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This week’s Weekly discussion thread will be focused on Linux. I know that Lemmy is VERY biased towards Linux and FOSS, but I’m curious what non-technical people feel about it and what your thoughts are.
Some starters:
- Have you used Linux? If so, what was your experience like?
- Would you run it as your primary system? Why or why not?
- What would it take to get you to do so?
- Do you feel it’s a solid option?
- Are there any changes that you’d think would benefit consumers and aid with adoption?
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Have you used Linux? If so, what was your experience like?
Would you run it as your primary system? Why or why not?
A few years back my computer gave up its ghost at the worst conceivable time. We were in a bit of a financial crunch (having just dropped money on a new home) and a new computer was simply not in the budget. SO set up a “pie” machine he had (Orange Pie?—NOT the Raspberry thing) for me to do some basic stuff at home and for about five months that was my home computer.
The experience was overall mixed, but leaned heavily into the negative. Firefox worked. That was nice. LibreOffice was good enough that now I’m back on a real system I still use it because the newer MS Office UIs (with that idiotic “ribbon”) tick me off. Much of the time things seemed fine.
“Seemed” is the key word there.
Because when it was running normally (not including times when its speed was simply not high enough: that’s not Linux’s fault) it was … fine. Not great. Fine. I could find files. I could do office stuff. I could even limp along in some online games I played back then (MUSHes), though the tools available for that were utter crap.
The problem is that it would occasionally stop running normally. And that’s when the flaws (and flagrant user-hostility!) of Linux came to the forefront.
Some examples:
- The wifi part of things would frequently just … stop working, without any clue why. Using the configuration tool for it did nothing. Indeed it showed no error. It just didn’t work. I’d have to whine at SO (he’s an engineer) and he would wrestle with it a while, and it would work once again. When I peeked at his working, it consisted of a bunch of files with utter gibberish in them.
- There was no consistency whatsoever in user interfaces. (Windows is getting this way, so I’m actually looking for an alternative … it’s just that Linux isn’t it!) Some programs were slick (the aforementioned Firefox and LibreOffice, for example), but most of them looked like a toddler saw a GUI application once and, from incomplete memories, tried to make one of their own. Even within individual apps there was often no consistency in how to do things, where to look, etc. Across apps? Fuggeddaboutit!
- If something went wrong (like thumbnails not appearing in the file manager) the solution was invariably “open up a ‘terminal’ and type some random shit”. (Or, in my case, wait for SO to come home and have him do it.)
- This is presuming that you could find instructions. It seems procedures for solving things in Linux-land change more often than the makers of it change their underwear. If the instructions were more than six months old, there was a very good chance they wouldn’t work because “modern” Linux (read: newer than six weeks old) does things differently (and that usually with minor, trivial changes that only serve to frustrate, rather than actually seeming needful).
What would it take to get you to do so?
Its makers remembering that 99.44% of computer users view their computers as tools for getting their work done and not as an end unto themselves. If I have to open up a “terminal” and type random, meaningless bullshit to fix a problem your system has already failed the UX thing. There’s nothing wrong with making a system that is its own end for those who want it, I should stress. Just don’t then pitch that system as a viable end-user product. It’s ludicrous.
(This is about the point someone will say “Android is based on Linux, so you already blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda hur hur hur…” to which I just roll my eyes and ignore—and likely block—the disingenuous nitwit.)
Do you feel it’s a solid option?
No. Not now, and given what I’ve seen of the community, not ever. The problem with Linux is largely social and cultures don’t change quickly.
Are there any changes that you’d think would benefit consumers and aid with adoption?
Hire designers with actual UI and UX expertise. Streamline all the major, important tools based on these designers’ inputs. Make sure those designers aren’t soliciting input only from the echo chamber of people who already use Linux. Make the tools that don’t match the designer streamlining available for those who want or need them, but don’t make them the default.
And, above all, listen to your users’ complaints. The reflex most Linux users seem to have to any criticism of it, no matter how minor, is to launch into the attack with “RTFM” (as if there even is a meaningful manual to read!) or other such dismissive hand-waving to somehow … make normal people like Linux better by being treated like shit?
Interesting to see a non-positive take! I always appreciate your write-ups.
I too wish there was more unification with certain elements. I can only imagine what they could do if they combined development resources into a few channels instead of being scattered to the winds. Maybe add an overall design aesthetic (while maintaining the means to change it) instead of just “it works I suppose.”
Well, to be fair there were some good things about it. The Pie device didn’t grind to a halt because everything was using so much memory that it would throw a tantrum. My Windows PC does that daily, it seems. Some of the UI things were very helpful, especially the way it handled virtual desktops (SO much better than Windows!). And as I said, LibreOffice was so good that I’ve switched to it on my Windows PC, and away from the ever-increasingly-enshittified Microsoft Office suite. In addition there isn’t this alarming trend of moving all applications to Someone Else’s Computer¹ to enforce vendor lock-in, user data siphoning, and random UI experiments of the week that fuck up personal workflow all the time.
What’s frustrating about Linux is that it’s so close to being a contender … until the nerds (not geeks!, I adore geeks!) get up in arms about how all the useless trivia they’ve learned to keep their systems working is in danger of evaporating, losing them their special status as gurus you supplicate to to fix your computer. Obviously the Linux-actually-thing (kernel?) works fine given that my Android phones have been mostly great on the UX front. It’s the actual useful parts of Linux that suck by comparison.
¹ Sometimes referred to by the twee name “The Cloud”.
I’ve heard most games run in Linux now so I’ll check it out soon
I’ve run Linux since 1998, about half of that time was as a primary desktop. I switched back to Windows on the desktop for a few years (but always had Linux servers on my home network), and recently switched back to running Linux on the desktop about 18 months ago.
I don’t run Gnome, KDE, or Wayland. I don’t want my Linux desktop to emulate a Windows machine. I prefer command line apps for a lot of things, like music players, file browsers, etc. I don’t mind the efforts to make Linux on the desktop more beginner friendly through various UI tools, but I abhor when they do so while degrading the non-UI experience (gconf, you can fuck right off).
I also don’t care too much about FOSS. I run plenty of proprietary software packages. I have both Nvidia and AMD GPU’s and both work fine, though I prefer the Nvidia because of some of the AI tooling I run. Both have worked fine in Steam for the handful of games I play (FFXIV+mods, New World, Enshrouded, ESO+mods, Neverwinter, Path of Exile, Planetside 2), but I only have about 30 games in my library and I can tell you a good 70% of those I’ll likely never feel like playing again.
I do all my work on the same Linux desktop, but most of my job is done on command line tools (coding, git, aws, docker) or via web-based tools (Jira, Outlook, Teams). I have a VM for running Word when I need to open documents with DRM.
I don’t think Linux is for everybody, and I don’t think people should switch to it unless they’re actually interested in learning how to run Linux, and not simply looking for an alternative because “Windoze bad lol”.
I’m coming up on my one-year anniversary of using it full-time. I’ve dabbled since 2008-ish but I always ran into problems that drove me back to Windows. It’s very usable nowadays, so long as you don’t absolutely need specific apps that don’t work on it (or don’t want to use them in a VM).
I ran Mandrake Linux in roughly 2003 or so, but went back to Windows because games didn’t work.
Ever since Windows 11 has come around I thought it was a good idea to possibly attempt to move to Linux again. I’m strongly leaning towards Mint because it’s fairly Linux beginner friendly from what I hear.
I run an IT firm and we have recently been putting together an open-source stack.
The problem is that we use a lot of Microsoft software on the back end and some of that can’t be replaced.
The other issue is that while gaming has come a long way, a good chunk of my 5,000 games still don’t run on Linux. Newer ones tend to be glitchy for a great deal of time before they function perfectly. Also I happen to currently have an Nvidia card which I have heard is a problem.
If anyone has any recommendations, I would love to hear them! From servers, to productivity, to gaming I am open to whatever you guys would recommend.
