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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

#221

Post by throwaway2037 »

It would help to know what hardware they are using. I have been running Linux on desktop PCs at home for about 20 years now. (Not a humblebrag: I am horrible at Linux admin.) I always make sure to use the most basic hardware possible. Buy a mainstream motherboard (ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, ASRock, etc.) with onboard sound and networking. It will be much easier to find USB, sound, and network drivers that are stable. And choose an AMD graphics card because they have much better Linux support compared to NVidia. Update the BIOS before installing Linux to have the best chance possible for a smooth installation. Also: If you distro allows it, add the "non-free" repo to get a bunch of closed source usually-more-stable drivers. I have been using (stable) Debian+KDE for all of that period and never experienced any of the author's issues. It is very hard to brick a system that I described using auto-updates on stable Debian. I'm sure other people here can chime in about other distros that are exceptionally stable.

Edit: Laptops are much harder to install Linux due to more custom hardware with poor support. However, it is getting better for the largest manufs. WiFi drivers are always the hardest to get working during a laptop install.

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

#222

Post by throwaway2037 »

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…

    > Linux distros are amazing, and their issues are generally fixable with experience, but the problem is that their issues are usage-blocking.
This is a great point. Years ago, when Microsoft Windows was much less stable, I noticed that Windows felt like you constantly had some small nagging issues, but you could still boot and workaround it.

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

#223

Post by throwaway2037 »

Telaneo wrote: post #124
happytoexplain wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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…

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 agree about google-fu with Windows before two years ago. "Free" LLMs, like ChatGPT, are now excellent at fixing your Linux problems. When I have a problem with my Linux box now, I just describe the issue to ChatGPT... we do diagnosis together, then it suggests some fixes. It has not failed me in more than one year, and continues to get better. (I know, I know: This damn post reads like a shill/submarine advert for ChatGPT, but I sure other LLMs are just as good at this point.)

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

#224

Post by throwaway2037 »

martinald wrote: post #37

Two thoughts (I was in the same situation, constantly trying desktop Linux then pinging back to Windows after hitting issues). 1) Fedora is really worth a try, it's extremely polished. The best thing is the packages in the repo are generally much more up to date that debian based distros, which maeans less random PPAs to work around it, which cause issues. 2) The biggest change is having Claude Code/Codex able to dia…

I can second your comment about Fedora. One underrated point: Their drivers are always the best amoung all free distros. I'm not sure if there team is the most aggressive to upstream new drivers, or manufs target Fedora first. And I write this post as a regular Debian user. However, if I have a piece of hardware that has terrible drivers on Debian, almost always it will work fine on Fedora. (Grumble!)

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

#225

Post by thewebguyd »

vikingerik wrote: post #196
thewebguyd wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Windows (and some, but not all, Linux window managers/DEs) are really kings of "general productivity" type work that macOS is really unintuitive about. I daily drive a MBP now, and have since the M1 air released, but even this many years later I still think the more windows-y desktop metaphor is superior for any type of work that requires heavy multi-tasking (which I do as a sysadmin type role). Apple tends t…

On MacOS (at least my older version on a 2015 MBP), Cmd-~ switches between app windows. Totally undiscoverable but knowing that restores a lot of usability.

It helps, but is still fundamentally different behavior. It's now two key strokes Cmd-Tab to Chrome, then Cmd-~ to switch between chrome windows (with no switcher UI).

The windows-y alt-tab at least shows a preview of all windows, and so its one key stroke to tab through everything.

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

#226

Post by topaz0 »

Kwpolska wrote: post #209
topaz0 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Several years ago they added like 4 new "modern" UI styles that you can choose that are more fashionable. They're definitely innovating here, though I still find I'm most productive in the older style. And the sidebar for detailed properties is a huge improvement over 90s all-menu UI. Theme editing is also more accessible than in the Microsoft versions imo.

Sure, they have a wonky-looking ribbon now, but try doing anything more advanced, and you’re back to Office 97-era UX.

I should say that I disagree that office 97 era ux is necessarily worse than "modern". Office 365 is barely more capable than office 97 in any way that I care about.

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

#227

Post by Tajnymag »

cryo32 wrote: post #52
aqme28 wrote: post #11

Linux friction is “unpredictable” but windows friction isn’t, because you have a lot of windows experience and not much in Linux. I don’t think you’d feel the same after a few months of Linux.

30 years of Linux here. Windows issues are easier to fix as they are usually consistently broken and well documented due to the huge user ase.

Are we talking about the same Windows operating system? The one I know is definitely not well documented at all. The "fixes" in the official Microsoft forums/support pages are usually to either run sfc /scannow or to reinstall the whole OS. When community comes up with some registry based solution, it either doesn't properly solve the problem or reverts back after the next update/reboot.

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

#228

Post by ghusto »

0x073 wrote: post #191
ghusto wrote: post #84

> I subconsciously tell myself 'If I just used Linux, I could be like them!'. Your intuition was right. Learning to fix issues in Linux gives you long-term transferable valuable skills in troubleshooting and far-reaching knowledge. Learning to fix Microsoft's latest fubar gives you nothing, unless you're in corporate IT fixing other people's computers. You'll become more confident and niggles won't bother you that mu…

As Linux moves faster than windows I disagree. Systemd, wayland and flatpak resetting my skills in this areas completely windows 11 is still more or less the same. Additional the UI behavior also more often changed than windows e.g gnome 2 to newer versions many core apps are more minimal/less functions and yes I just can fork and use the old behavior as open source but then my pc is more about fixing issues like und…

High churn stuff in the Linux world is take-it-or-leave-it. You can go without and still end up aquiring skills that you use 20 years from now.

I haven't used Linux as a desktop since well before Systemd days. When I picked it up a few weeks ago (for a desktop), I had no trouble applying the troubleshooting skills I acquired 20 years ago to fix issues. In contrast, I had to drive someone's Windows laptop a while ago and I didn't know what I was looking at, never mind fixing anything.

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

#229

Post by Micrococonut »

cybercatgurrl wrote: post #101
Micrococonut wrote: post #83

I switched to bazzite-dx for my personal computer ~6 months ago. i7-13700K / 5070 Ti / 32GB DDR4 / 5120x1440 240Hz HDR It's been perfect for me. The included Bazaar app store is very impressive compared to something like the apple app store. It reignited the lost joy of opening up the app store to find something new and interesting. A wonderful contrast to current meta of app stores just being a front to push expensi…

1Password simply doesn’t work on immutable distros. instant deal breaker for me

Not sure what you mean by this but I use 1password on my home computer (bazzite) without any issue.
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