I have used linux for a couple of years now and it was one of the most bumpy beginnings (and ends) i ever had with software. There was little a moment that wasnt marred by some kind of problem.

I could write a book on all the problems i had encountered and some of them happen several times, but here are some highlights:

  1. monitors not being all recognized unless its plugged in in a VERY specific order
  2. monitor 2 not having the correct colors
  3. audio not coming out of the correct source, the default source changing when something else that can sue it is plugged in, and also changing after a restart
  4. gaming, proton barely EVER worked, rated gold or platinum on protondb? fuck you it wont even start for you
  5. wine is not much better, lutris also fucked up several times

What broke the camels back today:

I stream, on wednesday my controller stopped working so i couldnt continue to stream, an hour after i stopped? the controller started working again great right? no, today the same shit, controller doesnt work.

Linux continues to have awful roadblocks that make even the most stubborn user (me) switch back to windows for now

But ah i am not dont yet, getting support from other users is about as much a fools errand as it is for windows, just sprinkled in with a lot more brown nosing elitism. And i imagine i will get similar comments here cause lemmy has the same circlejerks reddit has.

As long as linux continues having the most mundane problems with NO solution anywhere it wont get anywhere, if it werent for steamdeck it would still hover around at below 3%

See i like linux, i like how the ui feels and all, but i just cant anymore, i want shit to actually work and linux just cant provide that yet

  • ttmrichter@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’ve been using Linux since 2004, in various distros, exclusively as my desktop for any computer I own or control.

    I nonetheless agree with you 100%.

    Linux¹ is an OS that appeals to a very narrow spectrum of a very narrow subculture of people. As a desktop OS for the general public it is basically a disaster area. If video doesn’t fuck you up, audio will, or Bluetooth, or networking, or any number of other sharp corners and rusty nails sticking out. You either get used to fixing these (and then never touching them ever again once solved … and hope the next kernel update doesn’t fuck you over!) or you get the joy of sifting through a myriad of subtly incorrect and/or out of date “help” articles online. (Documentation?! Don’t make me laugh. You wouldn’t like me when I laugh.)

    There are a few reasons for this. Of these, one is out of the control of the Linux community. The rest are the Linux community’s to fix, however. But they won’t. (The reason for this is one of the items listed.)

    • Manufacturers of hardware won’t release the information needed to write drivers for their products, and won’t commit to writing and maintaining good drivers of their own.
    • The kernel has its ABI changed more often than, I suspect, an average kernel maintainer changes their underwear. (This contributes to why manufacturer drivers tend to drift into shit.)
    • The development community is almost pathologically opposed to writing proper documentation. (Hint: reference documentation is not sufficient and never has been.)
    • People who do write documentation (often third parties), are not supported in any way by those who don’t: changes aren’t checked against existing documentation and the latter updated, for example.
    • There’s a strong “it was hard for me to learn; it should be hard for everyone to learn!” vibe in the user community.
    • There’s also a strong element of denial in said user community: a lot of “works for me, so it must be your problem”. The problem being with Linux is not considered seriously and, indeed, is strongly denied when mentioned as a possibility.
    • Fixing complicated (albeit often entirely unnecessary) problems is literally addictive. A lot of users are addicted specifically to the dopamine hit of solving a complicated, if pointless, problem and thus don’t see this as a problem. They expect other users to be similarly addicted.
    • A lot of users view the computer’s OS as the end, not the means to an end. This clashes with the viewpoint of users who just want their OS to get the fuck out of their way so they can work on their actual ends.

    So why do I still use Linux, given all my negativity above?

    • I do a lot of work with programming languages that most people haven’t even seen used in anger. Many of these aren’t supported under Windows in the first place; those which are tend not to be very well supported. Unix-like systems are the most common supported systems in that space.
    • I really, really, really hate all the spying that gets done by commercial software and would rather deal with the problems that crop up using Linux than feeding a bunch of sociopathic billionaires even more data.
    • This is probably the big one: I don’t play computer games. I hate the fucking things enough without wanting them in my entertainment. Many of the problems that people have vanish into nothingness if you’re not a gamer.
    • I am a gigantic nerd. (In all senses of “gigantic” here.)

    ¹ Before some Yahoo tries to “own” me by pointing out “BUT ANDROID IS BASED ON THE LINUX KERNEL TOO!!!111oneoneoneeleventy!”, here I’m using “Linux” as a shortcut for "Linux on desktop systems as a desktop OS. That Android thing is not the killer line you think it is. It just makes you look intellectually dishonest.

    • Mandy@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      1 year ago

      all of these points are very valid but holy shit

      “works for me, so it must be your problem”

      especially this one resonated with me, cause literally (and i do mean literally) every single problem i would mention online had at least one yahoo doing exactly this

    • irmoz@reddthat.com
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      1 year ago

      Fixing complicated (albeit often entirely unnecessary) problems is literally addictive. A lot of users are addicted specifically to the dopamine hit of solving a complicated, if pointless, problem and thus don’t see this as a problem. They expect other users to be similarly addicted.

      I had never considered this…

    • shapis@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      I really, really, really hate all the spying that gets done by commercial software and would rather deal with the problems that crop up using Linux than feeding a bunch of sociopathic billionaires even more data.

      This is the big one for me.

      Entirely agree with this whole comment though.