[Unpopular opinion] Linux is not a good choice for regular users
[Unpopular opinion] Linux is not a good choice for regular users
I've been using all major OSes for a long time. I have the most experience with Windows, I've been using it since Windows 95 and stopped at Windows 8. I've been using macOS for about a decade and Linux (in total) for about 5 years. I have started with Mandrake, moved to Mandriva, spent over a year on Ubuntu and recently I've been using Fedora as my daily driver. And honestly, I'm running out of patience.
Few days ago I ran into the gpu driver issue. Long story short, Steam games started to crash on directx issue. Games that were working few weeks ago. I admit, I was mocking around with GPU drivers in order to make Podman containers to access the GPU. But I did the fresh diver install and it didn't solved the issue (also my GPU was not found despite all commands showed it was there). I don't have much spare time and I would like to play a game, I used to play before, without spending hours/days fixing issue that didn't exist last time I played it.
But it's not only about games. I have two laptops, both running Fedora 40 KDE spin. Some time ago on one laptop the power widget stopped working. It shows "no power profiles found on a device". But when I delete the widget and add it again, it works fine.
Other issue is with the general look and feel. There are many apps that don't follow the OS look - lack of window borders/shadow, random icons that don't match the system, flatpacks having issues accessing system configuration (e.g. vscodium not recognising zsh as a default shell).
Few more problems I had:
- on GNOME, some extensions where crashing without any reason
- some apps don't respect desktop scaling
- bluetooth randomly dropping connections
- syncing files between devices is always a struggle
- you never know what's going to break when installing updates
If you want a Linux like experience use macOS, and if you want to play games, stick to Windows.
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started with Mandrake, moved to Mandriva, spent over a year on Ubuntu and recently I’ve been using Fedora
Another unpopular opinion:
That's because you've been using distributions that are either behind the times or have a lot of wonky crap added to them that looks like user friendliness when it works and is like fixing windows when it doesn't (I've been through similar path, just with a few other distros along the way)Start with Gentoo or Arch (maybe Slackware). These are close to the grass, so the way to set things up is the way to fix things up
some apps don’t respect desktop scaling
are these gtk based apps? Different toolsets require different envs
syncing
Have you tried syncthing?
Start with Gentoo or Arch
I wouldn't recommend arch to general users. I consider myself a general linux user, and figuring out Arch, even after the installation hurdle, wasn't easy for me.
is like fixing windows when it doesn’t
I don't think Arch really makes that easy. Although, I guess archwiki is pretty great. Even arch forum helped me a lot with respect to other disto.
Start with Gentoo or Arch (maybe Slackware). These are close to the grass, so the way to set things up is the way to fix things up
I've tried Mint, openSUSE, Debian, Gentoo and Arch but I had other, non-regular user issues with those. I wanted to point out the standard issues.
are these gtk based apps? Different toolsets require different envs
Some were GTK based other were "optimised" for KDE
Have you tried syncthing?
Yes, I use it on a daily basis but there's no easy way to get it working on iOS/iPadOS.
I was mocking around with GPU drivers in order to make Podman containers to access the GPU. (...) I don’t have much spare time and I would like to play a game, I used to play before, without spending hours/days fixing issue that didn’t exist last time I played it.
And
I had other, non-regular user issues with those
I think, you should keep these two things (messing with containers accessing GPU and "just play a game") separate. I mean on separate boxes. Because now you can't "just play" because you've been elbows deep in OS internals. You can't take apart your fridge and then expect it to just cool the water the next day
“optimised” for KDE
Then I'm guessing these might need some KDE envs
Yes, I use it on a daily basis but there’s no easy way to get it working on iOS/iPadOS.
Ah, you're trying to breach the non-open wall. Is there an app on i* that allows you to set up an ftp/http file sharing server on the device? You probably could set it up as rclone upstream
I think, you should keep these two things (messing with containers accessing GPU and “just play a game”) separate. I mean on separate boxes. Because now you can’t “just play” because you’ve been elbows deep in OS internals. You can’t take apart your fridge and then expect it to just cool the water the next day
I agree, that's a valid point. But, I had a clean system, prepared for a normal user (clean install, official repositories, etc. And still GPU drivers refusded to work. I have covered all basics before I asked for help and even I got some good advice that worked, I ended up in the same place.
Then I’m guessing these might need some KDE envs
True, but sill for a regular user it looks like "Linux is ugly"
Ah, you’re trying to breach the non-open wall. Is there an app on i* that allows you to set up an ftp/http file sharing server on the device? You probably could set it up as rclone upstream
I know too well the unbreakable apple garden. And I don't mind tinkering with it but again, we are at the regular user level, that wants things just to work.