And what's wrong with Windows 7? I guess that isn't perfect for you either, otherwise you wouldn't be looking at Linux or any newer version of Windows.

So this is the reality: nothing is perfect, you have to pick your poison and make some compromise. Complaining that the Linux community has an attitude issue for failing to give you exactly what you want doesn't sound fair if the alternative isn't giving you exactly what you want either.

It's especially hard to take these complaints about attitude seriously when you assume malicious intent on part of the community members who understand the need for compromise and try to help someone to a compromise even if it isn't exactly the solution the OP prescribed. And then it is even harder when those examples reveal that the OP has an attitude; they literally write "I am a 71 year old man with 30 plus years of computer experience and I don't want to be told"... typical old man who has allowed arrogance and elevated sense of own skill to take over humility and open mind. And then you think it's totally fine to demand answers without any discussion.

Really, who has the attitude problem? The Linux community that tries to help, or the individuals who butt in, demand assurance and prescribe functionality that they must given without any discussion? As has been discussed in this topic, security is a deep topic and there is no shortage of relevant tools and technology. You can accept it and work with it, or you can complain that it's not exactly what you wanted. Guess which choice suggests an attitude problem? You can prescribe the exact manner in which backups shall be done and shout at the community if they can't grant you exactly that. Or you can have a more open mind: you want your data safe. So ask what means people use to achieve that, and find that there are tons of backup tools plus filesystems with snapshots.. and you can make them work for you. Find one that a configuration tool exists for, or one that can be configured without any proprietary shitware written for windows, or use windows once in a VM to configure the mouse and save the configuration into onboard storage after which the crappy tool is not needed, or start a community project to create a tool for your mouse (and before someone interjects that it's unreasonable to require people to show some effort: well, this is in context where a 70-year-old know-it-all boasts about their 30 years of experience with computers, so maybe they could put that experience to use and show what they are made of. Just like the rest of the Linux community, that actually uses their experience.. not to whine and demand, but to build and make what they want).

Really there is no shortage of solutions, but again you may have to compromise. Don't tell the community has an attitude problem if they try to help you to one of these solutions when they can't grant you exactly what you demand. Similar to the above.

I don't know much about MB power control tools, but legend has it that Linux is widely used on servers, which are always backed up by UPS, and thus you should be able to find thousands of supported UPS models:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Network_UPS_Tools
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/APC_UPS
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/CyberPower_UPS Interesting -- coz now it does sound like the solutions might be up for discussion and negotiation after all? The discussions has to start somewhere, and it may not always start where you like. Sometimes you have to probe people for their motivations or challenge their preconceptions. You may have heard of the X Y problem. A person prescribes a solution (Y) rather than explaining their problem (X). Those who want to help need more info about the problem in order to offer something from their known solution space. It may not be the the solution that was asked for, but it may solve X.

If you just demanded antivirus, I would never even mention SELinux because it is something completely different. But in an open-minded discussion about security and tools that help? Yes, SELinux should come up.

Hence why helpful people may indeed disregard the demand for AV and try to steer the discussion into the need for AV in general and then towards other technologies that are relevant to security. But if the OP has started with an attitude that they have 30 years of experience and they know it all and won't accept anything except the thing they just demanded, the discussion will not take place because it'll turn into a stupid argument long before that, and will get locked long before going into a fruitful direction. Not really the community's fault if the OP gets so agitated when their preconceptions and demands are challenged. No. But I am surprised that people start insulting the Linux community for trying to help the newbie understand that Linux isn't Windows and that for quite a few things, you just have to accept that things work differently and you'll have to adapt your ways or start working on a new solution for your problem if it really is that important. Or just stick to windows. This isn't saying "your kind isn't wanted here", this is just saying that sorry, the exact thing you want probably doesn't exist -- here's how we live with it and you're welcome to try the same and we'll be more than happy to help if issues arise. If it was assurance that you'll be secure enough or that you'll find a way to make backups, the community can help with that. But if you're after assurance that things work exactly the way you demand they work, that is going to be much harder to grant. At this point it's not the community's attitude that is hindering adoption, it's the person making the demands hindering themselves with their own attitude.

Sorry I missed this, what was this about?

At least at work we are every night taking full backups of lots of Linux servers that are running 24/7. Also I don't think there is anything preventing one to even copy the whole filesystem of a running Linux system to somewhere else?

https://www.vinchin.com/linux-backup/backup-and-restore-linux-server.html

The linked thread was specifically talking about live image backups. Images, as in what you'd get if you dd'd an entire disk or partition, and live as in done while the system is running and operational (using dd to backup mounted filesystems is not a great idea).

There were some additional demands, like that it must work with ext4 and must support restoring individual files.

Oh well then. I'm not fully sure why I'd want to use e.g. dd specifically for that, copying also "empty" spaces (possibly containing old data). I'd probably use rsync excluding directories which don't make much sense to backup, and maybe create a compressed tar.gz out of that to save space. From that you could also recover individual files, if needed.

But maybe the OP would take such a suggestion negatively, as if I am not listening to his exact demands...

For what's worth, Linux Mint comes with a tool to perform backups very similar to what Windows use, except is simple and it works. I belive the name is Timeshift, have to check.

Other than that MX Linux is built around the possibility and easyness (does this word even exists?) of making USB drives with your own system. Is able to (without lots of effort of knowledge) to make backups and restore, as well as turning your current system, including settings, files and programs into a installable live USB.

Both of the options mentioned above don't use the dreaded comand-line terminal (well, not using is not true, is more of a "don't expose to the user"), you can do it with nothing but mouse clicks, except inserting names and password.

Edit: Timeshift links for those who care:
https://github.com/linuxmint/timeshift
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Timeshift

Yeah TimeShift seems ok for the same purpose as System Restore in Windows. It is meant mainly to revert back any system changes.

If he wants backups from his personal (/home) documents, then something else is possibly needed. I don't recall for now if TimeShift lets you add your home directories there too, maybe it does, but they are excluded by default so that you can restore an earlier system status without losing any new or updated documents.

For my current computer, it's just fine, but it'll need to be changed someday, and good luck with new hardware support. And even if it'd exist, installing Win 7 from scratch now and getting it up to date (as far as the updates went) without breaking something is bound to be a heck of a lot of pain.
That's a political speech... If you complain about one major candidate, it doesn't mean you prefer the other, it means that one doesn't represent you and their program goes against what you want, need or believe in. The other may well be even worse, but that doesn't change those facts.
Well, if we're going with the arguments made by others on here that there's far too much choice in Linux, if someone comes and asks which of the hundreds of distros and/or countless tools offers what they want, what definitely seems unreasonable is to say that none does. Where's all that choice when you need it? (I mean, this is another very solid argument against that "too much choice" speech and in favor of the "Linux is Linux is Linux" that's being said. There are plenty of ways in which the choice is more illusory than it appears.)
Yes, it is unreasonable to expect a user to be a dev. That thing about what keeps the Linux share so small. Even the slightest hint of that expectation will make the vast majority of computer users run for the hills.
And you get hardware for what it can do... (On the other hand, one of the reasons why I got a Roccat mouse was that I did think long term and saw that there used to be a Linux version of the software, 3rd party but endorsed by them... But it was discontinued years ago.) And it is a question of how hardware-related tools work in virtualization. Plus that they may be needed often. And you mentioned one problem with using Windows sparingly earlier, which is paying for it. As long as it's paid, if someone coughs up the money for it, they won't be inclined to just use it for a few specific things, rarely. (To preempt the next question, yeah, if I paid for Windows, I'd pay for Linux too. But only if it'd offer me what I want, not if I need to deal with what it wants to offer me and "adapt" by changing how I use a computer. I mean, that sort of demand, in other aspects, is why I won't use any newer Windows, after all. And if that sort of thing is enough to drive me away from what I've been using, in various iterations, for the past 30+ years, any hint of it will obviously also stop me from moving to something new.)
Did look at APCUPSD, but seems to have also been discontinued and can now just handle the shutdown part, no longer offering the monitoring data for newer models, see latest reviews.
Where it starts is very important. If (potential) user asks what to use to do X and the first replies offer some options and start discussing how to set them up and use them to achive the closest thing to what was asked, there is room for discussion. If those first answers question the "need" for what was asked or say that it's an unreasonable demand or claim that the platform as a whole lacking a functionality that exists in the competing one isn't an inherent flaw of it (which, again, doesn't mean that the other is overall better or caters to the group said user is part of, it's just a matter of admitting that this one has its own major flaws and the group said user is part of is dismissed by it just as well), then there's not.
Hence drive the person away...
That's what I saw, that TimeShift is like System Restore, which I don't trust in the least and never use, so I'd carry that lack of trust there too.

I'd be looking for something like Windows' Image Backup tool, make a full image of the system and boot partitions while the system's running (optionally others too, but there's no need, as for non-system files that aren't in use at the time of backup you have robocopy, also built in), then if needed boot from the repair disk (the utility can create that too if you want) and restore that image, getting everything exactly as it was then, with the system acting as if booting back up after being forcefully shut down at the time the backup was made, which didn't cause any problems in my experience so far. And while the backup and restore tool won't let you access individual files from such an image on its own, you can always mount the image and access whatever file you want that way.

So I'm not saying that something like that doesn't exist, I'm saying I don't know whether it does or not, looked it up and found others asking and being told that it doesn't.

Oh, about the terminal, I actually like using it :)

Yes, you understand the facts, so you ought to also understand why people may have to explain that if you're going for candidate X, you may have to compromise on something and perhaps try to adjust your point of view -- there's no perfect candidate for you. The same problem that comes up in choosing a candidate comes in choosing an OS. You are misdirecting the discussion and ignoring the point I made. You complained that the community has an attitude problem and they are telling people that "your kind isn't wanted", even though nobody said that. I was discussing and looking at supposed attitude problem from a different perspective, which reveals that in a lot of cases the one making demands at the Linux community (and then following up with insults) might have an attitude problem.

How does the question of whether there is enough choice or not have anything to do with said attitude problem? That's completely OT.

I shouldn't even need to address the argument you've made here because it is so incredibly stupid but..

Yes, there is choice. Choice is good. Choice isn't magic, so don't act like an entitled prick when the community can't grant you exactly the thing you demand. You're being unreasonable when you think that anyone can make a demand and be granted whatever they want. It is entirely reasonable to say that sorry, that choice isn't available.

If anything, the problem seems to be that there should be even more choice to meet your special needs. You're more than welcome to contribute, that's how choice is born.

Just like.. right now, I can't seem to find a car that meets my preferences, and my rusty 17-year-old car is nearing its end of life. So from my point of view, right now there isn't enough choice on the market. I ask around for recommendations, and I am not going to insult the "car community" for questioning whether I really need such and such feature and perhaps trying to recommend a car that they think would suit me, despite not meeting my exact preferences.

Chances are I'm already aware of the car they would recommend, and have already mentally dismissed it, so it can be a bit irritating to see such a recommendation.. but they can't possibly know how I feel about it and they aren't doing it out of malice -- they are doing their best to help me solve my problem. And the reality is that I will have to accept some compromise, because it would be unreasonable to except that the car that magically meets all my requirements just appears when I demand it. So even those recommendations that I've preliminarily rejected.. well, I might still have to keep them in mind and accept that one of these might just be the best possible compromise -- and that's exactly what someone making the recommendation would've hoped to give me. Don't pretend that was the only solution I offered, I offered plenty. That solution won't apply to the vast majority of computer users, but it is still there!

The vast majority of people are not so uptight as this 71-year-old know-it-all who insists things work exactly the way he demands. So one of the alternative solutions may work for them.

And still, a lot of people start contributing when they realize they can and they see an unfulfilled need. Someone who boasts about their 30 years of experience? No, it is not completely unreasonable to expect that, just like the rest of the individual contributors in the community, they become a productive member of the community and make what they want.

(Of course, someone who's boasting about their age and years of experience on a forum is probably some arrogant d*** who vastly overestimates their own skill and is never going to contribute anything except more whining, lol.)

It is also unreasonable to expect that all your wishes are granted without you lifting a finger for it. And *still* the community is at least trying to help people figure out a compromise. And still you insult the community for not granting your wishes or not responding exactly the way you want. Completely unreasonable.

So yeah.. one can choose to be an entitled prick who won't accept any compromise, won't accept any discussion, won't accept any negotiation, and won't contribute, and will insult. And still complain that the attitude problem is with the Linux community..

Yes. To that kind of attitude, I wouldn't hesitate to say "your kind isn't wanted here."

Thankfully most people are a little more social and accepting of differences. They will either find a compromise, or leave it be without hurling insults at the community for not meeting the special needs.

Yeah terminal isn't too bad. Of course I grew up with having to use dos for some games so maybe that's why?

I tend to vote for others if options exist, the good scenario being when one of the minor candidates actually seems relatively good, and otherwise just choosing one with no chances to do my part, however little, in reducing the percentage of valid votes going to the major candidates, to show there is a demand for something different and people left unrepresented at all.
And then, whether I do that or end up forced to vote for the lesser evil of the major candidates, whether because it's a two round vote or because the only other options are even worse, I will clearly state during the entire period that I'm voting against the other(s), not for that one, and then vehemently criticize whoever wins, and even participate in protests if a critical mass gathers, or even in small ones if they seem trustworthy enough.
But I'm not seeing that open criticism in the Linux community, admitting that they consider it the lesser evil compared to current Windows versions but it has this whole list of flaws of its own that should preferably be fixed in the foreseeable future. Instead, I'm seeing just that political speech coming from the supporters of one major candidate, lashing out against anyone criticizing them with something like "go to the other then, if they're so much better!".
Actually, you misdirected the discussion and ignored my point. This became an increasingly personal back and forth between us, but it started from those who were saying that the choice paralysis generated by the large number of distros is the main reason why you don't have more Windows users switching to Linux and me countering that and listing a number of other reasons that actually prevent people from switching, then added one more reason, the answers given to those who ask how to get something that they have on Windows on Linux, challenging the validity of their desire, rejecting the fact that the lack of a direct and complete Linux equivalent is a problem with Linux and saying that it is in fact a problem of the person who wants that thing. (Which you also say. in so many words, just now.)
So it was taken from the point of view of what has more of a negative impact on the likelihood of a Windows user switching to Linux than the number of distros. Specifically, I was saying that there's a significant negative influence on the number of Windows users who switch to Linux when a Windows user asks, or looks for existing discussions about, how to get an exact Linux equivalent of something that they're used to having on Windows and sees answers that question why do they need that and say that they must adapt to what Linux does offer instead of guiding them to the closest equivalent from what's currently available AND readily admitting that the lack of a direct and complete equivalent is a flaw of Linux AND that the (existing) Linux (dev) community really should work on creating one in the foreseeable future.
Do you disagree that that is the case, that Windows users who may be more or less open to the idea of switching to Linux are discouraged when they see those answers?
Heh, in that specific user's case... If you think you'll make a 71 y/o man change his ways, in anything, all I can say is good luck.

Now, back on topic. The question was why is the number of people using Linux so low compared to those using Windows, so why don't more Windows users switch to Linux. And something that was brought up is why people would want to switch away from Windows. And I'd say that the top reasons for that would be:
- The on-line requirement (on Windows 11).
- The lack of control of updates (forced, installing without explicit consent, changing settings, not being able to pick and choose to install only what you want when you do want some).
- The reduced support period (instead of being able to keep one Windows version and get several years of full support and several more of security updates and bugfixes, as of Win 10 relatively frequent major version updates are required to maintain support).
- Telemetry gathering and sending and other privacy concerns.
- Not liking the changes to the UI.
- The amount of system resources used by the OS, and the number of background processes and tasks that run.
- Concerns about Windows becoming a walled garden in the future, with software being restricted to what's sold through the Microsoft Store or otherwise vetted by MS.
- Concerns about Windows dropping support for 32-bit software.
(Feel free to add, this is what comes to my mind.)
So, for the purposes of getting more (currently or potentially) dissatisfied Windows users to switch to Linux, the best way would be to avoid those problems, but otherwise make sure that, among the many options provided by the Linux "ecosystem", some exist that create direct and complete equivalents to everything else offered by Windows.
Would you disagree with that?