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I really, honestly, am getting annoyed when someone tells me that "Linux is user-friendly". Some people seem to think that because they themselves can install Linux, that anyone can, and because I still use Windows I'm some sort of a noob.

So let me tell you why I don't use Linux: because it never actually "just works". I have tried, at the very least two dozen times, to install one distro or another on a machine that I owned. Never, not even once, not even *close*, has it installed and worked without failing on some part of my hardware.

My last experience was with Ubuntu 17.04, supposed to have great hardware and software support. I have a popular Dell Alienware machine with extremely common hardware (please don't hate me, I had a great deal through work with an interest-free loan to buy it!), and I thought for just one moment that maybe Ubuntu had reached the point where it just, y'know, fucking worked when installing it... but no. Not a chance.

It started with my monitors. My secondary monitor that worked fine on Windows and never once failed to display anything, simply didn't work. It wasn't detected, it didn't turn on, it just failed. After hours of toiling with bash commands and fucking around in x conf files, I finally figured out that for some reason, it didn't like my two IDENTICAL monitors on IDENTICAL cables on the SAME video card. I fixed it by using a DVI to HDMI adapter....

Then was my sound card. It appeared to be detected and working, but it was playing at like 0.01% volume. The system volume was fine, the speaker volume was fine, everything appeared great except I literally had no fucking sound. I tried everything from using the front output to checking if it was going to my display through HDMI to "switching the audio sublayer from alsa to whatever the hell other thing exists" but nothing worked. I gave up.

My mouse? Hell. It's a Corsair Gaming mouse, nothing fancy, it only has a couple extra buttons - none of those worked, not even the goddamn scrollwheel. I didn't expect the *lights* to work, but the "back" and "Forward" buttons? COME ON. After an hour, I just gave up.

My media keyboard that's like 15 years old and is of IBM brand obviously wasn't recognized. Didn't even bother with that one.

Of my 3 different network adapters (2 connectors, one wifi), only one physical card was detected. Bluetooth didn't work. At this point I was so tired of finding things that didn't work that I tried something else.

My work VPN... holy shit have you ever tried configuring a corporate VPN on Linux? Goddamn. On windows it's "next next next finish then enter your username/password" and on Linux it's "get this specific format TLS certificate from your IT with a private key and put it in this network conf and then run this whatever command to...." yeah no.

And don't get me started on even attempting to play GAMES on this fucking OS. I mean, even installing the graphic drivers? Never in my life have I had to *exit the GUI layer of an OS* to install a graphic driver. That would be like dropping down to MS-DOS on Windows to install Nvidia drivers. Holy shit what the fuck guys. And don't get me started on WINE, I ain't touching this "not an emulator emulator" with a 10-foot pole.

And then, you start reading online for all these problems and it's a mix of "here are 9038245 steps to fix your problem in the terminal" and "fucking noob go back to Windows if you can't deal with it" posts.

It's SO FUCKING FRUSTRATING, I spent a whole day trying to get a BASIC system up and running, where it takes a half-hour AT MOST with any version of Windows. I'm just... done.

I will give Ubuntu one redeeming quality, however. On the Live USB, you can use the `dd` command to mirror a whole drive in a few minutes. And when you're doing fucking around with this piece of shit OS that refuses to do simple things like "playing audio", `dd` will restore Windows right back to where it was as if Ubuntu never existed in the first place.

Thanks, `dd`. I wish you were on Windows. Your OS is the LEAST user friendly thing I've ever had to deal with.

Comments
  • 26
    And then there's me.... works out of the box :p
  • 11
  • 7
    GNU/Linux is not user friendly, but it has its target. Let's move on

    Also Arch>>Ubuntu for multiple reasons. Try that one next time
  • 21
    @fuck2code And now we come to the "fucking noob go back to Windows if you can't deal with it" part of my rant. 😂
  • 22
    I hate to admit it (>10 years of Linux experience), but you're right... Linux is kinda hard to start with and solving problems is often a matter of hours.
    Take that and, yes, a rather elitist community, and I can understand your issue.
    However, the "user friendly" part refers not to Linux, it refers to the GNU project and the rights you as a user have: GNU never had the objective to be better than any non GNU product. The GPL gives you the right to use software as you please, to tinker with it as you see fit and without any moral borders.
    Microsoft on the other hand had a history of violating user rights and even national and international laws to further their market share and make more profits.
    That is what that user friendly part is about. Not "easy to use" but "democratic" in the end.
  • 5
    ++

    From my experience I can confirm this rant.

    To those that say that their linux always worked: You know that it depends on what machine you are going to install it? Maybe you was lucky, I definitley wasnt. Linux worked for me in few occasions but windows is more relaible and user friendly. Why I use windows? Because majority of people use it. Its default system for people of all ages.
    A lot of people wrote a lot of useful apps on windows, all games are designed for windows. Everytime i write something i can be sure it will run for huge group of people. (thanks to .net)
  • 11
    At first I was "hell naw, Linux works fine in most cases", but then I read about your problems and remembered mine.

    Linux works out of the box only if you have an ACME computer with an ACME mouse. ACME meaning "Standard issue boring PC".

    Stuff like no GPU support for new GPUs, no fan support for some laptops, no WiFi, bad support for Bluetooth, docking stations, multi-monitor setup, etc. Basically everything that is not being used by the majority of Linux users.

    And if you're one of those users - congratulations on using a super fine operating system that "Just Works" for you.
  • 2
    Well, ive never in my entire life had a good experience with stock ubuntu, KDE Neon works much better for me.
    I gave my grandma a USB to install it and she did it by herself (following the guide I sent her). she's now a full-time Linux user and she's much happier than with windows 10.
  • 6
    Your whole setup clearly identifies you as a gamer. No, Linux is not for gamers. At least not that kind that buy Alienware. Please stay on Windows, tyvm.
    The average modern Linux distro has no more random issues than Windows has with sound, graphics drivers, and monitors etc. Yes this used to be worse in the past.
  • 7
    Every Linux distro works for me. Maybe I know the problem here. I read/heard somewhere.

    "Linux is really User-friendly, but it is picky about who its friends are."
  • 0
    I have dd on windows :D
  • 1
    You are right but at the same time you are missing one thing out.

    Both Windows and Linux have completly different qualities.
    Windows is for regular users, it "just works" it's actually it's main thing so not every user has to learn vim and what's unix socket.

    Linux is made with tinkering in mind, and that's it. You can do fucking anything with it.

    Can't count how many times I raged out when dealing linux, but at the end it feels good getting this nice and shiny thing set-up by yourself.
  • 0
  • 1
    If it’s not made for the lowest common denominator, it’s not user friendly.
  • 0
    Mandatory try arch Linux comment. *Flies away*
  • 3
    I like my win10. It has so many functionalities that are cool/helpful. I. LOVE. IT.
  • 5
    Thix xkcd is from around the time I decided that I don’t want Linux on my personal computers. Damn, I’m old.
    Sad to hear that Linux still sucks in that regards.
  • 0
    "User friendly" is absolutely NOT interchangeable with the phrase, "it just works."

    The former means that it can be easily bent to the user's will. The latter means it's intuitive and easy to pick up with zero knowledge. Those are two extremely different things.

    Windows is very intuitive. Linux is not. Linux is extremely user friendly. So much so that it's very unintuitive. Windows by comparison, is very rigid, and prevents most of the flexibility that would allow it to be called, "user friendly."
  • 3
    I love Linux. Been using it for 20 years. The only Linux that has consistently "just worked" for me is Linux on the server, no GUI, or Linux on a basic desktop machine with only common hardware.

    On a laptop? No. Every single time there's something wrong, no matter the distro. (The touchpad, OS keys, bluetooth, sleep support - it's always something). Now, just because I have the skills to hack away at configs and kernel modules to remedy this doesn't make it any less true.
  • 0
    I never said the machine was a laptop. It's an alienware PC, who the hell games on a laptop?
  • 0
    But... Uhm... the sound card and video card I'm using are both certified according to the canonical website...
  • 0
  • 2
    No, I sat on my ass for a half day complaining about Linux and didn't actually do ANY research... /s
  • 1
    Usually I have problems with nvidia thrash when using linux. Other stuff pretty much works for me.
  • 1
    I have fucking GTX 1080 on very high end PC installed Ubuntu 16.04, and it's worked soo fine. Anyway, what is the problem with your Allienware? Hmmm..
  • 2
    I'm usually the guy who hates Apple, but I've really been liking the iMac I'm using at work, it's like Unix that actually "just works". You can try that if you're willing to put an absurd amount of money into a computer that is not worth it judging by hardware alone.

    Plus saying that macOS is Unix that works really seems to piss off the Linux/GNU nerds, which is fun.
  • 0
    I've long said Linux is not for everyone. If you enjoy tinkering, if you have some skills, it's a good match and you can do anything and everything you want. Windows 'just works' until it doesn't, and then you're up the creek. With Linux it doesn't always 'just work' but you can nearly always get it to work. Please note: I am NOT saying Linux is for some snobbish 'elite' --- it's for those who wish to put in the effort to learn to use and benefit from an extraordinary tool.
  • 0
    Ubuntu is the most user friendly operating system. Case in point, my 60 year old Dad who is technologically illiterate loves using Ubuntu after installing it for him on his laptop.

    Furthermore, the installation process is not even hard. I personally installed it myself on my PC when I was 12 years old, and had no issues. People find it hard because you actually have to pay attention and read the manual. Using Windows to Develop Software is the equivalent of to using Crayons to Write a Novel.
  • 0
    @AndSoWeCode You can get linux running almost any piece of hardware what are you talking about?

    Also getting dual monitors working on Linux is trivial, anybody who has issues doing that should get their head checked.
  • 0
    I am a long-term Linux user. Last time I tried to use windows (work forced me) the laptop started updating on battery power when I shut it down after a seminar. I had to get to my car in the rain, so I closed the lid. When I booted it later, i just got a blank screen and Windows had to be reinstalled. My Lenova Thinkpad keyboard doesn't work with it, and I have no idea how to fix it. When I tried to hook the laptop up via HDMI to a projector the image was garbled and continued to flicker on-and-off until I unplugged it (this has never happened with Linux). Bluetooth connections to my external speaker never work. And the best bit is, every other time I start it up, Windows takes 5 minutes+ to load, for no apparent reason.

    I've also had problems with Linux, but, hand-on-heart, I've never had an experience like this. I'm sure other people have different experiences, but I promise you Windows can suck too.
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