Linux has made significant strides, and in 2023, it’s better than ever. However, there are still individuals perpetuating a delusion: that desktop Linux is as user-friendly and productive as its mainstream counterparts. After a few discussions on Lemmy, I believe it’s important to provide a clear review of where Linux falls short as a daily driver for average users.

EDIT: can I just make it clear I don’t agree with this article one bit and think it’s an unhinged polemic?

  • Corngood@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    Linux desktop will, most likely, fail for: […]

    • Developers and sysadmins, because not everyone is using Docker and Github actions to deploy applications to some proprietary cloud solution. Finding a properly working FTP/SFTP/FTPS desktop client (similar WinSCP or Cyberduck) is an impossible task as there a few, but they all fail even at basic stuff like dragging and dropping a file.

    This can’t be serious.

    • CrabAndBroom@lemmy.ml
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      9 months ago

      This one too:

      Linux desktop will, most likely, fail for:

      People that just installed a password manager (KeePassXC) and a browser (Firefox/Ungoogled) via flatpak only to find out that the KeePassXC app can’t communicate with the browser extension because people are “beating around the bush” on GitHub instead of fixing the issue;

      Desktop Linux is a failure because this one specific thing doesn’t work right now in only the Flatpak version of this one specific application. Good thing every Windows app has 100% functionality and works perfectly as soon as it’s released lol.

    • giacomo@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      It’s true, this has been an issue that has stumped developers and sysadmins for decades. They cannot function without WinSCP!

      This author be trollin.

    • wvstolzing@lemmy.ml
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      9 months ago

      I was about to quote the same.

      … I mean, when you’re this clueless, maybe don’t put out ‘articles’ for others to read – it’s wasting everyone’s time.

      I thought the title of this article was intriguing; because in the Linux community certain aspects of the desktop experience do get hyped; & there’s a tendency in general to sweep various usability issues under the rug, with the unwarranted confidence that we’re already “better than everyone else” in every way; though the article doesn’t address any of those.

  • AItoothbrush@lemmy.zip
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    9 months ago

    Basically all this is bs. The truth is: switching os’ is always hard but if you grow up with one(like me who started with linux and didnt try windows until the age of 15) and only use that one ecosystem its easier. Also according to my grandma(her laptop was really slow so we tried linux on it) manjaro is easier to use than windows…

  • CrabAndBroom@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    Windows licenses are cheap and you get things working out of the box. Software runs fine, all vendors support whatever you’re trying to do and you’ll be productive from day zero. There are annoyances from time to time, sure, but they’re way fewer and simpler to deal with than the hoops you’ve to go through to get a minimal and viable/productive Linux desktop experience.

    It all comes down to a question of how much time (days? months?) you want spend fixing things on Linux that simply work out of the box under Windows for a minimal fee. Buy a Windows license and spend the time you would’ve spent dealing with Linux issues doing your actual job and you’ll, most likely, get a better ROI.

    This is wild lol.

    On my dual-boot machine, I once had to spend an hour on the phone with Microsoft because I put in a new GPU and Windows decided that meant it was installed on the wrong PC and locked me out of it.

    I’ve had my printer for years and it still doesn’t work properly on Windows. It prints, but it fucks up in subtle ways constantly such as setting the print scale to 100% which prints slightly larger. My SO prints sewing patterns so this can actually be a big fuck up.

    I had to do a registry edit in Windows to get the fucking clock to display the correct time.

    It can’t even turn off properly. About 40% of the time when I shut it down from Windows it’ll wait about 30 seconds and then turn back on again.

    When I boot it from Linux, none of these things are issues and it just behaves like a normal computer.

  • jsdz@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    Laptop computers have made significant strides, and in 2023, they’re better than ever. However, there are still individuals perpetuating a delusion: That a powerful gaming laptop is as user-friendly and productive as the Apple iPad, which is what everyone should obviously be using. After a few discussions on Lemmy, I believe it’s important to provide a clear review of where these fancy “laptop” computers fall short as daily drivers for normal people like me.

    PC gaming laptops will, most, likely, fail, for:

    • People who need the App Store
    • People that want everything to work exactly like it does on the iPad
    • Anyone who wants a simple way to install Angry Birds without trying to use needlessly complicated things such as a mouse and keyboard
    • Apple apps that won’t run because you bought a non-Apple laptop
    • The performance overhead of that extra complexity costs at least 5-15% of what you’d otherwise expect from such a powerful machine
    • People who need to run FaceTime and whose friends won’t consider any alternatives outside the Apple way of life
    • Serious scientific labs with policies that require iPad-only data acquisition
    • Musicians, artists, and customer service agents who’ve built their whole careers around iPad-only software
    • Developers and sysadmins, because you’re probably administering Apple systems for which the iPad is indispensible

    Laptop computers are great, I love them but I don’t sugar coat it and I’m not delusional like you.

    If one lives in a bubble and doesn’t to collaborate with other Apple iPad users then PC latop apps might work and might even deliver a decent workflow. But once you’ve got to work with other iPad users it’s “game over” — the “alternatives” just aren’t up to it.

    iPads aren’t that expensive and they work right out of the box. Software runs fine, everything on the App Store is supported whatever you’re trying to do and you’ll be productive from day zero. There are annoyances from time to time, sure, but they’re way fewer and simpler to deal with than the hoops you’ve to go through to get a minimal and viable/productive laptop computer experience.

    It all comes down to a question of how much time (days? months? aeons?) you want to spend fiddling with a mouse and keyboard to set up things which simply work out of the box on the Apple iPad for a minimal fee. Buy an iPad! You know it’s the only sensible thing to do and the ROI will be fantastic!

    You can buy a second-hand iPad for around €4 that comes with everything you’ll need. And every iPad comes with IOS for no extra charge, so why wait? Buy it! Buy it now!

    “They hated him because he spoke the truth. I can’t even get “simple” apps like Apple iMove to run on my PC. And there’s some kind of “video card driver” that needs “updating”? No sane person could ever cope with this. No amount of googling or even the fabled tech support genuis of “chatgpt” was able to help me. It just won’t work. This whole Internet is delusional, if they think that laptop computers are usable for the average Joe and I’m an Apple iPad expert so I know what I’m talking about. It’s too much hassle. I just want to get things done.” — Average Joe

    Still thinking that 2023 is the year of the laptop computer? Think again. The Apple iPad is all the computing you will ever need.