Many, Viscountexx of Chitin

so a pattern i see a lot, MAINLY across various computer related fields, is someone responding to a thing labeled as "easy" with "oh my god no it's not?" from someone who has never done a task anything like the one they're trying to do. and i'm not going to say people are wrong for this reaction! partially, here, i think that pushing people into your hobbyist activities like installing linux or self hosting your own website by labeling them as super easy for Anyone to do, is iffy. bad practice, even.

however™, in these situations, i think about hobbies outside computers. and this is aimed at both prospective project-doers, and project-creators who want people to use their stuff! but like, go look at a "beginner"... sewing project, for example. for a beginner sewing project, you need:

• at least a needle, if you're not doing machine stitching - i would argue using a machine can still be a beginner activity, but that's up for debate - you should still know how to use a sewing machine if you're gonna use one. that's a power tool and it CAN hurt you.
• knowledge of how to thread a needle
• thread
• fabric
• pins or tape
• an iron
• knowing how to make at LEAST one type of stitch and finish it so your shit doesn't come unraveled

these things are obtainable! not expensively, you might even have all of them already. or some of them! and you can often look up specific tutorials for the stitches you need, or you might look up "hey my fabric is bunching up, why" and find some useful guides on how to prevent it. but it doesn't make the project not easy for the field of sewing. a good tutorial for a beginner project SHOULD include at least information like "if you don't know what this is, here's where to get that info" if not full explanations.

note: to the people making tech projects? put this shit in your docs/tutorials. do not assume someone knows what a firewall, a port, or a router is if it's a self hosting project. don't assume they know what SWAP is if they're setting up a linux machine! give ppl the opportunity to learn.

but the big problem i see happening a lot is that "using a computer" is a vague broad field that has all its skills globally transferrable. "know how to use a computer? then installing linux should be easy!" is a silly statement because these fields are all different but connected:

• programming
• playing video games
• using a word processor or other GUI applications
• using a terminal for text commands
• networking
• digital audio
• chatting with your friends on the internet
• building PCs
• modding laptops
• and much much more!

a field of hobbyist craft will always have a different set of required prior knowledge and tools than another field. installing linux is easy if:

• you understand what an operating system is
• you have hard drives and a spare usb stick
• you have access to another computer in case something is messed up
• you understand what hard drive partitions are
• you understand what a filesystem is
• and again, much more - there's a lot of requisite knowledge!

this means it's not something anyone can just do without any research or time investment. which is, again, true of every single hobby. maybe you can sketch but you struggle with lineart, or you don't own paint. that's okay. you're not an expert in everything. but you can learn, and you shouldn't put the cart before the horse unless that's how you learn (i sure fucking do. i'm absolutely gonna sew a plushy or a bag as my first real sewing project since i was a kid.)

i hope this ramble made sense! 💖