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Sounds like someone who does not use Linux. Installing Linux is the easiest experience among operating systems on supported hardware. Updating Linux software

Sounds like someone who does not use Linux. Installing Linux is the easiest experience among operating systems on supported hardware. Updating Linux software is the easiest as well. Using a desktop environment like Gnome is straightforward too.

ironmagma 5y ago
Nice attempt there. However, I've been a user of Linux since circa 2004. (I think it'd be hard to exist here on HN long without doing so.) No, using Linux is not straightforward. Nearly every user-facing element has something broken about it.
- 0des 5y ago
  You sound like someone who hasn't used Linux in a capacity with any permanence, your remarks are off base with reality.
  - ironmagma 5y ago
    And you sound like someone who has used Linux far too much and lost touch with what most people's experience with it is. Your remarks are similarly off base with reality.
    - 0des 5y ago
      You got me, sport
- 29athrowaway 5y ago
  You mean like the Metro UI, the frakenstein on DMT that's impossible to understand?
  - ironmagma 5y ago
    Yes, like that. Note that two wrongs don’t make a right.
Jorge1o1 5y ago
Clearly you’ve never tried to update nvidia graphics card drivers, add a webcam, a printer, or run a 32-bit application on linux. Compared to Windows/Mac these simple tasks are hellish — and for nontechnical users, nearly impossible.
- JasonFruit 5y ago
  I have done all those things. On Linux, Nvidia drivers are a royal pain, webcam and printer both worked without any effort other than hooking it up, and running a 32-bit application was not too difficult with instructions. On Windows, I've never messed with video drivers, but have had problems with the same webcam and printer requiring me to locate and install drivers, which were bundled with software I didn't want. 32-bit applications on Windows were of course a breeze. So anecdotally, it's a mixed bag. Maybe if I had less Linux experience and more Windows, the story would be different.
  - jrapdx3 5y ago
    I've had long experience with Linux, FreeBSD, and in the last 9 years with Windows too. On the whole I think you're right, it's always been a "mixed bag" when it comes to the gamut of installing, use, and upgrading an OS. Don't know the vintage of Windows you referenced, but in recent experience (Win 10/11) installing a webcam was dead simple, just plug it into a USB port. Printers used to be a gigantic hassle, but at least for the 4 printers available to my Windows laptop little configuration and no added drivers were necessary. (No doubt certain webcams or printers out there could be a pain to install in Windows.) One example: getting OBS Studio to work on Windows was pretty much a no brainer vs. Ubuntu which needed to have additional library support. While OBS works under Ubuntu using it is still a bit more of a hassle. In any case Windows seems to have more bugs now than a few years back. I figure added "features" contribute to complexity. Who knows how many more LOC have been committed. I'd be a lot happier with simpler but more reliable systems. It's not the tradeoff Microsoft, and probably various Linux distributions, will be likely to accept.
    - 29athrowaway 5y ago
rascul 5y ago
> Installing Linux is the easiest experience among operating systems on supported hardware. > Updating Linux software is the easiest as well. The ease of this stuff varies widely from one distro to another.

ironmagma 5y ago

Nice attempt there. However, I've been a user of Linux since circa 2004. (I think it'd be hard to exist here on HN long without doing so.) No, using Linux is not straightforward. Nearly every user-facing element has something broken about it.

0des 5y ago
You sound like someone who hasn't used Linux in a capacity with any permanence, your remarks are off base with reality.
- ironmagma 5y ago
  And you sound like someone who has used Linux far too much and lost touch with what most people's experience with it is. Your remarks are similarly off base with reality.
  - 0des 5y ago
    You got me, sport
29athrowaway 5y ago
You mean like the Metro UI, the frakenstein on DMT that's impossible to understand?
- ironmagma 5y ago
  Yes, like that. Note that two wrongs don’t make a right.

Jorge1o1 5y ago

Clearly you’ve never tried to update nvidia graphics card drivers, add a webcam, a printer, or run a 32-bit application on linux. Compared to Windows/Mac these simple tasks are hellish — and for nontechnical users, nearly impossible.

JasonFruit 5y ago
I have done all those things. On Linux, Nvidia drivers are a royal pain, webcam and printer both worked without any effort other than hooking it up, and running a 32-bit application was not too difficult with instructions. On Windows, I've never messed with video drivers, but have had problems with the same webcam and printer requiring me to locate and install drivers, which were bundled with software I didn't want. 32-bit applications on Windows were of course a breeze. So anecdotally, it's a mixed bag. Maybe if I had less Linux experience and more Windows, the story would be different.
- jrapdx3 5y ago
  I've had long experience with Linux, FreeBSD, and in the last 9 years with Windows too. On the whole I think you're right, it's always been a "mixed bag" when it comes to the gamut of installing, use, and upgrading an OS. Don't know the vintage of Windows you referenced, but in recent experience (Win 10/11) installing a webcam was dead simple, just plug it into a USB port. Printers used to be a gigantic hassle, but at least for the 4 printers available to my Windows laptop little configuration and no added drivers were necessary. (No doubt certain webcams or printers out there could be a pain to install in Windows.) One example: getting OBS Studio to work on Windows was pretty much a no brainer vs. Ubuntu which needed to have additional library support. While OBS works under Ubuntu using it is still a bit more of a hassle. In any case Windows seems to have more bugs now than a few years back. I figure added "features" contribute to complexity. Who knows how many more LOC have been committed. I'd be a lot happier with simpler but more reliable systems. It's not the tradeoff Microsoft, and probably various Linux distributions, will be likely to accept.
  - 29athrowaway 5y ago

rascul 5y ago

> Installing Linux is the easiest experience among operating systems on supported hardware. > Updating Linux software is the easiest as well. The ease of this stuff varies widely from one distro to another.