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Linux is great if you're hardware is supported. I've never been able to get Linux working right on one of my laptops, on another only rolling releases work. T

Linux is great if you're hardware is supported. I've never been able to get Linux working right on one of my laptops, on another only rolling releases work. These rolling releases like to break every 3 to 6 months. Windows is much more stable on both laptops. With my mini PC eGPU combo Linux just won't recognize the eGpu at all.

juujian 1y ago
Obligatory "my experience diverges." Which manufacturers were those? New flagship devices or more established hardware?
- aitchnyu 1y ago
  5k screens over DP are two screens in a trenchcoat. I saw this abstraction broken with menubar (only on half the screen), blue light filter (have to program both harlves), screen placement (have to drag both halves into place). FreeDesktop Gitlab has been tracking this since 2017 but IME only 2023 Ubuntu got it perfect, IIRC KDE got it perfect later.
- 999900000999 1y ago
  https://www.asus.com/laptops/for-home/vivobook/asus-vivobook-s-14-oled-m5406/ https://www.asus.com/laptops/for-home/vivobook/asus-vivobook... Maybe it's been fixed, but I brought this on release last year, it never worked right with Linux. Hours upon hours of trying to fix it for naught. I actually prefer Linux as a daily driver, I have the Ultra Core V2 version of the same laptop and rolling releases are generally fine for 3 to 6 months. At which point I just reinstall , while leaving Windows intact. I guess if you want to buy a slightly older laptop or at least one with a slightly older CPU things are fine. Refurbished Thinkpads excel particularly well here.
eYrKEC2 1y ago
This was true for me until ~2014. I haven't had substantial hardware compatibility issues on Ubuntu since then. Sure, a few google searches for the right nvidia driver, but otherwise I've found Ubuntu to just work for many years.
- int_19h 1y ago
  It's a lottery that largely depends on what exact hardware you have. I have one machine that I can't even install Linux on because no Linux installer or live CD will even boot on it. No idea why, and I don't want to spend a lot of time and effort figuring that out given that it's my dedicated gaming box, a "PC console" basically. OTOH I have a laptop that I specifically purchased to run Linux on it. Which it does, and all devices work just fine. The only catch is that battery life when browsing is about 20-30% less, and, as far as I can tell, this is entirely due to Linux browsers disabling video hardware acceleration by default on most configs. If I enable it, things get much better for the battery, but at the cost of an occasional browser crash.
subjectsigma 1y ago
Never post anything like this on HN, you will get a torrent of people A) trying to help, but not being very helpful B) telling you that you’re dumb C) telling you that you’re holding it wrong and that you need different software/hardware/preferences/etc. I have had tons of grief with NVIDIA cards that work stellar on Windows and the answer I always get talking to Linux folks is “LOL NVIDIA? You’re an idiot for buying NVIDIA.” My friends who daily drive Linux have accepted that I’m particularly cursed. Either that or they privately think I’m a moron. Regardless none of them seem to be able to explain my issues or help.
- 999900000999 1y ago
  I welcome a good conversation. Linux still isn't really ready for normal people who have other things to do. Arguably if it's within your budget and you just want your computer to work, buy a Mac. I make music and I don't want to fiddle with external drives so I'm basically stuck on Windows. My biggest issue with Macs is not being able to replace the SSD. Eventually all SSDs must fail. Might not be in 2 years, might be in 6 or 7, but at that point the entire laptop is useless.
  - AlotOfReading 1y ago
    "It just works" was always a marketing slogan for Apple, not an actual reality. It's certainly not appropriate for an OS where perfectly standard mice have frustrating, decades-old limitations like scroll direction being tied to the touchpad settings and forward/backyard buttons not working.
    - 999900000999 1y ago
      If you stay in the Apple Box of supported use cases it's fine. The customer support story is also much better. Instead of dealing with IRC channels and Reddit post trying to figure out why the latest kernel ruined everything, you go to the Apple Store. I literally run Tumbleweed on my second laptop, I like Linux. It's just not for people who don't want to invest time into understanding how computers work.
dartharva 1y ago
I might have one of the very rare cases where my laptop works much better with Linux than with Windows (both 10 and 11). Both Wifi and Bluetooth doesn't work on a fresh Windows install, I have to physically connect a USB DVD player to install the drivers from the DVD that came with the package (in 2024! btw). On Linux everything just works out-of-the-box. Okay maybe not everything, I did have to patch my kernel for bluetooth drivers, but other than that it's a LOT smoother in every way than on Windows.

juujian 1y ago

Obligatory "my experience diverges." Which manufacturers were those? New flagship devices or more established hardware?

aitchnyu 1y ago
5k screens over DP are two screens in a trenchcoat. I saw this abstraction broken with menubar (only on half the screen), blue light filter (have to program both harlves), screen placement (have to drag both halves into place). FreeDesktop Gitlab has been tracking this since 2017 but IME only 2023 Ubuntu got it perfect, IIRC KDE got it perfect later.
999900000999 1y ago
https://www.asus.com/laptops/for-home/vivobook/asus-vivobook-s-14-oled-m5406/ https://www.asus.com/laptops/for-home/vivobook/asus-vivobook... Maybe it's been fixed, but I brought this on release last year, it never worked right with Linux. Hours upon hours of trying to fix it for naught. I actually prefer Linux as a daily driver, I have the Ultra Core V2 version of the same laptop and rolling releases are generally fine for 3 to 6 months. At which point I just reinstall , while leaving Windows intact. I guess if you want to buy a slightly older laptop or at least one with a slightly older CPU things are fine. Refurbished Thinkpads excel particularly well here.

eYrKEC2 1y ago

This was true for me until ~2014. I haven't had substantial hardware compatibility issues on Ubuntu since then. Sure, a few google searches for the right nvidia driver, but otherwise I've found Ubuntu to just work for many years.

int_19h 1y ago
It's a lottery that largely depends on what exact hardware you have. I have one machine that I can't even install Linux on because no Linux installer or live CD will even boot on it. No idea why, and I don't want to spend a lot of time and effort figuring that out given that it's my dedicated gaming box, a "PC console" basically. OTOH I have a laptop that I specifically purchased to run Linux on it. Which it does, and all devices work just fine. The only catch is that battery life when browsing is about 20-30% less, and, as far as I can tell, this is entirely due to Linux browsers disabling video hardware acceleration by default on most configs. If I enable it, things get much better for the battery, but at the cost of an occasional browser crash.

subjectsigma 1y ago

Never post anything like this on HN, you will get a torrent of people A) trying to help, but not being very helpful B) telling you that you’re dumb C) telling you that you’re holding it wrong and that you need different software/hardware/preferences/etc. I have had tons of grief with NVIDIA cards that work stellar on Windows and the answer I always get talking to Linux folks is “LOL NVIDIA? You’re an idiot for buying NVIDIA.” My friends who daily drive Linux have accepted that I’m particularly cursed. Either that or they privately think I’m a moron. Regardless none of them seem to be able to explain my issues or help.

999900000999 1y ago
I welcome a good conversation. Linux still isn't really ready for normal people who have other things to do. Arguably if it's within your budget and you just want your computer to work, buy a Mac. I make music and I don't want to fiddle with external drives so I'm basically stuck on Windows. My biggest issue with Macs is not being able to replace the SSD. Eventually all SSDs must fail. Might not be in 2 years, might be in 6 or 7, but at that point the entire laptop is useless.
- AlotOfReading 1y ago
  "It just works" was always a marketing slogan for Apple, not an actual reality. It's certainly not appropriate for an OS where perfectly standard mice have frustrating, decades-old limitations like scroll direction being tied to the touchpad settings and forward/backyard buttons not working.
  - 999900000999 1y ago
    If you stay in the Apple Box of supported use cases it's fine. The customer support story is also much better. Instead of dealing with IRC channels and Reddit post trying to figure out why the latest kernel ruined everything, you go to the Apple Store. I literally run Tumbleweed on my second laptop, I like Linux. It's just not for people who don't want to invest time into understanding how computers work.

dartharva 1y ago

I might have one of the very rare cases where my laptop works much better with Linux than with Windows (both 10 and 11). Both Wifi and Bluetooth doesn't work on a fresh Windows install, I have to physically connect a USB DVD player to install the drivers from the DVD that came with the package (in 2024! btw). On Linux everything just works out-of-the-box. Okay maybe not everything, I did have to patch my kernel for bluetooth drivers, but other than that it's a LOT smoother in every way than on Windows.