this post was submitted on 31 May 2025
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Explain Like I'm Five

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I'm old. I don't understand it.

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[–] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

It's like Windows if it was made by people who care about making a good operating system instead of by a big corporation who only cares about milking the crap of its users for money by collecting their data and forcing unwanted features down their throats.

Linux is based on open source code, which means the inner workings of the system are free knowledge and is freely accessible. Any development team is free to use it as a base and modify it or build upon it as they please. There are different teams making their own version of Linux with different features. They are called distributions, or "distros" with different features that appeal to different users. Even individual Linux users will generally have far more control over their operating system than Windows users.

Linux used to be not very user friendly and only approachable by more technical savvy people. Now however, there are distributions out there that are simple and approachable for almost anyone willing to learn a little.