Linux mint just works for me
Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
51–60 of 157 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#52It really depends on what exactly you're looking for in the "it just works" experience, but since you mention "screen recording" and "external devices" I'll assume that you're specifically asking about the modern gamer-streamer (w/ mic, hardware-based sound control, multiple inputs, ViV, etc...) setup and not a basic-browser-and-mail setup. Linux, as in "in the desktop environment", has a HUGE (a can't highlight and…
> Linux, as in "in the desktop environment", has a HUGE (a can't highlight and stress enough the word HUGE) technical debt.
Well that is what makes defining official Linux Desktop support something of folklore. You can predictably support and target Windows and macOS users all the time with your app working on those systems for it being all taken care for you.
But as for Linux, you will always need to exclude and draw the line somewhere with which distros you want to support. You can't support them all. There will always be that minority of fans of your product, screaming about support for an exotic Linux distro. The developers will just slap UNSUPPORTED and not worth the work.
It is because they can foresee a mountain of issues, maintenance debt, hours of issue tracing and costly CIs to maintain just for the claim of which distros are 'officially' supported.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#53Please stop using "it just works", you're not Apple's marketing department. Sure it just works for some people, but Linux distros and Windows also just work for some people. I've had and I've experienced a fair share of Apple WTFs and some stuff I could never get working properly. Computers are hard, "It just works" is a marketing slogan, nothing more.
This was my experience with MacOs for the past two years after decades with windows and Linux. Audio devices disconnecting randomly on updates, needing to configure all kinds of system settings, inability to override the keymap to have the tilde in an ordinary location, device believing it had crashed on every startup, among other things.
I personally don't hear "It just works" so much as I hear "You'll get used to it" these days.
Each OS is crap in many ways.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#54Google does just that (Android and Chrome OS). *NIX hardware vendors used to do just that for Unix. Silicon Graphics and Sun for example.
What you need is large hardware vendor (like Apple or Google) that takes Linux and really polishes the userland, UI, hardware drivers and curates and integrates all software. All drivers work for their hardware and UX as well for select number of devices. If the software is free, you need hardware sales because all that is expensive and tedious work.
It takes large teams to pull that off. Even big companies like Dell or Leonovo don't see enough profit to do that. They put in some money and resources but not enough to go the last mile. Small Linux companies like System76 don't have resources.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#55You can buy Linux PCs that "just work", see e.g. System76, Dell, etc.
"Works"
Linux in Dell does not always work with all their own docking stations. The effort half-assed at best.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#56No post body was provided.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#57I think Ubuntu achieved just works at 18.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#58I use the normal Ubuntu distribution for about 15 years now. Nothing else. I had not to change any config files in forever and every device i owned worked out of the box. So shrug
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#59[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#60system76 is what you are looking for.
They select the hardware and have created a line of linux-first laptop (and also desktops and servers). They just work. Not only this, but they are also very repair-friendly. Perf are very good too.