I wish the Linux community would get their thumbs out their arses and make some kind of easy to use normie distro.
You and me both. I use linux all the time for work and it is always a pulling teeth experience to get things working the first time. Microsoft gets a lot of shit for Windows, but they have always hit the sweet spot between configurability and usability. Linux is always to the far end of configurability and OSX is idiot-proofed waaaay too far toward the usability side.
Like the saying goes: linux is only free if you don't value your time.
I'm not going to hold my breath that this will ever change though. Linux die-hards are too proud to cater to normies, so it will always be relatively niche. And with the way normies have ruined everything else they have invaded, I can't say I really blame them.
That said, when was the last time you gave linux a go? It's still more work that Windows, but it's not a huge time sink anymore. Most things "just work", including games via Proton. Biggest "gotcha" seems to be Nvidia and Wayland atm, but that seems mostly up to application developers now.
Not Steam (though I agree with you on that) - SteamOS - the OS that runs on the Steam Deck. It's Linux running KDE, but having Valve behind will no doubt improve user friendliness over time.
Nvidia drivers were a pain to get installed and working. Lots of docker/podman problems, manual installation of drivers for certain specialty usb devices...
Once we figure out what the problem is and get it fixed, everything works fine. It's the constant tiny things that would take 30 seconds on a Windows machine, but require a non superuser to browse forums to find the list of terminal commands to diagnose the problem, and then more searching to find the list of terminal commands to fix the problem. It doesn't help that a lot of the linux or die types you ask for help are smug, sanctimonious fuckwads who make communicating with them even less enjoyable than working with linux.
edit: I forgot about the worst problem - PKI support. We have been banging our head against that one for years and still don't see any light at the end of the tunnel.
Like the saying goes: linux is only free if you don't value your time.
I'm sorry but this is bullshit. I haven't done a Linux install in 15 years that wasn't just "boot from live USB/CD, click install, answer 5 questions, wait for installer + reboot, now everything just werks."
Quit trying to install Gentoo and Arch for memes and just slap Ubuntu / Mint in your shit.
And if you like Arch for the rolling-release basis on which it gets software updates, there's Manjaro which is basically Arch for people without the time to fuck around.
I don't know anything about Gentoo. I have used Ubuntu a bit, but mostly RHEL. If you think either of them are easier to install and setup than Windows, then you are the one talking bullshit here.
Linux has its place but that place is in an enterprise environment as a server running some shit that end users never know about or interact with. Anyone who thinks Linux is a remotely viable desktop environment is out of their fucking mind.
Removing the telemetry shit and making windows 10 work properly last time I out a PC together took several hours of fuckery anyway. If I have to crawl around in virtual crawlspaces anyway, I'll do it on something that won't keep trying to force re-enable updates for everything through their security software, or do other fuckery.
You and me both. I use linux all the time for work and it is always a pulling teeth experience to get things working the first time. Microsoft gets a lot of shit for Windows, but they have always hit the sweet spot between configurability and usability. Linux is always to the far end of configurability and OSX is idiot-proofed waaaay too far toward the usability side.
Like the saying goes: linux is only free if you don't value your time.
I'm not going to hold my breath that this will ever change though. Linux die-hards are too proud to cater to normies, so it will always be relatively niche. And with the way normies have ruined everything else they have invaded, I can't say I really blame them.
I imagine SteamOS will might become that one day.
That said, when was the last time you gave linux a go? It's still more work that Windows, but it's not a huge time sink anymore. Most things "just work", including games via Proton. Biggest "gotcha" seems to be Nvidia and Wayland atm, but that seems mostly up to application developers now.
Not Steam (though I agree with you on that) - SteamOS - the OS that runs on the Steam Deck. It's Linux running KDE, but having Valve behind will no doubt improve user friendliness over time.
The last time I gave linux a go was three days ago. I use RHEL on several different machines for work. I hate it.
RHEL kinda sucks, but was there a particular issue?
Nvidia drivers were a pain to get installed and working. Lots of docker/podman problems, manual installation of drivers for certain specialty usb devices...
Once we figure out what the problem is and get it fixed, everything works fine. It's the constant tiny things that would take 30 seconds on a Windows machine, but require a non superuser to browse forums to find the list of terminal commands to diagnose the problem, and then more searching to find the list of terminal commands to fix the problem. It doesn't help that a lot of the linux or die types you ask for help are smug, sanctimonious fuckwads who make communicating with them even less enjoyable than working with linux.
edit: I forgot about the worst problem - PKI support. We have been banging our head against that one for years and still don't see any light at the end of the tunnel.
I'm sorry but this is bullshit. I haven't done a Linux install in 15 years that wasn't just "boot from live USB/CD, click install, answer 5 questions, wait for installer + reboot, now everything just werks."
Quit trying to install Gentoo and Arch for memes and just slap Ubuntu / Mint in your shit.
And if you like Arch for the rolling-release basis on which it gets software updates, there's Manjaro which is basically Arch for people without the time to fuck around.
Manjaro:Arch::Ubuntu:Debian
I don't know anything about Gentoo. I have used Ubuntu a bit, but mostly RHEL. If you think either of them are easier to install and setup than Windows, then you are the one talking bullshit here.
Linux fanboys gonna Linux fanboy.
Linux has its place but that place is in an enterprise environment as a server running some shit that end users never know about or interact with. Anyone who thinks Linux is a remotely viable desktop environment is out of their fucking mind.
Removing the telemetry shit and making windows 10 work properly last time I out a PC together took several hours of fuckery anyway. If I have to crawl around in virtual crawlspaces anyway, I'll do it on something that won't keep trying to force re-enable updates for everything through their security software, or do other fuckery.