131–140 of 402 posts
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Try OpenSuse, it has the best hardware support by far.
This is another issue. Have a problem? Don't worry, someone will helpfully tell you to try another distro. Have a problem with that one too? Don't worry, someone will helpfully tell you to try another distro.
Linux as the open-sourced work of brilliant software developers wouldn't power most servers if it sucked. But could designing good desktops need more than just good code? Good kernels successfully run code. Good desktops successfully help users. I guess different goals require different designs? Edit: to clarify, I didn't mean desktops don't require well designed software. Just had in mind that a desktop also have to…
> Good desktops successfully help users. I disagree with the phrasing. I'd say that good desktops enable users. One of my big peeves about Linux Desktop culture is that they see users as beneath them. They want to "help" users by wrapping them in straight jackets to keep them from hurting themselves and shining a laser pointer on the wall to entertain them. Have a problem with the Linux Desktop? Well, "normal users"…
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Yep. Exactly this. If you get a laptop that a GNOME developer uses, chances are you’ll run into maybe two issues a year. But try to get GNOME to run on two 4K displays and an RTX. But here’s the thing. Linux has won. Desktop is a dying market. Linux is literally the most used operating system on phone and in the data center, which is where it counts. The DE has gotten much better transitively from all the work that’s…
> If you really want to see Linux on the DE, boycott NVIDIA, or write them a letter. I was watching a video on youtube (can't find it now) about gaming on Linux, and it suggested to update the PPA and install the latest drivers. (this was after I refreshed my desktop to be Ubuntu Budgie) So I did that, installed latest NVidia Drivers. Tried out some steam games, and went to bed. Next day I couldn't boot into the desk…
I have NEVER had a plug and play solution for display from my laptop. I do expect to be able to plug in an HDMI cable and be able to give a presentation. And I expect to be able to do this with an nvidia card. But they have always failed me and I don't understand why this problem still exists (I would actually be interested if someone knows).
Most of these aren't Linux on Desktop issues that any day to day user will ever encounter. A lot of them yes, but stuff like the author's issues with x.org being a bad piece of software are completely orthogonal to anything a desktop user of Linux will care about. This list would be a lot better if it were cut to just the major issues.
Why is the defense for "there are problems with Linux" always some appeal to the workflow of a strawman 'average user'? A class of people which, I might add, still show no interest in using Linux.
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Between Flatpak and AppImages we have good solutions for both people who prefer package managers as well as people who prefer a single file that can be run on double click. As far as solutions goes, this problem is solved. They just need to be better known by software distributors.
Flatpak is over-engineered garbage. You still can't even install things on different disks without setting up an entirely new 'installation' or whatever they call it. And you still need a repo. Meanwhile I can trivially make most Windows software work from a USB drive I can carry around between computers. AppImage can do that too, since it is a lot less over-engineered, but sadly very few developers use AppImage and…
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> If you really want to see Linux on the DE, boycott NVIDIA, or write them a letter. I was watching a video on youtube (can't find it now) about gaming on Linux, and it suggested to update the PPA and install the latest drivers. (this was after I refreshed my desktop to be Ubuntu Budgie) So I did that, installed latest NVidia Drivers. Tried out some steam games, and went to bed. Next day I couldn't boot into the desk…
This is literally my only (big) complaint about Linux. Video drivers just SUCK . I have NEVER had a plug and play solution for display from my laptop. I do expect to be able to plug in an HDMI cable and be able to give a presentation. And I expect to be able to do this with an nvidia card. But they have always failed me and I don't understand why this problem still exists (I would actually be interested if someone kn…
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"This is a somewhat poor analogy, but it's sort of like a Chinese citizen (closed-source user) becoming a citizen of a democracy" I like that analogy (even though I am still looking for that pure democracy/open source government). In Linux you have the freedom to do allmost anything with the system, but you have to know what you are doing, as the system usually does not stop you, when you are about to do anything stu…
I like your expansion upon it :) I definitely do agree that "onboarding" could be improved. How I dunno. To me at least, it seems like I hear a lot of success stories from the tails of the spectrum - power users and developers on one side / the complete opposite on the other. And then for everybody in the middle, there's no other way to put it than it's almost a shit show: On the software side there a million and a h…
I actually thought about that analogy for a while before, but rather used anarchy/libertarian vs. authorian/dictatorship ...
(basically the same point, only more radical)
Anyway:
"On the software side there a million and a half different ways to do everything, and often an insane amount of "noise"/outdated info that needs filtering through to find what's relevant to your specific needs. Even at the lowest levels of the stack there is no "the one way", and I think all that uncertainty (especially from the beginner perspective) can make it feel like climbing a mountain."
Yes. Even for simple things like a screenshot, there are a million ways. Not a problem in itself, but when you come from windows where this is a "print" command and I did not think there could be a reason to do it differently, but on some distros it is. I run into it a few times, "print" did not work, so googling: You want to do a screenshot? No problem, just install this via terminal, or this, or type in those commands and there you go.. WTF? I just want a screenshot? How is this not standard?
Now this seems to be mostly solved, on XFCE he even asks me what to do with the just taken screenshot, after I hit print (save, view, ..) Oh in general, I really love XFCE).
But unfortunately:
"Not that this helps users with existing hardware, but
* definitely always google before you buy (model name + "linux" and read the first page or two of results)"
this is not for newbs either. Newbs do not know the difference between gpu and cpu. And they certainly do not order single components to put together their PC.
Newbs need a company who does that for them. Compose a PC/Laptop which components who are supported and work well together, so what purism does. But suddenly we are not on the mass market anymore ... and we see the price difference.
So the problem remains complicated, with no easy solution.
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You clearly have never used Linux in any form. There are multiple package managers, granted. However, one strength they all share is: "you usually don't get .exe or .dmg"! Absolutely! Apps are integrated and not simply add-ons as they are in Windows or Apple land. When I want to install say libreoffice or wireshark I simply ask the system to install them. I absolutely do not browse the internet and download something…
If you need the last version of Wireshark, it’s getting complicated. And when you have a setup with Wireshark that works why update it? I am dubious that Wireshark can be an attack vector so security updates won’t be useful. Installing last versions is very straight forward when you are on Osx or Windows. You just go to the website and download it. Plus you get the original binaries not a doctored version to fit what…
Ignoring feature enhancements and bug fixes for a moment, do you really think it improbable that there are security issues in a piece of software whose entire job is to sit on the network and record everything that it sees and then translate and interpret it?
old, but sadly still valid:
Most of these aren't Linux on Desktop issues that any day to day user will ever encounter. A lot of them yes, but stuff like the author's issues with x.org being a bad piece of software are completely orthogonal to anything a desktop user of Linux will care about. This list would be a lot better if it were cut to just the major issues.
Why is the defense for "there are problems with Linux" always some appeal to the workflow of a strawman 'average user'? A class of people which, I might add, still show no interest in using Linux.
And it doesn't matter. For a large bunch of people Windows has been crap for its whole existence, but it works with X, or is the only thing compatible with Y, or because no one demonstrated anything better. I.e. exactly how the iPhone got such traction (also with the marketing).
Linux is [i]just as good[/i] as Windows and vice-versa, where the use case is compatible...