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Comment by talldayo | Hacker News Reader

> Linux pre-installed easily

At this point I'm fairly sure setting up the average Linux distro takes less time than the first-party Windows and MacOS welcome wizards.

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nobody needs to install windows when they get a PC these days

You have to go through a first run wizard to set up your Microsoft account, etc. even on a computer with Windows preinstalled. At least that was my experience a few years ago, and I doubt it has changed.

Nobody except a lot of people enthusiastic enough about gaming to build their own desktop

Hopefully now those people give Windows the side-eye since the advent of the Steam Deck. If you just need a PC for gaming, you're practically the prime candidate for switching to Linux.

Less time, more skill.

Suppose I should start certifying people capable of pressing F12 on boot.

I literally just a few minutes ago setup Linux (Kubuntu 24.04) on a new laptop (Framework). It was insert USB drive, press power button, select the drive to boot, wait a few seconds for live OS, run the "Install Now" app on the desktop, hit "Next" a few times, wait about 5 minutes for the install to complete, and restart and remove the disk. Can't get much simpler to setup a fresh system.

Before someone argues that “this requires enough background technical knowledge to know which buttons to press to make it easy” there is a point there, but distro maintainers have had that point in front of them for decades.

There’s now only one prerequisite for new users: the willingness to format the hard drive. Everything else is trivial and for 9/10 distros the screens are welcoming, clear, refined, and non-technical.

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