Lemme tell you...
I'd love to use your knowledge, and have gotten some great tips on other posts and forums. But if the answer to one more of my questions starts with "you just need to
.." and then has an extremely vague answer, I'ma pull the rest of my hair out.
That said, I'm building a PC right now that will be Linux based because fuck Windows and fuck Microsoft. Sincerely, a burnt out IT dude tired of hearing what fresh hell patch Tuesday brought.
It happens soooo often it can be really frustrating. But to be fair I think the folks that hang around that sort of tech site or even here are so far ahead of me with Linux it probably feels like talking to a 5 year old in order to "dumb it down" for me. I'm still determined to learn though, dammit!
A few years ago I switched to Linux and I pretty much was like this: I saw a friend who didn't use Linux and tried to evangelize it, saying how it's superior, how everything you do on Windows is doable on Linux, how Microsoft harvests your data and how bloated Windows 10 is.
That didn't really lead me anywhere except pushing people away from Linux because I was practically forcing it onto them. Average experience would be me helping them install Linux and troubleshoot some things (usually via googling for them), but as soon as they hit some roadblock that required more extensive troubleshooting to fix (say, a rarer issue), they'd just quit, resulting in time wasted on both ends. If you don't want to drive people away from Linux and be their dedicated tech support for hours and hours (assuming it's a friend rather than a stranger on the internet), then please don't evangelize it without being asked specifically about it. It's okay to suggest, but let people decide if they want to make the switch themselves.
This isn't specifically targeted at OP or anyone in particular, it's just that this type of mentality seems to be literally everywhere when it comes to Linux corners in social media and this meme reminded me of it.
Libre software was a movement founded on collaboration and a sense of urgency. Sure you may have not have had the success you wanted, but the reality is that there is no safe, sustainable alternative to it.
Also I reject your usage of the word "Tech support." You're teaching people how to use an operating system (and more importantly a philosophy) they've never experienced before. People are driven away from GNU every day by cheap expensive technology that preys on their vulnerability, you likely never made a dent by telling people about it.
In all fairness, I usually get the opposite. I grew up building DOS systems, but haven't messed with command lines in years. Decided to build an unRAID server and dip my toes into jumping to Linux. If I ever get stuck, can't find anything, and need to reach out, I usually get either "look it up" or "if you don't know, you don't need to be messing with X."
i want to install anbox (run android on linux), and it has modules that are required to be installed in the kernel (chamem? ) using dkms: first hurdle was that my ubuntu had a kernel version beyond 5.6, so it doesn't allow any modification, then learned that i could boot with 5.19 at startup, but still, i got another error that compiler used (gcc) is of different version than the one used with the kernel. all i wanted is to install anbox 😭😭
I feel you, back when I tried installing Anbox it felt like a nightmare, I think I eventually succeeded, but then I noticed how outdated it was and basically dropped it.
Now there is Waydroid that is based on more recent Android versions and it has become super easy to install, even with ARM translation to have compatibility with most Android apps:
well according to my simple serf beliefs, i thought that arch would allow more kernel tinkering, maybe thats why it was popular among certain groups, and jokes aside: if i am obliged to learn cui instead of gui, i might as well learn it the solid way (i am still novice at linux, and arch seems kinda intimidating) guess i ll start using arch, idk if it uses different comands other than sudo and so forth..although its still linux, but the documentation is really helpful, also again: i really appreciate ur help. i ll check waydroid instead.
I think my computer use could work well with Linux. Mainly I watch movies from my files or through streaming, browse the internet, and photoshop. Though I don't game, people are unhappy there can be compatibility issues with Linux. What makes it like that? What problems will I run into and where should I look to solve them?
I'm no programmer. I probably need some explain-like-I'm-five instructions.
If you need Adobe products i would recomend staying on windows. Unfortunetly geting anything Abobe to work is extremly hard, so unless you want to spend hours getting photoshop just for it to break on the next update then its probably not a good idea to switch. The other stuff you listed shoud work fine.
Read Free Software, Free Society by Richard Stallman if you want a material analysis of why GNU/Linux is the way it is today. This is not any attempt at an excuse for limitation, but an explanation for why it exists.
In short, GNU/Linux is pragmatically incapable of running proprietary software. Things like Valve's "Steam" have to be injected into the system as a ready made program. Companies like Adobe (far from your humble starved artist) don't even bother.
You'll run into a lot of problems with GNU/Linux that you'll need to have the confidence to solve yourself. There is no widely-accepted standard to how much computer science an average person should know. Corporate execs prefer you understood nothing while free software advocates want you to know as much as you can. If you don't have a good attitude, you won't get far in GNU.
If you want to kick-start your GNU/Linux journey, use Linux Mint or POP!_OS because if those two can't work on your hardware, then likely nothing else will. Just learn, learn, and don't stop learning.
Most of the games work. The only problem linux has right now is anticheat in some games. But you cann look at https://www.protondb.com/ to check which games work.
It depends on the type of game you play. Most problems occur with online games, the vast majority of single player games, even AAA, works on Linux, notably with Steam.
As I said in another thread, I do not check compatibility anymore beforehand. I install and select the newest glorious eggroll proton in steam and it works. Granted, I play only indie games, so if you play competitive with anticheat I would stay on windows to be safe and avoid the hassle or suspended account.
In regards to performance I don't know if I am missing out.
Not perfect but ChatGpt is the fastest way to get linuxy info now. Gone are the days of sifting through a million Solved forum posts where the solution can often be I gave up.
I wish it was helpful with more complex programming related issues. In my experience it just made up some believable code or some python module that does not exist. AI is still trash for anything complex.
I've tried several times. I'm pretty test savvy. Last time I tried I said I'm sticking with it for 3 months minimum to get a grip on it.
I lasted about 4 months before I went back to windows.
It just makes life hard. Windows might be tracking every moment of my usage but it just works as Jensen would say.
The amount of hours I spent reading posts and forums trying to figure out how to get things working the way I wanted.
Linux really needs to unify a bit. Stop being so fragmented. It's so stupid having different versions of Linux that require different versions of software to work.
Until a single common standard is adopted it will never gain traction.
Plus they need to get away from the terminal. It's not the 80s anymore.
I really don't know your exact path through Linux but there are always options. As with all software, there are some kinks you have to get used to.
If you don't like the terminal, use a distro that can run without it (Linux mint?).
If you want unified apps, use a desktop environment (lxqt, KDE, gnome), all the basic apps come from the same place.
In windows if you want more software, you have to install it, the graphics drivers are fragmented, the browsers are fragmented... I use windows for some work stuff and I find myself using the terminal more since switching to Linux because some commands allow for more customization and I don't like searching GUIs for options.
As always, there is no problem if you don't like Linux, stick to what's comfortable for you. I just try to recommend Linux to chip away at windows marketshare so it doesn't end up being a monopoly in the OS side.
Honestly why did you even try it? The fact there are different versions and that there is no universal standard, and the power the command line gives the user is literally the foundation of Linux.
If those are your reasons for not liking it you did this to yourself mate. I don't go watch football if I don't like football. I don't drink coffee if I don't like coffee.
I flipped around a few different distros to try them out.
As it currently stands IMO Linux won't be taking market share from Windows.
I actually think the best use case for Linux is for the very old. People that want their computer to work and never change.
They only need a browser and a word processor and email.
I considered setting up Mint for my mum's PC just so its a consistent and solid experience forever.
She likes playing the Windows card games though with the score board so it ruled it out.