Live data from Hacker News

Reasons to switch from Windows to Linux

lpi.org

101–110 of 346 posts

Re: Reasons to switch from Windows to Linux

#101
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't. You can still run local accounts.

Not on Windows 11 Home, from what I understand.

As said in the thread it (currently) works if you do not setup internet until after the installation completes. If you set up internet before, you end up doong a full re-install.

Re: Reasons to switch from Windows to Linux

#102
post #85

So we all know that the Linux desktop is lacking in a few ways, and we all know there are a few reasons for that, but I really do think the experience is getting better. Having more people use it and more development has been great. Valve, System76, and a few others have been pouring resources into making the experience better, and it's working. As much as people aren't going to like me saying this, Electron has been…

Linux is not for everyone. Consult your Sys Admin before trying Linux.

Re: Reasons to switch from Windows to Linux

#103
post #86
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Linux has its conveniences but I think I definitely spend more times on updates. Some break things and some like Nvidia's drivers can take me ages to actually apply (though with that one the usual trick seems to be to remove --purge nvidia-* first).

Which distro? You might want to look into something less unstable. I've had arch running unattended upgrades in a Cron for years. Worst case I have to find my USB stick and do some debugging, not that an update has ever broken anything. There is some minor maintenance I run maybe once every 6-12 months to clear caches or fix up any configs that need updating but I've never run into anything that prevents booting.

Just Ubuntu though admittedly I use a lot more packages than average so there's more that can break across updates. Also a lot of things that have caused me problems over the years are getting more stable.

Re: Reasons to switch from Windows to Linux

#104

I can now run Linux GUIs on Windows under WSL, so with Windows I get access to Windows and Linux software. What is the case for pure Linux?

Performance No telemetry No forced upgrades No intrusive ads

WSL performance is close to bare metal.

Telemetry is a problem, yes. Should be at least opt-in.

I believe that forced upgrades are a necessity if you have the end-user market penetration of Windows. It's a different thing for servers, and one could argue about the implementation details.

I don't see ads on Windows (and I'm on the 11 beta channel).

Re: Reasons to switch from Windows to Linux

#105

As a counterpoint: Reasons to consider NOT switching to Linux https://corn.codeberg.page/notlinux.html

Well he is right. Linux is not for everyone. It's for people who can learn how to double click an icon that looks different from the one in Windows. That excludes probably 50% of Windows users right there.

This is the exact elitist mentality that the article writer is talking about. Not only are you saying everyone who can't figure it out is dumb, but you forget, there are actually people who probably can't understand it because its a different icon like very elderly people. My grandma would only use a browser if I set the icon to the little IE6 icon. lol

Re: Reasons to switch from Windows to Linux

#106
post #75

Yet another one of thoses guides. When XP came out everyone was going to go GNU/Linux, due to Toy'R us interface. When Vista came out everyone was going to go GNU/Linux, due to DX 10 drivers and hardware requirements. When 8.x came out everyone was going to go GNU/Linux, due to tablet UI. When 10 came out everyone was going to go GNU/Linux, due to telemetry. Now Windows 11 came out, naturally everyone is going to go…

Why is Windows 11 the only one that you don't give a reason?

Vista was just complete shit BTW... I skipped over it to Windows 7. Switched completely to Linux after that.

Re: Reasons to switch from Windows to Linux

#107
post #66

As a counterpoint: Reasons to consider NOT switching to Linux https://corn.codeberg.page/notlinux.html

Right. I was going to comment "Reason #12 to switch to Linux: you love reformatting the entire system every once in a while, typically after struggling to fix a driver for hours and completely screwing everything up in a way you can't figure out how to undo."

That may be your experience, certainly not mine. I do remember than from the days of windows.

Re: Reasons to switch from Windows to Linux

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah if you disable WiFi which is a very dark pattern and user hostile.

last time I installed windows 10 this wasn't required - you just had to figure out which button took you past it. Maybe its changed since

It has, you need to disable internet access to have a local account.

Re: Reasons to switch from Windows to Linux

#109
post #66

As a counterpoint: Reasons to consider NOT switching to Linux https://corn.codeberg.page/notlinux.html

Right. I was going to comment "Reason #12 to switch to Linux: you love reformatting the entire system every once in a while, typically after struggling to fix a driver for hours and completely screwing everything up in a way you can't figure out how to undo."

For future readers: this is true (drivers/update problems), but easily fixable with for example Timeshift, or snapper (like openSUSE)
Post reply on HN