4 ms·

Just use Linux. It's really that simple.

jeena 7y ago
I kind of agree, with distros like Ubuntu you get the Windows convenience and most of the people just use a browser for everything nowadays anyway.
- arminiusreturns 7y ago
  Ubuntu isn't the only user friendly distro either. It depends on what the user wants to do. For example Manjaro, while not perfect, has an excellent hardware detector, and I sometimes recommend it for people who want to game. I have many times wanted to really dig into the "windows skins" for a few different DE's and experiment on users to see if they even noticed the difference. I suspect done correctly you could have a windows lookalike with linux underneath that many of the browser only users wouldn't be able to tell apart. I also suspect that Microsoft knows they have hurt themselves with 8/10 and their recent pushes into Linux Foundation are hedging their bets, trying to find ways to keep people on doze who might otherwise leave the ecosystem. I do get frustrated at how many people at HN ignore MS's history of anti-foss and now deride anyone who brings up EEE, but I disgress. I went gnu/linux only years ago seeing this coming after years of sysadmin'ing Win/OSX/Linux, and haven't regretted it at all. Beyond that, I remind people that they had to learn how to use windows, and even it keeps changing things (umm where did local account creation go at install, oh wait, I have to unplug ethernet to get that option? thats bullshit), so why not learn to use something like linux? It's really not that hard, especially with all the gtk frontends for cli stuff.
- sz4kerto 7y ago
  We still don't have fully hardware accelerated video playback in browsers under Linux. To check this, watch a 4K video in the browser and look at the CPU usage. Edit: I can block ads in various ways (pi.hole, etc.) but I can't fix laggy UI. I'm always using Linux on one of my PCs so that I can follow how it's progressing, but Win10+WSL2+VcXsrv gives me the best of all worlds.
- sterlind 7y ago
  Eh, that's true for many consumers, but a lot of software still uses Windows and doesn't fit in a browser. For my hobby, I use Fusion 360, which makes heavy use of the GPU for rendering and simulation stuff. It does not support Linux. So I use NixOS, run Windows 10 in KVM and use VFIO passthrough to give my VM a graphics card. This way I can use Linux for writing code and Windows for rich apps. It also shields me from the practical downsides of NixOS (limited software compatibility, lots of hair-pulling) since I can just use Windows if I'm in a bind.
moooo99 7y ago
Its not like this is the solution for everything. It's not even about ease of use, its mainly about the availability of software. About 80% of the software my colleagues use on a daily basis is not available on Linux (not including MS Office, although LibreOffice is definitely not a sufficient replacement) Sure, this is an issue of users in an enterprise environment, but your average PC user is more likely to use the same OS he is using at work rahter than trying anything else.
- type0 7y ago
  LibreOffice Calc isn't Excel, that alone makes Linux distros unappealing for most Office users.
cpach 7y ago
There are lots of useful applications that are not available on Linux.
ddek 7y ago
My laptop runs two SSD’s: 256GB with Manjaro Linux, and 512GB with Windows. My profession dictates I use .Net and SQL Server, so I anticipated using the windows drive most. I ran i3 on the Linux side, and used it mainly for hackier projects using more interesting languages than c#. Quite soon I realised I could run .Net Core and SQL Server on Linux. Bastard as it might be, my main DB on Linux is SQL Server. After this I found I didn’t need to spend any time in Windows, except for gaming (Linux gaming has improved, but it’s not great). I installed Gnome alongside i3, and I’ve been flitting between the two based on my use case. Both are fantastic. Linux does well when it forgets about Windows and MacOS. i3 is a great example here - it’s the archetypal ‘power user’ environment. Gnome was the real surprise when I switched to it. I always remembered it as an ultra slow, half polished experience that typified the Linux experience. Great features (multiple desktops for example), introduced long before Apple invented them but absolutely done to death. I remember having a 16x16 grid of desktops. Maybe it’s that my laptop right now is... quite quick, but default Gnome might just be my favourite modern OS. There are quirks - organising the apps screen is too painful to be worthwhile, but search is good enough. Wayland makes for a super smooth UX - Windows scale, slide and fade seamlessly. I’d say I prefer my completely unmodified Gnome to MacOS and Windows. It’s the first time I’ve used a Linux DE and not thought it to be a cheap copy of the ‘big 2’. It’s doing it’s own thing, and doing it well. So yeah, if you want IMO the best OS in the world right now, get Manjaro architect and install Gnome (I prefer the default Gnome to the preconfigured version). You’ll find issues - but remember Mac and Windows aren’t short of their own. P.s. wayland has some GPU limitations - it’s great and improving rapidly, but it’s not fully mature yet. I also haven’t tested it on a shit PC yet - but I might try that tonight.

I kind of agree, with distros like Ubuntu you get the Windows convenience and most of the people just use a browser for everything nowadays anyway.

arminiusreturns 7y ago
Ubuntu isn't the only user friendly distro either. It depends on what the user wants to do. For example Manjaro, while not perfect, has an excellent hardware detector, and I sometimes recommend it for people who want to game. I have many times wanted to really dig into the "windows skins" for a few different DE's and experiment on users to see if they even noticed the difference. I suspect done correctly you could have a windows lookalike with linux underneath that many of the browser only users wouldn't be able to tell apart. I also suspect that Microsoft knows they have hurt themselves with 8/10 and their recent pushes into Linux Foundation are hedging their bets, trying to find ways to keep people on doze who might otherwise leave the ecosystem. I do get frustrated at how many people at HN ignore MS's history of anti-foss and now deride anyone who brings up EEE, but I disgress. I went gnu/linux only years ago seeing this coming after years of sysadmin'ing Win/OSX/Linux, and haven't regretted it at all. Beyond that, I remind people that they had to learn how to use windows, and even it keeps changing things (umm where did local account creation go at install, oh wait, I have to unplug ethernet to get that option? thats bullshit), so why not learn to use something like linux? It's really not that hard, especially with all the gtk frontends for cli stuff.
sz4kerto 7y ago
We still don't have fully hardware accelerated video playback in browsers under Linux. To check this, watch a 4K video in the browser and look at the CPU usage. Edit: I can block ads in various ways (pi.hole, etc.) but I can't fix laggy UI. I'm always using Linux on one of my PCs so that I can follow how it's progressing, but Win10+WSL2+VcXsrv gives me the best of all worlds.
sterlind 7y ago
Eh, that's true for many consumers, but a lot of software still uses Windows and doesn't fit in a browser. For my hobby, I use Fusion 360, which makes heavy use of the GPU for rendering and simulation stuff. It does not support Linux. So I use NixOS, run Windows 10 in KVM and use VFIO passthrough to give my VM a graphics card. This way I can use Linux for writing code and Windows for rich apps. It also shields me from the practical downsides of NixOS (limited software compatibility, lots of hair-pulling) since I can just use Windows if I'm in a bind.

moooo99 7y ago

Its not like this is the solution for everything. It's not even about ease of use, its mainly about the availability of software. About 80% of the software my colleagues use on a daily basis is not available on Linux (not including MS Office, although LibreOffice is definitely not a sufficient replacement) Sure, this is an issue of users in an enterprise environment, but your average PC user is more likely to use the same OS he is using at work rahter than trying anything else.

type0 7y ago
LibreOffice Calc isn't Excel, that alone makes Linux distros unappealing for most Office users.

cpach 7y ago

There are lots of useful applications that are not available on Linux.

ddek 7y ago

My laptop runs two SSD’s: 256GB with Manjaro Linux, and 512GB with Windows. My profession dictates I use .Net and SQL Server, so I anticipated using the windows drive most. I ran i3 on the Linux side, and used it mainly for hackier projects using more interesting languages than c#. Quite soon I realised I could run .Net Core and SQL Server on Linux. Bastard as it might be, my main DB on Linux is SQL Server. After this I found I didn’t need to spend any time in Windows, except for gaming (Linux gaming has improved, but it’s not great). I installed Gnome alongside i3, and I’ve been flitting between the two based on my use case. Both are fantastic. Linux does well when it forgets about Windows and MacOS. i3 is a great example here - it’s the archetypal ‘power user’ environment. Gnome was the real surprise when I switched to it. I always remembered it as an ultra slow, half polished experience that typified the Linux experience. Great features (multiple desktops for example), introduced long before Apple invented them but absolutely done to death. I remember having a 16x16 grid of desktops. Maybe it’s that my laptop right now is... quite quick, but default Gnome might just be my favourite modern OS. There are quirks - organising the apps screen is too painful to be worthwhile, but search is good enough. Wayland makes for a super smooth UX - Windows scale, slide and fade seamlessly. I’d say I prefer my completely unmodified Gnome to MacOS and Windows. It’s the first time I’ve used a Linux DE and not thought it to be a cheap copy of the ‘big 2’. It’s doing it’s own thing, and doing it well. So yeah, if you want IMO the best OS in the world right now, get Manjaro architect and install Gnome (I prefer the default Gnome to the preconfigured version). You’ll find issues - but remember Mac and Windows aren’t short of their own. P.s. wayland has some GPU limitations - it’s great and improving rapidly, but it’s not fully mature yet. I also haven’t tested it on a shit PC yet - but I might try that tonight.