Could be small or big.
My answer has always been that, Linux can’t handle everything I’d ask out of it that I normally can with Windows. I know the games issue has been progressing far from the days when that used to have been an archaic flaw with Linux for the longest time. Games might not be the issue except for some concerns I have for some games.
I was taking some time a few moments ago, to check if a program called Firestorm Viewer would work on Linux Mint which could’ve been my distro of choice. And the description written on the linux page described exactly the kind of concerns I’d have for compatibility and usability from going Windows to Linux.
They said that their viewer was tested and designed to function mostly with Ubuntu and while it could work with other distros, it’s not to be expected to be smooth.
That’s the kind of sentiment and concern I have always had with Linux if I were to go from Windows to it. There are programs and tools on Windows that I have that are used for specific purposes and I know they will not function on Linux. Furthermore, incase anything breaks down, any and all solutions would only be applicable to that thing that would be far easier to solve than just being SOL if I was on Linux.
It is something as a user that I just can’t simply afford to deal with on a regular basis if I made the switch.
So while I may not have too much of an issue running games, I won’t have too much of an issue using alternatives, I won’t have to deal with the Windows ecosystem .etc I will just be running into other walls that would simply make me second guess my decision and make me regret switching to the point where I would dip back into Windows in a hurry.
The flash drive I used to install it finally died several months ago and I haven’t bothered to get a new one yet.
No consensus on pronunciation of name.
I don’t have any reason to use Linux personally.
I’m not self hosting or running servers out of my house. I’m browsing the internet and playing the occasional computer game.
I use a apple desktop and a windows pc.
I’m convinced it’s much less straightforward than people here say it is.
I hate Windows, but I only use my computer for OpenOffice, some liiiiight browsing, and old-school light pirating (light enough TPB fits all my needs), so meh.
My new neighbor is an old leftist techie though, and when my 9 year old laptop dies, I may ask him to convert me. Maybe.it can be straightforward, but oftentimes it is not.
everytime i ever try to use linux on anything, even VM or usb, the video/audio drivers are forked and it takes hours to fix it w/ some sort of custom settings file editing. wasted hours of my life trying to edit this files. never again
it is not, but for the simple use case you mention, it’s actually more intuitive.
you can try it out straight from the usb.
Adobe software doesn’t work
Winboat allows you to run Adobe software as if it was a native app on Linux. Or you can just use a virtual machine. There’s really no excuse not to use Linux anymore. I personally use Lutris for my non-Steam games, and other Windows programs.
Affinity software, Linux alternatives just are not there sadly. If affinity released a linux version tomorrow I’d be gone.
Fusion 360.
Blender is not suitable for me because from what I’ve read it’s good for sculpture work but not good for dimensional accuracy.
There is Free cad but last time I looked at it, it was very far behind in terms of features. But as soon as that can do STL mesh to editable object conversion I’ll switch.
Too much annoyances migrating my PC.
And I already got a taste of it with my SteamDeck.
Yeah, not worth my nightly effort after work (and I won’t build my library solely on Steam/Valve, lol)epic game store and gog also work on linux.
You can even combine them all and use Heroic Games Launcher.
I have a professional advantage in being a windows power user. Only way of maintaining that is running windows at home. I do have several Linux systems too.
being a linux power user is a big advantage.
I went back to windows for a few months on the newer desktop. I installed mint and discovered it had a lot of problems with the hardware. HDMI, Ethernet, WiFi, and various downstream things didn’t work. I fixed some of it with help from forums and such, but eventually I went back to windows.
But a couple months later, I tried Pop!_OS and that has worked perfectly out of the box. No regrets.
While we are nearly an “All Linux” shop at home, there is one machine that I won’t change.
It is a HP oscilloscope running a heavily modified version of Win98. Back then, it cost as much as a new car, and it still works mostly fine (and where it doesn’t, I know, and can work around). The Windows is basically an afterthought to the hardware, and I don’t think I could get any kind of drivers for the hardware - not even for a newer Windows version. So that remains.
But even my wife wants to switch to Linux now instead of going Win11.
So many folks seem to be the opposite of me…
Linux just works now. Shit with my printer, device drivers, LAN things, stuff like like is like wrestling an animal on Windows for some reason, and… just works with KDE. It’s like they’ve swapped places.
Random Windows apps works better in wine than they do in actual windows, sometimes. With no fuss: I double click and they launch, that’s it.
Don’t even get me started on security.
But Linux is (mostly) not performant for gaming, at least not on Nvidia. It’s… fine, but I’m not going to take a 10%+ hit, sometimes much more severe, and poorer support for HDR, frame limiters, mod tools and such when I can just boot neutered Windows instead.
So I’m not getting away from Windows in the near future, but to frank, I don’t understand why more folks (who get past the admittedly tall hurdle of learning about partitioning and installing an OS) don’t dual boot, or seek to use certain poorly supported Linux native apps when double clicking exes mostly just works.
But my point is you don’t have to pick and choose. And there’s no commitment. You can have your cake and eat it, and send the cake back if you don’t like it.
Dual boot is a pain in the ass. I did this for a time and just ended up going to one OS.
My journey with Linux has always ended with “Oh, it’s easy, just paste this mile long command i to the terminal to do something that is a checkbox on Win or MacOS” type nonsense.
There’s just not any true benefits for me to run Linux. Windows and MacOS have their own bullshit but generally the amount of BS is easier to manage than Linux.
But Linux is (mostly) not performant for gaming, at least not on Nvidia.
That’s true. If you really want to switch to Linux full-time, going with Nvidia is gonna be painful. Drivers have improved a lot over the last few years (especially on Wayland), but there are still so many small bugs and problems that add up and drive you crazy if you have to deal with them every day.
That’s why I sold my 3060. I had a 12GB model and for a period of a few months, the Nvidia drivers were just completely broken and I couldn’t even launch into a graphical interface (I guess they didn’t test that much VRAM because most models only had 8GB), so I had to go back to earlier (even buggier) builds. Even after they finally fixed that there were still constant graphical glitches and stuttering on Wayland with KDE…it worked, but it wasn’t fun.
Since I switched to an RX7800XT everything just works out of the box and I often get even better performance than on Windows. Just a few FPS here and there, but it’s still nice.
Nvidia doesn’t care. They do the bare minimum to make their cards somewhat work on Linux, but it’s not enough.
Having used linux 17 years ago for a year.
i’ve used computers 17 years ago once and it was also much worse! curious 🤔
I used computers then too. They were easier to use than Linux, still are, but were then too. I’ve checked in on it a couple times. I got shit to do with my life that isn’t constantly tweaking a computer to get it to do what I want.
if you are telling me linux is harder to use than 17 year old computers, you don’t have a valid reason not to be using it.
which is fine, you can use windows if you want, it’s just a weird way to justify it.
No, windows now is easier and more intuitive than Linux now.
17 years ago this was also true.
isn’t the last time you used it 17 years ago? how would you know?
linux is not the same as it was almost two decades ago bro.
I used it for a year and have checked in periodically since. I just put a Linux distro on an old laptop to run Fluidd for my 3d printers. It has its use but I’m not living day to day like that.
so you haven’t really “checked it out 17 years ago”.
i somehow doubt you use it daily.
I dont own a pc, nor do i have time and energy to learn a different OS than what i grew up with and use everyday with work
Edit: These are reasons I use Linux because I read the title too fast… Doh…
Because I dont think its normal to have an American tech company recording what I do at my computer. Its a bit shocking that people have given up and just let them watch everything now.
Its not only that, its also that windows always is annoying. Weather its constant sounds, notifications, ads, user interface changes or bugs, its all so annoying.
Linux is just beautiful, quiet, fast, no ads. Doesnt get slower with time. Updates are actually adding features you may want.
The entire open source idea is beautiful. Sharing solutions, working together, without profit motives.
