this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
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Why does it seem like any issue with Windows is met by "INSTALL LINUX!!!!". If the check engine light on my car comes on I am not going to buy a truck.
Yeah you could probably just install Linux on your car and bypass that light instead of buying a truck.
Why spend a lot of time installing and configuring and learning a bunch of stuff when I just want the error code cleared?
Because in this case, the error is "we've detected you're not drinking Ford branded tea, click here to subscribe to our tea service!" along with many other codes that aren't that hard to individually clear but gives a clear indication of how MS sees its userbase.
Yeah but if the truck is free and better than your current car...
It this case, also more environmental friendly, repairable and improves self-determination, independence and the local economy.
And it has a cool penguin bumper sticker
Better is debatable. For the average dev, Linux is an obvious improvement for most development tasks. For the casual user? Not even Ubuntu is 100% out of the box yet. I'm currently working through the migration to Ubuntu as my main OS and there have been things where I 100% had to open up a terminal for (or something similarly manual or confusing), which is typically not an option for non-developers or the technologically disinclined. Most Linux diehards seem to forget that not everyone is technologically literate, especially when they push the latest fork of a fork of a branch of arch with barely any UI or support for familiar applications.
You got me curious.
What exactly had you going for the terminal? Although not a fan of that distro in particular, I must admit they were the ones who made a significant push to make Linux more accessible to every one.
I'd risk 97% of end user machines nowadays are ready to go after going through a standard install of Ubuntu.
I think the first thing was Windows' fault (and also the fault of my dual boot setup, which i imagine most casual users won't be going for) - apparently "Fast Startup" means doing some hardware shenanigans that prevents Ubuntu from hooking into the motherboard's network adapter.
After disabling that, I had to install a specific version of the nvidia graphics driver (535) from a PPA to get all 4 of my monitors working. Before that, I couldn't configure display settings at all because my screens would flash for too long and prevent me from clicking the "Keep Settings" button. And before that, only one monitor worked and the other three were black screens that I could move the mouse to, but couldn't move applications to.
And finally I had to figure out how to set a "default" audio device because apparently this isn't a configurable thing (that I could find). I noticed I would have to manually set my audio device after every reboot - after enough reboots I found that there is a command to list audio devices by ID and to set the active output device by ID, so I added it to the list of startup commands. Honestly this one is the most perplexing because I would think setting a default audio device from a list of multiple would be some pretty basic functionality. I'm guessing that I probably just missed it, or gnome hides it.
After that is mostly gaming setup stuff. I would consider it to be common knowledge that most games aren't intended to be run on Linux, so I don't mind some difficulty there.
Slightly unrelated, I have learned that apt purging openssl is a huge no-no and am now reinstalling Ubuntu again entirely :)
I can't speak for the Nvidia issue. (Only that it is widely know that Nvidia actively works against Open source and only just has begun changing their stance, so Nvidia support is still poor on Linux. Their proprietary drivers aren't great either. I stick to AMD since using Linux, they work great out of the box)
But the audio issue baffles me. Under Kubuntu with KDE I just klick on the Loudspeaker in the systray and choose the device. It even remembers it over unplugging and replugging devices.
Rgarding openssl: Thats the price you pay for freedom, you can change the system how you want, even into non working states ^^ BTW: You can repair such mistakes with a LiveCD even major ones like this.
I had a dual boot where windows would from time to time rewrite the boot and the system would just load into it.
Because it was an older motherboard it still had IDE and SATA; after some research, I found someone saying it was a BIOS "feature" where the default master HDD was alway on the IDE channel. The solution: get rid of the IDE disk (and windows along with it).
The rest of what you describe remembers my own misadventures when I started. But back then at 2006 and with Debian.
I've read articles where people were saying that even running the NVidia Quadro boards was very much anti-climatic, with the biggest hurdle being installing the proprietary drivers.
And when it comes to games, WINE is going very far to make many things works where they were never intended to. And many titles are already being shipped with penguin in mind
Have fun!
PopOS Nvidia version for Nvidia machines - much better experience.
I wish. Both at home and in the office, we rely on too many Windows-dependent applications that do not work on Linux.
I run Ubuntu as my main OS since I can kinda do what I want with my laptop at work and obviously control my personal laptop as well, but everything production-wise at work is Windows on the client side, and I still have a Windows PC for gaming for games that require anti cheat that isn't supported on Linux.
I vastly prefer Linux but Windows is a far lower friction/barrier to entry for most.
People resist change because of familiarity or, even worse, it's the crap that comes preloaded with every computer and some idiot told them they void warranty if it is removed (this is illegal nowadays but many shops still float this idea).
I can understand specialized applications but the bulk of office work does not require it. And industrial applications even prefer linux as it means they can tailor the software to their specific uses.
I was writing this and what came to mind was a conversation on a podcast where journalists were at some point debating they could not live without their Apple computers, while complaining how expensive they were.
They write text! Any freaking OS can provide support for at least two dozens of text processors.
It's mostly about perception, in my view.
Switching to Linux isn't free. There are significant time, opportunity and switching costs involved.
My car serves my needs more than a truck does. Not only is it easier for a wheelchair user to get in, I can load/unload easier and it's more comfortable for me to drive.
But if your car has flat tires every 3000 miles, the engine explodes occasionally for no reason, the dash display keeps telling you about accessories you don't want instead of your speed, and the factory door locks are coat hangers twisted into an O ring, then shopping around seems like a good idea.
The fundament of GNU/Linux and Windows are totally different. The annoying things with Windows are just symptoms of the underlying principle, which is to milk you as much as possible. It's like switching from smoking to not smoking
While I wouldn't comment something like that myself, as I think it's not productive, it's quite strange as a Linux user to see these posts like "The makers of the OS I use on the computer I paid money for and now own are trying to screw me over in a new way today. How can I fix it?"
I think the real problem is that OP doesn't own Windows, "the software is licensed, not sold."
To be fair, the chance of that not being the default response on Lemmy was pretty slim.
The thing I am now curious about is if this is, quite predictably, Lemmy's existing culture, OR if they were having a perfectly good time in their clubhouse until all the most insufferable Redditors came charging in here.
I'm kinda wondering the same thing, minus the "insufferable" part. (Then again, maybe the original Lemmy users do consider us "insufferable" for messing up Lemmy's culture? Who knows?)
There were a lot of linux users before too, c/linux was one of the most active communities, about the culture it could be better but at least all the tankies have been drowned out
Normally it happens the other way around but here on lemmy the popolation of LMR is just big enough to for once turn tables.
Because we're nerds.
LMR should have been more helpful in this thread, but, more people installing Linux will solve more issues with Windows beyond a pop-up. Maybe Microsoft will actually improve their OS instead of putting FUCKING ADVERTISEMENTS IN WINDOWS 11
Geeks. Nerds would troubleshoot the problem or at least evaluate the situation a bit.
What about "INSTALL A DIFFERENT OS!!!!!"? Is that better? There are reasonably two others to choose from, and one of those doesn't require the purchase of expensive equipment and arguably a path into an even more controlled ecosystem.
And your analogy is way off. This isn't a malfunction of Windows that a technician is going to fix, never to be seen again. This is more like a rep from the car manufacturer meeting you at your car every morning to ask if you want to install their factory upgrade. You tell them that you never want to see them again, so next week they start sending a different representative. You have no other options.
Well, except getting a free car that doesn't send a rep.
Yeah but the free car requires an hour of troubleshooting every time you get in