If you’re already with Linux, this is not for you. This is for people who’re indecisive or been contemplating for long about whether to make that jump.
For me, it’s a matter of a few things. I’m on a Windows 10 version that guarantees me until 2032 of support. That means I would effectively skip Windows 11, like I already mostly have and potentially skip Windows 12 if that turns out to be a shitty choice. I’d be coming in right in time for whatever Microslop shits out for Win13.
Should Windows 13 suck, I think that’s a consideration. Another consideration is when Valve keeps dropping support for certain Windows versions of Steam. Because I know for a fact they will drop Windows 10 support entirely one day and then Windows 11. I believe it is really stupid that they do this.
By the time my Windows 10 version expires, I’d be getting older, which means I’ll probably care less and less about computer-related things. Going to Linux wouldn’t be a problem since I’d be doing barebones things like browsing and checking e-mail.
And I’d also hope that by 2032, Linux would have better development like easier access to proprietary drivers and software among other things.
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Linux was my daily driver from 2007 to maybe 2015, when my regular travel with my travel laptop (a Macbook) turned into my main computing device, even if my home computer was still running Linux.
I might switch back this year and give Asahi a try on my personal laptop. I’m almost to the point where I don’t need to be using proprietary software for professional related things, and once that happens, I might be able to make the switch. The Linux world has presumably moved on a bit since I was last regularly using it, but how different could it possibly be?
I’m very likely to switch when I get a new computer. So: getting a new computer
Have a fucking orca mangle that shitty little penguin guy.
Using Linux. Still dual booting because I need CAD software for work and fun…
Professional, industry-standard applications running natively on any major distro.
I use Adobe and Ableton products every day. I simply cannot use Linux as my main OS until these products can run in a real Linux environment, no matter how much I want to.
Argue all you want about Linux alternatives being just as good. The point is, they’re simply not what what the majority of professionals use.
Full compatibility or alternatives for all of my software, some of which is vaporware. OsX isn’t much better than Microsoft but at least it’s unix, though everything is locked down behind 3 keys hidden somewhere
The only thing keeping me with Windows are some short-sighted VST makers that don’t support Linux. Audio in Linux on general has served me enough jank over the years to have me wary as well, though it has definitely gotten better. I do use Linux on my work PC where I don’t need to run a DAW.
Lightroom Classic. I know, I know; Adobe evil.
I tried learning DarkTable, but with a demanding 3 year old and other life things going on, I just don’t have it in me to learn a new workflow and I want to keep up with one of the few hobbies I have left.
$139 USD ($189 CAD) was all it took for my cheap ass. That and I use an ancient thinkpad because nothing I do on my laptop requires a V10PC
Allready did
I’m a whole lot less computer literate than I was when I attempted it in my 20s, I also really only play some games nowadays and binge watch stupid on YouTube… the computer has become less of my life in my 40s so learning a new system sounds like… work.
Look, to be perfectly honest, I’ve had to do far less “computery” bullshit on Linux. After about six months of everything just working fast and flawless, I realised Windows is the OS that requires a pretty high level of computer literacy. Even installing Linux is a simple and quick breeze compared to Windows.
All it took was a final, “Oh, for fuck’s sake! That’s it! I’m fucking done!” moment. I just didn’t want to do it anymore. Never had one since. Using a computer is a nice thing again.
I 100% recommend Linux for grandparents!
I think this experience is possible, but it’s a bit lucky; requiring every piece of hardware to match, and no software needs to represent hurdles.
I’ve fought a few of those hurdles and they haven’t been so bad. I think your experience is great when it happens, but it’s hardly a guarantee.
It’s fast and easy and no big deal until you want to do something radical like create a shortcut and pin it to your taskbar, or share a folder on a home network. Or share your screen with a TV… there have been too many damn times where I’ve wanted to do something that should be simple and the matter of a couple clicks but it sends me down a rabbit hole chasing dependencies and searching terminal commands and spending hours doing something that takes less than a minute on mainstream operating systems. My user experience has drastically improved since I swapped to Plasma but don’t pretend everything works perfectly and intuitively immediately for everyone unless the expected use case is literally turning it on and opening a browser.
OK, almost none of that is a problem anymore (at least with KDE Plasma), but also, do you remember using Windows? Don’t act as if Windows doesn’t have similar issues. When you do weird things sometimes that weird thing doesn’t work how you expect and you have to search for an answer. The answer tends to be far easier, to find and implement, than on Windows though, in my experience.
No OS is perfect. Stop pretending like Windows is.
All of the things I listed are examples from my personal experience that I ran into within the past 6 months. The sharing folder adventure happened just about two weeks ago. Don’t try to tell me that it’s all so easy now, I literally just went through hours of research and experimenting and samba settings and changing my disk’s fstab file just to get a folder to show up on my home network. “Oh well you should have done x or y or not used z” Well, frankly it doesn’t matter what the optimal workflow solution would be, what matters is this was my user experience. This was something I went through and was not some whacky fringe use case. Sharing a folder on a home network is not black magic or calling upon arcane demonic powers.
Now, I’m not going back at this point and I’m committed to Linux now, but pretending it’s all smooth sailing and so easy and polished is misleading. It’s certainly more usable than it ever has been but I think most people on Lemmy have no idea how hands off the average person is from their tech. It’s important to be honest about Linux’s shortcomings and prepare new users that they will probably gave to look up info or documentation for some tasks. You also can’t expect the average person to ever open Terminal without hyperventilating.
Don’t try to tell me that it’s all so easy now, I literally just went through hours of research and experimenting and samba settings and changing my disk’s fstab file just to get a folder to show up on my home network.
For most people, it is (and has been) that easy. If it works as intended, you can simply open your desktop explorer thing, click on network and have it show up. I know that because that has been my experience a couple of years ago and I was surprised at it just working so flawlessly. To be clear, I’m not denying your issues, I’m just pointing out that your experience is not automatically the average experience.
Of course there can be bugs and other issues which require troubleshooting, but that’s not specifically a linux issue.
The difference is that for non-techies, it’s harder to troubleshoot because advice you find is mostly written for techies, there is less info and there are a lot of different linux based operating systems.
For techies, it’s generally easier to troubleshoot because you can get more info out of the system (if you know how) and you generally have more power over the system.
but pretending it’s all smooth sailing and so easy and polished is misleading.
I agree, you cannot generalize a personal experience and then universally apply it to every person as well as every linux based distribution, like “it’ll work flawlessly out of the box because that’s been my experience”. You also cannot generalize it over every linux based system. I have tried a lot of different distros with different hardware and my experience has varied a lot. I have had issues and bugs with ubuntu that just didn’t happen with arch based distros.
But again, it’s virtually never smooth sailing for everyone in every case. Windows users have to troubleshoot issues and bugs too.
It’s important to be honest about Linux’s shortcomings and prepare new users that they will probably gave to look up info or documentation for some tasks.
My problem is people pointing out issues where you have to do this on Linux and pretending like Windows doesn’t have the same issues. People pretend like Windows is flawless, but it’s only because they forgot how much shit they has to deal with learning it. Yes, you’ll have to learn new things. You had to with Windows too. The Linux experience is easier.
You also can’t expect the average person to ever open Terminal without hyperventilating.
The average person isn’t doing more than opening a web browser. They’ll be fine without ever touching the console, just as they were on Windows. The type of user who wants to do more probably also has edited registries in Windows, which is so much worse than anything you’ll do on Linux. Every person switching will have an easier time on Linux than they did on Windows. They might not remember the shit they did to get Windows working how they want, or the garbage they deal with constantly, but that’s just because they got accustomed to it. If you spend the time with Linux to get used to it then it’s easier. It does take time though, and no one is saying it doesn’t. So did (and does, as they constantly change things) Windows.
Wat? I’m on bazzite tbf, a locked garden where you’re not allowed to do anything Advanced tbf, but I literally just right click create shortcut. Or if I want to pin it… I right click “add to task manager”
This is exactly my experience too, after 6months things just worked. Only Pop_OS’s new major update broke that a little bit, but is now for the most part back to just working like they used to or has been improved.
Windows that I have on a laptop keeps being annoying with its sudden updates that slows down everything, and not taking no for an answer when I press not fucking now or ever.
I empathize with this even as a highly computer literate person who works in tech. I turn 40 this year, and when I’m off the clock, I need to read books, touch grass, and live my life as if I don’t know how computers work.
For me it’s not about whether it is more work or not. It is more along the lines of, tolerating microsoft’s bullshit for any longer. Windows 10 in more ways than one, has teetered me towards the edge of switching. Because I hate stupid mandatory updates, I hate how insultingly stupid it is to use a Windows system these days and every dumb decision Microsoft has made that has turned Windows into what it is and what it will be in the future.
I won’t mind a little work to use my machine, long as it frees me from all of that bullshit.
If the current situation hasn’t gotten you to switch then you’re not gonna switch in 2032. You’ll probably just have some other excuses.
Bazzite seems like it would fit perfectly with you then
I’ve used old computers for phasing out certain social networks - e.g. I’d block Facebook on my main computers, and only access it on my old laptop. That’s been quite effective. You could do that, and just use Linux Mint or Xubuntu on that old laptop. Very real learning necessary, and you do manage to break it somehow, it’s not a big deal.
I don’t want to use the fucking terminal for every little damn thing.
Linux is not intuitive for people coming from other platforms at all. Using the computer for basic purposes such as downloading files, apps, and games should not feel like a skill curve.
Yes there’s stores in-built but that doesn’t have the majority of stuff I get, it’s often random websites online with .exe files and such.
Despite the BS microslop does, it’s just a lot easier and comfortable to use, more than Linux could ever be.
I don’t want to use the fucking terminal for every little damn thing.
Not the case? And using the terminal is not harder than e.g. manipulating the registry.
Using the computer for basic purposes such as downloading files, apps, and games should not feel like a skill curve.
Except it will always be, and was when you started using windows, you just forgot it.
Yes there’s stores in-built but that doesn’t have the majority of stuff I get, it’s often random websites online with .exe files and such.
I did not understand your point here. You would not find what you need in standard linux repositories?
I have touched the registry like once, and that was just to disable windows updates. It’s not something I do.
The thing is that Linux is literally designed for coders in mind, it surely comes off that way. I’m not comfortable having to type these weird long-winded commands to do everything.
It was never the case with windows, it’s incredibly intuitive and linear. The amount of time taken to do anything on windows is practically always much lesser on windows compared to Linux necessarily.
Best example is setup installation files. One tap, everything is installed automatically. Not the case with Linux.
I would need games to be supported, as well as engineering programs I need like solidworks, ansys, etc
Steam and Heroic have been working fine for me for playing games on Linux.
Most games are, but there’s a few asterisks mostly not because Linux is incapable of running it but because there’s super invasive anti-cheat that doesn’t allow it.
I need games to be supported
SteamOS and steam consoles will be really helpful for this I think
Edit: typo
every distro can run games now
I assume you mean games? If so, yeah I’d love to get into steamos stuff if that’s an option for my pc but it’d have to be like a real os not just geared for gaming. Do you have any info on that
Edit: but tbh I probably can’t because like I said I need my work programs
Steam is amazing on any Intel version of Linux. 95% of games work. It’s not true that you have to use Bazzite or SteamOS to play games, I ran a bunch of No Man’s Sky on Manjaro Linux.
I have a steam deck, which is in console mode most of the time, but seems fully capable of acting as a desktop. The only issue is the fact that it’s console shaped, but that’s no fault of the os.
For me, as someone who’s not into esports-games, I just expect games to work on Linux now, and they nearly always do. The exception has been a couple of old or obscure titles that run fine in a virtual machine. I’m not running any fancy version of Linux, just Mint, and the only thing I do to get them to work, is install them on Steam. Proton is amazing.
If you are into esports-games, though, there’s a risk that they’ll require kernel-level anticheat, and Linux does not do that.
It feels like the problem with Linux gaming nowadays, is that people expect you to own your games on Steam. Yes, Steam’s support is excellent now. But my GOG games not so smoothly. Is it because of my obscure hardware? Is it my misconfiguration? Or is it me mod my games the wrong way? I’m still trying to figure out a way to mod my GOG Skyrim through MO2.
Yeah, that does suck. I usually check GOG first for a Linux version, and if it doesn’t exist I buy the game on Steam.
Most games have worked for years now
What games aren’t supported that you play?
I get that there are different Distros and that having options is great, but it’s a double edged sword. It also means that things get more complicated and some get more support than others.
If I commit to Linux then my whole house will switch to that Distro because I don’t have time to figure and support >4 PCs with similar but different OSs.
Autocad - for work
Photoshop - for work
Getting more software companies to support.
Make the terminal easier to use. I don’t use it often but when I do I waste an average of 15min just trying to find a guide or wiki. A help file or built in guide would be nice
Everyone that uses Linux, expects you to be a Linux expert
Steam is great but a native GOG app would be nice. Instead of Herolauncher
Anti cheat support from games
Hardware support. Just finding drivers for peripherals is sometimes more trouble than it’s worth
Generally make it more inviting to new users
More support for WINE and Proton
There are 2 barriers for me:
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Ease of access - I haven’t found a distro that I can just download and install. They all require some sort of third-party software that runs the installation. Which means I usually end up struggling to find a tutorial that actually works with the distro I chose.
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Driver issues - The only thing I want to do is run a browser. I stream movies. Seems simple, but I’ve yet to find a distro that will smoothly stream. I’ve tried various browsers.
In fairness, I’m using a single laptop for this purpose, so maybe it’s a hardware issue? Dunno, don’t care, just want things to work.
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