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Ask HN: Why don’t you use Linux as your daily driver OS?

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Re: Ask HN: Why don’t you use Linux as your daily driver OS?

#241

Post by vladvasiliu »

captainmisery wrote: post #10

I'm using Windows 10. In the past year I've tried: Manjaro, Fedora, Linux Mint and some others. Why I'm not switching? Because every time I login there is something that needs a quick update or a quick fix. After I've tried Fedora the last time, I turned on my PC and the resolution of my monitor switched to 800x600 from the 1920x1080. There was no way of setting it back to the correct resolution. "Well, you know, you…

As others have said, it's funny how experiences differ. I have almost the same exact experience, only in reverse.

> After I've tried Fedora the last time, I turned on my PC and the resolution of my monitor switched to 800x600 from the 1920x1080. There was no way of setting it back to the correct resolution.

I have a 2560x1440 thunderbolt screen. For some reason, when if I let it go to sleep, it's very likely it won't wake up. Next, in order of probability is that it WILL wake up, but stuck at 1280x720. Sure, that's better than 800x600, at least it has the right format, but still. Display Preferences shows 1280x720 as the highest resolution. I can set it lower, though.

Then, even better, I have another screen, that does USB-C, with Display Port alternative mode. Everything works fine, at full resolution, all the way until the windows login screen. Here, it's extremely likely that the screen will go blank. In the rare event that it doesn't, as soon as I log in, the screen goes blank. I've tried reinstalling Windows from scratch, using the usb-c connection, no dice. The installer works, then on the last reboot, blank screen.

The computer in question is an HP EliteDesk with full Intel components, no exotic GPU or anything. Only "aftermarket" components are the RAM sticks.

Both screens work perfectly both on other computers and on the same computer under Linux (Arch), with no tweaking required.

Re: Ask HN: Why don’t you use Linux as your daily driver OS?

#242

Post by hiram112 »

muzani wrote: post #237
captainmisery wrote: post #10

I'm using Windows 10. In the past year I've tried: Manjaro, Fedora, Linux Mint and some others. Why I'm not switching? Because every time I login there is something that needs a quick update or a quick fix. After I've tried Fedora the last time, I turned on my PC and the resolution of my monitor switched to 800x600 from the 1920x1080. There was no way of setting it back to the correct resolution. "Well, you know, you…

I really like snapping windows to parts of the screen. Mac doesn't do this well. Linux, well, I do a search for it, and get this: https://askubuntu.com/questions/26346/how-to-use-window-snap... The first answer is great. That second answer is typical with every "how do I do anything in Linux" question. It's a chain of things I dread and I end up spending an hour because I forget to type "cd .scripts" and then get los…

> Do you Linux users just apply random advice like that off the internets without seeing what every line means?

This isn't just a Linux issue. I've used Windows many years, and the vast majority of solutions to problems is inserting some cryptic string into the registry and rebooting.

Though I eventually dumped Linux, too, a few years ago as the solutions to the weekly show-stopping bugs, driver issues, and kernel glitches constantly required the same type of unintelligible shell commands copied and pasted from some random blog. Unlike earlier days of Linux, the commands now were completely foreign to even long-time users of Linux who understood most of the main components of a standard Linux install. It would require modifying some file in /etc or using some sub-component or binary that I'd never ever heard of and had no idea why it was even included into my "base" install of Fedora or Redhat or whatever distro was downstream.

I blame mostly RedHat for this change; Systemd may not have always been the problem, but its design and complexity (compared to traditional minimal Unix "do one thing and do it well") is a good metaphor for how modern Linux has been bastardized into just another black-box like Windows, where your only solution for many problems is some esoteric command which must be pasted off of some RHEL paid-license-required mailing list.

Re: Ask HN: Why don’t you use Linux as your daily driver OS?

#243

Post by reacharavindh »

fsflover wrote: post #188
reacharavindh wrote: post #77

Three reasons. 1. Cohesiveness - there are many things Linux does excellently if done independently. But, when you want a cohesive experience to achieve a good user experience, it falls flat in its face. Examples: Have an excellent file system? Check. ZFS, ext4 and plenty more. May I expect a simple equivalent of a GUI file explorer in the class of Windows Explorer or Finder? Nope. There is not even thumbnail preview…

> 3. Reliability around on/off/on/off/suspend operations like that of a laptop. This is definitely caused by unsupported hardware. I'm using Linux for many years, suspend works 100% of the time on my Librem 15 and Lenovo.

Yes, I was sure there were few combinations of Linux Distro + Hardware manufacturer + Model number that would work fine 100% of the time for sleep issues. Now, would that combination also have decent battery life, decent display etc, Now, I will have to find the hours to go hunt for these details and reviews. You get my point... The ecosystem is simply not mature.

Re: Ask HN: Why don’t you use Linux as your daily driver OS?

#244

Post by nicbou »

MacOS mostly leaves me alone. It works as it should and never bothers me. It's simple and reliable and I never give it attention.

My experience with desktop Linux is that it's always on your mind, like an old motorcycle. You're always fiddling with something, listening for noises, keeping a mental model of its internals in your mind. Keeping it running involves knowing how a carburetor works, and having a few motorcycle forums on quick dial. You want to believe that it's better than an overengineered modern car, but you're always fiddling with it at red lights.

It's fun to mess with old motorcycles, but only when your goal is to mess with old motorcycles. Sometimes you want to Just Drive. That's why they're rarely your daily driver.

MacOS is the trusty sedan I need. Linux is the contraption I take out on the weekends.

Re: Ask HN: Why don’t you use Linux as your daily driver OS?

#245

Post by cpach »

I use Mac. I like the UI. And I firmly believe that there are great benefits when the hardware is made by the same company that made the OS.

I believe that Apple’s laptops are the best on thr market.

I also enjoy the apps. E.g. 1Password / Preview / Evernote / Skitch / Pingplotter / djay. great And Acorn. Acorn is great and I would really miss it if I switched back to Linux.

I love the fact that people can make a living of writing great apps for the OS I use. I gladly pay for that.

Re: Ask HN: Why don’t you use Linux as your daily driver OS?

#246

Post by lillecarl »

mcv wrote: post #213
Alan_Dillman wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah its funny how experiences differ. I was at my parents,and wanted to sketch out something for my dad. So I grabbed my mom's win10 laptop, went to the blender download location, downloaded, double clicked, got a popup about updates. Whatever, not my computer, not my problem. double click again. Again with the popup. Read it carefully this time. WTF? I NEED to update their store to install a third party package? No…

I would really like to have an OS that quietly keeps itself up to date without bugging me about it. My work Macbook and Windows laptops also bug me a lot and keep demanding reboots at inconvenient times, with popup notifications blocking things I need. Just quietly download your updates, install them in the background, and quickly switch to the new version at some point when I'm not using it.

NixOS has this feature, though you will have to rewrite parts of your configuration if you're using bleeding edge/nonstandard stuff.

I run automatic updates nightly, sometimes when I get back to the machine it's in init waiting for me to input my ZFS password.

NixOS is the last system you install, which is really nice. It's the Linux dist I've run the longest consecutive at home.

Re: Ask HN: Why don’t you use Linux as your daily driver OS?

#247

Post by 2rsf »

cpach wrote: post #245

I use Mac. I like the UI. And I firmly believe that there are great benefits when the hardware is made by the same company that made the OS. I believe that Apple’s laptops are the best on thr market. I also enjoy the apps. E.g. 1Password / Preview / Evernote / Skitch / Pingplotter / djay. great And Acorn. Acorn is great and I would really miss it if I switched back to Linux. I love the fact that people can make a liv…

> Apple’s laptops are the best on thr market

my sample is very small but that's not my feeling, maybe the high end Macs compared to high end something, but the middle of the line laptops? I don't feel a big change.

Also note that while Microsoft don't manufacturer or design the hardware I suppose they are in very close relationships with Intel and influence the design

Re: Ask HN: Why don’t you use Linux as your daily driver OS?

#248

Post by ToFab123 »

mcv wrote: post #213
Alan_Dillman wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah its funny how experiences differ. I was at my parents,and wanted to sketch out something for my dad. So I grabbed my mom's win10 laptop, went to the blender download location, downloaded, double clicked, got a popup about updates. Whatever, not my computer, not my problem. double click again. Again with the popup. Read it carefully this time. WTF? I NEED to update their store to install a third party package? No…

I would really like to have an OS that quietly keeps itself up to date without bugging me about it. My work Macbook and Windows laptops also bug me a lot and keep demanding reboots at inconvenient times, with popup notifications blocking things I need. Just quietly download your updates, install them in the background, and quickly switch to the new version at some point when I'm not using it.

That is pretty much what Windows 10 does. Okay, maybe not quickly switch to the new version as we all know that it can take 10 - 20 minutes sometimes, but here is the thing. By default it reboots and install the updates when I sleep so I don't notice this. It always puzzles me when I hear that Windows suddenly starts to install updated while you are doing something, because that is not the default. The default is to install and reboot outside of your normal working hours. Best guess is that many people turn off their computer when they don't use it. In that case it is only possible to install the updates while you use that machine.

Re: Ask HN: Why don’t you use Linux as your daily driver OS?

#250

Post by ammmir »

It's not the software availability, it just looks ugly.

There was a short period in the mid-2000's where there was a lot of desktop eye candy (sup KDE) and accelerated window managers like Beryl, but it regressed from there.

Look, nobody wants to be diffing config files when they upgrade random software packages. The lack of UI polish, multiple UI toolkits, questionable UX choices, and user ergonomics are poor. Give me a Linux desktop with a beautiful and consistent UI like we had with Windows 2000 and I'll be the first to use it.

Let's face it. MacOS is the real successor to the UNIX throne, most of the middle class uses it, and everyone else is on Windows.

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