I think it was always pretty rare for them to make actually interesting videos. Now (well for years) the labor situation is shit as well.

Most of the comments here are very wrong, assuming the worst, or deliberately have their head in the sand about some of the controversies and the reality of those situations.

LTT is casual-ish tech - not as mainstream casual as MKBHD ot UrAvgConsumer, but way more casual than say, Craft Computing.

I consume a ludicrous amount (and wide range) of TechTube and have seen plenty of controversies and have ditched plenty of channels due to scandals. GamersNexus used to be a favorite. Emphasis on past tense. They did a lot of deliberate hit pieces on LTT and it’s rather well documented - Zip Tie Tuning/Tech by Alex has a fantastic video shedding light on the misbehavior of GamersNexus - plenty of other folks also covered their motivations and unfair approach. Linus is a character - and definitely can be emotional - but his dialogue attempts with Steve were commendable - Steve just decided to be a whiny baby instead. Self-stylized “journalist” one might say.

Controversies fanned by GN are what rendered a lot of people anti-LTT, and unable to rectify their views once the attacks impacted. LTT had plenty to criticize (and I do), but the GN attack topics were not them.

I almost ditched LTT and boycotted them after all those attacks. But once the smoke cleared and reality made itself known, I was pleasantly surprised to have not knee-jerk reacted.

LTT like all channels is beholden to nonsense algorithmic marketing that all channels suffer, so I’ve noted more clickbaity behavior in recent videos.

I’m a far-left, pro-union, Linux-loving, Windows-hating, Apple-hating, Big Tech-hating, anti-sexual assault, anti-billionaire, pro-little guy type of person.

I consider LTT to be edutainment with more good impact than bad. They’ll suffer some of the pitfalls of capitalism with some aggressive marketing. They’ll naturally need to compete in the YT space. But the characters running the show seem to have their heads screwed on right and their morals in a good place. They will make mistakes. The WAN show sheds light on it - including at times Linus’ difficulty in handling blame. But he also often comes around - and all things considered I’m not too mad about that as his primary negative trait.

I don’t love the private plane purchase but there’s so much more nuance to that with an intended sell of it than others give allowance to understand.

Also I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight Linus’ pro-trans (and broadly, LGBTQ+) approach - his support/ready defense of Emily when she came out was great to see.

They are more entertainment and light education. They are trying to target a very wide audience, so they can’t really do deep on things. For actually learning I like LearnLinuxTV and LawrenceSystems.

Its just tech entertainment with surface level knowledge at most nothing useful but the vids are fun to watch while I eat something

No.

I used to watch Emily’s videos but she’s gone now.

It used to be yes. No, not anymore really.

Most of the hate comes from Gamers Nexus, which is an extremely self-indulgent, self-aggrandizing YouTube that seems to pick fights with everyone and treats the Rampocalypse like every board partner is at fault. He is an expert at making hay.

I wish someone could give him a hair scrunchy.

I got into following the channel rather late, like, around 2017.

Linus has absolutely said some cavalier things, and his channel has a strong history if admitting their faults when they are called out.

They mostly stay in their own lane and don’t go picking fights, plus as a policy they don’t sue people they don’t have to, even when slandered, so being as popular as they are and being as passive as they are, thsts a pretty big bulls eye on their backs.

Tl:Dr - - nothing reprehensible about the channel, just very advertiser-friendly and easy to snark on.

Thin education through entertainment, passing as tech and product reviews. Quality is subjective, but they are the bare minimum right after mkbhd/marques brownlee.

“The Problem with Linus Tech Tips: Accuracy, Ethics, & Responsibility” (44:14mins) by Gamers Nexus on August 14, 2023: YouTube or Invidious or Internet Archive

This video is not monetized. This video covers our serious concerns regarding the data accuracy of Linus Media Group, including Linus Tech Tips, ShortCircuit, and TechQuickie, particularly as it relates to rushing content out the door to favor – by staff’s own admission – quantity over quality. As the company continues to expand into its LTT Labs direction, the importance of accurate data increases; however, even as ‘only’ entertainment, there are still certain responsibilities to the consumer and the manufacturers to report fairly (and to have defined corrections processes in place). We tried to approach this as objectively as possible and hope that viewers are able to listen to the evidence we present, particularly as it relates to significant and frequent data errors that now present in nearly every technical review video.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - The Last 2 Weeks
01:40 - LMG is Rushing Too Much: Establishing the Premise
03:48 - LTT's Own Employees Agree
06:58 - This Isn't "Drama" & Risks
09:05 - Bad Data from Linus Tech Tips
10:12 - GPU Review Errors
15:02 - CPU Cooler Test Errors
19:09 - PSU Review Errors
19:53 - CPU Review Errors
22:39 - Asterisked Errors
26:15 - Ethical Concerns: Irresponsible Actions & Conflicts
28:21 - Ethical Concerns: The Review of Billet Labs
34:49 - Ethical Concerns: 'Not-Review' of Pwnage Mouse
36:53 - UNACCEPTABLE & The Community is Disturbing
39:22 - Unfair to Consumers, Manufacturers, & Reviewers

New video after Linus Tech Tips responds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3byz3txpso (only from 00:48 to 12:57 part)

LTT always seemed like somebody who doesn’t know wtf they’re talking about, but pretends to and appeals to people who know even less to make them feel smart. I can’t stand the dude.

He hate unions. Doesn’t pay his workers fairly. Drives a porsche. Has a private jet. Knew that honey was scamming him with the last click affiliate links switcheroo and instead of exposing them he quietly ended there sponsorship with them.

Also the 2 - 3 sponsor breaks plus the “at ltt store dot com” self promotion every 5 minutes really makes the videos unbearable to watch even with sponsor block.

Let alone all the non compete shit with his workers as well as the working atmosphere that was reported by some of the workers.

Despite all the criticism against them that I agree with I still personally like then and click in their videos every now and then.

What I appreciate the most is the are constantly pushing Linux often even if they are misguided, and they have a large audience of rather normal people.

I do think they are positively contributing to linuxs growth, and helps normalize devices like the steam deck.

We need more casual stupid users for Linux to ever hit the year of the desktop.

watch the video of linus buying a private jet and see if that’s the kind of guy you wanna support

I’m pretty sure Linus doesn’t know how to use a computer.
Hardware-wise, he knows how to put things together and modify it to suit his purpose but when it comes to installing and using software, he has no fucking idea what he’s doing.

The two Linux challenges that he has participated in has made this clear for most of us Linux users…
But it’s not just Linux he struggles with, he makes all the same fails with windows all the time.

No. Fell off a very long time ago.