If Linux hurts; you're probably doing it wrong (PC's)

[wasab]

my trouble with linux

sudo chmod 777 ./* but always mistyped to chmod 777 /*

had to log into recovery and reset permissions each time, happened several times now

[IkeaGnome]

I haven't switched because if I dual boot I'll just use Windows 11 only. 

Once all my games work on Linux I'll go back. That was my only complaint. There was a lot of games the old lady wanted to play with me that I just couldn't play because of anti cheat programs mostly.

 

@AlphaObeisanceYou can add Overwatch to that list of games. Not sure if 2 works, but 1 did when I was on Linux.

[dcgreen2k]

I switched to PopOS in August, and it's one of the best things I've done. I'm a computer engineering student focusing on machine learning and pretty much all the software I use on a daily basis works perfectly fine on Linux, sometimes running even faster than on Windows. (IntelliJ Idea, CLion, MATLAB, Arduino, PyCharm). To me, it definitely feels like Linux is able to just get out of your way when you want to do things compared to Windows. The main reason I switched was because my old Windows installation had terrible stability over the summer, although that's probably because I had programs on it that did NOT like being uninstalled. That being said, I reinstalled Windows to dual boot it alongside PopOS and it's been useful. I really only use it for games and an odd software combination for a class that's easier to use on Windows.

 

I've also noticed something I didn't expect after starting to work more closely with my department, and it's that I haven't seen a single university computer running Windows. Back when I was in public school, every computer used Windows 7 since I'm sure that's what the vast majority of people were comfortable and familiar with. Now, every university server I've used has been running some version of Linux, and all of the public computers have Ubuntu on them. I think this makes things a whole lot easier for us, and I'm all for it.

[Majinhoju]

I do have a linux boot partition on my computer but I don't think I've booted into it in nearly a year. I do want to learn more but just haven't had the time or energy for it.

[Herr.Hoefkens]

mmm somebody was saying something about pain and hurts and doing it wrong....????

prolly an Arch(vanilla  ofc, must be) User ,...

(all in good fun ofc)

[h0m3]

So, I dont think the problem is really on Linux itself,

Its the simply truth that change is difficult and people get frustrated... I use Linux for years and installed on devices you've never imagined, that included a Palmtop and a Asus Tablet with a Tegra CPU but thats besides the point.

I also game, mostly singleplayer. Im not the type of guy to stick to a couple of games forever. I play lots of different games and like to experiment new experiences and stories so the amount of games i've played on linux is on the hundreds at this point in my life. Some a couple hours before I see that it wasn't of my taste, some more than a thousand... Anyway. I dont despise Windows or avoid using it at all costs, i just feel more confortable using Linux.

And all that is to say that, my main rig is a Linux machine but I also have a HTPC to play games in the couch, and since this computer is basically a console, the soleny purpose of it is to play games it does run Windows just because of its compatibility.

Well... I have a couple of Xbox Series controllers connected to it trough bluetooth and a keyboard + trackpad combo when I need to click on any UAC screen. The PC boots into Big Picture and all my games (steam or not) are there.

One day, not long ago, after a exaustive work day sit there to play some GTA V campaing (I'm trying 100% the game and see the bigfoot and so on although i've already finished the main story 3 or some times). Well... Things just didn't go well...

I've opened the game and the stuttering was pretty bad also my controller keeps disconnecting from 5 to 5 minutess... And I'll be honest I was clueless of what was going on. Between troubleshooting the controller and the computer i've cursed every generation of the Gates family because the reality of it is I just wanted to play GTA V, not troubleshoot my computer. I just want stuff to work as intended.

I've ended up grabbing my laptop wich has a much lower end graphics card (although a geforce still) and plugged to my TV and ended up playing GTA V. The catch, my laptop ran Linux, and it was a smooth experience, plugged the HDMI game, opened the game, connected the controller trough bluetooth and started playing where i've stopped the last time.

After a couple of days I've formatted this PC from Windows 11 (which was already a stable release) to Windows 10 and then stuff went back to normal. What I didn't realized at the time is that the latest Windows update broke the peformance on nvidia + ryzen computers and the xbox controller needed a update to keep working with Windows 11. But on my Linux mindset what frustated me is that I was looking for a debug screen, a error message, something that indicated the problem and Windows doesn't have that, because thats the way Windows handles the situation, thats bad? Not, isn't also good. Its just that I was so used to do stuff in a way that yeah, for me, at that moment Linux was just plain better because it worked.

With that and other experiences I've realized that the problem with a new Linux user is not Linux per say its just the adaptation that this user may need to have, its frustrating, its tiresome and sometimes you just want stuff to work and it doesn't. And the reality is that this will happen with any operating system, not just Linux.

 

[MK73DS]

On 11/5/2022 at 5:37 PM, AlphaObeisance said:

I'm curious as to why so many people have so much trouble utilizing Linux. 

I suspect it's mostly due to ignorance (that's not an insult, as ignorance is merely an unknowing). As I sat back and read these forums the reoccurring theme that I seemed to see was that people simply don't understand how Linux works.

Because sometimes it just doesn't work. For example, on my laptop, my keyboard and Wifi adapter don't work with Ubuntu out of the box. Do you feel the pain? How can I even install my OS if I can't use my keyboard and access the internet? Oh no, I just "don't understand how Linux work", it's not their fault, it's mine. I shouldn't have bought this laptop!

Sure, the problem there is Ubuntu, not really Linux in general, but that's not the user's fault for trying the most popular distro. Imagine you're giving Linux a try, you boot your live USB of the most popular distro, and nothing works, not even your keyboard. Yeah, you are right to be pissed off and never touching Linux ever again. My keyboard works fine on Arch btw, but I had to compile my wifi driver myself. This isn't knowledge everyone has, and you shouldn't understand how something works to use it (do you understand how a plane works? Do you understand how a nuclear power plant works? Do you understand how your medications work?).

 

I use Arch btw. I'm not there to criticize Linux. It has its flaws, like all operating systems, and it has its advantages too. But you can't come and say "duh I don't get why so many people have trouble with Linux" when so many people already have trouble with Windows, and even Mac OS and Chrome OS. Maybe in your surroundings everyone is knowledgeable about tech, which is normal, you chose the people close to you. But don't make that a general fact, it is not.  

 

Linux is not as hard as it used to be, that's a fact too. And more and more people have more ease with tech too, making the potential people at ease with Linux more numerous by the day. But it's not easy. The more people are trying Linux, the more people will have trouble with it. That's a good sign, this means more people are interested in Linux enough to ask for support instead of going back to Windows. 

[Ultraforce]

I will say I think something that can cause quite a bit of issues with Linux is just all the videos for here are must haves and what not. I've been having issues with errors appearing
whenever I try to run a virtual machine on virt-manager whether it's Lubuntu or Fedora which kind of sucks and I think there's been 4 times I've had gnome-shell crash once leading to me reinstalling my whole system. Admitedly, it was probably a bad idea to try and install Nix as a new Linux user on fedora, at the same time  Ithink the whole push about freedom and choice inherantly makes things harder and more likely for something to break. I know while I accepted Windows just doesn't have a feature that I liked on iOS it feels harder to accept there not being an option in KDE and Gnome Extensions with all the customizability that does exist. In the end I think I might try to solve the issue by making a gnome extension myself with the feature but I don't know how to make gnome extensions or KDE plasmoids let alone one which could control the background and create a focus mode like experience.