What do a clinical psychologist from Queensland, an artist from Atlanta, a bio-behavioural scientist from North Carolina, and a tech engineer from Hungary have in common? In spite of their different levels of tech knowledge, all four converted to Linux within the last six months to regain control of their privacy and data.
Nearly a year ago, reports of millions of new Linux downloads signalled a shift in attitude amongst average digital users. The catalyst was the end of free support for Windows 10, followed by Microsoft’s aggressive promotion of Windows 11 and increasingly intrusive data-collection practices that sparked user dissatisfaction.
While ever-expanding surveillance seems to be the hallmark of major tech companies, increasingly user-friendly Linux desktop environments and installation programs, along with LLMs eager to help with configuration issues, are enabling even the least tech-savvy users to reclaim their digital freedom.
TechRadar spoke to those who have already switched to Linux to understand their reasons, how difficult it was to change operating systems, and whether we all need to do so to really be more private online.
Why switch to Linux
Bio-behavioural scientist Christopher Smith says he had no programming experience when he decided to switch. After 25 years using Microsoft, he became increasingly frustrated with the operating system forcing him to accept software and services he never requested.
"Windows was preventing me from managing my laptop freely, thereby depriving me of autonomy in my digital choices," Smith tells TechRadar. "I paid for my laptop, but I felt as though Microsoft was deciding how I could use it."
As Smith looked for alternatives, he first tried Linux from a bootable USB stick before moving on to a dual-boot system. "I didn’t even know the term 'Linux Distribution' at first; I thought it was something for developers or hackers."
Choosing a beginner-friendly Mint distro with a Cinnamon desktop environment helped the transition, as it featured a familiar ‘point-and-click’ interface similar to Windows rather than dropping him straight into an often terrifying command line interface.
Since then, Smith hasn’t looked back. Using LLMs to gather information and engage with digital communities, he has quickly learned terminal commands. He recently bought a laptop running a fully Linux-based operating system and a desktop computer on which he is setting up his own Linux server. "I won’t have to rely on Big Tech anymore."
Smith even sparked curiosity among his colleagues as they saw him booting Linux from USB at work. "After that, two colleagues tried it, and they have now told me they are exploring it further," he says.
It’s a privacy game
But is this all really necessary? Or are Smith and his newfound voyagers simply uncovering a new interest — useful, but ultimately just something that piqued their curiosity?
Imre Lóránt Dévai, a Budapest-based technical engineer who recently transitioned to Linux, certainly believes in the former. He told TechRadar:
"Data collection can affect more than privacy: the software companies use to collect data may also consume computer resources, such as CPU, memory, or internet bandwidth. Some people therefore block it both to limit tracking and to reclaim control and resources."
Lóránt Dévai uses his Logitech mouse and its installation process as a micro-example. "On Windows, even managing its buttons and firmware required Logitech software, an account, and an app running in the background. On Linux, I instead wrote simple scripts for the functions I actually needed, such as mapping the buttons and checking the battery," he said.
For Brisbane-based psychologist Aaron Frost, the decision to leave Microsoft stemmed from his professional ethics and the need to protect his patients’ confidentiality.
Specifically, Frost began harbouring doubts about the behaviour of Big Tech following Microsoft’s Recall incident — the AI-powered Copilot feature that periodically captured screenshots of users’ activity to create a searchable history.
"We work in health, and the Australian Privacy Principles treat all health data as sensitive, and I couldn’t see a way you could use Windows and be compliant, so I grabbed an old Windows machine and wiped it," Frost told TechRadar.
Choosing the right distro was the biggest challenge as he moved from Ubuntu to Fedora and Gnome to find the one best suited to his needs — something that in the past may have been a real barrier to adoption.
"I don’t think I would have pushed through the first week without LLMs. The fact that Claude or Gemini or ChatGPT know terminal and know Linux totally removes that barrier to entry," Frost explains.
NEW: Leave No Trace — A weekly newsletter on digital privacy and online surveillance.
Leave No Trace investigates the companies and governments putting our digital freedom at risk — and the people fighting back.
📩 Subscribe now to get every edition delivered to your inbox every Friday, launching this September.
AI as a learning ally
Indeed, LLMs are playing a significant part in making Linux less overwhelming than it used to be. "AI can be a patient, nonjudgmental 'virtual admin' that can help people who might otherwise feel intimidated by online forums," explains Lóránt Dévai.
For beginners, the Budapest-based tech engineer recommends using an agent within the terminal rather than an AI assistant service, as this may be more convenient than copying commands from the browser’s chat window.
Cloud-based AI may be fine for setting up a fresh system with no personal files, he explains, but once private photos or documents are on the computer, using a privacy-focused or local model is recommended to keep your data safe.
Although useful, LLMs are not without risks and require cross-checking. "For anything that could delete or change important data, it’s wise to check what the AI proposes before letting it act," Lóránt Dévai stresses.
In the same vein, Atlanta-based graphic artist Dan Rodda has been using LLMs only experimentally during his transition to Linux, including Mistral coding models, and checking their input. He finds them useful for routine technical questions but cautions that answers can be subtly wrong.
"I have occasionally consulted open LLMs for technical help but often have to double-check their solutions," says Rodda. "I think local AI has promising potential to be an automation toolset but have yet to leverage it personally."
How to stop relying on Big Tech
As they continue to progress, the four people interviewed by TechRadar all agreed that switching to Linux meant increasing their detachment from Big Tech.
"My views towards Big Tech have been pretty grim for quite a while, but now it feels like they aren’t even trying to maintain a social license, so I actually enjoy the process of finding a free solution to a service and then migrating and cancelling the subscription," Brisbane-based psychologist Frost explains.
"I have gotten progressively more disenchanted by Big Tech with their greed and surveillance," Atlanta-based graphic artist Rodda adds. "Switching to Linux is an ethical and self-respecting choice in my view. I have substituted most of my cloud storage, search engine use, and personal productivity software with open source or privacy-respecting stuff. I also run a privacy-oriented system on my Google Pixel called GrapheneOS."
Bio-behavioural scientist Smith lists all the software he uses to replace Big Tech. "I've left Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome, and I've moved over to Brave Browser and also Vivaldi."
Budapest-based tech engineer Lóránt Dévai, the most tech-experienced across the group, is even building a home lab — using an old Linux laptop to run services for himself, and reducing his reliance on tech companies. This entails hosting his own search service instead of Google search, running Pi-hole to manage or filter DNS requests rather than relying on Google, self-hosting Bitwarden to store his passwords, and setting up alternative self-hosting to Google Analytics so that the data stays on infrastructure he controls rather than going to a large third-party provider.
"It’s a gradual move towards more control over my data and services," he explains.
In the future, they all would like to de-Google. "Google has decades of my personal information that's already been harvested and scraped, and you know the telemetry of just using their free services because you are the product," Rodda says.
"There's a plan to totally de-Google, but that's a much bigger nut to crack, I think, because I'm tied to the Google environment in various ways, so it's really hard to cut those one by one," Lóránt Dévai adds.
Would you switch to Linux, too?
If you, too, are thinking of making the switch, Lóránt Dévai recommends starting with small steps, trying out Linux first and being mindful of the data that an AI tool can access.
Rodda is very practical. "Take inventory of what you need in your digital life, what you actually use, then do a little research to find out what would be a good fit and try it out for a week. Distro-findere.com and distrochooser.de are good places to start."
Lóránt Dévai recommends experimenting before installing. "Boot a Linux distribution from a USB drive to see how it looks and works. If you like it, you can install it later," he says. You can also keep Windows and Linux side by side with a dual-boot setup and experiment with different distros to find the most suitable for you. The rest will come, they promise.
Ultimately, all our interviewees confirmed that their need to break free from Big Tech’s surveillance far outweighed the sense of familiarity that had previously kept them tied to Windows. Although it’s a small sample, the number of users switching to Linux looks set to rise, as Linux distros become easier to use and LLMs help newcomers regain control over their digital footprint.
"During the switch, I was amazed at the number of people who post in the Linux Mint subreddit that say: I finally made the switch, and oh my god, why didn’t anybody tell me before it was going to be this amazing," says Smith.
As ever, the Linux rabbit hole can run deep. And it is no secret that the switch has incredible potential for improving your privacy. But with many benefits now as simple as loading up a USB stick and your favourite LLM, one has to wonder: what exactly is stopping you today?
