On: What is triald and why is it taking so much disk space?

[switchbak]

I think Linux to many is a hobby much like woodworking, one that can also help feed their identity. I've been there myself.

I don't think you can expect deep empathy and a strong desire to simplify things down to the grandparent level if much of the reason for using the system is for geek cred and a landscape for such endless tuning/tweaking.

I'd even put myself in the latter camp, I like tuning things!

Certainly Linux on the desktop has gotten dramatically better over the last few years, but I don't see it ever getting to appliance level without really cutting out what we typically associate with the flexibility of Linux (more like Android or a set top box)

[shrimp_emoji → switchbak]

I feel more like it's analogous to driving a stick shift or baking your own bread. "This is superior; everyone should be doing it!" The problem with that sentiment is that it's 100% true yet totally unrealistic (for reasons unknown -- I don't know why every grandparent out there can't learn to use the command line, from a neurological perspective), and the dissonance erupts like steam from a geyser when those people see the folly of not doing those things.

[switchbak → shrimp_emoji]

That's a much better analogy.

I just used an outrageously complex espresso machine to make myself some coffee. For most, that would be purely an inferior choice when compared to a drip machine. I think a lot of it depends on how much you want that last few %. I think a lot of people simply aren't interested in the investment required to get a little more out of their computers.

And as a computer guy, of course that makes no sense to me :)

[fartcannon → switchbak]

Linux users probably skew more ethical than the average Mac user. Otherwise, Apple wouldn't make so much money locking down future generations freedoms.