In a way its understandable: It looks flashy, “hackery” and is a complete departure from the Windows or Mac GUI which avoids an “uncanny valley” of usability. Also it is pretty easy to install (i would argue, even more easy than many mainstream distributions), couple that with the positive PR that it got by some Youtube people and you have a road to success for this distro.
Honestly i have encountered both situations… especially with older folks (say, 60 - 80 years old) i made the astounding observation that they more often than not want to UNDERSTAND why the computer does this or that.
It depends on the viewpoint:
Is it better a new user is forced to learn how things really work to become a literate operator of the technology he uses or is it better to let him bypass the mechanics with convenient tools at the cost of him never fully grasping how things tick?
Just so you know, this can come across condescending. I’m not going to say that was your intention, but that is absolutely how it would be read.
Just to clarify: It is not meant that way, it is meant as an “Okay, i understand what you say but i will take anything i read online with a truckload of salt - no offense”
I am not involved in the Ladybird project, do not really follow the development or the community thereof in any close fashion, so i do not want to take any sides here. What i can say for sure after spending ~ 30 years online is, that the net often amplifies drama beyond any rational measure… so, until i find the time and energy to look into that (unlikely) i will stay with a neutral “oookay…”
Well, as far as i have observed this (from safe distance, far, far away…) Andreas Kling rejected a proposal from a new contributor to change documentation to use gender neutral terms… and as usual with those things, people tend to get mad.
Edit: A simple to the people downvoting: Why?
Yeah, he got a bit nuts over time… but i still watch him for his shit stirring and his ranting - but sometimes, even now, he still unearths really interesting bits like that one.
I would recommend either Debian or Devuan - both are absolutely rock stable and are a good entry level drug for the Debian based ecosystem. I personally like Devuan more (it just feels more mature and has more old mature community members).
Why? Just ride the lightning and live the hacker lifestyle!
(Just kidding… perhaps those people have an image of their Windows installation on some external HDD)