Don’t get me wrong. I love Linux and FOSS. I have been using and installing distros on my own since I was 12. Now that I’m working in tech-related positions, after the Reddit migration happened, etc. I recovered my interest in all the Linux environment. I use Ubuntu as my main operating system in my Desktop, but I always end up feeling very limited. There’s always software I can’t use properly (and not just Windows stuff), some stuff badly configured with weird error messages… last time I was not able to even use the apt command. Sometimes I lack time and energy for troubleshooting and sometimes I just fail at it.
I usually end up in need of redoing a fresh install until it breaks up again. Maybe Linux is not good for beginners working full time? Maybe we should do something like that Cisco course that teaches you the basic commands?
That’s more or less my experience too, my installation slowly breaks over time til I’m fed up and reinstall everything. Not sure what I’m even doing wrong if anything at all.
You are definitely doing something wrong.
Yes, installing through official media and doing sudo apt-get upgrade, the horror.
Pointing out a bug that has been around for less than a few days and will be fixed shortly does not refute the above statement.
It was still unfixed as of yesterday. That’s how I found it out. I installed debian and was like huh. I can’t update.
That is a one-off situation. I might be losing my patience with the amount of ignorance in these types of threads but if you honestly believe that Windows is a more stable OS than Linux, you’re objectively wrong. Period.
Do you think Windows doesn’t have one-off issues with updates? Microsoft delivered an update in 2018 that literally deleted user files in home directories. And a simple Google search will inform you of the Windows updates that have broken userspace multiple times since then and before then.
My main draw towards Linux is the exact opposite experience. I have a Linux install that has been carried over three computer and two harddisk changes over 10 years and it’s still as good, or slightly better than it used to be.
My suggestion would be to start with something stable like Debian and read the manual when you want to tinker with it. Especially this: https://wiki.debian.org/DontBreakDebian
It’s literally broken out of the box rn. The Debian live images are borked
Nothing is perfect. Every distribution I used have had bugs at some point.
I would usually wait a while before, maybe until the first point release to upgrade so that there is time to iron out all the teething issues.
I would rather try Fedora if it always break. Fedora only break because the driver like nvidia, but nothing else I ever see it broken if I’m using AMD/Intel iGPU
I’m been using Fedora for many version number, and it’s fun and working as it’s… Never break, unless it’s driver.
Speaking of myself, I think I’m just too lazy / have too little time and energy to slowly troubleshoot everything.
I am always on a rush, and when you’re on a rush and something like apt not working happens, you just implement some workaround that maybe makes everything worse or is not a full solution. As others pointed, putting commands you see on Google without fully understanding them is a bad idea, and a lot of my “Linux troubleshooting experience” is “trying a bunch of Google solutions in a trial and error fashion”.
For example a base issue I have with my current installation is that I firstly installed Ubuntu and then installed KDE, instead of installing Kubuntu, and the installation is kind of glitchy. I never put the time to fix the issues that maybe were not that difficult to fix, but they were unimportant and it just worked. That stuff slowly accumulates over time until the fresh install with that characteristic “this time will be different” feel lol
Right? I have no idea if the solution is right until I’ve done it, and it’s unlikely that the first one or two I try will be it. They’re all black magic commands.