Setting the Bar Too High is Part of the Problem, Not the Solution

[TotalRando]

So today, I got UT working on the FAJITA (yes, I am basically always going to capitalize this.) I was inspired to try non-stop till it worked because of the arrival of my wife's PinePhone, which she was immediately in love with, yesterday.

It led to some interesting discussions, one of which was the terror experienced after ordering-- from YouTubers who have no idea how Linux phones work. In particular, my wife, a huge KDE fan, was dumbfounded by the constant and ignorant claim that "there is virtually no software for this phone", leading her to wonder if her phone would even work. When she finally got her phone, she realized that KDE Plasma on the phone was feature-complete and had virtually everything she wanted and much more-- and that people reviewing these phones often have no idea how they work at all.

I've been using UT on a Nexus 4 since November. And yes, I do get the "some features may not be working" thing but we shouldn't overdo it: because often folks who show up here are already somewhat knowledgeable about how they are sacrificing the ease of say, Android or iOS because they want freedom from that ecosystem. So pointing out a system's flaws isn't always the best approach, as it can lead to a mistaken assumption that these distros aren't "market ready".

The truth is that the things that most people expect to work (calling, messaging, camera, etc) do in fact work on UT and other systems for many of the devices. And work extraordinarily well. Example: Convergence on our phones is simply a given for us, but we should remember that desktop mode in Android, even now, barely even works. (I don't know about Apple. I pretend it doesn't exist.)

Here's another example: FAJITA here has a 16/20MP camera combo. Camera is buggy, but it also looks absolutely incredible and takes amazing pictures. Did it work as well as the OnePlus app? No idea. I never used any of the apps on it before installing. I just plugged it in and started working on installing UT. (I'm sure some here have read of my amazing T-Mobile experience.) And a LOT of people do that. I have no idea how a Nexus 4 natively worked in Android. I just bought one and plugged the installer into it.

So what I am saying is that our experiences-- even when it means debugging, testing and trying new things-- are in fact relatively advanced experiences, and new user expectations are often considerably lower... except for some professional YouTubers who love the latest bells and whistles, have no concept of things like security except on paper, and will chase down the latest corporate trends. I frankly wouldn't be surprised if some have some other motivation to down our systems (one guy ripped on the /e/ project saying it had no apps when it's literally an Android fork that can use apk files.) like, idk, money.

I don't mean to down all YouTubers. Just the ones I am talking about. And I don't mean to imply that our systems are perfect. I am totally aware of their limitations. But they're pretty darn good and everyone who works on UT and other distros should pat themselves on the back for what they've accomplished. And we should pat them on the back too.

My two cents.

[A Former User]

@totalrando Youtubers (not all) in their huge numbers, generate noise so you can't hear what is really happening out there.
Ubuntu is the best and it is free and the last is the reason why the ones that are making profits are bothered by it.

PS. Please make a way to choose between the last 3 revisions or at least 2 just like you can in desktop. Reason example: RC 93 worked better than 94.

[Keneda]

@totalrando

Youtube tends to be the dump of the internet...
Sometime you find a treasure in it, but most of time it's garbage.

And if you add "influencers" to the equation...