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Linux runs better on both new and older hardware. Better as in programs open faster, the file manager opens faster, the task manager opens faster. Everything us

by sysrpl 6y ago

Linux runs better on both new and older hardware. Better as in programs open faster, the file manager opens faster, the task manager opens faster. Everything uses less memory and less CPU cycles. Everything is snappier. Linux users don't have to worry nearly as much about malware, trojans, viruses, exploits. It's more secure. Linux distros generally don't annoy users with stealthy automatic forced updates. Linux distros have a better app store experience than Windows, plus most of whatever there is free without much if any risk. Linux doesn't have any phone home telemetry type "features" built into the OS. Linux user experience is much more customizable. There are a much greater variety of tools at your disposal to customize how you want your desktop to look and operate. Linux is free.

tester756 6y ago
>Linux users don't have to worry nearly as much about malware, trojans, viruses, exploits. It's more secure. In my opinion it's flawed logic _if_ you wanted to say that "Linux is more secure because windows has more malware" >Linux user experience is much more customizable. In what way? desktop? kernel tweaks?
- at-fates-hands 6y ago
  > In what way? desktop? kernel tweaks? How deep do you want the Rabbit hole to go Alice? On one end you have Arch Linux: Arch is largely based on binary packages. Packages target x86-64 microprocessors to assist performance on modern hardware. A ports/ebuild-like system is also provided for automated source compilation, known as the Arch Build System.[28] Arch Linux focuses on simplicity of design, meaning that the main focus involves creating an environment that is straightforward and relatively easy for the user to understand directly, rather than providing polished point-and-click style management tools — the package manager, for example, does not have an official graphical front-end. This is largely achieved by encouraging the use of succinctly commented, clean configuration files that are arranged for quick access and editing.[29] This has earned it a reputation as a distribution for "advanced users" who are willing to use the command line.[30] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Linux https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Linux And then on the other end you have Distro's like Mint, or Ubuntu: Mint is designed for ease of use and a ready-to-roll out-of-box experience, including multimedia support on desktops. The operating system is easier to install than most Linux distributions. Mint includes software required for e-mail and online functionality as well as support for multimedia content, whether online or from a user's own files and physical media There are several different desktop editions of Mint, including Cinnamon, GNOME, XFCE and KDE, to best support various hardware. The operating system is also provided in an alternate Linux Mint Debian Edition for those that are more familiar with Linux. That edition is said to be less intuitive and user-friendly but also faster and more responsive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Mint https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Mint I started with KDE, then went to Mint, Ubuntu, and some other distros like Manjaro that I've been tinkering with lately. You can see a good list of all the distro's here (current and upcoming): https://distrowatch.com/ https://distrowatch.com/
  - _emacsomancer_ 6y ago
    Surely Arch is somewhere in the middle, with things like Gentoo, Nix, Guix, LFS (in increasing order of complexity, perhaps) &c. as the opposing end from Ubuntu/Mint.
at-fates-hands 6y ago
While I agree with all of these 100%, I'm a UI/UX designer, so Adobe continues to hold me hostage to my Apple and MS boxes. Some of the Linux alternatives are good, but they still aren't as good as Adobe. I still do quite a bit of JS development and some app development on my older Linux rig, but I just wish at some point Adobe will pull their heads out and support Linux. I remember in several threads on the Adobe forums, the attitude towards Linux users was pretty offensive. Their argument was all the Linux users would want Adobe products to be free and open source and its not something they could do and still support all the Apple and MS people "who actually pay for their products". It pissed me off enough where I did give it a full go on Linux with Gimp Shop and some other alternative open source alternatives, but it just wasn't the same - which really bummed me out. EDIT: Forgot to mention that Adobe's Creative Cloud app is a total resource hog as well. Not to mention any of their programs you run will quickly eat up to a gig or more of your resources.
- nickjj 6y ago
  > It pissed me off enough where I did give it a full go on Linux with Gimp Shop and some other alternative open source alternatives, but it just wasn't the same - which really bummed me out. Is Gimp Shop still a thing? Wikipedia says the stable release is from 2006. Going to https://www.gimpshop.com/ https://www.gimpshop.com/ leads you to the official gimp site when you try to download it. It kind of looks like maybe it's a marketing site for gimp now? I was one of those people who moved from Photoshop to gimp and for the longest time I thought gimp was really bad but after customizing a few hotkeys and setting up some pre-made scripts and brushes it's pretty decent. At least for casually making YouTube thumbnails and things like that. Some design decisions still leave me baffled tho, like not having a default bind to merge a layer down or not being able to easily center things relative to objects in an intuitive and graphical way (ie. dragging something until it snaps in place while seeing some temporary guide lines overlay near where it's snapped and some basic pixel measurements near it).
  - nsomaru 6y ago
    Quoting the author (Wikipedia): I originally created Gimpshop, but I'm not the jerk who owns that domain and added adware & spyware to the source. Sorry about that. I hate that this guy is out there making my fun little project into an abomination. …. I don't have a project site for it. I became discouraged after this whole ordeal and I let it slip away into obscurity. …. Gimpshop was a fun little 'prank' that got bigger than I ever expected. Sad what it has become, though.
thotsBgone 6y ago
> Linux runs better on both new and older hardware. Better as in programs open faster, the file manager opens faster, the task manager opens faster. Everything uses less memory and less CPU cycles. Everything is snappier. Unless "hardware" is many laptops or all tablets, which effectively can't run Linux (unless Android etc.)
- 1_player 6y ago
  Or Nvidia which at this point in time offers the fastest graphics cards on the market and the user experience is subpar on Linux. I'm back on Windows after 17 years and I can finally enjoy a UI that doesn't lag and hardware video acceleration on a $5000 PC built a couple months ago.
red75prime 6y ago
1. Swap thrashing can bring the system into a completely unresponsive state. 2. Linux servers are targeted and breached. Linux desktop share is too small to be worth it (yet). 3. Windows updates aren't stealthy for a considerable time. 4. That's a matter of opinion. 5. Some distros do, but it's opt-in. Transparency is better on the Linux side too. I agree on this point. 6. You are tempted to spend time on customization with unclear objective benefits. 7. Developers don't owe you anything.
- extra_rice 6y ago
  > 2. Linux servers are targeted and breached. Linux desktop share is too small to be worth it (yet). Why aren't we replacing them with something better then? Why are most servers still running GNU/Linux?
  - Osiris 6y ago
    Linux as a server/headless OS has been fantastic for me. I have a home NAS running Linux that hasn't been rebooted in over a year and that was due to swapping out hard drives. Linux as my desktop OS, not so much. I have to reboot my Linux laptop every few days for various reasons, including complete unresponsiveness to any keyboard input.
    - the_af 6y ago
      That's really weird. Which distro and hardware are you using? I can go months without rebooting. I mostly do so when Linux tells me it needs a reboot to apply some update. Keep in mind I use my laptop for both coding and gaming (if it ever locks up it's because of a game -- which wasn't uncommon years ago when I used Windows, either).
    - blockmeifyoucan 6y ago
      Run a memtest86 and keep an eye on the temps during usage. This is not normal. Are you running nvidia drivers?
- mrob 6y ago
nickjj 6y ago
I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. But I still run Windows because the only really good video editor on Linux (Davinci Resolve) is really unstable there with the hardware I have, the USB audio interface I use has all sorts of issues on Linux and not all games run well on Linux. Basically what it boils down to is I've been one of those folks who builds their computers from parts for 20+ years with the goal of using 1 computer for everything (dev, video editing, gaming, etc.). I'm afraid Linux isn't ready for such users yet if you don't want to dual boot or set up a Windows 10 guest VM with a GPU pass-through. If I didn't care about gaming or video editing and only focused on pure software development I would switch in a heart beat.
- WrtCdEvrydy 6y ago
  ReactOS or Qubes can solve this right now (at least the software running on it)
  - Osiris 6y ago
    Which of his problems are you referring to that would work on ReactOS? The last build of ReactOS I tested could barely run the built-in explorer without screen artifacts and weirdness. It is POSSIBLE to do a lot of things on Linux that you can do in Windows? Yes. The question is: how much time will it take you to make it work?
- redvenom 6y ago
  Lightworks is also a really nice commercial editor that works on Linux. The free version supports 720p output. It is not as fully featured as Davinci Resolve, but then it also requires much more modest system resources.
  - nickjj 6y ago
    Yep, I tried that one (along with pretty much every editor). None of them really meshed well with what I was used to doing with Camtasia (on Windows) or Resolve. They were all too limiting[0] in one way or another for the types of videos I create. Resolve would be perfect if it worked with my set up. I hope one day it gets there. [0]: I don't make cinema style movies. Mainly 1080p screencasts. So things like nice looking titles, simple animations, zooming / panning, adding overlays of various shapes and sizes, blurs, etc. are really important to me. Nothing I tried on Linux really comes close to how easy it is to do that stuff with Camtasia and make it look nice. Resolve is pretty close tho, after you put in enough time to build up your own custom libraries.
itvision 6y ago
> Linux runs better on both new and older hardware. This is very much debatable. What's true however is that if your HW is not supported by at least Windows 8.1 you're SoL. > Better as in programs open faster, the file manager opens faster, the task manager opens faster. Everything uses less memory and less CPU cycles. Everything is snappier. I haven't observed any slow downs in Windows 10 for ages. As for "less memory and CPU cycles" it's just outright false. Windows offers much better hardware acceleration for everything: display rendering, video encoding and decoding, RDP (VNC in X11/Wayland taxes the CPU quite a lot and forget about effectively streaming video via VNC), etc. Linux is quite horrible in this regard. > Linux users don't have to worry nearly as much about malware, trojans, viruses, exploits. It's more secure. Unless you're obsessed with downloading software illegally, it's not an issue in Windows either. I don't remember the last time I had to deal with malware for my +20 of friends using it. > Linux distros generally don't annoy users with stealthy automatic forced updates. Windows updates are very much in your face. > Linux distros have a better app store experience than Windows, plus most of whatever there is free without much if any risk. Except there's 100 times more software in Windows. > Linux doesn't have any phone home telemetry type "features" built into the OS. No one has ever proven Microsoft accesses or downloads any of your files, or uses telemetry data to find out what applications you're running. > Linux user experience is much more customizable. There are a much greater variety of tools at your disposal to customize how you want your desktop to look and operate. This one is true however with a lot of choice comes a lot of confusion and doubt. > Linux is free. Windows 10 OEM license can be bought for as little as $10. This is 100% irrelevant nowadays.
- hossbeast 6y ago
  You can't buy/use an OEM license for windows on a box you build yourself can you? The last windows machine I put together, I paid > $100 for Windows itself.
  - cercatrova 6y ago
    People actually pay for Windows on desktops? That still surprises me. I know of course you do pay when buying a laptop, but Windows is basically free, there's a trial and you can just use an activator, or buy an OEM key for 10 bucks as the parent states.
2muchcoffeeman 6y ago
Dell XPS 17 from 2020. Sound doesn’t work. Thee we drivers exist. For the first time in over a decade I had to install drivers manually. And don’t even start with hibernate or even just waking up. I’ve never rebooted a laptop so many times. And what’s the deal with flatpak? A screen shot app is not 700mb? WTF?
- RMPR 6y ago
  It really surprises me since there's a developer edition coming natively with Ubuntu (it only exists for the XPS 13 though). Is the underlying hardware that different?
  - pjmlp 6y ago
    The Asus EEE PC that I bought (1215B) also came with Linux, when I say support Linux OEMs I meant it, yet not everything worked as expected, e.g. wlan and hibernate were an adventure during the first years. And then the whole story with AMD open source driver, means I am unable to take full advantage of the GPU in Linux.
  - 2muchcoffeeman 6y ago
    The Precision 7750 supports Linux and supposedly has the same sound system as the XPS 17. Both are 17” laptops and share similar chassis. Finger print reader isn’t well supported. No gestures. 20 years ago I was convinced Linux would win on the desktop. But we still have the same problems decades later.
simooooo 6y ago
Arch and ubuntu booted slower and had choppier UI than windows in my experience
Nginx487 6y ago
That's all true, modern Linux distros are great - but Linux does not have software people got used to use on Windows. And this is the main reason why Linux share on desktop is 1%, not because Linux is not preinstalled. Provided that, developers of desktop software very reluctant to support Linux (even they support Mac), because investing 20-30% of development time for the user base less than 1% is pointless idea from business standpoint.
lenkite 6y ago
>Linux doesn't have any phone home telemetry type "features" built into the OS. Unlike macOS, You can disable ALL telemetry in under 30 seconds on Windows. There is actually even a service named "User Experience and Telemetry" that you can conveniently stop and disable in a number of ways.
- lionkor 6y ago
  Opt-out is almost always possible, but that's missing the point. Windows is often used as a personal operating system. There is no reason for it to collect analytics, especially after decades of development, I don't think the devs are getting anything actually useful out of knowing how often my grandparents check their email. They're collecting data, and it doesnt seem to be used to help UX development much.
lenkite 6y ago
> Linux runs better on both new and older hardware . Seriously asking - Please do suggest a good, powerful laptop and distribution that works issue-free with linux, most specifically: 1. Zero problems with sleep and resume. 2. Zero problems with bluetooth or wireless. Please recommend what vendors work well here. 3. Minimal issues with Slack or Teams. 4. Error free desktop environment. 5. Updates do not break stuff leading to Google searches on how to solve it.
- bennofs 6y ago
  Lenovo T460 here works flawlessy. AS for Bluetooth it's unreliable in Windows as well but usually just works? I don't use Bluetooth much, it probably also depends on the Bluetooth profiles that you're using.
- lionkor 6y ago
  I just bought a Thinkpad L15 (AMD) a week ago, slapped Arch on that bad boy. Please keep in mind that all what im about to say required some manual work since it's Arch, but should all work "out of the box" in any other distro with a recent kernel. Suspend / resume works perfectly out of the box, backlight worked after updating (which you should anyways after installing). Wireless worked perfectly out of the box, with NetworkManager. I use KDE Plasma, and it works well, too, without any complaints. All the function-buttons work, including volume, screen switching, sleep, mic mute. Webcam works. Didnt test slack or teams, but discord, atom and vscode (all electron apps) work perfectly fine. Firefox & Chromium work perfectly fine. I think in general, if you check the ArchWiki page on Laptops, there is a wonderful (and extensive) list of most common laptops and their issues (if any). Thinkpads seem to work very well, and, worst case, have good drivers made by the community for anything that doesnt work.
  - lenkite 6y ago
    Thanks for the suggestion. Finding it hard to find a 15" Thinkpad without a number-pad. Non-centered laptop keyboards gives me wrist pain. MacBooks have the right ergonomics here :(
AntiImperialist 6y ago
I have used Linux as the primary OS for over 15 years in the last 20 years and I am not sure I agree with all of that. Linux runs better on both new and older hardware. Better as in programs open faster, the file manager opens faster, the task manager opens faster. Everything uses less memory and less CPU cycles. Everything is snappier. Simply untrue. It could be true for some distros, some driver versions and some hardware... but if you consider everything, Windows runs better than Linux. Mostly because most hardware is designed to run well on Windows. The Linux versions are either an afterthought or built and maintained by third-party. Linux distros generally don't annoy users with stealthy automatic forced updates. Windows updates aren't stealthy and they can be disabled. If you really don't want an update, it is MUCH MORE straightforward to avoid installing the optional update in Windows than it is for Linux distros. * Linux distros have a better app store experience than Windows, plus most of whatever there is free without much if any risk. Which Linux distro has a better App Store than Windows? Since Microsoft launched the Windows App Store, it is the best App Store in any non-macOS computers. Linux doesn't have any phone home telemetry type "features" built into the OS. Some distros do. Ubuntu has it, for example. Linux user experience is much more customizable. There are a much greater variety of tools at your disposal to customize how you want your desktop to look and operate. This is true. However, this has been a problem, which is why something like Ubuntu which has good defaults which they stick to has been so much successful than anything else. Linux is free. Sure! Many things are. That's not always a good reason to use it.
- modo_mario 6y ago
  >Simply untrue. It could be true for some distros, some driver versions and some hardware... but if you consider everything, Windows runs better than Linux. Mostly because most hardware is designed to run well on Windows. The Linux versions are either an afterthought or built and maintained by third-party. You mean drivers instead of hardware right? Typically performance is roughly the same. Sometimes better sometimes worse. The issue is where they don't exist or are an afterthought indeed and then it's quite frustrating. >Windows updates aren't stealthy and they can be disabled. If you really don't want an update, it is MUCH MORE straightforward to avoid installing the optional update in Windows than it is for Linux distros. What? What are you on about? I have yet to install an update for Linux that I didn't specifically give my permission for. Automatic updates are turned of by default on any distro I've tried and they don't come as bundled as they do for windows where a recent random update I just checked includes some changes for input devices, office products, basic operations security and the DST start date for the Fiji Islands. >Which Linux distro has a better App Store than Windows? Since Microsoft launched the Windows App Store, it is the best App Store in any non-macOS computers. It looks neat but.... For some reason it uses a different language (that I've never selected to be used) in most of it's UI. Is a common problem in Belgium apparently and I guess same in other multilingual countries which is weird because that's not an issue anywhere else in the OS. Why am I looking at some loading ring for 3-4 seconds when i click on an app? Where do I add alternative sources? Can I do stuff like build something differently on install if I want to? >Some distros do. Ubuntu has it, for example. An outlier more than anything and one that asks you if you want it on install and later disabling it is a checbox away. >This is true. However, this has been a problem, which is why something like Ubuntu which has good defaults which they stick to has been so much successful than anything else. Fully agree it has been a problem and still is for it's adoption. I don't think it's what notably contributed to Ubuntu's success in the past tho.
GoblinSlayer 6y ago
> Linux users don't have to worry nearly as much about malware, trojans, viruses, exploits. It's more secure. Wait, Linux doesn't prevent doing stupid things, quite the opposite.
- lionkor 6y ago
  it has extremely clear separation of permissions, unlike anything windows has. its very possible to set up a user account that can only use the browser and office programs, and that's incredibly valuable. windows can do this, too, but its messy, spotty, and to the user feels like an afterthought rather than something designed deep into the OS like on unix-likes.

by sysrpl 6y ago

tester756 6y ago

>Linux users don't have to worry nearly as much about malware, trojans, viruses, exploits. It's more secure. In my opinion it's flawed logic _if_ you wanted to say that "Linux is more secure because windows has more malware" >Linux user experience is much more customizable. In what way? desktop? kernel tweaks?

at-fates-hands 6y ago
> In what way? desktop? kernel tweaks? How deep do you want the Rabbit hole to go Alice? On one end you have Arch Linux: Arch is largely based on binary packages. Packages target x86-64 microprocessors to assist performance on modern hardware. A ports/ebuild-like system is also provided for automated source compilation, known as the Arch Build System.[28] Arch Linux focuses on simplicity of design, meaning that the main focus involves creating an environment that is straightforward and relatively easy for the user to understand directly, rather than providing polished point-and-click style management tools — the package manager, for example, does not have an official graphical front-end. This is largely achieved by encouraging the use of succinctly commented, clean configuration files that are arranged for quick access and editing.[29] This has earned it a reputation as a distribution for "advanced users" who are willing to use the command line.[30] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Linux https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Linux And then on the other end you have Distro's like Mint, or Ubuntu: Mint is designed for ease of use and a ready-to-roll out-of-box experience, including multimedia support on desktops. The operating system is easier to install than most Linux distributions. Mint includes software required for e-mail and online functionality as well as support for multimedia content, whether online or from a user's own files and physical media There are several different desktop editions of Mint, including Cinnamon, GNOME, XFCE and KDE, to best support various hardware. The operating system is also provided in an alternate Linux Mint Debian Edition for those that are more familiar with Linux. That edition is said to be less intuitive and user-friendly but also faster and more responsive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Mint https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Mint I started with KDE, then went to Mint, Ubuntu, and some other distros like Manjaro that I've been tinkering with lately. You can see a good list of all the distro's here (current and upcoming): https://distrowatch.com/ https://distrowatch.com/
- _emacsomancer_ 6y ago
  Surely Arch is somewhere in the middle, with things like Gentoo, Nix, Guix, LFS (in increasing order of complexity, perhaps) &c. as the opposing end from Ubuntu/Mint.

at-fates-hands 6y ago

While I agree with all of these 100%, I'm a UI/UX designer, so Adobe continues to hold me hostage to my Apple and MS boxes. Some of the Linux alternatives are good, but they still aren't as good as Adobe. I still do quite a bit of JS development and some app development on my older Linux rig, but I just wish at some point Adobe will pull their heads out and support Linux. I remember in several threads on the Adobe forums, the attitude towards Linux users was pretty offensive. Their argument was all the Linux users would want Adobe products to be free and open source and its not something they could do and still support all the Apple and MS people "who actually pay for their products". It pissed me off enough where I did give it a full go on Linux with Gimp Shop and some other alternative open source alternatives, but it just wasn't the same - which really bummed me out. EDIT: Forgot to mention that Adobe's Creative Cloud app is a total resource hog as well. Not to mention any of their programs you run will quickly eat up to a gig or more of your resources.

nickjj 6y ago
> It pissed me off enough where I did give it a full go on Linux with Gimp Shop and some other alternative open source alternatives, but it just wasn't the same - which really bummed me out. Is Gimp Shop still a thing? Wikipedia says the stable release is from 2006. Going to https://www.gimpshop.com/ https://www.gimpshop.com/ leads you to the official gimp site when you try to download it. It kind of looks like maybe it's a marketing site for gimp now? I was one of those people who moved from Photoshop to gimp and for the longest time I thought gimp was really bad but after customizing a few hotkeys and setting up some pre-made scripts and brushes it's pretty decent. At least for casually making YouTube thumbnails and things like that. Some design decisions still leave me baffled tho, like not having a default bind to merge a layer down or not being able to easily center things relative to objects in an intuitive and graphical way (ie. dragging something until it snaps in place while seeing some temporary guide lines overlay near where it's snapped and some basic pixel measurements near it).
- nsomaru 6y ago
  Quoting the author (Wikipedia): I originally created Gimpshop, but I'm not the jerk who owns that domain and added adware & spyware to the source. Sorry about that. I hate that this guy is out there making my fun little project into an abomination. …. I don't have a project site for it. I became discouraged after this whole ordeal and I let it slip away into obscurity. …. Gimpshop was a fun little 'prank' that got bigger than I ever expected. Sad what it has become, though.

thotsBgone 6y ago

> Linux runs better on both new and older hardware. Better as in programs open faster, the file manager opens faster, the task manager opens faster. Everything uses less memory and less CPU cycles. Everything is snappier. Unless "hardware" is many laptops or all tablets, which effectively can't run Linux (unless Android etc.)

1_player 6y ago
Or Nvidia which at this point in time offers the fastest graphics cards on the market and the user experience is subpar on Linux. I'm back on Windows after 17 years and I can finally enjoy a UI that doesn't lag and hardware video acceleration on a $5000 PC built a couple months ago.

red75prime 6y ago

1. Swap thrashing can bring the system into a completely unresponsive state. 2. Linux servers are targeted and breached. Linux desktop share is too small to be worth it (yet). 3. Windows updates aren't stealthy for a considerable time. 4. That's a matter of opinion. 5. Some distros do, but it's opt-in. Transparency is better on the Linux side too. I agree on this point. 6. You are tempted to spend time on customization with unclear objective benefits. 7. Developers don't owe you anything.

extra_rice 6y ago
> 2. Linux servers are targeted and breached. Linux desktop share is too small to be worth it (yet). Why aren't we replacing them with something better then? Why are most servers still running GNU/Linux?
- Osiris 6y ago
  Linux as a server/headless OS has been fantastic for me. I have a home NAS running Linux that hasn't been rebooted in over a year and that was due to swapping out hard drives. Linux as my desktop OS, not so much. I have to reboot my Linux laptop every few days for various reasons, including complete unresponsiveness to any keyboard input.
  - the_af 6y ago
    That's really weird. Which distro and hardware are you using? I can go months without rebooting. I mostly do so when Linux tells me it needs a reboot to apply some update. Keep in mind I use my laptop for both coding and gaming (if it ever locks up it's because of a game -- which wasn't uncommon years ago when I used Windows, either).
  - blockmeifyoucan 6y ago
    Run a memtest86 and keep an eye on the temps during usage. This is not normal. Are you running nvidia drivers?
mrob 6y ago

nickjj 6y ago

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. But I still run Windows because the only really good video editor on Linux (Davinci Resolve) is really unstable there with the hardware I have, the USB audio interface I use has all sorts of issues on Linux and not all games run well on Linux. Basically what it boils down to is I've been one of those folks who builds their computers from parts for 20+ years with the goal of using 1 computer for everything (dev, video editing, gaming, etc.). I'm afraid Linux isn't ready for such users yet if you don't want to dual boot or set up a Windows 10 guest VM with a GPU pass-through. If I didn't care about gaming or video editing and only focused on pure software development I would switch in a heart beat.

WrtCdEvrydy 6y ago
ReactOS or Qubes can solve this right now (at least the software running on it)
- Osiris 6y ago
  Which of his problems are you referring to that would work on ReactOS? The last build of ReactOS I tested could barely run the built-in explorer without screen artifacts and weirdness. It is POSSIBLE to do a lot of things on Linux that you can do in Windows? Yes. The question is: how much time will it take you to make it work?
redvenom 6y ago
Lightworks is also a really nice commercial editor that works on Linux. The free version supports 720p output. It is not as fully featured as Davinci Resolve, but then it also requires much more modest system resources.
- nickjj 6y ago
  Yep, I tried that one (along with pretty much every editor). None of them really meshed well with what I was used to doing with Camtasia (on Windows) or Resolve. They were all too limiting[0] in one way or another for the types of videos I create. Resolve would be perfect if it worked with my set up. I hope one day it gets there. [0]: I don't make cinema style movies. Mainly 1080p screencasts. So things like nice looking titles, simple animations, zooming / panning, adding overlays of various shapes and sizes, blurs, etc. are really important to me. Nothing I tried on Linux really comes close to how easy it is to do that stuff with Camtasia and make it look nice. Resolve is pretty close tho, after you put in enough time to build up your own custom libraries.

itvision 6y ago

> Linux runs better on both new and older hardware. This is very much debatable. What's true however is that if your HW is not supported by at least Windows 8.1 you're SoL. > Better as in programs open faster, the file manager opens faster, the task manager opens faster. Everything uses less memory and less CPU cycles. Everything is snappier. I haven't observed any slow downs in Windows 10 for ages. As for "less memory and CPU cycles" it's just outright false. Windows offers much better hardware acceleration for everything: display rendering, video encoding and decoding, RDP (VNC in X11/Wayland taxes the CPU quite a lot and forget about effectively streaming video via VNC), etc. Linux is quite horrible in this regard. > Linux users don't have to worry nearly as much about malware, trojans, viruses, exploits. It's more secure. Unless you're obsessed with downloading software illegally, it's not an issue in Windows either. I don't remember the last time I had to deal with malware for my +20 of friends using it. > Linux distros generally don't annoy users with stealthy automatic forced updates. Windows updates are very much in your face. > Linux distros have a better app store experience than Windows, plus most of whatever there is free without much if any risk. Except there's 100 times more software in Windows. > Linux doesn't have any phone home telemetry type "features" built into the OS. No one has ever proven Microsoft accesses or downloads any of your files, or uses telemetry data to find out what applications you're running. > Linux user experience is much more customizable. There are a much greater variety of tools at your disposal to customize how you want your desktop to look and operate. This one is true however with a lot of choice comes a lot of confusion and doubt. > Linux is free. Windows 10 OEM license can be bought for as little as $10. This is 100% irrelevant nowadays.

hossbeast 6y ago
You can't buy/use an OEM license for windows on a box you build yourself can you? The last windows machine I put together, I paid > $100 for Windows itself.
- cercatrova 6y ago
  People actually pay for Windows on desktops? That still surprises me. I know of course you do pay when buying a laptop, but Windows is basically free, there's a trial and you can just use an activator, or buy an OEM key for 10 bucks as the parent states.

2muchcoffeeman 6y ago

Dell XPS 17 from 2020. Sound doesn’t work. Thee we drivers exist. For the first time in over a decade I had to install drivers manually. And don’t even start with hibernate or even just waking up. I’ve never rebooted a laptop so many times. And what’s the deal with flatpak? A screen shot app is not 700mb? WTF?

RMPR 6y ago
It really surprises me since there's a developer edition coming natively with Ubuntu (it only exists for the XPS 13 though). Is the underlying hardware that different?
- pjmlp 6y ago
  The Asus EEE PC that I bought (1215B) also came with Linux, when I say support Linux OEMs I meant it, yet not everything worked as expected, e.g. wlan and hibernate were an adventure during the first years. And then the whole story with AMD open source driver, means I am unable to take full advantage of the GPU in Linux.
- 2muchcoffeeman 6y ago
  The Precision 7750 supports Linux and supposedly has the same sound system as the XPS 17. Both are 17” laptops and share similar chassis. Finger print reader isn’t well supported. No gestures. 20 years ago I was convinced Linux would win on the desktop. But we still have the same problems decades later.

simooooo 6y ago

Arch and ubuntu booted slower and had choppier UI than windows in my experience

Nginx487 6y ago

That's all true, modern Linux distros are great - but Linux does not have software people got used to use on Windows. And this is the main reason why Linux share on desktop is 1%, not because Linux is not preinstalled. Provided that, developers of desktop software very reluctant to support Linux (even they support Mac), because investing 20-30% of development time for the user base less than 1% is pointless idea from business standpoint.

lenkite 6y ago

>Linux doesn't have any phone home telemetry type "features" built into the OS. Unlike macOS, You can disable ALL telemetry in under 30 seconds on Windows. There is actually even a service named "User Experience and Telemetry" that you can conveniently stop and disable in a number of ways.

lionkor 6y ago
Opt-out is almost always possible, but that's missing the point. Windows is often used as a personal operating system. There is no reason for it to collect analytics, especially after decades of development, I don't think the devs are getting anything actually useful out of knowing how often my grandparents check their email. They're collecting data, and it doesnt seem to be used to help UX development much.

lenkite 6y ago

> Linux runs better on both new and older hardware . Seriously asking - Please do suggest a good, powerful laptop and distribution that works issue-free with linux, most specifically: 1. Zero problems with sleep and resume. 2. Zero problems with bluetooth or wireless. Please recommend what vendors work well here. 3. Minimal issues with Slack or Teams. 4. Error free desktop environment. 5. Updates do not break stuff leading to Google searches on how to solve it.

bennofs 6y ago
Lenovo T460 here works flawlessy. AS for Bluetooth it's unreliable in Windows as well but usually just works? I don't use Bluetooth much, it probably also depends on the Bluetooth profiles that you're using.
lionkor 6y ago
I just bought a Thinkpad L15 (AMD) a week ago, slapped Arch on that bad boy. Please keep in mind that all what im about to say required some manual work since it's Arch, but should all work "out of the box" in any other distro with a recent kernel. Suspend / resume works perfectly out of the box, backlight worked after updating (which you should anyways after installing). Wireless worked perfectly out of the box, with NetworkManager. I use KDE Plasma, and it works well, too, without any complaints. All the function-buttons work, including volume, screen switching, sleep, mic mute. Webcam works. Didnt test slack or teams, but discord, atom and vscode (all electron apps) work perfectly fine. Firefox & Chromium work perfectly fine. I think in general, if you check the ArchWiki page on Laptops, there is a wonderful (and extensive) list of most common laptops and their issues (if any). Thinkpads seem to work very well, and, worst case, have good drivers made by the community for anything that doesnt work.
- lenkite 6y ago
  Thanks for the suggestion. Finding it hard to find a 15" Thinkpad without a number-pad. Non-centered laptop keyboards gives me wrist pain. MacBooks have the right ergonomics here :(

AntiImperialist 6y ago

I have used Linux as the primary OS for over 15 years in the last 20 years and I am not sure I agree with all of that. Linux runs better on both new and older hardware. Better as in programs open faster, the file manager opens faster, the task manager opens faster. Everything uses less memory and less CPU cycles. Everything is snappier. Simply untrue. It could be true for some distros, some driver versions and some hardware... but if you consider everything, Windows runs better than Linux. Mostly because most hardware is designed to run well on Windows. The Linux versions are either an afterthought or built and maintained by third-party. Linux distros generally don't annoy users with stealthy automatic forced updates. Windows updates aren't stealthy and they can be disabled. If you really don't want an update, it is MUCH MORE straightforward to avoid installing the optional update in Windows than it is for Linux distros. * Linux distros have a better app store experience than Windows, plus most of whatever there is free without much if any risk. Which Linux distro has a better App Store than Windows? Since Microsoft launched the Windows App Store, it is the best App Store in any non-macOS computers. Linux doesn't have any phone home telemetry type "features" built into the OS. Some distros do. Ubuntu has it, for example. Linux user experience is much more customizable. There are a much greater variety of tools at your disposal to customize how you want your desktop to look and operate. This is true. However, this has been a problem, which is why something like Ubuntu which has good defaults which they stick to has been so much successful than anything else. Linux is free. Sure! Many things are. That's not always a good reason to use it.

modo_mario 6y ago
>Simply untrue. It could be true for some distros, some driver versions and some hardware... but if you consider everything, Windows runs better than Linux. Mostly because most hardware is designed to run well on Windows. The Linux versions are either an afterthought or built and maintained by third-party. You mean drivers instead of hardware right? Typically performance is roughly the same. Sometimes better sometimes worse. The issue is where they don't exist or are an afterthought indeed and then it's quite frustrating. >Windows updates aren't stealthy and they can be disabled. If you really don't want an update, it is MUCH MORE straightforward to avoid installing the optional update in Windows than it is for Linux distros. What? What are you on about? I have yet to install an update for Linux that I didn't specifically give my permission for. Automatic updates are turned of by default on any distro I've tried and they don't come as bundled as they do for windows where a recent random update I just checked includes some changes for input devices, office products, basic operations security and the DST start date for the Fiji Islands. >Which Linux distro has a better App Store than Windows? Since Microsoft launched the Windows App Store, it is the best App Store in any non-macOS computers. It looks neat but.... For some reason it uses a different language (that I've never selected to be used) in most of it's UI. Is a common problem in Belgium apparently and I guess same in other multilingual countries which is weird because that's not an issue anywhere else in the OS. Why am I looking at some loading ring for 3-4 seconds when i click on an app? Where do I add alternative sources? Can I do stuff like build something differently on install if I want to? >Some distros do. Ubuntu has it, for example. An outlier more than anything and one that asks you if you want it on install and later disabling it is a checbox away. >This is true. However, this has been a problem, which is why something like Ubuntu which has good defaults which they stick to has been so much successful than anything else. Fully agree it has been a problem and still is for it's adoption. I don't think it's what notably contributed to Ubuntu's success in the past tho.

GoblinSlayer 6y ago

> Linux users don't have to worry nearly as much about malware, trojans, viruses, exploits. It's more secure. Wait, Linux doesn't prevent doing stupid things, quite the opposite.

lionkor 6y ago
it has extremely clear separation of permissions, unlike anything windows has. its very possible to set up a user account that can only use the browser and office programs, and that's incredibly valuable. windows can do this, too, but its messy, spotty, and to the user feels like an afterthought rather than something designed deep into the OS like on unix-likes.