My understanding of the history of fashion is that back in the 1950s America it was expected that you wore a suit/dress at work unless you had a different uniform. There were a bunch of very boring people who thought that we should be wearing office job garb all the time, because they wore suits so much it was their default style, and since suits and dresses are both conservative and good-looking they were trying to nudge culture into accepting their worldview.

But with our computers, we are living in some boring-ass timeline where the suits-4-life squares won. We are all stuck using The Office Job OS at home, unless you work in a creative field that got really stuck in with MacOS ages ago. I don’t want to wear a suit at home. I want something I think is comfy and pretty, which is why I use Zorin OS.

I did not choose to get into Linux because I think it’s better for my workflow or because I am weirded out by all the trackers in win11 or because I care that Microsoft is an evil megacorp. I chose to start using Linux because the last version of windows that i was happy to boot up was Windows 7, and I refuse to use something on my own time that feels gross and looks icky. My preference for something that i can just set up and not have to tinker with makes Zorin a perfect fit for me, and I tend to throw a little fit when i have to do something in Windows specifically. I don’t understand why so many people are comfortable using the Office Job OS when they could be using something that suits them.

Preemptive edit because I’ve seen my post be misread twice already: I’m not trying to say that Microsoft isnt an evil megacorp that stuffs their os with spyware and bloat. I think that was the dealbreaker for most of us here. I just happen to have the sort of personality that Apple targets, and I have been struggling to articulate what specifically made me chose installing Zorin OS on a PC using a TV as a monitor instead of just getting a MacBook like my mom. Also its like 1 in the morning where I live and I need to get to sleep lol

  • ZephrC@lemm.ee
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    7 months ago

    I get that Windows is kinda boring, but it’s still like a thousand times more interesting and customizable than anything Apple makes. I find the whole Apple aesthetic to be painfully boring and restrictive. I get that it’s more fashionable or whatever. I just hate it.

    • The_Grinch [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      7 months ago

      I’ve haven’t spent much time on mac OS but doesn’t it allow you to run your own desktop environments? I’ve seen things that look like tiling window managers on mac OS.

      • 8Bitz0@discuss.tchncs.de
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        7 months ago

        No, custom desktop environments and window managers can’t be used. What you’re referring to are applications which simply modify window geometry automatically, which emulates a tiling window manager.

        • The_Grinch [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          7 months ago

          That’s a shame. I’d probably be content using Mac OS if there was a switch somewhere that put it in “developer mode” or something which would allow you to do that.

          Swaywm on Mac OS would be neat.

    • siipale@sopuli.xyz
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      7 months ago

      Which things do you find boring and restrictive about it? I think it’s rather nice although I don’t like some of the changes after Catalina like moving from skeuomorphic icons to more symbolic ones.

      Other than aesthetics I think editing and writing is fast on macOS even when not using vim. I even changed my PCs to use mac keyboard layout because it’s better. Of course when using vim, editing should work same on any system at least in theory.

  • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
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    7 months ago

    I know it’s beside your point, but I want to chime in…

    My understanding of the history of fashion is that back in the 1950s America…they were trying to nudge culture into accepting their worldview.

    On the contrary, I don’t think that’s how the mentality came about, or was held at that time at all. If you go back to the 1850s or 1750s, suits and dresses (or some older variant of them) were a sign of wealth, intelligence, high class living, etc. They had to be hand-tailored by experts using rare fabrics and dyes that had to be shipped all around the world. Then the industrial revolution came, and clothing was able to be mass produced (usually at the cost of quality). Suddenly the middle class had access to suits and dresses, but the perception that it was something for the wealthy was still there. For many businesses targeting the middle class, the suit and dress WERE the uniform, as a means of displaying how regal their brand is.

    And it’s not like we’ve gotten past this. If you go on any of the social media sites with ads, take a look at what you see: some knock-off piece of trendy clothing that’s made to look like a high end fashion brand, but targeting the lower/middle class.

    All that said, I’m all for the “punk rock” mentality. Don’t do what your parents did just because society told them to tell you it was important. Stick it to the man, yadda yadda. But I think it’s a trap to assume that the 1950s proletariat felt any differently than the same class of people do today.

    As for windows v linux, of the people who are aware of both yet continue using windows, I think most would say that they use it specifically because they have a “preference for something that i can just set up and not have to tinker with” and because they also aren’t making their choice based on “the trackers in win11 or because [they] care that Microsoft is an evil megacorp”.

  • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    7 months ago

    I don’t understand why so many people are comfortable using the Office Job OS when they could be using something that suits them.

    It comes preinstalled on most computers people buy. Tbh that is mostly the reason.

    It’s like if you bought a house and it came with a full closet of “good enough for you” suits and instead of going out and buying comfy clothes you just use the suits provided, especially because you know how to wear suits and haven’t yet figured out how to wear hoodies which look “harder” (ok the analogy is falling apart but ykwim).

        • LemmyIsFantastic@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          What does my user name have to do with individuals unhealthy basing their entire identity around a fake “suits vs creatives” universe?

      • LemmyIsFantastic@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        You don’t think there are significant maladaptive thought patterns that would lead you to base an entire identity based off some bull shit “suit vs creatives” imagining of the world? They took “dell guy vs apple guy” and made it there identity.

        This type of shit is cringy.

        • nyan@lemmy.cafe
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          7 months ago

          That isn’t the reason most of us use Linux, and even if it were, the “administration vs. creatives” divide probably goes back to Ancient Egypt, if not further. But fight it if you want to. I give it six months before you burn out, and the division in question will still be there, and some people will still be basing their identities around it. (I mean, what do you think is a good thing to base your identity around? Your degree of appreciation for Taylor Swift? 'Cause I think you’d find that one is a lot more common.)

          • LemmyIsFantastic@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            This isn’t about most of you. It’s about those that take a love of foss too far and invent narratives that just aren’t true. If you commit and are active, that is fantastic. This person is imagining an entire reality that just isn’t true.

            • nyan@lemmy.cafe
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              7 months ago

              And? Seems relatively harmless, as alternate realities go. No one lives in the real world 100% all the time. We’re not designed for it.

        • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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          7 months ago

          That doesn’t answer my question, it avoids it. Passions come in many flavors, and are not all-consumimg. For some its music, and culminates on an instrument. For some it’s sports, and revolves around one. Do you have anything you are passionate about?

  • loopgru@slrpnk.net
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    7 months ago

    Windows doesn’t let me have a desktop cube or have my windows burn up or be torn apart by claws when closed.

    Sure, I also like the GNOME workflow and the open source ethics and repositories and the like, but my inner 12 year old likes the eye candy, too.

  • nkat2112@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    This is beautifully written and I agree with the analogy, though I never saw it that way before. Thank you for sharing this.

  • kurwa@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    What are you referring to exactly by “suits at home” in terms of OSes? I always thought that using Linux is about doing whatever you want / whatever feels most comfortable to you.

      • kurwa@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Ah right okay. I definitely agree with you, aside from work, I try to use Windows as little as possible. I honestly wish I could use Linux at work too lol.

        The problem is, like you said, the suits won, and everyone sees Windows as the default OS. Its preinstalled with most home computers, and that’s what most people know how to use.

        If more home computers were installed with an easy flavor of Linux, there would definitely be more users.

        • lordnikon@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Basically MacOS is high end fashion wear that is only workable on a runway and is outrageously expensive. It’s worn as status not for function. You wear it like the designer thinks it should be worn not how you want it otherwise your wearing it wrong.