Then im forced to use windows at work and get locked into a 45 minute forced update.
Not to mention how horribly slow win11 is even on 64 gb ram and an i7.
And the bloatware. Never seen so much bloat (and ai slop shit) ever before. And start menu ads. Yay.
How do people use this trash!
The nice thing is that Linux is always improving and Windows is always in retrograde. The more users Linux has, the faster it will improve. If the current state of Linux is acceptable enough for you as a user, then it should be possible to get your foot in the door and ride the wave upwards. If not, wait for the wave to reach your comfort level. People always say <CURRENT_YEAR> is the year of the Linux desktop but IMO the real year of the Linux desktop was like 4 or 5 years ago now, and hopefully that captured momentum will keep going until critical mass is achieved (optimistically, I think we’re basically already there).
This is so true. It’s been good enough for me for so many years at this point, and yet it just keeps getting better. The whole experience is so much nicer now than it was years ago, which was better than years before that, etc.
(That said, better hardware also helps a lot.)
Probably because one is solely for shareholders and one isn’t ;)
I use Garuda, which is an Arch-based distribution. Regressions are inevitable, though in my experience any actual issues arising from updates are quite infrequent. I’ve only once ever had to use Snapper to restore my system after a borked update in the some three and a half years I’ve used it. Keep in mind that this is a rolling release distribution, so new code isn’t always thoroughly tested before it’s sent out. I generally prefer new software, because I like playing games so new features and enhancements are important to me (on my main PC. I often install Arch for fun on other computers, but I thought for my ThinkPad? It’s older, maybe I’d like it to run Debian).
But any time I have a minor hiccup (that usually gets resolved after an update or reboot), I remember how much worse it could be. I’d much prefer the rare slight complication to the ads, telemetry, nags, intrusive updates, excessive bloat, and lack of control.
I’ve said before, that after using Linux on my main PC and not touching Windows? Windows really does feel like I’m not using my PC, something I never really noticed before I made the switch five years ago. I used to have no problems with modern Windows, but now it’s hard for me to tolerate. Old Windows is generally okay. I collect old computers, so versions like Windows 95, 98, 2000, and XP are fun.
Your Windows install breaks because Microsoft fucked it up.
My Linux install breaks because I fucked it up.We are not the same.
Linux IS a lot of work to keep up with. But it’s also way better to use after that work is done. And won’t be enshittified against your will with every update, unlike Windows.
That’s half the fun though isn’t? I’ll tinker on my arch or nixos machines all the time just changing things, playing around with customization, trying out repos and what have you. I love just trying out new stuff people have made and seeing if I can use it for my workflow.
I got a new laptop with Windows 11 at work yesterday. This is the first time I’ve used 11. I must say, it’s not really that bad. Once you cut out all the enshittification, which our IT department does, it’s pretty decent. I would never dream of putting it in any of my own machines, of course.
Yeah, I installed Enterprise edition on my desktop, which allows you to cut out all the bloat and spyware. But it takes a long time to do, and I’m not sure I got everything since Windows Updates can change anything.
It is a LOT of work indeed! In fact I even commented on that hours ago in https://lemmy.ml/post/36231170/21124115
… but as you mention the alternative is ALSO a lot of work PLUS frustrations.
So between learned helplessness and tiring empowerment the choice remains obvious.
FWIW whenever it feels like it’s “too much” I reminder myself how I browse through obscure
manpages decades ago… to still find them useful today! It’s crazy that so long after learning about tools likemoreorgrepis useful on :- a desktop
- a console (SteamDeck)
- a mobile phone (which basically didn’t exist back then)
- a VR headset (yes, via
termux) - the “cloud” (as in fine it’s just a server)
It sometimes is, but then sometimes Linux is not to blame.
Yesterday I was installing CachyOS on my son’s laptop, because that’s what he chose to use instead of Windows 10. The desktop came up fine, but no wifi adaptor was detected. I could try another more mainstream distro, but I wanted my kid to have what he chose. So we went troubleshooting. Googled the laptop model, found the adaptor, found the matching kernel module, checked the logs… and there it was, a cryptic error -110. Googled that and there was an answer: disable Windows Fast Boot.
It turns out that Windows locks the wifi adaptor when shutting down in Fast Boot mode. So after disabling it and a couple of reboots later, CachyOS was installing flawlessly.
It served as a lesson for me and an example for my kid to persevere and learn more.
The bloatware alone pushed me off. I am actually making a new build just to not deal with Nvidia anymore also.
I’ve found Linux easier and a much better user experience than windows 10 or 11.
If you use a straightforward distro that doesn’t let you do stupid stuff (like Bazzite or Fedora Kinoite or any other atomic distro), Linux becomes easy.
I’m on the opposite end with Nixos. Hard as fuck to use but god is it stable. Especially when you start leaning into things like impermanence and flakes. Crazy learning curve / upfront effort
I agree, atomic distos have allowed me to make the switch and are better and easier than windows and even macos.
Atomic distros made my coming back to Linux a dream. I don’t want the hassle and I don’t want to break shit. That was fun in my youth, now I want shit that works.
Samesies. Fucked around with Ubuntu when I was younger and found all sorts of ways to bork my installation. Too many gnome themes.
Yeah, ever since switching to Bluefin, it’s been a dream. I don’t have to fight the laptop or myself when I do something stupid.
That’s why I finally switched to mint after decades of pain
I never understood why windows updates take so long.
I can format and reinstall a linux distro in 10 minutes. I can update everything after that reinstall in 5 minutes.
On the same machine a windows update takes almost an hour. A format and reinstall can take several hours.
What is windows doing that takes so much longer?
Installing Spyware and ads
Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC + StartAllBack, and having none of those problems. 🤷
But it’s still Windows.
Doesn’t matter how much hot sauce and cinnamon you dunno on to a turd, it’s still a turd.
Still windows but if you remove the bloatware, its “a turd” but it smells less. If that helps. Windows is terrible, I agree, but for those who need to use it, any software like startallback, or something like the chris titus tool should be recommended.
Strange, doesn’t feel like a turd using it as a daily driver. Feels more like XP or 7 after a fresh install.
depends what you do, tbh. If you try to get a 3D program (that works well in Windows) to work on Linux, or try to get a game running as smooth as it is on Windows, then you are in for a lot of work.
But if your usage involves: simple web browser / email, codes, file operations. Then Linux is just plug and play, even much simpler than Windows. No ads, no constant updates nagging.
Linux just leaves you alone, if you mess some thing up it is you fault. On my Win 11 laptop, I got logged off by the damn OS just for it to display a popup with something bullshit like “Sign in to OneDrive to protect your PC”
You’re wrong about the games part. Most of us have no issues with that because of proton. As long as the game doesn’t require kernel level anti-cheat malware.
And yeah, 3D program written for windows is not going to run on Linux natively without issues. That’s common sense. It’s up to the developers to support more platforms, and that will happen with market share.
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Sure is. I have to change my display driver from one version to another, to be able to play different games. Otherwise, some games freeze my system within few seconds of launching the game (also happens during local video full-screen playback). The linux guys will tell me, “oh, it’s just because your distro install was corrupt”, or “definitely a hardware issue”, “PSU failing / GPU failing”, etc. but no, that’s just how linux works. there will always be some system configurations that are bound to have these problems. this is similar to linux users “choosing” not to play the games that don’t work on linux distributions.
Ive been having a good time with PopOS/Linux made for a specific machine. Its my daily driver.
I know its cheating a bit, but having something completely supported is so nice when I just want to sit down and compute. Ive had the same system76 machine for 6 years now and its still VERY fast. No issues with drivers (cause they fully support it) and made of generic parts.
