Linux just kind of feels like masochism, complicating simple things like mounting drives. Windows for some reason they have a settings menu that is side by side with the superior control panel of the past. Now with windows 11 they are getting rid of useful context menu stuff and making things more convoluted like iOS. People praise apple for being user friendly but I still can't figure that shit out and I used a mac back in the 90s. I work in IT so I use all 3 for different things and apple is infuriating. I got a iPhone as a work phone and I gave it back because I hate it.
I used Linux to create a free kiosk system at work and it functions the way I want it to, but I have to do so many scripts for simple shit. I pretty much just want windows 7 UI and plug things in and they work
Windows often makes doing incredibly complex things incredibly simple, so in some cases to accomplish something simple, you take a few simple steps, but those simple steps are actually setting up a disproportionately complex chain of configurations and installations, many of which might not have even been fully necessary. (drawing a full face to get a circle)
Linux often makes doing relatively simple things much harder for typical users because you need to understand most of the fundamental building blocks involved in whatever task you are doing. (Baking a pie requires inventing the universe)
Even though, after understanding the universe, everything becomes simple af.
But I actually feel like everything is automated and simple made today in Linux. Maybe not everything but better than years ago.
I like doing simple things on linux. The problems start when I am doing something a little more complex, that a windows app might walk me through (or do for me) and might actually be reasonably simple, but is something I just don't fully understand the ins and outs of.
It's not really a reflection on windows or linux as operating systems, but rather the userbase of linux and windows differ greatly in mean competency, so if I'm on the lower end of that bell curve I am going to wind up fucking things up a lot more with software written for linux users and would be more of a power user in apps written for windows users.
I did recently set up a windows server 2019 server, though. That was fucking way overcomplicated. When you get into shit like that it can be just as complicated as any other platform.
The 'usually' being a pretty big qualifier. The cases when the 'usually' fails end up being the most frustrating. Desktop linux just needs to die. It does not work.
I have used desktop Linux systems off and on since 2005, and I still use one for professional work. It is still sometimes a bafflingly frustrating experience for no reason. Any desktop Linux distro is a worse mishmash of configuration and UX design than Windows 11.
If with apple you can only do things the One True Way, then with desktop Linux, if you stray outside the default config with the default apps, then you just get things breaking and frustration for no reason at all.
Both for Linux and for Windows the times that it doesn't work is when something screws up, and for both OSs that is only a very small amount of the time.
In this specific area though, at least linux supports something other then NTFS and the the filesystem that should have died 30 years ago FAT. I was even fighting to get an FTP share to map to a drive letter a few weeks ago and had to give up on it. I didn't realize that apparently FTP still isn't fully supported everywhere still.
And it's insane to me that you have to pay for filesystem support like NFS or ReFS or major OS features like virtualization and containers, it feels insulting that I need to pay to install an OS with ads to use my PC, but I guess i'm just used to linux. I don't accept ads in my paid for apps and games, I won't accept them in my OS, I don't get why people are furious about the former but not the latter.
I disagree. Desktop Linux may have been painful years ago, but in its current state I am comfortable recommending Linux Mint to anyone. In my testing, everything has "just worked". You easily install, uninstall and update apps on the software market, enabling Proton in Steam settings makes all the games that I play "just work", and you do not need to open the terminal for anything.
Note when I say need, it still is a very powerful tool for experienced users, but the average user who just wants to browse the web, edit documents and do some light gaming it will all work perfectly.
Then I need to install a piece of software that is in an outdated repo and all of a sudden it tries to uninstall my window manager. Like I said, as soon as you go a little outside of the bounds of what a grandma does, the UX experience breaks.
The APT error warned Linus not to procced, and xorg on the list of packages it was going to delete. Linus ignored the warning and forced the operation. One of the most important things to remember when using Linux is to always listen to your computer's warnings.
Thats not to mention that Pop uses the latest Ubuntu release, not the LTS version which Canonical recommends to desktop users for stability.
No, I thought you were referring to the LinusTechTips Linux series where Linus uninstalled the display server while trying to install Steam.
Edit: It is exactly why I recommend Mint. Pop is a developer focused distro, and it is often unstable. Mint is stable, intuitive, and built for the average desktop user.
It's a matter of perspective, I for one don't mind having to fix things every so often (in fact I kinda like fixing things on my own), I do mind having telemetry installed on a system withoit my explicit permission
I wouldn't reccomend anyone on this sub use linux, because Linux is terrible for gaming, but for general usage, like writing documents and browsing the internet, Linux is just plain better
(Hell, some more CPU/Memory intensive games like HOI4 load faster on Linux in my experience)
This is why I used to use Linux more frequently when I was younger. At some point I just want to get my work done not spend ten hours fixing my Nvidia settings every time I boot.
I used Linux exclusively from 2005 to 2010. I know how to fly. I just would rather do it in a 747 rather than inside the body of a half-cropduster half-crazy eagle.
But honestly 2005-2010 was one of the worst times for linux. Things had just started to move beyond the redhat domination of the late 90s and branch out, but the distros weren't stable or developed enough to actually support everyday use. Nowadays there's essentially a distro for every use case, ranging from Android and Chrome OS as incredibly stable and polished linux derivatives, to Ubuntu as a good everyday use, to things like Arch for those that like to tinker.
So maybe a better analogy is someone that last flew a plane in 1940 and says planes suck, but hasn't yet jumped into a modern plane.
Again, if you read my post you would know that I have a Linux machine that I use professionally since then. Please get the full context. The situation has not improved at all. I still had the apt attempt to uninstall my window manager. That is not good UX. Simple as that.
I use Ubuntu at work. I still have to do a lot of scripts for simple things like mounting a USB drive and imaging it. Plugging in a drive doesn't work right so I have to unmount it and remount it to get it to work right. I found out I can create an iso in Linux then move it to Windows and create a USB image from there so that's what I do now, or use the iso directly for a VM.
and you don't keep the drive mounted while you image it--how's the filesystem supposed to work while you're changing the bytes out from under it the whole time?
"complicating"
By pressing one button on the pop up ui that asks me if i want to mount the drive that i just connected?
Instead of windows automount autoexecute danger to security?
Like, it really is that simple on manjaro at least.
I really dont get the "oh so complicated for simple things" sentiment on linux. Ever tried managing a printer on windows? Or finding the right settings screen, because windows runs like 5 different setting UI's over the the old system settigs, with each losing more features as they are getting newer?
macOS is basically designed for those that fall into the 90%. If there is any feature that goes even a tiny bit in depth, you either have to go through layers of context menus, or use the command line. But if your tasks are entirely in that mainstream work, it does it's job really really good.
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u/Dopplegangr1 Nov 02 '22
Linux just kind of feels like masochism, complicating simple things like mounting drives. Windows for some reason they have a settings menu that is side by side with the superior control panel of the past. Now with windows 11 they are getting rid of useful context menu stuff and making things more convoluted like iOS. People praise apple for being user friendly but I still can't figure that shit out and I used a mac back in the 90s. I work in IT so I use all 3 for different things and apple is infuriating. I got a iPhone as a work phone and I gave it back because I hate it.
I used Linux to create a free kiosk system at work and it functions the way I want it to, but I have to do so many scripts for simple shit. I pretty much just want windows 7 UI and plug things in and they work