody.
Day 16 of the #100DaysToOffload Series.
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