I switched to Linux after using Windows for 10 years • Hacker News Board

Re: I switched to Linux after using Windows for 10 years

#101

Post by BrandoElFollito » Fri, Oct 16, 2020, 6:12 AM UTC

I use Linux since 1994 for servers (more now than then). It works great.

I try about every day to use Linux on a desktop for day to day work. It is dreadful when you install it, and then a pain if you want to use office files to a greater extend, connect to Exchange etc.

I constantly have problems with my cursor.

So I give up and I go back to Windows 10. They work consistently for me, are fast enough and I have all the software I need.

The choice is simple, but still I diligently try on Linux.

As for servers, I never use Windows because I do not feel they ate made for servers But others do it successfully so why not.

The only thing I really miss from the MS world on Linux is their Active Directory that manages users, computers etc. and is so tighly bound with the OS.

Re: I switched to Linux after using Windows for 10 years

#102

Post by gambiting » Fri, Oct 16, 2020, 7:09 AM UTC

gogopuppygogo wrote: post #100

gambiting wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, regular x86 Windows 10. 32 bit version minimum requirement is exactly 1GB of ram and all functionality is there. It only uses about 700MB when running, leaving enough memory to use it like a normal computer.

Chrome uses 1GB of ram with a couple of plugins and Gmail open.

That's specifically why I said Edge in few other comments - chrome is unusable, but you can smoothly browse any website with Edge on that system.

Re: I switched to Linux after using Windows for 10 years

#103

Post by Yetanfou » Fri, Oct 16, 2020, 7:20 AM UTC

spdionis wrote: post #69

ploxiln wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've long avoided "switchable graphics", for this reason. The complexity breeds issues. Be happy with just intel graphics, or go for an AMD/radeon, to improve your chances of not running into bugs/incompatibilities. Modern graphics are just such a monster of complexity, change, variety, secrecy, etc. (I'm going to venture a guess that the "kernel update [can] render the system unbootable" is due to nvidia binary-blob…

Except most laptops with a dedicated graphics card force you to use both. The ones that rely fully on the the dedicated video card are high end and usually have different disadvantages (weight, battery time).

...or older, like my Thinkpad T42p with a 'Mobility FireGL T2' (Radeon RV350). Other than some occasional AGP-related instability which seems to be hardware-related Xorg works fine on this machine.

Re: I switched to Linux after using Windows for 10 years

#104

Post by Yetanfou » Fri, Oct 16, 2020, 7:38 AM UTC

I've been using Linux on more or less everything since the late 90's, before that I used OS/2. Have there been hiccups? Sure there have, sometimes I needed to go hunt for some odd driver or even go so far as to use ndiswrapper to use Windows drivers because the native drivers either sucked or did not exist. This is a long time ago though, nowadays Linux tends to have an edge over Windows when it comes to supporting a wide range of hardware out of the box. This might also be related to my tendency to use older hardware - I'm typing this on a Thinkpad T42p from 2004 - which would be close to useless with current Windows versions. The odd thing is that my ancient T42p is a more agile desktop machine than my wife's 1yo Dell running Windows 10. The reason for this is... the Linux desktop. Let's rephrase that, the reason for this is that Linux is very malleable when it comes to 'the desktop', you can mix and match parts from left and right to end up with something that works for you. In my case that turns out to be no desktop at all, relying on a keyboard-driven window manager (Xmonad) with a few utilities (dzen2, dmenu, conky and trayer), for others it might be Gnome-with-all-the-bells or some glitzy KDE incarnation or whatever Ubuntu pushes this year.

The Linux desktop is what you make it. The tools are there to make it work, choose wisely. If it doesn't work for you, try something else.

Re: I switched to Linux after using Windows for 10 years

#105

Post by eska » Fri, Oct 16, 2020, 7:49 AM UTC

nxc18 wrote: post #55

ploxiln wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've long avoided "switchable graphics", for this reason. The complexity breeds issues. Be happy with just intel graphics, or go for an AMD/radeon, to improve your chances of not running into bugs/incompatibilities. Modern graphics are just such a monster of complexity, change, variety, secrecy, etc. (I'm going to venture a guess that the "kernel update [can] render the system unbootable" is due to nvidia binary-blob…

I didn't know Radeon was better with Linux. I'd like to turn my current device into a headless server and build a new PC specifically to run Ubuntu well. CUDA is a key use case for me though - I actually use quite a lot of software that depends on it and my understanding is I can't do that with AMD graphics. I'd also like to get in on the RTX 3080/3070 action and I think I might value that performance more than being…

I decided to ditch NVidia due to bad linux compatibility and went with an AMD. Had no issued whatsoever since then (half year). I was also surprised to see a Phoronix benchmark for Blender with many graphics cards and different GPU off loading libraries showing AMD doing well there too. I always thought I'll be compromising on performance there.

Re: I switched to Linux after using Windows for 10 years

#106

Post by ffpip » Fri, Oct 16, 2020, 1:37 PM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #78

ffpip wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hacker news open on 3 tabs takes 350 MB of ram for me.

In what browser? I specifically said Edge because I find it uses a lot less ram than Chrome. I can easily use Edge and browse smoothly on that little PC, but with Chrome it's dead after opening facebook.

Firefox.

Edge and Chrome use much more RAM compared to Firefox, atleast on my machine.

Re: I switched to Linux after using Windows for 10 years

#107

Post by tenebrisalietum » Fri, Oct 16, 2020, 5:09 PM UTC

MeinBlutIstBlau wrote: post #95

tenebrisalietum wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love Windows, but it's still got a long ways to go before becoming an reliable desktop OS. For most people they could easily use it. However the moment updates don't install correctly kills it for them. Windows is great if you never shut down your computer during an update or always give them the time to apply. My main beef with it is the telemetry and inconsistent UI. It's far better than it was 10 years ago but n…

When is the last time you had to reinstall windows because the grub loader failed to install correctly upon the initial install? Or a device didn't work out of the box because the company didn't make drivers for it? How about the amount of times you needed to run wine on windows to play a specific game. Linux is awesome. But you gotta get out of your bubble and realize it's super niche and for techy people. Not avera…

The average joes watching Youtube are doing it on their smartphones, iPads, or Chromecasts now. It's why Microsoft is letting Windows fall apart because cloud services accessible from any device is the future.

Re: I switched to Linux after using Windows for 10 years

#108

Post by schwartzworld » Fri, Oct 16, 2020, 6:15 PM UTC

pmoriarty wrote: post #43

andrepd wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suggest Linux Mint. Stable Ubuntu derivative with a sane, "just-works" desktop environment (Cinnamon).

What if I don't want any desktop environment, but just want to run the i3 window manager?

I've been using Ubuntu with IceWM and it was as simple as installing the window manager, logging out and then selecting IceWM before logging back in.

Re: I switched to Linux after using Windows for 10 years

#109

Post by rconti » Fri, Oct 16, 2020, 9:00 PM UTC

unnouinceput wrote: post #98

rconti wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember people saying that of OS X when I bought my first Mac in 2002 -- my response "well, might as well enjoy a few years of not being targeted by malware while I can..."

Let's see if actually escaped that. What is malware purpose? If it's prank, a mild nuisance or just a bit of wasting your time I think it's an OK malware. But if it manages to siphon your finances then I'd say it's bad. Now look at the history of Apple. Did they or did they not always delivered same hardware performance at double the price? I'd say you paid for malware, fully and on top of that you're also proud. Q.E…

This comment sounds like it's a 2002 criticism, too. I appreciate the historical accuracy.

Re: I switched to Linux after using Windows for 10 years

#110

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau » Sat, Oct 17, 2020, 10:19 PM UTC

zelon88 wrote: post #99

MeinBlutIstBlau wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When is the last time you had to reinstall windows because the grub loader failed to install correctly upon the initial install? Or a device didn't work out of the box because the company didn't make drivers for it? How about the amount of times you needed to run wine on windows to play a specific game. Linux is awesome. But you gotta get out of your bubble and realize it's super niche and for techy people. Not avera…

If Windows 10 didn't suck so bad, I'd agree with this post. But honestly, the Windows 10 network I used to manage had just as many, if not more problems per-machine than my linux network at home. Honestly, I can not recall ever having a major issue with Grub. It's probably the most reliable part of a Linux machine. Sure, getting the right graphics drivers can be a pain on Linux. Then again, I can say the same about t…

Aside from the telemetry BS, what is wrong with windows 10? There is nothing wrong with windows and it's extraordinarily convenient. Mail and Calendar integrated into the OS has never been better. Sure it's not as good as Apple's stuff, but it's more than worthwhile.

Linux you have to mess around CONSTANTLY or learn more about how things work in order to get them to your liking. Linux IS a "geeky alternative to mainstream." Linux is exactly as your example is about manual vs automatic. Stop and think for a sec why over 90% of cars are automatic and not manual. It's easier! We can argue all day how Linux is superior to windows but at the end of the day, what OS are you wasting more time on trying to get something to work as opposed to that being just abstracted from you in the first place since you don't need to know about it 99/100?