the dark secret of linux is that there are just as many people who dont understand how to solve problems and resort to searching the correct way to shake a dead chicken as with every other platform.
Been using fedora for a few years now and the most recent issue I had was it wouldn’t update because of Google Chrome for some reason. Uninstalled that and it works just fine
You're going to see a lot of issues on Linux boards because people go to then for help. I've been running Linux since 2020 and though there have been hiccups, its been remarkably reliable. Having said that, when there ARE issues, it can take some digging to find answers.
Is it not stable
Moreso than Win 11, in my experience. I use Win 11 at work and I've needed a system wipe twice. Once because networking just... stopped... and once because appx apps decided not to load.
Ongoing issues
Plugging PopOS as a good "set and forget" distro that is easy to grasp. The workflow is very MacOS and the tweaks they've made make for a friendlier interface v Ubuntu, IMO.
PopOS or Mint are the way to go for users who dont want to fiddle with their computer. Stick to the default package manager and let it do the work for you and problems will be rare.
The thing is that people use Linux and than find it so good that they try to find problems in order to spend time playing with it. It’s like a hobby, or a game… But you can also use it without making it a hobby. Ubuntu was born for this, but for that I would honestly suggest something like Manjaro
I never tried PopOS, but I would never suggest Ubuntu. Manjaro is easy, updated, there are many people using it, offers large number of software, works well with Nvidia and other propietary drivers (the thing that generates issues for new users, usually). I know people think they had “security” problems, but they always explained what happened, and they just had a bad contract with the CDN service and a misleading error message in pamac, that didn’t impact the security of the user.
First time I tried switching to linux I went with mint and I had a lot of problems, everything I hated about windows seems to be even worse there. I switched back to windows for a year but last month I gave linux another shot with Manjaro. And I managed to fully switch to linux without any big problems so far. There is a lot to like about it, especially for a linux begginer like myself.
I am not really qualified to recommend it, but my experience as a noob has been great (gaming with linux native games and windows games, watching movies, customizing things, modding games…)
Linux has distributions. Think of it as windows preconfigured for different target groups or by different groups. They all have different goals and ideals. There are stable distributions like Debian and distros built on top of that or unstable ones like Arch and Gentoo + all the distros built on top of that.
Each have trade offs. Many stable distributions don’t get all the newest software or features because in order to be stable, everything has to be tested. (No software is bug free anybody who tells you otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about). Some stable distributions do have new software and features but are very difficult to configure or set up.
There are unstable distributions that get “bleeding edge” software and features, meaning as soon as they are released they are available very quickly thereafter. Things are bound to go wrong more often here and the system can break in unexpected ways that require more knowledge to fix.
If you want a stable system, don’t use an unstable distro unless you know what you’re doing.
Depends on your use case. Most of the people running Linux I think are the kind that want to experiment and try different stuff, opposite to the regular user of Windows. And you know when you do changes chances are something to break much higher.
If you install some user friendly and stable distro, VSCode, browser, word editor and you never touch the terminal or do any changes it will be solid and stable.
The biggest issues I’ve had were either because of hardware (native drivers not supported by manufacturer) or because I was manually editing config files.
And some are intended to fiddle with (Arch and Gentoo for example). Others are made to explore new ways to do things (like immutable root, state managing package manager, each app in their folder Mac-style, such things). Of course there’s a lot of stable general-use distros too. But you may ask someone else for examples.
Hehe, you got your answer. You’re lokking at the places where 0.05% of the users are discussing their problems and some others share their crazy customizations that aren’t possible with anything else. And it seems like 95% of users having issues to you.
I’d argue Linux is way more stable than Windows. If that’s your perspective. (Unless you do silly stuff.) But less stable than for example MacOS. It depends on which Linux Distro we’re talking about. I’d say it’s MacOS > Linux > Windows. With the biggest step down from Linux to Windows.
Honestly I’m not too sure, some distros (like debian) are much more stable IMO. We also have immutables distros which are more annoying to work with but hey let’s compare apples to apples here.
You’re right. It’s an oversimplification I made there. I recently tried MacOS in a VM and I talked a bit to people. You usually get a really smooth desktop experience. Apps are sandboxed, there is a fine permission system, they keep their stuff together and don’t spread them across the filesystem. I think(?) the software brings their libraries along? Usually a used Macbook Pro is still fine and runs fast after 6 years. I think MacOS really shines on the desktop.
On Linux it’s a bit more diverse. I mean we have the XDG specification file locations. But there’s also lots of ‘grown’ stuff. We’re still working on the sandboxing. And you get a different experience depending on the distro you’re trying. And I’d prefer Linux on a server every time. It really excels for that use case and on the server we have Linux > everything else. And as a matter of fact I personally also prefer Linux on the desktop. And my Debian is also still running perfectly 6 years after I initially installed it. Had some minor issues with NVidia during the times, but that’s to be expected and it wasn’t that hard to fix. I wouldn’t have had issues had I not mixed in testing and unstable, but there are lots of guides and tutorials around for the common woes. Which makes my argument a full circle.
You absolutely can. I set up my Debian server to automatically stay updated and restart regularly and don’t have to touch it if I don’t want to. Yesterday, air had to spend like 30 min getting kde 6 setup on tumbleweed because it’s a roll in ng distro. The nice thing about linux is it allows you to make trade offs depending on what your priorities are.
Linux has different flavors, some with bleeding edge updates like Arch, some rock-stable and built on FOSS like Debian, some that force you to compile nearly everything on your end to save fractions of seconds in compute time like Gentoo, and some meant to be as beginner friendly as possible like Cinammon/Mint.
Linux “fans” are likely to use something like Arch and break something, then fix it. People who use Linux will use Fedora or something and call it a day. You don’t have to go down the rabbit hole and play with all of the shiny new tools as they release.
I had far more issues on windows than I ever have on mint.
When I had issues on windows, which i would run into multiple times a week, the "fixes" would be hacky, slapped-together nonsense that don't even make sense on paper. I had to change almost every program manually to run as administrator. Installing old games was a nightmare and didn't always work properly, even with compatibility modes. New drivers would break stuff. Trying to learn anything new was a rabbit hole that took countless hours and then I only learned the fix for that one specific use-case, and not anything... overarching. System updates were so intrusive, installing crap I didn't want or removed manually, I disabled them completely. It was slow and boot took forever. Ending system processes via task manager didn't always work and the system would freeze often when something went wrong. Often uninstalling programs was messy and left shit all over in the system registry and files and you would have to defrag and system clean once it started getting bloated.
When my windows install finally broke completely just trying to get shit to work the way I wanted, I bailed.
Transitioning to mint was certainly a learning experience.
Reorganizing your workflow will always be more upfront work, but I found I took to the changes fairly quickly. I found the file structure the most odd, but I became very used to it and very much prefer it over how hard it is to find stuff spread scattershot in windows files. It had a lot of little quality of life things that I really appreciate, mounting and unmounting external drives felt better, way more stuff worked out of the box, old games were not a nightmare to get working because they're had longstanding fixes for years that actually make sense. Solutions, in general, make way more sense to me, and I actually get a sense that I understand why they function. My boot time is very fast and I've never broken my system (I came close once doing something incredibly stupid and very niche, but I just timeshifted back and voila, fixed.)
Fixes or changes for preference tend to "stick" for me, like when I swapped to pipewire myself it's been very smooth sailing. I can pick and choose updates or ignore packages that don't work. There was an issue with kernels for a while that significantly increased my boot times; I just postponed that update for a few versions until one of the newer ones worked. I find I can get down similar rabbit holes to learn some stuff, but it both feels more like "lasting" solutions (and I learn more about how to do other stuff) as well as just more fun. Documentation is a lot better with users who know what they're doing instead of the guesswork "well I dunno but this might have worked for me, I tried 20 fixes so it's probably one of these!" I would run into on windows troubleshooting...
I think my favourite part of linux is a lot of things I wanted solutions to, for years, usually have at least one person out there with a similar issue that wrote a small program that just does it. Does it well. For free. I spent so much time digging for really basic stuff like a sound equalizer that wasn't garbage, bloatware, full of trackers, or ransomware! I don't have to spend hours trying to find a stinkin' RGB controller that isn't awful because the choices available are just better! I don't have to spend weeks comparing and contrasting antivirus-es and hate all of them in the end!
I find mint extremely stable and have no urge to swap nor return to windows. I find it much more stable for my use-case. I really like it, actually, and I appreciate how a lot of it is set up. Been using it daily for 4 years.
I loathed windows the entire time I used it, and had been side-eyeing linux for quite a while before committing. I don't know if I'm a "normal" use-case, probably not. Possibly it is best to take my experience as, "if you keep hitting walls often in windows that frustrate the hell out of you, linux might be a decent choice for you, and might "feel easier."" Both have their own quirks and own troubleshooting, I just prefer the ones on mint and they make more sense to me. (And take me far less time.)
Part of Linux culture is customizing your system. Linux allows you to do much more with your computer, but some of these things require tinkering or might cause you to break your setup. If you don’t tinker much things will most likely be stable, but having the ability to tinker is for me a major part of the appeal. What are you hoping to get out of using linux? It’s a good alternative if you wanna make an old computer run more smoothly, if you care about privacy or if you don’t want to have to pay for your operating system, and if any of those are your main reason go for it and it will probably work out smoothly. If you’re interested in linux because it seems “cool” or “fun” you’re probably gonna have to do some tinkering so in that case you should be prepared to edit some files, read some instructions and possibly ask for help online.
Yes you can.
I spend a lot od time fixing things that I broke because I like it and it’s a hobby for me.
I installed Linux Mint Debian Edition on my SO’s laptop last year (old thinkpad t470) and I haven’t had to do anything about it since then. The installation process was easy, I didn’t bother changing the defaults and just clicked “Next” on most of the steps.
Can you share with us the hardware you’ll be using ? In most cases it’ll be easy peasy, but some stuff is known to cause issues that we might be able to identify before you start your journey.
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