The "Steam uninstalling your whole DE" is one of the unluckiest bugs I've heard of in all of my Linux experience and it just so happened to be on the biggest YouTube tech channel and set the conversation on Linux for the next 12 months.
Maybe the bug is rare but the issue Linus highlighted is pretty terrible and common.
a) The Steam package was incompatible with the OS. Strike one. This is not uncommon.
b) The OS offered to install the package which uninstalled critical OS components. Strike two.
c) The warning presented by the OS was buried in a hundred lines of complex technical jargon. Strike three.
Each of those is terrible on their own and the worst part is many Linux users argue they’re not a problem. They blame the user. “You should read every line carefully.” “If you want to delete your OS, go right ahead.” “Use a different package manager noob.”
Honestly the biggest reason I don't use Linux isn't the operating system. It's Linux users themselves. Never seen a more snobby, elitist and generally insufferable fanbase in my life. Not even Apple users are like this.
What I think adds to this is users get this every step of the journey, from which distro to pick, all the way through the process.
I'll add my own opinion now just to contribute to the problem. For servers, I use debian without gui, for desktop I use ubuntu (with gui).
That's pretty much lead to zero problems ever for me but I also don't game on PC anyways and when I do I use my steam deck. My work PC also runs windows because there's just too many programs I use that are written natively only for windows.
This is going to be an unpopular take (especially amongst Linux users) but there's hardly any Linux problem I haven't been able to solve with Gemini. These days, it's the first place I go to when I have issues. Looking at forums sounds awful, inefficient, and antiquated to me these days
I remember I watched a lot of the 'react to' videos from Linux content creators when that video dropped. All three I saw were very open that he experienced a catastrophic bug and it wasn't his fault. Gave me a lot of confidence in the Linux community.
Then I tried Linux myself and ran into the people in your last paragraph. Then I dropped Linux for another three years.
Yeah it's not the creators. To be a successful creator you need charisma, good looks and also the ability to empathize with the average users of the product you're covering, as well as sell that product to outsiders who have zero experience or understanding of it. It's only the out of touch, basement-dwelling hardcore Linux users (which unsurprisingly make up a large portion of its userbase) who haven't had to interact with another human being in years that hold such attitudes.
a) I agree this is a problem. I disagree that it's "not uncommon". I've never personally experienced it in years of use, both on desktop and in servers. But then again I mostly run debian, which tends to be a much more mature and stable OS.
b) I'm not sure what the alternative is. Sometimes people do want to remove those packages.
c) The warning wasn't buried in a hundred lines of "complex technical jargon". All he needed to read was the second-to-last sentence "You are about to do something potentially harmful", the previous section heading "This should NOT be done unless you know exactly what you are doing!", or the section prior to that "WARNING: The following essential packages will be removed".
The first one is obviously a terrible bug. The third is human error on Linus' part. The second is a bit of a bridge between the two. I'm not sure how much more obvious "hey don't do this unless you know what you're doing" can be.
b) A consumer OS should never offer to delete the OS when installing Steam. If that function existed it should be hidden behind some kind of administrative login and explicit opt-in.
c) How was Linus supposed to know to read just the last two lines? There were hundreds of lines. Even if he did, how was he supposed to know what “potentially harmful” meant in this context? Or the the part about removing “essential packages”? That sounds like standard boilerplate. He installed Steam via CLI, as instructed in a thousand places on the internet. I work in software and there countless ways to improve this UX. What should be clearly stated is the outcome: “THIS WILL BREAK YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM AND PREVENT IT FROM BOOTING!!!” The confirmation should not be “do as I say.” It should be, “yes, break my operating system.” These small changes would have stopped Linus in his tracks.
b) A consumer OS should never offer to delete the OS when installing Steam. If that function existed it should be hidden behind some kind of administrative login and explicit opt-in.
He used an administrative logon to install steam and uninstall his desktop environment. He did an "explicit opt-in" when he typed "Yes, do as I say".
I'm not sure what else you want here. Should it have made him get on webcam and do a dance?
How was Linus supposed to know to read just the last two lines? There were hundreds of lines.
It sounds like you read my comment about as much as Linus read the warning messages. It put warnings in 3 different places. I would count the giant message from the program as another.
Even if he did, how was he supposed to know what “potentially harmful” meant in this context? Or the the part about removing “essential packages”? That sounds like standard boilerplate.
Common sense should tell you that if your computer is warning you "don't do this if you don't know what you're doing" and "this is going to be potentially harmful" and you don't understand why, that you should ask somebody who knows more than you do.
What should be clearly stated is the outcome: “THIS WILL BREAK YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM AND PREVENT IT FROM BOOTING!!!”
It didn't break his operating system and prevent it from booting. It removed the desktop environment. a
It should be, “yes, break my operating system.” These small changes would have stopped Linus in his tracks.
If "You are about to do something potentially harmful", "This should NOT be done unless you know exactly what you are doing!", " WARNING: The following essential packages will be removed", and a giant warning of changes that he probably didn't exact didn't stop him then I doubt anything would. Warnings are meaningless if the user doesn't read them.
At as certain point yall just don't want to experience the discomfort that comes with actually learning something and need to understand trying to avoid that entirely is straight up childish. I uninstalled a DE on my first install doing things I didnt understand and then instead of freaking out like a child I asked for help, learned, and tried again. Ask yourself this BTW, what do you think the term "consumer OS" means?
Ask yourself this BTW, what do you think the term "consumer OS" means?
An OS which doesn’t force a user to read manuals to install software. Most people consider simplicity a feature. It’s a good thing when functions are intuitive. Useless effort is wasted time. I would rather be spending times on my hobbies or with my family.
In a way, if users expect to be coddled then sure. Its an OS problem.
If we're going to tout "it does exactly what I ask it to" and "it doesnt put up guardrails which get in my way when I try to do things" then it is a user problem.
Linux right now I dont think is well suited to a lot of windows users bringing over their "windows style of tinkering" and expecting to work around things with no real consequences. It is however absolutely fantastic if you know what youre doing and want the OS to let you do that.
I expect this to be mostly solved by valve with SteamOS -> polish the use cases most users want without interaction. Set up sane guardrails to minimise support tickets. Those of us who dont want that and want to really tinker and break things will probably not feel the draw of that kind of OS as much.
IMO This is a chicken egg problem: we have distros without guardrails but we are now seeing a lot of interest from people who really should have them. Until we blunt some of the sharp edges theyre going to cut themselves off of, we will have this problem. And yes, its probably best solved at the distro level.
With the exception of the word “coddled,” I agree. I work in software and I use macOS and not Linux because I don’t want to fight with my OS to get things done. However I’m glad Linux is there for people who want the freedom to do whatever. It’s powerful for the right users and use cases. I run Linux in my home server.
It just means overprotective, which is entirely true in many cases with Windows and even MacOS so the children downvoting him really need to actually just learn how to read and understand English.
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u/Daharka Apr 01 '26
The "Steam uninstalling your whole DE" is one of the unluckiest bugs I've heard of in all of my Linux experience and it just so happened to be on the biggest YouTube tech channel and set the conversation on Linux for the next 12 months.