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I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows

jpain.io

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Re: I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows

#131

Post by nsvd2 »

gregates wrote: post #58

Hate to be the one to drag AI into every conversation, but I recently switched to arch linux and it's been delightful -- largely because of Claude. I have leaned on Claude heavily to diagnose and resolve issues that I probably could have theoretically solved on my own, but which also probably would have made me switch back if I didn't have help to resolve them quickly. (Yes, I know arch linux is not what you want if…

I think Arch is a great general purpose distribution because it doesn't try to hide anything from the user - all the details are right out in the open. That and excellent community documentation.

Re: I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows

#132

Post by Telaneo »

nsvd2 wrote: post #129
Telaneo wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've found Windows issues to be just as usage-blocking. I tend to have better luck with google-fu when it comes to Windows problems, just though the user base being so much larger, so it's much more likely that someone's written a guide or an explanation of my exact problem, while on Linux, it's much less likely that someone's written an exact guide, but general knowledge goes further (but you need more of it to fill…

I usually find the exact opposite, where for Windows I can sometimes find a few SEO optimized pages with vague instructions, but for Linux I'm much more likely to hit a wiki or forum with in-depth technical information to solve my problem.

> I usually find the exact opposite, where for Windows I can sometimes find a few SEO optimized pages with vague instructions,

It's been a while since I've had to look up Windows problems to be fair, so my experience on that front is a year and a bit out of date (and probably more, since most permanent issues would have been solved on my desktop install years earlier).

> but for Linux I'm much more likely to hit a wiki or forum with in-depth technical information to solve my problem.

That's part of the problem, at least in my experience. When I ran Windows, I'd find someone's article called 'Solution for $Error in $Program when doing $Thing', or a forum thread or whatever else along those lines, and it would in the best case be accurate and fix my problem, and in the worst case help me figure it out from there.

On Linux, that wiki page or forum won't have a solution for my exact problem, but it will help me figure it out. Linux's default case has often been equivalent to Windows's worst case when looking for solutions, but both of them very rarely ended in a true worst case (not finding a solution at all). Linux's solution will more often than not be transferable to other situations, so the knowledge gained is useful, while on Windows, the equivalent solution is bespoke and won't be useful in any other case.

Re: I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows

#133

Post by ColonelBlimp »

My intention is not to dismiss the blog's argument about using Linux but my experience running an Ubuntu LTS in my main computer has been straightforward, easy and as problem-free as one could expect. I'm sure other Linux distros offer a similar experience.

I get that every person is different, so what works for someone might be dysfunctional for someone else. But I wonder if there's a growing tendency to over-emphasise things that aren't "perfect" or the perceived friction caused by different ways to approach or solve things.

Perhaps it's my own personal bias but the same way I like using Ubuntu, I think Windows is fine, as well as MacOs. They're fine the same way many other products I use are. Often, I struggle to find big differences between the stuff I use. I mean, I can see the differences (often small, rarely big), but I'm the same guy. I'm not that special.

Re: I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows

#135

Post by Telaneo »

BLKNSLVR wrote: post #65

I kinda switched to Linux when I realized that Microsoft had fractured the control panel into different areas in "Settings" and there was almost no pattern in how to get to the various system settings and diagnostic tools that had become ingrained in muscle memory for me over the course of 15-odd years. I decided I'd rather start from scratch on Linux than Windows for reasons of Microsoft's various decisions and dire…

The new settings area is a disaster in many ways. Even beyond the fact that it broke the muscle memory of everybody who knew the old control panel, the new one still(!) doesn't have all the settings that was available before, so you still have to dig your way to the old, so it just added another layer, rather than actually simplifying the functionality.

I hate it when I see newbies ask for help with Windows, and they say the checked the settings menu, but couldn't fix it. That menu is essentially lying to them (by omission of relevant settings and information), but they aren't experienced enough to know that.

Re: I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows

#136

Post by newdee »

happytoexplain wrote: post #35
MostlyStable wrote: post #9

The idea that Windows doesn't have it's own weird, mysterious, issues is hilarious to me. For months my windows 10 install would take nearly 5 minutes to start up after a full shutdown sequence. This was with the install on a fast SSD. I tried a whole bunch of things and never figured out what the issue was. Then, one day, it just....went away. I'm not trying to make much of a point other than that: anecdotes aren't…

>The idea that Windows doesn't have it's own weird, mysterious, issues is hilarious to me. That's not what the author said. And anecdotes are perfectly fine - in fact, they are literally are all we have to write about. In this case, everything I've experienced and heard from others suggests that the author is correct. Linux distros are amazing, and their issues are generally fixable with experience, but the problem i…

> They are either solvable without a comp sci degree, or (and this is the important part) simply ignorable while still being able to use the computer

If this were true there’d be no need for IT/tech support services.

Re: I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows

#137

Post by greatgib »

MostlyStable wrote: post #9

The idea that Windows doesn't have it's own weird, mysterious, issues is hilarious to me. For months my windows 10 install would take nearly 5 minutes to start up after a full shutdown sequence. This was with the install on a fast SSD. I tried a whole bunch of things and never figured out what the issue was. Then, one day, it just....went away. I'm not trying to make much of a point other than that: anecdotes aren't…

Something I noticed with long term windows user is that like victims of stockholm syndrome they are very often encountering weird unsolvable issues with windows but when you ask them they will tell you that everything is working well for them. They don't see any issue.

Like mouse or printer will not work when you are at home but will at work. So you live with it.

The funniest is you see the user use the computer and at regular occurence there are weird error popup showing up but the user is trained to click ok mechanically without even reading.

The worse is if like the author you use ms365 or outlook. You are in a world of pain and things suddenly breaking or with lot of unexplainable frustrations. For example when you used outlook with an account/user and add a second one. And then delete the first one. And somehow there would be an email account associated with your whole computer that outlook is using in shadow. And like you would receive emails but sending will not work. And the only working solution in the end is to nuke everything and start again.

Re: I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows

#138

Post by isityettime »

kuglimon wrote: post #107
isityettime wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my first years with NixOS, I really wanted to share my enthusiasm and joy with others. But I often got caught up explaining the mechanisms, the insights that it's built on. It took me a while to come around to realizing the heart of it: NixOS feels really good to use because it frees you from the uncertainty of a machine that suddenly changes underneath your feet. It gives you a system that is really easy to inspe…

My experience with explaining NixOS is that once you get to the benefits people get intimidated and start telling how they never have these issues. I think immutable distros/software are the most intuitive way, even if people get intimidated with the idea. What's the action you did as a junior when windows/linux/x broke? You most likely reinstalled. When encountering issues we tend to try to emulate immutability. The…

Currently no NixOS at work for me, but my team is using Nix for local development environments and CI successcully via devenv.nix. I think we actually could use NixOS on my team except that we have a host of endpoint security software that we need to run on all cloud VMs, and I'm a little distant from the people who own the automation that installs it on approved AMIs.

Re: I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows

#139

Post by arnoooooo »

osigurdson wrote: post #88
kgwxd wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do people even use docking stations anymore? I've never used one but I have used plenty of KVM-type devices that just work over various standard usb/display ports. What's the appeal of using the specialized "docking" port?

This is a ThinkPad USB-C docking station. I think it is basically the same as what you are talking about but if not, the main convenience is that you can plug in one cable which provides power, 2 external displays and a mouse. Super great if / when it works but not reliable with Arch (not blaming the distro specifically, it could be kernel or anything in the stack).

To fix my Thinkpad USB-C docking station on Arch, I asked Gemini and just followed what it said. It took a few minutes.

Re: I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows

#140

Post by isityettime »

marysol5 wrote: post #119
isityettime wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only a little over 20 years of Linux experience here. A few years ago, I daily drove Windows for work after not touching it for a decade. There were way more unsolvable riddles in that year on Windows than in my lifetime of desktop Linux usage. And no one else at the company really knew how to dig into their Windows systems, either; the mysteries I solved were all things I had to solve myself. IME Windows people actu…

Thank you! This is exactly my position too. I came through with Windows certs, but had always been a Linux guy, and now work entirely with Linux. Windows people don't actually solve problems, hence the joke about "Turn it off and on again", making it into mainstream. You will very rarely see a Windows person open up a debugger, unless they're an actual developer. Meanwhile on Linux you can peek inside the process tha…

Ages ago I was a PC tech intern at a Windows shop, investigating bluescreens on some Dell mini PC, which I'd never really done before. Some time after I installed WinDbg and started downloading some debug symbols, one of the fulltime guys came by and said "just reinstall Windows". I'd just pinpointed the crash to some driver without figuring out more details at that time. I did it, but I was a little bit heartbroken because I knew that meant I'd never have a clear picture of what had gone wrong.

There's a real cost/benefit question involved in root cause analysis, of course. But that childhood experience turned out to be representative of what I'd continue to witness in the rest of my professional life. When you always choose expedient ignorance, you end up living and working without ever having a clear idea of what your computer is doing, and each investigation feels like another Herculean task you're obliged to skip.

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