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A Lenovo that is so low-end and generic that they don't even bother assigning it a coherent model name/number and a Lenovo Yoga 7. To be blunt, I am on the oth

by II2II 2y ago

A Lenovo that is so low-end and generic that they don't even bother assigning it a coherent model name/number and a Lenovo Yoga 7. To be blunt, I am on the other side of the fence: I am quite skeptical when people make blanket statements about Linux not working. One of the benefits of open source is the ability to distribute software with few restrictions. One of the benefits of many Linux distributions is the frequent update cycle. Those two factors mean there is a fairly strong possibility that hardware will work straight after installation. Of course there are exceptions. Some hardware simply isn't supported. It is also possible choose a distribution, like Arch, where the end user is expected to configure almost everything themselves. That said, Windows isn't exactly great on this front either. While the hardware is likely supported, manually installing drivers can be intensive. End user applications, including things like the desktop environment, are an entirely different situation. Here too, I am skeptical of blanket statements. The biggest hurdle is a lack of familiarity: most people are brought up on Windows. They expect software to work as it does under Windows. I'm on the other side of the fence. Having used Linux for over a quarter of a century, I expect software to work as it does under Linux. I can assure you that I have as many problems with Windows as most Windows users have with Linux. As for bugs: Windows applications have those too. The big difference is that you paid for them and there is a relatively low chance they will ever be patched. Granted, I am not advocating for open source software based on the ability of end users being able to patch bugs. Almost no one does, because almost everyone realizes that most end users lack the skills to do so.

wruza 2y ago
I agree that issues in what you’re used to feel more acute. But I’ve spent my time on linux not less than on windows and osx (and dos, fwiw). Each claimed at least seven years of my life (but ofc windows was in the background all the time). The issues I mentioned in the linked post are very non-blanket and very specific. I know some solutions, but they have their own set of nuances (e.g. I know xfce would work fine for me, but it cannot deal with 1.5x scaling well, so I’d have to buy an extra display, which I have my requirements for and that’s far from being cheap, so…). Yes it’s only a subset of all software that I have issues with, and only at this point in time, and only in my workflows. But please forgive me the blanketness if I say so from definitely non-zero experience and living through that periodically, on different distros/environments, with mostly the same result. And it’s not only me, the guys who see me working on it, or doing simple things on it themselves ask me why it is like that. I just say “because it’s linux”, cause what else can you say. Most of these issues are “just shtupid” and can’t compare to the issues I’ve had with win/osx. I love linux - I work in msys2-enabled console all the time. I have studied APUE, that thick brick of knowkedge. I use it for my “gigs”, and I run a few linuxes in virtualbox and as VPS, all time. But this “DE” part, man.

by II2II 2y ago

wruza 2y ago

I agree that issues in what you’re used to feel more acute. But I’ve spent my time on linux not less than on windows and osx (and dos, fwiw). Each claimed at least seven years of my life (but ofc windows was in the background all the time). The issues I mentioned in the linked post are very non-blanket and very specific. I know some solutions, but they have their own set of nuances (e.g. I know xfce would work fine for me, but it cannot deal with 1.5x scaling well, so I’d have to buy an extra display, which I have my requirements for and that’s far from being cheap, so…). Yes it’s only a subset of all software that I have issues with, and only at this point in time, and only in my workflows. But please forgive me the blanketness if I say so from definitely non-zero experience and living through that periodically, on different distros/environments, with mostly the same result. And it’s not only me, the guys who see me working on it, or doing simple things on it themselves ask me why it is like that. I just say “because it’s linux”, cause what else can you say. Most of these issues are “just shtupid” and can’t compare to the issues I’ve had with win/osx. I love linux - I work in msys2-enabled console all the time. I have studied APUE, that thick brick of knowkedge. I use it for my “gigs”, and I run a few linuxes in virtualbox and as VPS, all time. But this “DE” part, man.