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My transition from Windows to Linux in an anti-customer age

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Re: My transition from Windows to Linux in an anti-customer age

#71

Post by falcolas »

trinsic2 wrote: post #2

Here I am, back in Windows. I’m realizing that my journey to a Freedom-Of-Choice Desktop environment is riddled with traps from my past. My familiarity with the apps and processes of Windows haunts my every move. It’s challenging to find replacements and workarounds for what I used to be able to do… But then my determination kicked in. If I really think about it, would it be such a loss to switch to a Linux alternati…

I tried running on Linux (Ubuntu) and using Reaper, so I don't have to use Windows with it's BS.

Getting the audio stack running was a nightmare, and it always just sounded bad. Something was wrong with the drivers that caused a ton of latency and weird compression. It appeared to be something to do with everyone's favorite default audio system: Pulseaudio (have a look sometime at how many troubleshooting steps there are for the simple "I'm not getting audio out of Ubuntu", it's silly)

I spent a few days trying to figure out the proper magical incantation to make ALSA work with my setup (Scarlet 2i2, pretty common), with no success. No matter how many semi-sketchy and unofficial websites I went through.

Put it on Windows, works out of the box, sounds great. Went back to recording audio instead of doing IT.

Re: My transition from Windows to Linux in an anti-customer age

#72

Post by amanzi »

I just blew away my last Windows installation and completed the move to Pop!_OS. I keep a VM running Windows 10 Pro around so I can access Office desktop apps and some Windows-specific software I need, but I spend most of my time in Linux now and have love it.

Re: My transition from Windows to Linux in an anti-customer age

#73

Post by pickledcods »

I have a 4k monitor and at first bumped my head into many walls because of the excruciating bad or missing font size/selection support. Tried literally all the desktops and file managers.

Ended with Mate/Xfe, both with amazing and consistent font support. Redshift for time dependent colour temperature is also worth mentioning.

Re: My transition from Windows to Linux in an anti-customer age

#74

Post by II2II »

michaelcampbell wrote: post #14

> In 2015 when Windows 10 rebooted my machine to automatically install an update, closing down an unsaved document I was in the middle of working on, Do I have some magic aura that causes Microsoft to give me at least a 12 hour warning about updates? Because I honestly can't remember a time this sort of thing (instant update, no warning) has ever happened to me with Windows. I love Linux and do as much as I can for m…

It happens. The warning was probably ignored or forgotten. Keep in mind, a lot of people like Windows because they prioritize what they do with a computer over what they have to do for the computer. Interrupting their work is the last thing on their mind, particularly if it involves relaunching applications and pulling up documents after that interruption. They may have even developed habits such as walking away from the computer thinking that everything will be there when they return (including unsaved work).

Re: My transition from Windows to Linux in an anti-customer age

#75

Post by socceroos »

TedShiller wrote: post #34

Gave up on Microsoft in the 90s. Never looked back.

Same situation. I've used Windows over the years for playing some games with friends, but even that had become something that I can do entirely in Linux too.

Call me a fool, but I'm also loving Gnome 40+ and GTK 4.6+, especially with libadwaita.

Re: My transition from Windows to Linux in an anti-customer age

#76

Post by phendrenad2 »

nxbp wrote: post #65
shawnb576 wrote: post #43

Every time I try this I go thru standard stages: 1. Ugh I want to run docker natively, Ubuntu looks good, I’ll do that 2. Install latest Ubuntu. It’s great! Love the shell. Hardware works. I can run Windows in Virtual Box for odd apps. 3. Why is my battery life so bad? Why won’t Bluetooth stay connected? 4. I am full Linux. I am living the creed! 5. I am so tired of constantly fixing something. Why is Spotify renderi…

Do the settings once. Keep a copy of ~/ and /etc handy. Apply all settings in one go at will. Stop fiddling around, making a fuss about nothing and just keep on using it.

How do you "just keep using" apps that are broken and need lots of fiddling to fix them, often repeatedly after every app update?

Re: My transition from Windows to Linux in an anti-customer age

#77

Post by phendrenad2 »

sschueller wrote: post #60
shawnb576 wrote: post #43

Every time I try this I go thru standard stages: 1. Ugh I want to run docker natively, Ubuntu looks good, I’ll do that 2. Install latest Ubuntu. It’s great! Love the shell. Hardware works. I can run Windows in Virtual Box for odd apps. 3. Why is my battery life so bad? Why won’t Bluetooth stay connected? 4. I am full Linux. I am living the creed! 5. I am so tired of constantly fixing something. Why is Spotify renderi…

I use manjaro a version of arch and I will never go back. Yes, sometimes things to don't but windows has issues as well. I had it with this anti user direction we are going because you know "security reasons". Microsoft decides what is malware, they decide what we are allowed to install, they track everything you do and if you want to turn if off forget it. Everytime you update they try to force you to make a MS acco…

I tried to use Linux but it was a death by a thousand paper cuts of bugs and glitches. I've never experienced Windows stopping me from running a program, maybe you're actually trying to run malware? It's a good idea to install an antivirus or at least windows defender so you can avoid these.

Re: My transition from Windows to Linux in an anti-customer age

#78

Post by m45t3r »

shawnb576 wrote: post #43

Every time I try this I go thru standard stages: 1. Ugh I want to run docker natively, Ubuntu looks good, I’ll do that 2. Install latest Ubuntu. It’s great! Love the shell. Hardware works. I can run Windows in Virtual Box for odd apps. 3. Why is my battery life so bad? Why won’t Bluetooth stay connected? 4. I am full Linux. I am living the creed! 5. I am so tired of constantly fixing something. Why is Spotify renderi…

This comment is strange because the only OS that I never had serious issues with Bluetooth is Linux, specially after migrating to PipeWire.

Windows always had some strange driver that were hit or miss depending of the dongle.

However macOS is much worse: I have a Galaxy Buds 2 that works perfectly in all my devices (Android, Nintendo Switch, my notebooks running Linux, etc.), but with my work provided MacBook Pro it randomly disconnects one ear, or the audio gets completely garbled after a while. Other teammates report similar issues with their Bluetooth earbuds, from completely different manufacturers.

Even without the above issue, connecting/disconnecting the device opens Apple Music and there seems to be no way to disable this behavior unless you buy an Airpods or disable all other music shortcuts.

It kinda seems that Apple makes the Bluetooth experience horrible for everyone else just to sell more Airpods.

Re: My transition from Windows to Linux in an anti-customer age

#79

Post by II2II »

Gareth321 wrote: post #6

Fair comments but as someone who has tried many times to adopt Linux, I can honestly state that nothing in Windows comes close to the user-hostile UX approach in Linux. For example, Radarr is an extremely popular tool for managing movies. It connects to usenet and torrent clients, as well as indexers and movie databases. It makes maintaining a home movie collection seamless. Radarr is not in major package managers, a…

Radarr sounds like the type of software that no vendor would accept in their app store. Why would you expect it to be available through a Linux package manager?

As for the convoluted installation process under Linux, that is on the developer. They can provide packages directly, create a distribution agnostic application, or provide an installer. All of these approaches are in common use under Linux. None of them require the use of the command line. It is also worth noting that the second option is similar to how Mac applications are distributed while the third option is how Windows applications are distributed. The fact that Radarr's developers decided to do something else, something that required the command line, says more about them than it does about Linux.

With respect to user-hostile US approaches, please don't get me started. Windows itself is far from perfect in this respect.

Re: My transition from Windows to Linux in an anti-customer age

#80

Post by II2II »

TedShiller wrote: post #34

Gave up on Microsoft in the 90s. Never looked back.

I also left Windows in the mid-1990's. I have tried looking back from time to time, when it felt like it would make life at work easier. The thing is, it never does. That doesn't really say anything about Windows, since it has improved a lot over the years and my reasons for leaving it are no longer valid. It says more about what I am used to, how I expect to get things done, what I am willing to put up with, and what I am not willing to put up with.
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