And at the same time we have the Jugendmedienstaatsvertrag in Germany (and with Germany as a strong force in the EU most likely everywhere in the EU soon) that will make all operating systems without fully integrated age restrictions illegal https://www.heise.de/en/news/Minors-protection-State-leaders-mandate-filters-for-operating-systems-10199455.html
Manufacturers of operating systems must then ensure that “only apps that correspond to the age specification or that have been individually and securely activated can be used”. The installation of programs should only be possible via distribution platforms such as app stores that take the age rating into account and have an automated rating system recognized by the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM).
This part of the law alone is impossible to implement on a open platform like Linux.
Instrumenting a fascist society while pretending to protect children…
Yeah, as it is so often
these types of laws usually come from the most technically illiterate people ever
Unfortunately yes!
Since it is impossible to implement on Linux, it may just be flagged as adult-only software.
But, there is still hope. What if Snaps and Flatpaks get properly flagged, allowing Ubuntu and/or Fedora to be legal?
I mean it’s impossible on all computers.
Windows should ensure you can only use app-store and make it impossible to install an exe from online as example
MacOS even funnier. If I save a bash script I found online mac is supposed to refuse, unless I am using a vpn that is!
I don’t think they will prohibit side loading. This will cause serious issues to developers, and other professionals.
Like, I cannot use the X tool from Github, just because the Y developer refuses to publish it in an organized store?
The law doesn’t say that the option has to be active for everyone and all the time, but it has to be fully integrated into the OS so it can be activated fast and easy when children/teenagers want to use the PC.
Since it is impossible to implement on Linux, it may just be flagged as adult-only software.
This would render Linux unfit for use in Schools, Public Libraries, Youth Centers and other places where Children and Teenagers have access to PCs.
It is, in addition to that, possible that internal regulation of government offices prohibit the use of adult software. Not sure about it, but it would IMHO fit the mindset of bureaucrats
Ok, but how to prevent programs installed as Appimage, by source compilation or just downloaded binaries from running? You need a way to prevent this methods of installation to be legal
This also applies to Windows. What prevents a user from downloading a Firefox fork that does not properly implement age verification?
Microsoft already has the S-Mode in Windows 11 that only allows to execute apps that come from the Microsoft Store. So it is already possible in Windows.
This part of the law alone is impossible to implement on a open platform like Linux.
What makes you think they won’t simply make it illegal to use linux?
To make something illegal by law it is needed to have a valid reason for that law to exist. This is the case at least in every jurisdiction that has a somewhat functional separation of powers.
Due to this can’t just make it illegal to use Linux, but with a Law like the Jugendmedienstaatsvertrag it comes as a free bonus.
Don’t tell me it is law already!
It is in ratification, and will (most likely) become binding law by 1st of December 2025 in Germany
German link: https://rundfunkkommission.rlp.de/rundfunkkommission-der-laender/reform-des-jugendmedienschutz-staatsvertrages-2023
😨
every user converted to linux is a win
Win10 or Win11? :p
Win L. the next, superior edition of windows, if someone asks.
Any bit of user base growth helps get the ball rolling for future MS/USA missteps. Linux has just been getting better and easier year after year. It’s been a 30 year marathon ready for another 30+ years of development
I think that if Linux is to be more widely adopted a more easily used distro needs to become mainstream. Let’s face it, the average computer user barely knows how to use Windows, just because you find Linux easy doesn’t mean they will.
Do you think you could teach Linux to your grandmother?
Do you think you could teach Linux to your grandmother?
Yes. Set automatic package updates, Install firefox with ublock and put it on the taskbar, and bookmark Facebook and Youtube for her. It is the same thing as under Windows.
I would argue that for the most “tech illiterate” users the Linux experience can be made even easier than the windows experience, because you have to set up everything for them anyways.
Completely “tech illiterate” broser-only users are fine. It gets difficult once they happen to actually want to do something.
I have an older relative in that boat, and she was doing fine until she wanted to install some VPN to access foreign Netflix libraries. That was more difficult. Especially because she already paid for the service and that service didn’t support her distro, thus there was no guide on how to use it.
Teaching people without computing skills to use linux is actually easier than teaching windows. Most trouble people have with linux comes from being used to windows and having difficulty to adapt.
Do you think you could teach Linux to your grandmother?
My 50+ yo mother uses Linux Mint daily with fewer problems that when she used Windows. Her crowning achievement in IT is learning how to use email.
I helped my 93 yo friend switch from Windows 10 to Linux 2 years ago. He called me 3 times in the first 2 weeks to ask how to do something, but hasn’t had a single problem since that’s related to the OS.
Linux Mint, Bazzite, Fedora, and several other Linux distros are already easier to use than Windows. The only thing holding most people back is fear of change.
There are some people who have specific setups in Windows or a large number of “Windows only” apps, but these people are in the minority. The average person can’t even tell you which operating system they’re currently using, and wouldn’t notice the difference if you swapped the OS but kept the same web browser.
When I switched my mother, her only complaint was that the scroll bars were not as wide in Facebook.
My mother, 80 years old, uses Linux Mint.
It is a myth that Windows is easier to use than Windows. It is just what you know and it came with your computer.
Both of my grandmothers are dead, but I did teach my aunt to use Linux. She had a laptop that “ran” Windows 10. It would take 30 seconds to open the Start menu. One SSD, one RAM upgrade and one install of Mint later it’s a whole new machine. She can Firefox and Mahjongg just fine.
Actually, my mother knew how to use Debian before she could use Windows. Her first pc came with Windows XP, switched that for Debian as its been my main OS since 2000.
Yes, you can teach your grandmother to use Linux.
My MIL is a grand mother and uses Linux Mint. She’s about as illiterate as you can get.
We already have those. Arguably Windows is much more of a hassle to use than your average “works out of the box” distro. And don’t start talking about the terminal, that’s comparing apples and organges. A more apt comparison to the need of using the terminal on Linux is the need to apply registry tweaks or use powershell on Windows. As if “average users” would need to do that. They install software via the “app store”, change settings via the GUI and run updates when prompted, all of which are seamless on most of these distros. If something breaks, they can’t fix it themselves, but then they just go to someone else to help them, just like on Windows, which they also can’t fix by themselves. Maybe they manage to reinstall, which isn’t any harder than on Windows, if not easier these days.
The group you’re actually talking about (and likely belong to) are the Windows power-users that would need to rethink things, and would be capable of rethinking things, if they wanted, which they don’t. I know some of these people myself, complaining all day about Microsoft and the privacy nightmare that they put in huge effort to mitigate, but sadly they absolutely need to rely on this one “critical” piece of freeware from the 2000s that they are sure won’t run on wine (not that they’ve tried) or a cracked copy of Photoshop they use for cropping and changing the brightness of desktop backgrounds, but it’s the industry leader, so they obviously won’t use “inferior” software for that, face the facts Linux users. They think package managers are much harder than downloading and clicking through Setup.exe for the 100th time in a row, and they’ve had this one bad experience with “rm -rf /” 10 years ago which is why they don’t “trust” the terminal, yet routinely double-click on downloaded .bat files without thought. 🤷
Hopefully this helps increase adoption. Maybe in a few years GNU+Linux will have 10% of the desktop operating systems market. Maybe even Wine won’t be necessary anymore except for legacy software.
It can’t fail, unless MS pulls a monopoly stunt or bribe politicians… There’s only a win, by ditching MS…
The German state of Bavaria once did something in the direction of moving away from MS. When Microsoft put their German headquarters into Munich the idea was scraped.
The HQ in Munich and nice bag full of cash in the hand of someone.
One alternative is that it only applies to companies that are listed as gatekeepers in the EU make it only hit megacorps
Good F#$%^ riddance.
I can’t wait until Lemmy’s Peertube integration is released [1]. Then, iiuc, this comment section should be able to happen directly on The Linux Experiment’s videos within Lemmy.
References
- Type: Comment. Author: “Nutomic”. Publisher: [Type: Post. Title: “Better federation for Peertube content”. Author: “Kalcifer” (“K4LCIFER”). Publisher: [“GitHub”. “LemmyNet/lemmy”.]. Published: 2023-08-06T21:41:29.000Z. URI: https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/3837.]. Published: 2025-03-27T08:28:52.000Z. Accessed: 2025-07-11T00:59Z. URI: https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/3837#issuecomment-2757172791.
Oh yeah that would be great. I hope it’s really coming🤞
[…] I hope it’s really coming🤞
A change regarding Peertube federation with Lemmy certainly does appear to be coming in Lemmy 1.0 [1], but it’s currently unknown to me if it does actually fix the issue.
References
- Type: Comment. Author: “Nutomic”. Publisher: [Type: Post. Title: “Better federation for Peertube content”. Author: “Kalcifer” (“K4LCIFER”). Publisher: [“GitHub”. “LemmyNet/lemmy”.]. Published: 2023-08-06T21:41:29.000Z. URI: https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/3837.]. Published: 2025-03-27T08:28:52.000Z. Accessed: 2025-07-14T06:03Z. URI: https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/3837#issuecomment-2757172791.
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#5509 fixes this, it will be released as part of Lemmy 1.0
- This is referring to code that was pushed to the repository that allegedly fixes the issue with Peertube federation.
-
- Type: Comment. Author: “Nutomic”. Publisher: [Type: Post. Title: “Better federation for Peertube content”. Author: “Kalcifer” (“K4LCIFER”). Publisher: [“GitHub”. “LemmyNet/lemmy”.]. Published: 2023-08-06T21:41:29.000Z. URI: https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/3837.]. Published: 2025-03-27T08:28:52.000Z. Accessed: 2025-07-14T06:03Z. URI: https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/3837#issuecomment-2757172791.
Actually, most of them already do have deals for a limited time. Skype is still available; they needed a new contract since teams does not work without communicating with Microsoft.
OTOH most things they do is via webclient.
If Microsoft was to release a mandatory update that has a single thing that required it to communicate with the organization, by law the whole governmental EU would not be able to use it.
I am all for ditching Microsoft, but why should this post be in this community? There are also Android, Mac OS, and all kinds of BSD.
None of what you listed is a viable alternative for a myriad of reasons. Only GNU+Linux can replace Windows.
- Android: a mobile OS first and foremost with very limited usability as a general purpose desktop operating system.
- MacOS: hardware from one vendor only.
- *BSD: more niche with even lesser support than GNU+Linux.
What’s wrong with going back to pen and (e-)paper for office? My point is, if you are going to post something in the community, the word “linux” shall at least be in the title.
Good title example: Europe is slowly ditching Microsoft for Linux
It’s nobody’s fucking business when someone ditching Microsoft, then adopt BSD, Solaris whatnot. What matters to this community is someone adopting or ditching Linux, or they do something remotely related to it.
Didn’t you see the “little” thumbnail that says “This could be huge for Linux”?
I don’t. This is how it looks like on my Voyager.
Point is (again), it takes zero effort to cross post a video or article here. Windows is historically having a high market share ratio, and people are migrating to Linux nowadays. That’s good news to the Linux world. Even someone merely mentioning ditching Windows has an implication of adopting Linux instead.
But what if more and more posts implying this by only mentioning how bad Windows is? Is this a community for Windows circlejerk, or do we share informative stuff that’s directly related to Linux? How about we share more article about how great Linux is (or can be), instead of how bad the competitors are becoming?
Agree on the Linux. You do not need the GNU though.
Chimera Linux is based in Spain. Maybe use that.
In the video, he talks about examples of European governments specifically switching to Linux, like a police station using an Ubuntu based distro, and foss software like LibreOffice. I don’t think android, Mac or BSD are mentioned.
Fair enough. I didn’t watch the video.
