Isn’t just awkward that you use a different app? How do you explain?
I was asked by a friend of the family why I had to “mod” everything, “You make it all so it doesn’t work right!”
…because “working right” in this day and age is a privacy nightmare, a security disaster, and relinquishing your rights, duh! Then I asked her how much the lawyer cost to understand what she’s agreeing to in all the EULAs of services she’s signed up for just to make things “work right”.
You don’t. Enjoy better, faster and more effective software and laugh when their shot breaks.
I practically never need to. I’ll find a way to make things work one way or another.
I don’t.
I would never tell them how I do stuff unprompted. If they ask I’ll vaguely tell them because I suck at lying but no specifics.
The better question asked is:
How do they explain to you that they don’t?
It is the superior choice, doesn’t have ads, doesn’t try to sell you shit, it never updates without your permission, it doesn’t spy on you, it doesn’t sell your data, it is the superior choice, and penguins be cute.
Do NOT tell anybody in the office that you use Libre Office.
If you do, you will be blamed for every problem anyone encounters.Font size looks incorrect - Carl’s fault for using libre office to edit the file (even though you never worked on that project at all).
Paper jamb in the printer - Carl’s fault for printing a document from that weird libre office program.
I got fired for saying something racist on twitter - Carl’s fault for using that weirdo libre shit.
Can second this. After becoming the tech person of my household most issues are now “my fault” I dont really mind in my situation but if it was the entire workplace, not good.
Second this. People who don’t understand tech blame anything that’s different for their problems even if unrelated.
This isn’t isolated to tech and is how bigotry persists
For work, I have a work computer with a build on it provided by work.
If your work is letting/having you use something different, then explanations shouldn’t be needed. If youre doing this on your own, that may be a problem.
At my work, anybody can have Windows, Mac, or Linux. Each have an approved set of software that they can use. If it’s not on the approved list, and it’s something freely available and gets regular security updates, it’s usually not a problem to get it on the list.
I don’t have to explain to my co-workers what software I use. Most of the time, it’s cloud-based or web-based and universal, anyway.
this was my thought.
I don’t owe my co-workers any explanation.
Literally no one will care. Just make sure that your documents works well for them.
“Ewww, Windowsssss!”
Pinch my nose, spray my fingers with hand sanitizer, then walk away from their desk.
Hit them with a final “Yuck” as you walk away.
Does this actually cause compatibility issues? If not, no need to explain
Why would it be awkward? Most non-technical people are so thrown by my white-text-on-black desktop theme that they can’t even tell what software I’m using, and the few technical people around know that I have Opinions about software and aren’t interested in talking about it. Keeping everything adequately compatible with the company-issued software is my problem.
“Hey, I never liked Office 365, Microsoft as a company and all the Cloud shenanigans… And have you noticed how their products all become shittier and more invasive by the day? All while they increase subscription price each year now to finance all the AI stuff I rarely use? I’m a long-term fan of this other product, called XYZ which is just better in every aspect. No offense. If you want me to send you a link…”
(Edit: It’ll become easier after a while. At some point they all know you’re a Linux nerd and disassembled your wifi router at home, dishwasher… To get rid of proprietary spy components. And people will deliberately decide to listen to your opinion and lengthy rant, or make an effort to not bring up the topic 😆 At that point, you’re relatively free to speak your mind… Just read the room a bit. The goal isn’t to annoy people.)
I think that will really help if you really need to explain lol. Yeah, tell them you’re a nerd, that’s why!
Hehe. It depends a bit on the social group. But most people will be aware of it before I even open my mouth… Dunno, maybe it’s the long hair, or Debian t-shirt or something like that. But I rarely have to (verbally) disclose the fact I’m a nerd 😉 There’s some danger of confusion with the metalheads, but you know, people can fulfill several stereotypes simultaneously, so… confusion avoided…
