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[Unpopular opinion] Linux is not a good choice for regular users

I’ve been using all major OSes for a long time. I have the most experience with Windows, I’ve been using it since Windows 95 and stopped at Windows 8. I’ve been using macOS for about a decade and Linux (in total) for about 5 years. I have started with Mandrake, moved to Mandriva, spent over a year on Ubuntu and recently I’ve been using Fedora as my daily driver. And honestly, I’m running out of patience.

Few days ago I ran into the gpu driver issue. Long story short, Steam games started to crash on directx issue. Games that were working few weeks ago. I admit, I was mocking around with GPU drivers in order to make Podman containers to access the GPU. But I did the fresh diver install and it didn’t solved the issue (also my GPU was not found despite all commands showed it was there). I don’t have much spare time and I would like to play a game, I used to play before, without spending hours/days fixing issue that didn’t exist last time I played it.

But it’s not only about games. I have two laptops, both running Fedora 40 KDE spin. Some time ago on one laptop the power widget stopped working. It shows “no power profiles found on a device”. But when I delete the widget and add it again, it works fine.

Other issue is with the general look and feel. There are many apps that don’t follow the OS look - lack of window borders/shadow, random icons that don’t match the system, flatpacks having issues accessing system configuration (e.g. vscodium not recognising zsh as a default shell).

Few more problems I had:

  • on GNOME, some extensions where crashing without any reason
  • some apps don’t respect desktop scaling
  • bluetooth randomly dropping connections
  • syncing files between devices is always a struggle
  • you never know what’s going to break when installing updates

If you want a Linux like experience use macOS, and if you want to play games, stick to Windows.

Meltrax , (edited )

You were fucking with your GPU drivers, lost access to your GPU, and you have concluded from that that “regular users” (who don’t know what a driver is or does) should not use Linux?

EDIT: Stick a “normal” user on a stable distro with a clean UI like Mint or Fedora, keep in mind they probably don’t know what a terminal is and will probably never use it, and they will be fine for almost all cases.

fart_pickle OP ,

As I said, I did a clean install and still all Steam games were failing on directx issue. Also, a “regular” user when switching to Linux will have to know what a GPU driver is in order to use it, event if it’s just for playing games. And the cherry on top - once I fixed the directx issue and I was able to play a game I wanted, the drivers update broke it. And despite spending days on fixing the issue, I got back to a square one.

ZeroHora ,
@ZeroHora@lemmy.ml avatar

If they use windows they also know what a GPU driver is, if they use AMD that’s better on linux, they don’t need to know what a GPU driver is. Unless of course the “normal” user need a rocm driver.

andrewta ,

He listed just a few more things then that

INeedMana ,
@INeedMana@lemmy.world avatar

started with Mandrake, moved to Mandriva, spent over a year on Ubuntu and recently I’ve been using Fedora

Another unpopular opinion:
That’s because you’ve been using distributions that are either behind the times or have a lot of wonky crap added to them that looks like user friendliness when it works and is like fixing windows when it doesn’t (I’ve been through similar path, just with a few other distros along the way)

Start with Gentoo or Arch (maybe Slackware). These are close to the grass, so the way to set things up is the way to fix things up

some apps don’t respect desktop scaling

are these gtk based apps? Different toolsets require different envs

syncing

Have you tried syncthing?

fart_pickle OP ,

Start with Gentoo or Arch (maybe Slackware). These are close to the grass, so the way to set things up is the way to fix things up

I’ve tried Mint, openSUSE, Debian, Gentoo and Arch but I had other, non-regular user issues with those. I wanted to point out the standard issues.

are these gtk based apps? Different toolsets require different envs

Some were GTK based other were “optimised” for KDE

Have you tried syncthing?

Yes, I use it on a daily basis but there’s no easy way to get it working on iOS/iPadOS.

INeedMana ,
@INeedMana@lemmy.world avatar

I was mocking around with GPU drivers in order to make Podman containers to access the GPU. (…) I don’t have much spare time and I would like to play a game, I used to play before, without spending hours/days fixing issue that didn’t exist last time I played it.

And

I had other, non-regular user issues with those

I think, you should keep these two things (messing with containers accessing GPU and “just play a game”) separate. I mean on separate boxes. Because now you can’t “just play” because you’ve been elbows deep in OS internals. You can’t take apart your fridge and then expect it to just cool the water the next day

“optimised” for KDE

Then I’m guessing these might need some KDE envs

Yes, I use it on a daily basis but there’s no easy way to get it working on iOS/iPadOS.

Ah, you’re trying to breach the non-open wall. Is there an app on i* that allows you to set up an ftp/http file sharing server on the device? You probably could set it up as rclone upstream

fart_pickle OP ,

I think, you should keep these two things (messing with containers accessing GPU and “just play a game”) separate. I mean on separate boxes. Because now you can’t “just play” because you’ve been elbows deep in OS internals. You can’t take apart your fridge and then expect it to just cool the water the next day

I agree, that’s a valid point. But, I had a clean system, prepared for a normal user (clean install, official repositories, etc. And still GPU drivers refusded to work. I have covered all basics before I asked for help and even I got some good advice that worked, I ended up in the same place.

Then I’m guessing these might need some KDE envs

True, but sill for a regular user it looks like “Linux is ugly”

Ah, you’re trying to breach the non-open wall. Is there an app on i* that allows you to set up an ftp/http file sharing server on the device? You probably could set it up as rclone upstream

I know too well the unbreakable apple garden. And I don’t mind tinkering with it but again, we are at the regular user level, that wants things just to work.

astro_ray ,

Start with Gentoo or Arch

I wouldn't recommend arch to general users. I consider myself a general linux user, and figuring out Arch, even after the installation hurdle, wasn't easy for me.

is like fixing windows when it doesn’t

I don't think Arch really makes that easy. Although, I guess archwiki is pretty great. Even arch forum helped me a lot with respect to other disto.

TheGrandNagus ,

Fucks around with GPU drivers for some reason

Experiences GPU driver issues

“How can Linux do this to me??”

fart_pickle OP ,

As I wrote, I did the clean install. Even if I didn’t do a thing with it, it would still break. As it did couple days ago.

GolfNovemberUniform ,
@GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml avatar

Fyi messing around with drivers can even cause permanent hardware damage.

suburban_hillbilly ,

My favorite implication of these kinds of posts is that windows somehow doesn’t ever have driver issues.

savvywolf ,
@savvywolf@pawb.social avatar

I think Windows has a very poor track record for ui consistency as well. It feels like every Windows app wants to roll its own UI; Firefox, Discord, Steam etc. I know Discord and Steam also have those issues on Linux as well, but it feels like every Windows app wants to roll out it’s own window decorarions and theme.

Honestly, I’m pleased at how consistent most gtk based apps look.

slazer2au ,

Windows can’t even get their own UI right.

Look at the win10 control panel. Nearly a decade later and we still have to use the classic control panel to change settings.

vikingtons ,
@vikingtons@lemmy.world avatar

I’ve been lucky enough to dumb guy my fedora install since 28, and it’s been pretty decent to me. Granted I’m not using nvidia graphics, and I feel like that could throw a big spanner in the works for regular users. It’s a big enough leap getting into the mindset of installing software from Distro repos rather than directly from the vendor.

I hope the newer nv open kernel modules don’t stay out of tree. Also hope that NVK will give users the ability to just plug and play with mesa drivers in the future.

CaptainSpaceman ,

Is Linux perfect? No

Is windows better than linux? No

Is mac better than windows? No

Are your specific issues a reason normal users shouldnt use Linux? No

AlligatorBlizzard ,

I’m going to disagree with you on the “is Mac better than Windows” front - I think there’s good arguments either way though. At least with a Mac, the end user is still, mostly, who they are designing for. On Windows the end user is becoming the product.

moreeni ,

Fr, Mac does a much better job at serving their target users than Windows will (likely) ever do

CaptainSpaceman ,

Both products have flaws I dont like, so im ok with either stance tbh.

fart_pickle OP ,

Are your specific issues a reason normal users shouldnt use Linux? No

I cannot agree. Most of the users would be upset about bluetooth dropping connection or constant issues after running updates.

CaptainSpaceman ,

Thats literally happened to me on mac and windows both

astro_ray ,

But, are most of the users getting this Bluetooth problem? Has it occurred to you that that maybe this could be a you problem rather than a general user problem?

Thaurin ,

I’m getting these issues on Windows as well, to be fair.

Veraxis ,
@Veraxis@lemmy.world avatar

I am looking through these issues and I cannot say that I can relate on almost any of these. Sorry to hear you have been having so many issues!

I do plenty of gaming and cannot think of a time where I have had GPU driver issues (despite the fact that I have Nvidia graphics on 3 out of 4 of my systems, which is supposedly more problematic).

My bluetooth works fine, and it has been literally years since an update broke something, bluetooth or otherwise (which I cannot say the same for Windows on my work computer).

I use KDE connect, SFTP, and SMB servers and I have never had any issues transferring files between Windows, Android, and Linux. What do you mean about that? (seeing other replies, it sounds like you are using iOS. That sounds like that may be an Apple problem and not a Linux problem, because Apple tend to be terrible about playing nice with other ecosystems)

The scaling is the one point I can sort of relate on. I think there is still some work to be done regarding DPI and scaling on Linux, but it’s not enough of an issue to make me want to switch operating systems.

As for GNOME issues and window decorations, that sounds like a GNOME problem. GNOME does things very differently to all of the other DEs and forces programs to manually define their own window decorations rather than allowing standard default icons like other DEs, so my understanding is that GNOME in particular tends to be a source of constant headaches for Linux developers.

And I’m not some sysadmin or CS major. If I have a problem, I do a web search. If I can’t find it there, I make a forum thread. I don’t post a rant saying that Linux is a bad OS, lol.

fart_pickle OP ,

Your comment is a perfect Linux answer - it works on my computer :) And I don’t mean it as an insult. The problem here is that Linux, despite of all its advantages, is not for a global consumer.

Veraxis ,
@Veraxis@lemmy.world avatar

Yes, but my larger point is that you are doing the same thing, but in the negative. You are taking your specific problems and then putting forward the conclusion that they are the reasons why “regular” Linux users should not use Linux, as though these were universal problems. I am saying that I do not have those issues and that they are far from universal.

Yes, the modular nature of Linux is both a blessing and a curse. There is legitimate debate to be had on that. But that is not how your post frames the issue.

As stated above, not all of these things are even Linux problems. I would say that if iOS refuses to play nice with Linux but every other ecosystem works fine, the blame lies with Apple, not with Linux. It is not Linux’s job to fix the interoperability problems of other ecosystems. The GNOME problems are related to a specific subset of Linux users, and even before today I would have said that I would not recommend GNOME to new users because of how nonstandard it can be.

JustMarkov ,

While your post is just: it doesn’t work on my computer, so Linux is bad for a normal user.

floofloof ,

So we know these things work on one person’s computer (theirs) but not on another’s (yours). Such anecdotal experiences are not a reasonable basis on which to judge any OS, positively or negatively.

N0x0n ,

Also, on your SMB server you need to add a specific configuration to play nice with OS X…

wiki.samba.org/…/Configure_Samba_to_Work_Better_w…

So yeah that’s on OP not reading through the documentation.

kbal ,
@kbal@fedia.io avatar

Linux sucks, Windows is worse, MacOS is useless. We must conclude that those systems are not a good choice for regular users. I recommend a simple pocket calculator instead. No graphics drivers to worry about, no firmware updates, if it goes wrong you just press the reset button and it's ready to go again in a tenth of a second, no need to do backups, you can get a pretty good one for $20, light weight, really good battery life. Much better in almost every way.

lemmywinksthegerbilking ,

sounds reasonable

Shady_Shiroe ,
@Shady_Shiroe@lemmy.world avatar

‘28008 3434’, can share memes on those things too, you just need to hold it upside down

UnfortunateShort ,

tldr: Linux can have driver issues and programs or updates might not work as expected. So anything you can expect from any major OS.

meldrik ,

You are not a regular user. My parents are regular users and they have been using Linux for years. They don’t know though. That’s a regular user.

infinitevalence ,
@infinitevalence@discuss.online avatar

My kids, who began using Linux at home and then Chrome OS since the ages of 5 ,would suggest that it’s only older users who are completely stuck in their ways and can’t adapt to different operating systems.

atzanteol ,

Computers are not a good choice for “regular users”. Get them a locked-down iPhone and be done with it.

What you are describing is not a situation unique to Linux - or even Windows. “Software is hard and it sometimes breaks”. My Windows 11 laptop that I use for work and to which I have made exactly zero modifications sometimes doesn’t recognize when I’ve connected external speakers. And I can’t disable hyper-v despite following all of the instructions. This is a corporate provisioned and managed system and simple stuff just doesn’t work.

X% of all things have bugs. Your mistake is in thinking that the percentage that you’re seeing are somehow special or related to the particular OS you’re running at the time. The classic “the grass is greener” fallacy. This is pretty evidenced also by the fact that you’re a classic “distro hopper” whose always looking for the perfect system rather than taking the time to understand the problems and deal with them as they come.

BitSound ,

I’d be careful of pushing the narrative about computers not being a good choice for regular users. I’m going to channel a bit of Stallman and say that that’s how we end up without The Right To Read

atzanteol ,

That’s fair - I’m not saying users shouldn’t be able or allowed to use computers, but just that it’s been proven over and over again that most people simply don’t get computers. They should always have the option to learn what they can though.

notagoblin ,

Mate. Stick with Windows or MacOS. I don’t think Linux is for you.

FQQD ,
@FQQD@lemmy.ohaa.xyz avatar

Yes, that, in fact, is an unpopular opinion here.

bizdelnick ,

Why you say “Linux” when you mean “Fedora”?

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