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Hammers Without Handles (gardinerbryant.com)
submitted 1 day ago by cm0002@libretechni.ca to c/linux@programming.dev
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I wanted to take a moment and talk about Linux UX because, let's face it... it sucks.

Actually, it's worse than that. Much of Linux's UX is technically correct and that makes it objectively wrong.

No. I don't want Linux to be more Windows-like. But I do want the most common Linux desktops to behave in a way that PC-literate folks can wrap their mind around — and do so from minute zero

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[-] artyom@piefed.social 3 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

I don't have a problem with his take other than saying people who disagree with him are "objectively wrong". There's nothing objective about it, and feel like this is the new "literally" where its used improperly so often that it just becomes meaningless.

Imitating the Windows UI makes things easier and more intuitive for people switching from Windows, which, let's face it, is virtually everyone.

But its not necessarily the way everyone should be doing it, because the Windows way is sometimes not the best way.

There are lots of DEs with their own opinionated way of doing things and none of them are "wrong".

[-] moonpiedumplings@programming.dev 3 points 15 hours ago

I really like this take on it: https://forgejo.org/docs/latest/user/actions/github-actions/#familiarity-instead-of-compatibility

For all of these reasons, Forgejo Actions strives for familiarity instead of compatibility. We want users of GitHub actions to feel familiar using Forgejo Actions, even if there are some small changes here and there. Workflows should work with some minimal changes.

I think the same thing applies to Linux DE's. Linux is not and never will be a 1 for 1 to windows workflows. If we chase perfect compatibility, we will be perpetually behind on a wild goose chase.

But, doing things like what KDE does, where most of the common keyboard shortcuts are the same, and things like virtual desktops allow for similar workflows with very little adaptation, is very reasonable.

this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2026
37 points (100.0% liked)

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