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EliaP
5y

I've been trying to find a linux distro/de that "just works" for like a week and honestly, I'm kinda giving up and going back to Windows.

Everyone single one I've tried had some weird quirks, mostly audio and video related. Screen tearing everywhere, mic not working, distorted audio, jittery animations and very low responsiveness.

I really wanted to use Linux as my main OS, at least for work. I love the simplicity of package managers and the terminal. But honestly, I don't understand how something like that could be depicted as better than Windows. I'm sorry but Windows runs waaaaaaaay better on my desktop and PC it blows linux out of the water. Zero issues with drivers, no screen tearing, no distorted audio flying smooth animations and responsiveness.

I'm very disappointed, I was expecting Linux to be quicker and less bloated but god those hardware compatability issues just destroy everything good that linux has to offer.

Guess I'm going to install some background VM since I only really need to run terminal stuff and daemons for work.

rant

linux

windows

drivers
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  • 0
    5y
    Linux Mint Cinnamon has never had any sort of issues for me in 1.5 years of using it.
  • 2
    5y
    @PrivateGER I had distorted audio in discord, barely audible mic input and laggy window resizing
  • 0
    5y
    Debian seems to work. Though some of the latest hardware creates issues with the dynamic graphic notwhat. Took me a few days to fix it. But it happend eventually
  • 0
    5y
    Every other year I'm giving desktop Linux a spin, my experiences always are similar to yours. Linux isn't fundamentally broken or anything, it's just the many little things that add up, the "death by a thousand paper cuts".
    Btw as a package manager for Windows, I recommend Chocolatey. Life is so much easier.
  • 0
    5y
    @EliaP Linux could be quicker and less bloated, but it depends on you. I run XFCE Manjaro and increase in performance on my old lappy is huge. No problem with audio whatsoever and it is really comfortable to use. Sure there are some problems, mostly with connecting to TV via HDMI (could resolve it, but don't care), touchpad sometimes turn my settings (tap to click) off and it takes a few reenabling to works again, and weird issue with maximizing windows (remax and is ok).

    Again Linux isn't Windows and if you think so you will be disappointed. I use Windows for almost my entire life and tried to switch to Linux in past and fail (WiFi doesn't work). But due to broken windows on small lappy, my inability to resolve this and resource hungry of windows I tried again and I am in love, because I don't care that much about Linux inconveniences and package manager, customization, freedom, easier fixing (for me) and more resources for apps is way more valuable.

    Whatever works for you ;)
  • 0
    5y
    @Omnisus That is enlightening to some extent actually. Thanks! By the way I'm currently trying out Arch, let's hope for the best.

    EDIT: TBH I kinda changed my mind since the creation of this post, I kinda need a Linux environment for work and a VM won't do. That's why I bought an SSD and started trying out some distros in the first place.
  • 0
    5y
    @VaderNT Interesting! What did you end up using?
  • 0
    5y
    @EliaP Nice to hear that :) Manjaro is Arch based and kind of easier, but Arch will teach you more as I think. Maybe try different desktops enviroments rather than different distributions (It could have bigger impact on your basic experience than different distros). Arch also is bleeding edge so some instability could appear.
  • 0
    5y
    Weird. Personally I can't work unless I have a gnome desktop with it's awesome screen managing environment. I've been using Ubuntu as my primary OS for a few years now. Even the early GNOME ubuntu 16 distro worked very well for me. It's worked so well that I've never actually explored any other distro flavors. Maybe I just lucked out with the right hardware.
  • 0
    5y
    @RantSomeWhere Trying it right now
  • 0
    5y
    Windows with the Linux subsystem actually works really really well.
    I've got it hooked up to docker for Windows and it is better than the setup I had on a Mac, and Windows is a nicer desktop operating system then either macos or Linux (I mainly used Ubuntu).
  • 0
    5y
    @EliaP I have 3 pieces of advice. you probably won't like them:

    1. manufacturers don't make Linux drivers. Linux users make linux drivers. therefore, if you're using brand-new hardware, you're gonna have a bad time.

    2. customizable and "just -works" often don't work well out of the box together. the defaults will allow you to get decent performance with some bugs like screen tearing or minor sound issues. if you want seamless, you gotta take the time. figure out what packages you like, even if it means straying from the stable ones that preshipped. take the time to configure alsa, pulse, and Xorg/Wayland. if you're having problems, fix them. they will go away (usually for good) when you fix them.

    3. if you just need console stuff, don't even run X. tmux/screen makes for a great "wm" I do it on several computers.

    bonus: use arch. it forces you to configure, and fails the "out of the box" test, but once you're invested, your system is truly your own. you are a slave to no man.
  • 1
    5y
    @deadPix3l I actually like them 😛 I've tried installing Arch tonight but I've had a minor issue with the bootloader that now I know how to fix.

    It's bed time now but will try again tomorrow!
  • 0
    5y
    @RustyCookie lies.
    Windows is a better Linux substitute than Mac, a much more open system and it can run Linux natively.
  • 0
    5y
    @Redders what makes you think that?

    WSL is a pretty new development, and not all that good Imo. natively is a strong word, and WSL can't do alot of things. OSX ships with bash. it's file structure is more Linux like, in part be being BSD based which imparts many unixy things on it. it might not be Linux per se, but it's native tools are much more unixy than windows.(and I imagine, but might be wrong, that compiling Linux packages creates fewer, more resolvable errors than windows, meaning you could probably port a good amount of stuff.)

    not an attack on your viewpoint, legitimately curious. these are my reasons that my number 2 would be OSX. what are yours for windows?
  • 1
    5y
    @deadPix3l I just know I've used macos for the last 4 years and it was never comfortable.
    I've used Ubuntu full time a few times , and it has been great, but always small niggles, this time was issues with window transparency and ghosting, may well be hardware driver issues, didn't really manage to find out much.
    I've been using WSL with hyper terminal, and docker for Windows, and it is just like when I was actually using Ubuntu, build times are actually faster than when I was using macos.
  • 0
    5y
    Hardware incompatibility I guess? Driver issues sounds mostly like that.

    I've ran Linux on 20+ devices in my life and I've never faced serious hardware incompatibility, my systems have always ran smooth.

    I'd recommend kubuntu by the way!
  • 0
    5y
    @Redders fair enough. I never really liked Ubuntu. it felt like it was trying to "windows-ify" Linux. it was just too... friendly I guess? a certain level of user friendly is good, but Ubuntu took it too far for me, and I outgrew it quickly after only a few months. I can see how macOS can be uncomfortable. it tries really hard to be super comfy and nice to use, but there's a few rough edges in weird places that ruin that feeling and makes me a bit uneasy. but its nothing compared to the immersion breaking experience of having a bash console open, chugging along and realizing you need a windows command, or to change a registry value. or god forbid you need powershell for something.

    I guess we're just different and that's a beautiful thing 😀
  • 0
    5y
    @EliaP Never had issues with Discord. :/
    What GPU do you have?
  • 0
    5y
    @deadPix3l ml@deadPix3l Ubuntu is only one of the choices, for CLI, running Linux directly would be better I'm sure, but compared to Mac, it's nicer than the half hearted macos that doesn't even have a package manager
  • 0
    5y
    @RustyCookie that's third party software though ;-)
  • 0
    5y
    @PrivateGER I have an NVIDIA GTX 1060
  • 0
    5y
    @EliaP "Interesting! What did you end up using?" - Linux Mint with Cinnamon. Had the smoothest out-of-the-box experience for me.
    Some things still weren't right:
    - I had to compile the driver for my keyboard to get the multimedia keys to work. Which needed some tinkering, because the driver used kernel constants that had changed.
    - I disliked the task bar, which was very Windows XP like in its functionality. But using anything other than the default settings was buggy. Opened windows not appearing, windows listed on the wrong virtual desktop, stuff like that.
    - Some library hunting when I wanted to install and play games.

    After four months I went Win10 instead where the above just works. That's my general experience. The tasks that I use my OS for (which is just running programs and managing windows) just work. Whereas Linux needs a lot of babysitting. To me that's not worth it. YMMV.
    Maybe things will have changed in 2020, when I'll try Linux again.
  • 0
    5y
    @Redders but all software is third party software. even the ones that come installed by default in a given distro, at least 3-10 parties have written various parts.

    Homebrew may not ship by default, but it's liscense allows it to. hopefully apple will realize and start including it. either way, the world is founded on defacto standards just like this.

    I don't see it as a reason to dislike something. if it works it works. and homebrew works. quite well even!

    just to clarify: I am not advocating for Apple. I'm a Linux user through and through. their OS is nice, and I've wanted to make a hackintosh for a long time. but their hardware is locked down, proprietary, expensive as hell, and apparently magically never loses value! I disagree with it. Linux is the way to go. but credit where credit is due, macOS is one hell of an OS.
  • 0
    5y
    @deadPix3l compare like for like and there isn't really much of an apple premium, they just don't sell anything that isn't unibody aluminium, without a super high resolution screen, and ultra compact...
    You might save a few hundred on a £1800 system by getting a Dell, it isn't a massive difference...
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