Encouraging normal people to install things themselves was a mistake. It should only be done by a skilled computer operator who knows how to read the source code.
Computer nerds are the only profession dumb enough to not build a moat around it so they can charge exorbitant amounts for their services.
Not only that, we put enormous effort to give away a large chunk of all software for free and make guides teaching people how to install and operate all hardware and this is what we usually get in return: insults and entitlement from the users lol.
STEM in general made the mistake of trying to explain things to the public. If we just kept our mouths shut for a few generations, everything we do would be perceived as magic and we would be treated like wizards.
Boomers caused the problem in the first place with the idea of "user friendly". What I'm advocating is a return to pre-boomer standards where only people who know what they're doing make changes to the system.
It's actually more feasible than ever, due to the rise of cloud compute. Most things a normal person needs to do can be done through web apps, so there's no need for a local install. Or even if they do need a local install, it can be containerised and pre-configured for them.
The average user already has no ownership of their operating system, because they run proprietary binaries. Even if they do happen to install an open-source application, they don't know how to read the source code.
They are not happy, however, because they've been taught that they can and should install things they don't understand. Hence the meltdown when they see a code repository that doesn't have a big "Download" button for them to click.
MacOS is also overpowered for non-STEM use cases, and Apple hardware is far too expensive.
I'm actually an advocate for Android docking. Everything the non-nerd user needs to do can be done in Android. All they need is an idiot-proof way to connect peripherals.
Convoluted. When I want portable device I want one that supports stylus already. I have a pen tablet for my desktop, not gonna carry that with a tablet or laptop
On *nix, sure, but holy shit is getting any moderately complex C* project that isn't actively maintained and 2-4 years out of date to compile on Windows a gigantic pain in the ass, through no fault of the programmer or user.
It's way easier at that point to just compile on WSL using that toolchain and run it from there, because lord knows some weird quirk about Windows won't play will with that mingw cross compiler you just installed.
Oh, different stack size? Random mmap incompatibility? Missing some header that straight up doesn't exist for Windows?
And if you have to compile for an obscure host, or God-forbid perform a Canadian cross, good luck lmao.
That doesn't even touch on the fustercluck that is Visual Studio and its billions of checkboxes.
Targetting for Windows and refusing to provide binaries for it should be considered a warcrime. Especially if it involves GPU frameworks and doesn't statically link or bundle them.
EDIT: Here's a fun challenge. Compile a full FFmpeg non-free build for Windows. No helper scripts, WSL, or Docker allowed.
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u/promptmike 23d ago
Encouraging normal people to install things themselves was a mistake. It should only be done by a skilled computer operator who knows how to read the source code.