People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows • Hacker News Board

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#181

Post by JodieBenitez » Mon, Dec 01, 2025, 2:33 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #33

Ciantic wrote: post #30

I switched to Linux in the past month. First, I installed GNOME based Fedora 43, that was a mistake. I got it working "somewhat" like Windows, with Dash to Panel etc. widgets, but stability was not there after all the hacks. Then I figured I try KDE Plasma, and this is so close to Windows that I made the switch permanent. Even little things like double-clicking on top, or bottom resize handle vertically maximizes the…

My parents run a Windows PC as, from what I can tell, a home for stray botnets. The main uses are checking email and working on Word documents. (They have a laptop and iPad, respectively, which does most of their work, so it's an infrequently consulted machine.) What Linux build would you recommend that I can fire and forget, that would be compatible with the Windows 10 machine they have running and will likely never…

Linux Mint worked fine for my mother.

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#182

Post by nickjj » Mon, Dec 01, 2025, 2:42 PM UTC

no-stegosaur wrote: post #173

nickjj wrote: post #81

I still want to switch, have been trying for like 8 years. Not yet unfortunately. Video editing is still pretty sub-par on Linux compared to Windows. DaVinci Resolve technically works on Linux and it's an amazing piece of software that I'd love to use but on Linux there's no h264 support unless you pay $300. Ok no problem, I'd do that except the studio version doesn't support AAC for audio on Linux. If you want to re…

Have you looked at the video editor in Blender? I'm not much into video editing, but Blender as a whole is very solid, supports H.264 and AAC as far as I can see.

Yep, it's not really aimed at this style of video editing.

Blender is amazingly designed and robust but it's really optimized for 3D design, not editing screencasts.

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#183

Post by tremon » Mon, Dec 01, 2025, 2:50 PM UTC

shermantanktop wrote: post #22

AndrewDucker wrote: post #12

What I want is some hardware that, if Linux stops working on it, it's someone's job to fix that. Which is why I'm strongly considering a Steam Cube.

The great thing about open source is that there’s always at least one person who can take on the job of fixing your obscure hardware problem…you. The terrible thing is that you are probably unqualified to do driver surgery without taking on more work than the problem is worth to you to fix.

The great thing about open source is that there's a whole ecosystem of developers that you can pay to fix your obscure hardware problem. Self-reliance is great, but field servicability without being beholden to the trade secrets of a single monopolist is a much better deal for society.

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#184

Post by Froztnova » Mon, Dec 01, 2025, 3:34 PM UTC

Insanity wrote: post #133

I have been a dual booting user since 2008. I tried to get rid of the dual boot around 2010-2012 but gaming just didn’t work well at the time. To this day I only ever use windows for gaming. Wonder if it’s time to try gaming on Linux again.

I'm in a similar boat. I still dual boot "just in case" for a lot of things, gaming among them, but I'm really looking forward to the day that I can just cut it and go purely Linux.

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#185

Post by shermantanktop » Mon, Dec 01, 2025, 3:37 PM UTC

tremon wrote: post #183

shermantanktop wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The great thing about open source is that there’s always at least one person who can take on the job of fixing your obscure hardware problem…you. The terrible thing is that you are probably unqualified to do driver surgery without taking on more work than the problem is worth to you to fix.

The great thing about open source is that there's a whole ecosystem of developers that you can pay to fix your obscure hardware problem. Self-reliance is great, but field servicability without being beholden to the trade secrets of a single monopolist is a much better deal for society.

How common is that? Are there a lot of bounties on defects that actually get paid out?

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#186

Post by nickjj » Mon, Dec 01, 2025, 4:09 PM UTC

combatentropy wrote: post #141

nickjj wrote: post #81

I still want to switch, have been trying for like 8 years. Not yet unfortunately. Video editing is still pretty sub-par on Linux compared to Windows. DaVinci Resolve technically works on Linux and it's an amazing piece of software that I'd love to use but on Linux there's no h264 support unless you pay $300. Ok no problem, I'd do that except the studio version doesn't support AAC for audio on Linux. If you want to re…

Have you tried Lightworks? https://lwks.com/ It dates back to the 1990s and has used in Hollywood movies, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightworks There is a free version to try out with limited features, then subscriptions and also options to pay just once ($200 or $420).

Not in a long time but their pricing page says a bunch of paid features don't work on Linux such as advanced titles and other enhanced effects.

I don't know if that will apply to me since their site doesn't explain what they are in detail but it already rubs me the wrong way that they classify themselves as cross OS compatible, but a bunch of stuff doesn't work on Linux.

I would essentially be paying $200 just to export to 1080p since the free version is limited to 720p. Except I'd likely need the $420 version since the pricing page says you can't adjust the h264 bit-rate option without the pro version. I could maybe justify the cost if the paid features worked on Linux but the ones that sound interesting and related to me (title editing, effects, etc.) do not.

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#187

Post by methuselah_in » Mon, Dec 01, 2025, 4:10 PM UTC

Ciantic wrote: post #30

I switched to Linux in the past month. First, I installed GNOME based Fedora 43, that was a mistake. I got it working "somewhat" like Windows, with Dash to Panel etc. widgets, but stability was not there after all the hacks. Then I figured I try KDE Plasma, and this is so close to Windows that I made the switch permanent. Even little things like double-clicking on top, or bottom resize handle vertically maximizes the…

Gnome is something and gast multiple tasking which takes away me from windows like button program switched. Fedora gnome is snappiest for me

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#188

Post by shmeeed » Mon, Dec 01, 2025, 4:16 PM UTC

QuercusMax wrote: post #135

BLKNSLVR wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> kind of like the old Control Panel. Aaaah, old Control Panel. One of the things that made me realise that I'm now better at administering a Linux system than a Windows one is that the old Control Panel has been replaced by a series of other screens that don't link together by the same concepts that Control Panel used as groupings. I think the old Control Panel still exists, but they make it hard to find, and if tha…

It's worse than that - the older the layer, the older and typically more powerful the UI you'll find. Such a crazy hodgepodge.

And they've gone such lengths to hide it! An innocuous text link somewhere to the right, hidden between some nondescript lorem ipsum, or somewhere way down where you'd never know to scroll because the scroll bar is hidden by default... it's a great adventure of discovery, so much fun!

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#189

Post by drillsteps5 » Mon, Dec 01, 2025, 4:58 PM UTC

pjjpo wrote: post #56

Ciantic wrote: post #30

I switched to Linux in the past month. First, I installed GNOME based Fedora 43, that was a mistake. I got it working "somewhat" like Windows, with Dash to Panel etc. widgets, but stability was not there after all the hacks. Then I figured I try KDE Plasma, and this is so close to Windows that I made the switch permanent. Even little things like double-clicking on top, or bottom resize handle vertically maximizes the…

Made the switch recently too, I only use the windows box for gaming so went with bazzite-kde. Games were up and running in no time, though I am still noodling over getting Japanese IME working in one though haven't given it any effort yet. Other issues were Bluetooth dongle not being compatible though I happened to have one that is. Ironically the old one doesn't seem to have the same temporary connection issues I wa…

I have well-specked Windows box dedicated to gaming ONLY. Nothing else on it, just my Steam collection. I keep it updated and re-install it from scratch every few months (Windows is known to slow down with time).

Everything else is done on Linux laptop (I used Mint and Fedora at various points in time). It's a Thinkpad so there's no issues whatsoever, everything works out of the box. I don't have to worry about my data being leaked, or an update crashing everything, or latest AI feature breaking the features I need, or malware infection (or not as much at least). I have all the browsers, email clients, word processors, spreadsheets, development IDEs, graphical and all kinds of software I need. For free.

A few years down the road, as Linux becomes more and more mainstream and game devs start paying more attention to compatibility? I'll happily put Linux on the gaming rig and that'll be all.

Re: People keep flocking to Linux, not just to escape Windows

#190

Post by drillsteps5 » Mon, Dec 01, 2025, 5:10 PM UTC

Insanity wrote: post #133

I have been a dual booting user since 2008. I tried to get rid of the dual boot around 2010-2012 but gaming just didn’t work well at the time. To this day I only ever use windows for gaming. Wonder if it’s time to try gaming on Linux again.

I ended up getting separate hardware, one box for Windows (gaming only), another for everything is Linux. Gaming box is a desktop with latest CPU, proper GPU and everything, my personal is a 5 year old Thinkpad (mostly docked and connected to multiple monitors, good kb and mouse) under Mint Cinnamon that feels snappier than the Windows one.

Edit: I started playing with Linux 8 years ago and about a year later moved all my stuff to Linux Fedora and later Mint and never looked back. No regrets so far.