> That's preposterous. If you downloaded a random MSI marked "Windows [your version]", installed it on Windows [your version], and it crashed, you wouldn't blame Microsoft.
No. This is the fundamental misunderstanding of the point I was making. So I am going to make it crystal clear. The problems I've had with installing slack, I've had with Spotify, Steam, Dropbox and there are quite a few others I am sure I've forgotten.
If you create a program for MacOSX, Android, iOS etc. You can be sure that there are certain APIs available to you and you can be pretty confident that your program is going to work if built against those APIs. Your users can be confident if they download your application there is a pretty good change it is going to work.
Sure with Android there will be device specific issues, or if it is a Windows PC they may have faulty hardware or a bad installation. However the chances that the application is going to work is much higher than GNU/Linux because fragmentation in what the user base runs is much lower. That is just the reality of the situation.
Nothing remotely equivalent exists for Linux. Have the wrong distro ... there probably isn't a package. Have a slightly older distro ... There probably isn't a package for you.
Even with attempts such as Flatpack, SnapStore etc. The same situation is present. This is because of the nature of any GNU/Linux distro is that they are all fragmented in terms of underlying libraries, kernel versions, UI versions, package managers etc.
It is a mess. It will always be a mess as long as people don't recognise it as a real problem. I doubt it will get solved in our lifetimes.
If you want to make smart ass remarks about it while ignoring the real issue so be it.
> The whole "I found a problem in a vendor's app so I'm going to blame the entire OS and platform instead" attitude. This attitude stinks.
Thanks for taking me out of context. I was specifically talking about user environments which are supplied by those who control the distro. Please don't be disingenuous.
> Your buddy couldn't (or wouldn't?) click through a few menus or type "browser" into the KDE equivalent of the Start Menu, and you cite that as a problem in Plasma, and then say that you prefer PowerShell? Bizarre.
People become familiar with certain user interfaces. Saying that everyone should just understand how to use a new interface even if it mimicks (btw poorly) another OS which is ubiquitous really shows that their lack of touch with the majority of users.
Lots of users can have real problems moving between versions of one application. That why user interface guidelines, best practices, user testing and user interface design are its whole own field in this industry. Pretending because something looks superficially the same means that someone should be able to use it is ridiculous. Also KDE Plasma it doesn't really look like Windows or works like it, KDE plasma UI is what happens when a teenager that has just learnt how to use Photoshop effects tool has gone mad with gradients and bloom effects, the whole thing is a mess visually.
In response to powershell comment. It is normally easier to just learn a shell like bash on a *nix system and just use that then try using the absolutely awful UIs they normally provide you with. The same is true with Modern Windows. Each time there is a update to Windows 10 they have changed the location of some control panel option for the umpteeth time. So I already know how to use powershell and install the management tools, it is normally easier FOR ME to use that rather than try to navigate the labyrinth of control panel options.