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Posted
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EditorDavid
y January 10, 2026 @05:34PM
from the year-of-the-Linux-desktop dept.
Is there a trend? This week four different articles appeared on various tech-news sites with an author bragging about switching to Linux.
"Greetings from the year of Linux on my desktop," quipped the Verge's senior reviews editor, who finally "got fed up and said screw it, I'm installing Linux."
They switched to CachyOS — just like this writer for the videogame magazine Escapist:
I've had a fantastic time gaming on Linux. Valve's Windows-to-Linux translation layer, Proton, and even CachyOS' bundled fork have been working just fine. Of course, it's not perfect, and there's been a couple of instances where I've had to problem-solve something, but most of the time, any issues gaming on Linux have been fixed by swapping to another version of Proton. If you're deep in online games like Fortnite, Call of Duty, Destiny 2, GTAV or Battlefield 6, it might not be the best option to switch. These games feature anti-cheats that look for versions of Windows or even the heart of the OS, the kernel, to verify the system isn't going to mess up someone's game....
CachyOS is thankfully pre-packed with Nvidia drivers, meaning I didn't have to dance around trying to find them.... Certain titles will perform worse than their counterparts, simply due to how the bods at Nvidia are handling the drivers for Linux. This said, I'm still not complaining when I'm pushing nearly 144fps or more in newer games. The performance hit is there, but it's nowhere near enough to stave off even an attempt to mess about with Linux.
Do you know how bizarre it is to say it's "nice to have a taskbar again"? I use macOS daily for a lot of my work, which uses a design baked back in the 1990s through NeXT. Seeing just a normal taskbar that doesn't try to advertise to me or crash because an update killed it for some reason is fantastic. That's how bad it is out there right now for Windows.
"I run Artix, by the way," joked a senior tech writer at Notebookcheck (adding "There. That's out of the way...")
I dual-booted a Linux partition for a few weeks. After a Windows update (that I didn't choose to do) wiped that partition and, consequently, the Linux installation, I decided to go whole-hog: I deleted Windows 11 and used the entire drive for Linux...
Artix differs from Arch in that it does not use SystemD as its init system. I won't go down the rabbit hole of init systems here, but suffice it to say that Artix boots lightning quick (less than 10 seconds from a cold power on) and is pretty light on system resources. However, it didn't come "fully assembled..." The biggest problem I ran into after installing Artix on the [MacBook] Air was the lack of wireless drivers, which meant that WiFi did not work out of the box. The resolution was simple: I needed to download the appropriate WiFi drivers (Broadcom drivers, to be exact) from Artix's main repository. This is a straightforward process handled by a single command in the Terminal, but it requires an internet connection... which my laptop did not have. Ultimately, I connected a USB-to-Ethernet adapter, plugged the laptop directly into my router, and installed the WiFi drivers that way. The whole process took about 10 minutes, but it was annoying nonetheless.
For the record, my desktop (an AMD Ryzen 7 6800H-based system) worked flawlessly out-of-the-box, even with my second monitor's uncommon resolution (1680x1050, vertical orientation). I did run into issues with installing some packages on both machines. Trying to install the KDE desktop environment (essentially a different GUI for the main OS) resulted in strange artifacts that put white text on white backgrounds in the menus, and every resolution I tried failed to correct this bug. After reverting to XFCE4 (the default desktop environment for my Artix install), the WiFi signal indicator in the taskbar disappeared. This led to me having to uninstall a network manager installed by KDE and re-linking the default network manager to the runit services startup folder. If that sentence sounds confusing, the process was much more so. It has been resolved, and I have a WiFi indicator that lets me select wireless networks again, but only after about 45 minutes of reading manuals and forum posts.
Other issues are inherent to Linux. Not all games on Steam that are deemed Linux compatible actually are. Civilization III Complete is a good example: launching the game results in the map turning completely black. (Running the game through an application called Lutris resolved this issue.) Not all the software I used on Windows is available in Linux, such as Greenshot for screenshots or uMark for watermarking photos in bulk. There are alternatives to these, but they don't have the same features or require me to relearn workflows... Linux is not a "one and done" silver bullet to solve all your computer issues. It is like any other operating system in that it will require users to learn its methods and quirks. Admittedly, it does require a little bit more technical knowledge to dive into the nitty-gritty of the OS and fully unlock its potential, but many distributions (such as Mint) are ready to go out of the box and may never require someone to open a command line...
[T]he issues I ran into on Linux were, for the most part, my fault. On Windows or macOS, most problems I run into are caused by a restriction or bug in the OS. Linux gives me the freedom to break my machine and fix it again, teaching me along the way. With Microsoft's refusal (either from pride or ignorance) to improve (or at least not crapify) Windows 11 despite loud user outrage, switching to Linux is becoming a popular option. It's one you should consider doing, and if you've been thinking about it for any length of time, it's time to dive in.
And tinkerer Kevin Wammer switched from MacOS to Linux, saying "Linux has come a long way" after more than 30 years — but "Windows still sucks..."
You may like to read:
AI-Powered Social Media App Hopes To Build More Purposeful Lives
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byJustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) writes:
Switched to Linux about 5 years ago and never looked back.
bytechno-vampire ( 666512 ) writes:
Same here, but in my case it was about 21 years ago.Since then, the only time I've used Windows has been to play games at a private club I belong to.
bysimlox ( 6576120 ) writes:
I always used Unix or Linux since early 90s; only at work I have been forced to use Windows. Unfortunately, our IT and software development companies are filled with MS entrenced engineers, who will not change as years of useless Windows skills will be useless.
byUn-Thesis ( 700342 ) writes:
I clone the Windows system byte-by-byte, then use VirtualBox to passthrough TPM v2 and return the UUID of the motherboard and such.
IT doesn't even know I'm doing it.
Then setup NAT to expose the VPN to the linux host.
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byUn-Thesis ( 700342 ) writes:
I use Windows, via Virtualbox, exactly 2 times a year:
1. To back up my Kindle books via Kindle For PC (except I didn't buy a single kindle ebook in 2025 so I guess not needed?)
2. To run TurboTax Small Business and TurboTax Premier. Literally no online app supports digital nomads living in 10+ countries a year and run small businesses in various countries.
byDragonslicer ( 991472 ) writes:
About 18 years for me. I tried Ubuntu 6.06, but it didn't work quite well enough yet, so I stuck with Windows XP. I tried again with 8.04, and I've been using it ever since.
byUn-Thesis ( 700342 ) writes:
I've been on Arch Linux since 2016 (after ditching Gentoo (8+ years) for Linux Mint (~2 years).
First it was Antegros, then when that project died, Anarchy Installer, then when THAT project died in 2022, I switched to CachyOS and haven't looked back!!
CachyOS seems to get EVERYTHING right.
I was spending days and days trying to get Nvidia drivers working and installed ... and then I just installed CachyOS and it got everything right! Switching from one arch brand to another that works is a no-brainer.
And Arch
byRightwingNutjob ( 1302813 ) writes:
Hand in your geek card, and hang your head in shame, sir!
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by93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) writes:
Don't worry, they may be late to the party but they'll be making up for lost time. In another 6 weeks they'll start claiming the mantle of Linux Guru and writing I-know-it-all articles.
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byallo ( 1728082 ) writes:
100 tricks to make systemd faster that Poettering wants to keep a secret!
byGuignol ( 159087 ) writes:
I can't believe it's not system V !
bySlashbotAgent ( 6477336 ) writes:
What does it mean when four articles(blogs) post glowing reviews of an OS that you've never ever heard of, despite having been neck deep in Linux for decades?
It means that CachyOS is spamming the fuck out of the blogs in an attempt at guerrilla marketing.
ll I can say is, stop trying to make CashyOS happen. It's not going to happen.
P.S. That shit looks like Windows XP, the Fisher Price OS FFS.
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byh33t l4x0r ( 4107715 ) writes:
Apparently it's an Arch-based distro for gamers. I don't have any problem with it.
byTailhook ( 98486 ) writes:
There do appear to be a suspicious number of "influencers" dropping the CashyOS name.
However, if it's a choice between the perpetual dominance of Windows, and CashyOS and whatever marketing spend they have finally causing Linux to break out and capture significant normy desktops, I go with the latter.
bykenh ( 9056 ) writes:
However, if it's a choice between the perpetual dominance of Windows, and CashyOS and whatever marketing spend they have finally causing Linux to break out and capture significant normy desktops, I go with the latter.
Not gonna happen.
Windows survived Windows Vista.
Windows survived Windows 8.
Windows looks like it will survive the EOL for Win 10 despite the significant hardware requirements its successor (Windows 11) has...
It's been a quarter century since Linus put up his "World Domination. It's just the first step" slide at Linux World in 1999, and still the 'normies' are clinging to their Windows OS...
bystabiesoft ( 733417 ) writes:
Never say never. You can never predict the precipitating event that causes a downfall. Look at Intel. Look at Kodak. Look at Xerox. Look at RCA. Look at GM (now pretty much recovered, but still a shadow of its glory days). The latest W11 requirements for "better" machines is colliding with the reality of increasing machine prices due to ai buying all the memory. Being able to use that old machine with Linux may be the precipitating event.
bysubstance2003 ( 665358 ) writes:
ll I can say is, stop trying to make CashyOS happen. It's not going to happen.
Yeah, it's not gonna happen and I am not running it on the computer that I am using to post this response to you right now or enjoying using it either.
It's also not showing as number one on distrowatch at the time I am writing this message.
byserafean ( 4896143 ) writes:
It could also mean that you're not the target for that distro. CachyOS (Arch derivative), same as Bazzite (Fedora derivative) focus on the gaming experience, which is why gaming people switching from Windows tend to cluster around those two.
> P.S. That shit looks like Windows XP, the Fisher Price OS FFS
so what? Is it usable and does it work?
bySlashbotAgent ( 6477336 ) writes:
> > P.S. That shit looks like Windows XP, the Fisher Price OS FFS
> so what? Is it usable and does it work?
I agree with the sentiment. But, I find it odd that they would choose a desktop environment that was ridiculed by Linux and Windows users when so many better and more modern options are available.
byUn-Thesis ( 700342 ) writes:
You should try CachyOS. I have tried Antergos (5+ years), EndeavorOS (it's successor but I had problems with nvidia), and Ubuntu in 2021-2025 and CachyOS is hands down superior in so many ways. I don't understand why anyone chooses Manjaro over Cachy.
byRightwingNutjob ( 1302813 ) writes:
I've got a pair Ubuntu laptops at home, a mix of Debian and paid-for redhat at work, and I have never experienced this alleged driver shitshow in 20 years. Even back in the 2000s when I was using gentoo my stuff still worked and it was average consumer machines, not crazy custom builds.
I've seen more windows boxes fubared up with missing drivers than I have Linux boxes.
bygodrik ( 1287354 ) writes:
You must have been lucky.
I remember fighting quite a bit with ndiswrapper to make wifi cards work right around 2005
A lot of these optimus system that were hybrid intel/nvidia gpu that switch back and forth had tons of driver support issues around 2010.
Though for the last 15 years, support has been really good for me.
byComputershack ( 1143409 ) writes:
I've got a pair Ubuntu laptops at home, a mix of Debian and paid-for redhat at work, and I have never experienced this alleged driver shitshow in 20 years.
Bullshit Broadcom wifi anyone?
byArmoredDragon ( 3450605 ) writes:
It is within reason that you could avoid driver issues by researching the hardware before you purchase. Though at this point you're less consumer so much a you are acting in a professional capacity, and you do that because you have a very specific need that isn't exactly off-the-shelf.
byBert64 ( 520050 ) writes:
Many manufacturers don't specify or guarantee what chipset various components will have, only the standards they supposedly support..
This means you can buy two laptops with the exact same model number, and they will come with completely different components for various things - different memory, different ssd, different ethernet or wireless chipset etc. This can not only mean the difference between a wireless chipset that works with linux and one that doesnt, but you can also have significantly different pe
bydskoll ( 99328 ) writes:
I have not had driver issues on Linux in the last 20 years or so. Maybe in the ancient days when Linux was new and you had to mess with X11 mode lines. But nowadays, things just work.
byfuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 ) writes:
There are still some things that just don't work; it's only server gear where you essentially aren't even pretending if there isn't linux support; but what has closed markedly is the 'theoretically works; substantial amount of esoteric fuckery involved in making it work' category, and it's easier than it used to be for an entire system chosen without special care to fall into the 'just works' box.
If something that just doesn't work is critical you may not be any better off than you were 20 years ago(exce
bydskoll ( 99328 ) writes:
You're spouting FUD. I've run Linux on desktops and laptops since 1996. I have not had driver issues for at least 20 years.
If something that just doesn't work is critical
Yeah? But that hasn't happened, so it's hypothetical.
byfuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 ) writes:
That's not my intent. In using Linux since 2001ish I've had no issues of note with hardware; but I enjoy testing the oddest stuff I can get permission to test just to see; and unsurprisingly really niche lab gear that barely has support on what the vendor claims it does and is going to be stuck on that airgapped XP box until it dies doesn't necessarily have much support. At least in cases with low speed requirements, it's not uncommon for it to not really be a driver issue in the strict sense: the vendor wi
bydskoll ( 99328 ) writes:
You've shifted the goalposts. We were talking about desktops and laptops, not niche lab equipment.
That said: In the late 90s, I was working for a company that reverse-engineered ICs. We bought a digital microscope camera from Polaroid that only had Windows drivers. I pestered Polaroid for documentation until I finally received an email from an engineer there saying "You will receive a floppy disk in the mail. I will deny having sent it."
On the floppy was the documentation for the SCSI commands needed
byUn-Thesis ( 700342 ) writes:
Dude. You must not have bought new systems...
When I bought the brand new Asus z13 oled, practically nothing worked, not the wifi, not the Intel Xe graphics card, not the sound card, like I was so depressed the first day, you have no idea. When I first booted the system, the kernel paniced because of some new power saving system.
I found a guy who had a kernel patch to make the speakers work, and I found some convoluted kernel flags to disable the new power system. Then within a year, Linux kernel added the p
bydskoll ( 99328 ) writes:
I always buy new systems and have never had issues. But I usually buy from small computer shops that build their own systems rather than from big brand name suppliers; these small shops tend to use generic hardware that is well-supported.
byAnonymous Cward ( 10374574 ) writes:
It's not FUD. Just to name a few common pitfalls affecting a lot of Linux desktop and laptop users:
* Audio stack still lacks fully-featured DSP drivers, crippling laptop speakers in some of the most commonly sold computers
* GPU drivers all have poor VRAM management for discrete graphics cards (yes, even AMD and Intel dGPUs suck)
* Hybrid graphics still has mostly broken power management (mixed Intel/AMD and Intel/NVIDIA) for a lot of laptops
* Some WLAN cards will advertise support, except they only offi
byAmiMoJo ( 196126 ) writes:
Resolution and text too small or cut off during boot is one I encounter frequently.
bydrewsup ( 990717 ) writes:
Not only do they just tend to work, older peripherals tend to just work also.. old scanner.. no prob, old printer, no prob. Even when the OEM stopped making Windows drivers , it will usually work with Linux.
byKevin108 ( 760520 ) writes:
When did you try Linux? 20 years ago was 2006. Linux had been feature-complete for nearly a decade by then.
byAmiMoJo ( 196126 ) writes:
I use it for work and occasionally for personal stuff. Most recent personal one was Kali to install Tasmota on some smart switches.
It worked but didn't support 10 bit output for the screen, not that it mattered for that. That was on a ThinkPad.
byvolcan0 ( 1775818 ) writes:
I daily drive Kali and I mostly like it and works out of the box with most laptops.
byjenningsthecat ( 1525947 ) writes:
Do you seriously expect us to believe that you have never had driver issues on Linux?
I've used Linux exclusively for more than 15 years now, and I can't remember the last time I had a driver issue.
Admittedly, my activities and software are pretty vanilla in nature. And I use Thinkpads almost exclusively, so driver issues are inherently rare. But I suspect that a fair number of Windows users are similar to me in those regards, in which case they would also be unlikely to have driver problems when switching to a major mainstream Linux distro.
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bytranswarp ( 900569 ) writes:
The Dell trackpoints were horrible under Linux when I last used them a decade ago. Fixes were perpetually coming soon for the new hardware's handshake to be added to the kernel so they would show up as a trackpoint plus touchpad, with working independent controls. The worst case was the middle ground where the user control panels in KDE etc could see them but disabling the touchpad did nothing because actual events were routed through a common pipe with the trackpoint.
byAmiMoJo ( 196126 ) writes:
Document scanners is a big one for me and many businesses. Label printers too.
bykenh ( 9056 ) writes:
He only ran/runs "average consumer machines" - that leaves out high-end video cards, RAID and non-commodity NICs - I believe it.
If you stick to off-lease corporate desktops and their common hardware, sure - Linux is great with that stuff. The real pain (early on) were soft modems (I did say early), cheap ink-jet printers with host-based rendering engines, and discrete graphic cards.
bycaseih ( 160668 ) writes:
Whether or not you use Linux, the phrase "Linux is fine if you are a tinkerer" is most certainly outdated and should be dropped from common use, as it's not really untrue. At their request I've set up Linux for several very normal users (borderline computer illiterate), and none of them are tinkerers!
As much as Windows sucks, I agree most non-techie users just live with it and have no need or desire to move to macOS let alone Linux. But they could all if they really wanted, which isn't something I would ha
bykenh ( 9056 ) writes:
.
Whether or not you use Linux, the phrase "Linux is fine if you are a tinkerer" is most certainly outdated and should be dropped from common use, as it's not really untrue.
"It's not really untrue"? Did you mean to say that?
Windows 11 has two 'distributions' as far as home/personal users are concerned, there are more Linux distributions than stars up in the sky - picking one is enough to scare of most Windows users.
A base install of Windows 11 is no harder than an install of any mainstream Linux distribution. OneDrive is a convenient way for the average windows user to have a cloud-based backup for selected folders on their computer - isn't that a good thing? The MS account r
byDonkeyG5 ( 1674048 ) writes:
Whether or not you use Linux, the phrase "Linux is fine if you are a tinkerer" is most certainly outdated
For most people, replacing the default OS on your machine already makes you a "tinkerer". Since most machines are sold with Windows (especially if you buy it in a physical store) I'd say that, yes, Linux is for tinkerers.
byflyingfsck ( 986395 ) writes:
I realized Linux had arrived when my brother (an economist) mentioned circa 2010 (when he was about 58) that his real estate business used Ubuntu Linux laptops and he never asked me for help with anything then or since.
bytest321 ( 8891681 ) writes:
Linux is fine if you are a tinkerer, or if you have some specific non-destop use for it. Otherwise, people who do real work use Windows.
You're not commenting on the correct story to make your argument. these people are tech bloggers. They were tinkerers already on their previous OSes, and they made tinkerer choices such as wiping MacOS, picking obscure distros, installing non-standard desktop environments, then reported on their efforts. They do these things on purpose, running a blog with uncommon contents is what they do for a living.
"People who do real work" would sit at their linux workstation set up by the IT department of their compan
bypackrat0x ( 798359 ) writes:
"People who do real work" would sit at their linux workstation set up by the IT department of their company and wouldn't be allowed to pick a weird distro or install non-standard packages, just like with Windows machines.
*THIS*, This is the reality of people paid by the hour. They have almost no choice (or voice) in the software they use; whether at the office, at home, or in the field. If it doesn't work, then they find a manual work-around (but not new software / OS).
bydskoll ( 99328 ) writes:
I've been using UNIX since 1989 and Linux since 1994, including at work. Including owning a very profitable software company that I sold after 19 years, the proceeds of which let me retire.
And all of that "real work" was done on Linux. I've never used Windows at a day job except for about 4 months in 1996; I then told my boss I was switching to Linux or switching jobs. Well, I didn't switch jobs.
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byznrt ( 2424692 ) writes:
Linux is fine if you are a tinkerer, or if you have some specific non-destop use for it. Otherwise, people who do real work use Windows. It sucks, but it's the truth, because Windows actually works and they don't waste half their time trying to fix whatever distro they chose.
i don't think that's true anymore. linux is a tinkerer's dream but distros like ubuntu (et al) have been working out of the box for the normal user for a very long time now, no tinkering whatsoever. the friction is in specific software alternatives for "real work" (e.g. photoshop, ms office) to which people are very used to (or captive or forced into by their work environment) and are reluctant to part from, although there are perfectly functional alternatives. then again some people just need a browser to
byAmiMoJo ( 196126 ) writes:
I've used several versions of Ubuntu, and all have had something broken out of the box.
Not that Windows doesn't, but it tends to be less of a pain to fix.
byLuckyo ( 1726890 ) writes:
So this seems to be the consequence of consumer hardware releases slowing to a crawl due to everyone shifting to data center AI for R&D.
So there's nothing interesting to review. Expect more of these sorts of stories.
And honestly, if you want linux to get better, support these people. Because they're the ones who may actually drive linux improving and being more accepted on desktop. Not by much, but every little bit helps. Both if you want linux on desktop to be successful, and if you want "agentic OS win 11" shitshow to actually have an alternative.
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byLocal ID10T ( 790134 ) writes:
FOUR tech bloggers move to Linux!
Somebody ought to make a blog post about this...
Film at 11
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bythegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes:
This is definitively the year of Linux on 4 more desktops!
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byGavino ( 560149 ) writes:
That you can find a moral equivalence between Hitler invading Poland, and Trump detaining an illegitimate dictator who invited all kinds of evil (Iran, Hamas, Russia, CCP) into America's backyard, is reprehensible. Well - that's what your ridiculous tag-line seems to be saying. When the evils of the world come to take you over, you can at least be smug and say "well at least we were the nice guys!" as the world crumbles around you. the rest of us don't want to die on that hill.
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bypackrat0x ( 798359 ) writes:
OOPS, guess it doesn't work out so well when the good guys aren't carrying your team.
Is that a reference to the Persian Corridor [wikipedia.org]?
bydevslash0 ( 4203435 ) writes:
All but one of my workstations have run linux for the past 19 years, and even before then I'd run Linux as my primary workstation for years. It'd be fair to say that I've spent the past 25 years on Linux. And let me tell you something... This first year is NOT going to be "The Year of Linux" for those people. It's going to be a year of pain, hard realisations and a very steep learning curve. But then, if they persist, things will get better and they'll never look back.
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byfredrated ( 639554 ) writes:
I'm switching too. No more Malicious Stupidity for me.
byBrendaEM ( 871664 ) writes:
Microsoft was wrong, they peed too much in the lemonade, and fewer people want to drink it.
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bythegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes:
I hardly call going from 1,000,000,000 users to 999,999,996 an exodus.
bycodebase7 ( 9682010 ) writes:
I'd call it 999,999,996 idiots that love to drink piss. Fetish?
byOl Olsoc ( 1175323 ) writes:
I teach emergency communication classes. The students use computers interfaced with their radios - their radios squack AX.25 protocol audio encoded signals, with data that ends up in places like the Red Cross.
In previous years, it would take one or two classes and everyone's system is up and running - then we can work on the details of the programs we use.
Most of what we do works great on the Mac, great on Linux, but on Windows 11? Getting everyone running is a nightmare. The BOHICA updates alter sound settings, and change other things around, so that every week it was starting over.
This is a FBP. These are systems that need to be running, and Microsoft screws them up. There are also the OneDrive issues that cause people to delete it. Some have claimed that an update reinstalled it. I use a Windows laptop for the classes. It sometimes doesn't see the BT mouse, so I have to reconnect - but it doesn't always see it unless I reboot, then reconnect.
Terrible unprofessional not always functioning Operating system, I'm embarrassed that Microsoft puts out a failed product.
The next class will be having people who don't want to have a shitty malfunctioning system that randomly sends them down a troubleshooting rabbit asshole will be teaching them how to have a dependable system, based on Linux. I have a nice fast Linux laptop ready to go.
Sports car fans might get this - Windows is the Lucas Electric of OS' . As dependable as your drunk uncle that lives under a bridge.
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byComputershack ( 1143409 ) writes:
I teach emergency communication classes. The students use computers interfaced with their radios - their radios squack AX.25 protocol audio encoded signals, with data that ends up in places like the Red Cross.
Most of what we do works great on the Mac, great on Linux, but on Windows 11? Getting everyone running is a nightmare.
I do amateur radio including doing similar to that and don't have an issue. Methinks you need to update your knowledge.
bytroff ( 529250 ) writes:
Reading these comments, I've seen three inflammatory, low-content comments, in response to people giving specific details about their old and new attempts at getting Windows to solve their problems:
> Bullshit Broadcom wifi anyone?
> Somehow I think you're bullshitting....
> I do amateur radio including doing similar to that and don't have an issue. Methinks you need to update your knowledge.
After the third one, I go back to find them and see what-a-surprise they're all from the same user. Which means I think you're the one who is bullshit just like your knowledge.
I'd give my anecdotes about diagnosing Windows hardware problems with Linux, or using Linux/Cygwin for fixing software problems, or the lack of driver problems I've had in the last one-to-two decades, because I started using computers in 1986 and started using Linux around 1997 but you don't strike me as some kind of blind shill rather than somebody open to trafficking in real non-dogma data.
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bykenh ( 9056 ) writes:
Too many hams want to keep running Win 7, because their 10 year-old Panasonic toughbook is still running fine, LOL.
I'm involved in several Amateur Radio clubs in my area, and I've never seen any group effort be impacted by everyone running Windows. In fact, each club runs windows for logging software at club operating events, It Just Works.
bythegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes:
Terrible unprofessional
Yes, using a home OS from students for any professional work is unprofessional. In the meantime places like the Red Cross will be using Windows to receive those signals (mainly because these days major vendors like Motorola only offer Windows based solutions even though their base radio controller still run some linux/unix variant) and have no problems at all because Windows used in professional settings most definitely are not at the whim of Microsoft every month (I honestly don't know how you're getting c
byOl Olsoc ( 1175323 ) writes:
Terrible unprofessional
Yes, using a home OS from students for any professional work is unprofessional. In the meantime places like the Red Cross will be using Windows to receive those signals (mainly because these days major vendors like Motorola only offer Windows based solutions even though their base radio controller still run some linux/unix variant) and have no problems at all because Windows used in professional settings most definitely are not at the whim of Microsoft every month (I honestly don't know how you're getting configuration changes every other week, are your students in a beta program?
It is a different student every time. So it all depends on when the update has been pressed on them. Get 10 students, get ten problems and different times.
As for the Windows professionals not having issues, I had the occasion of a BOHICA update on Windows 10 Enterprise that occurred during the middle of one of my working events. Subsequent investigation and dispensing of hell, it was a forced update that the respective IT guys claimed they had no control over
Yes, there are some Windows only "solutions"
byChunderDownunder ( 709234 ) writes:
This is why I use debian stable.
I don't need new shiny and, at least in theory, developers have had 2 years to test and fix new issues on their own machines.
* in theory *
byAmiMoJo ( 196126 ) writes:
I'm glad that RPi now has kinda LTS versions, but I find that e.g. Ubuntu LTS is in fact kinda useless well before the end of support, because enough software breaks and can't easily be upgraded.
byallo ( 1728082 ) writes:
Why should it break? It's not like software is breaking just because you don't upgrade to new releases for some time.
byAmiMoJo ( 196126 ) writes:
For example, OpenVPN was too old to support the protocols that the server did.
byallo ( 1728082 ) writes:
Did you try if there is a version in backports? Usually you have some if there are such problems like new ciphers one needs to have.
byOl Olsoc ( 1175323 ) writes:
This is why I use debian stable.
I don't need new shiny and, at least in theory, developers have had 2 years to test and fix new issues on their own machines.
* in theory *
I have done installs of Mint, sometimes Mate, sometimes Debian flavor, for a good number of people, from grandmas to people wanting to get started in Linux after getting pissed off enough at Windows. A number of them are computers that use a lot of stuff that is a little arcane. I'm genuinely curious about the difference between some people's experience, and a whole lot of people I've worked with who have had. the exact opposite experience. As I noted before, My classes have changed from one or two class
byOl Olsoc ( 1175323 ) writes:
It sounds like you are running Home edition, because the issues you describe are easily fixed with simple configuration changes on Pro.
To be certain - I'm using W11 Pro.
One thing to remember is that what is something so simple and trivial for you, might not be for students. I'm not dealing with experts like yourself. And they come to class with computers of various makes, and models, and usually not W 11 pro. These are educated people, but not computing experts. They are not necessarily troubleshooting experts either. To make matters worse, a few are resistant to believe that Windows could have an issue. Walking a zealot through a pos
byorgangtool ( 966989 ) writes:
Any new environment is going to come with frustrations. Even migrating to something as polished as macOS will likely require doing so research to get something to behave in the preferred manner you took for granted in your old OS. However, with Linux all of the pain is front-loaded. Once you get past that, each release is usually as good or better than the last. That's actually pretty consistent with open source software in general since it's developed for the love of the game and is therefore less susceptible to profit-driven enshittification.
Compare that to Windows where you spend every non-consensual upgrade with a puckered asshole wondering what fresh hell awaits you on the other side of the next boot. Will it be ads in standard Windows apps? Broken drivers? Will it even boot at all or will it spend a shitload of time reverting to a previous version? Each Windows update brings more pain and frustration when you could just front-load that pain now and invest in an OS that respects your settings and privacy instead of constantly fights to dominate your hardware.
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byfleeped ( 1945926 ) writes:
with Linux all of the pain is front-loaded
This is very well put! On the negative side, due to this front-loading pain, I personally find the idea changing distro very daunting, because there has been so much pain setting my current ones up (VSTs/Bottles I'm looking at you)
byPhantomHarlock ( 189617 ) writes:
Linux on the desktop continues to be a hobby in and of itself rather than a tool to get other things done. There's no way I'm spending the time and frustration that he did to get basic things running. That cascading failure mode of package dependencies and "it all works great except this one little instance when you combine these two pieces of hardware or software together) is just maddening. I've dabbled in and out of it for years. It takes far less time and frustration to effectively neuter Windows 10 to do your bidding and stop leaking your information. The future is uncertain as M$ attempts to remove local accounts, but as long as there is a way around I will continue to use it. Besides, a lot of the software I use just isn't available for Linux. I wish it was, I truly do. But it seems to be a perpetual chicken and egg problem. Maybe something will tilt that balance away from M$ someday, but it doesn't seem to be happening soon.
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byserafean ( 4896143 ) writes:
> no way I'm spending the time and frustration that he did to get basic things running
yet you spend time and frustration to get around how MS fucks you?
> M$ attempts to remove local accounts, but as long as there is a way around I will continue to use it.
interesting take.
bytest321 ( 8891681 ) writes:
There's no way I'm spending the time and frustration that he did to get basic things running.
One of them was trying to get linux working on a Mac. The equivalent of getting Windows to work on a Raspberry Pi
If you want things to Just Work, you get a laptop with linux preinstalled, just like your Mac or Windows laptops came with their OS.
It takes far less time and frustration to effectively neuter Windows 10 to do your bidding and stop leaking your information.
That's not true, it takes more time to to neuter Windows 10 on a laptop that came with windows 10, than just using a linux on laptop that originally came with linux where no tinkering is needed.
byGavino ( 560149 ) writes:
Yeah I use Linux for my servers, Dockers, plus networking equipment: routers, firewalls, switches (mostly hardware-embedded) and mobile phone (Android), but for Desktop OS, it's the apps, stoopid! I've been using Linux since the original Yggdrasil and Slackware but have yet to pull the trigger on the desktop as I do amateur photography and am anchored to Lightroom, some Photoshop, and color calibration of my monitor using a hardware device. I also game, but am happy to have a separate full-tower rig just for gaming.
The thing is - people don't like to go backwards. The change to Linux has to be an upgrade, or at least a side-grade, but not a downgrade. If 100% of their old functionality is not replicated, it just feels like a downgrade. The challenge is that EVERYTHING has to come across, in terms of functionality. If you can't do that, it's a downgrade. For me the holdout is the photography stuff. Sure there's GIMP and Darktable, but they aren't on the level of LR and PS, in terms of features and integration. For other users, it might be pro audio software, or gaming or MS Office suite.
My crazy idea is that in future, Microsoft make enough money from cloud service subscriptions, that sales from OS bundling doesn't mean shit in the general scheme of things, in relation to their spend on developing the OS, and that they come out with a Microsoft Linux, and really push the top tier software vendors to make their software compatible with it. Then have a long-term strategy to sunset Windows. Linux, will of course remain open source. We can then choose to run the Windows flavor (good for the masses) or some other flavor (people like us) and have all the current software available.
Microsoft, at the end of the day, is a publicly-traded company whose sole purpose is growth and returning value to shareholders. If the numbers stack up that it's easier to just Microsoft-ify a Linux distro and push that, instead of maintaining a small city's population worth of devs working on "legacy" Windows, then it's not as crazy as this sounds. As more people switch to Linux, the less return they get from Windows for the same (or growing) amount of devs. This is especially true in the context that they've squeezed the Windows lemon for as much juice as they can.
It might not not be a whack fever dream - it could happen within the next 10 years - who knows. By 2040, I wouldn't be surprised that we look at Windows the same way we look at AmigaOS and OS/2 Warp now - a relic of the past. All great empires have their rise and fall. In fact, the more I think about this, the more confident I become, that it will eventually happen.
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bydremon ( 735466 ) writes:
Whether is it a new shiny ultra-hyped CachyOS, or Manjaro, EndeavourOS, Omarchy, or a plain Arch, unless you want to spend most of your time configuring it, troubleshooting broken packages or unbootable OS, I (as a desktop Linux user since 2002) highly recommend to look elsewhere.
My personal preference is openSUSE Tumbleweed with Plasma desktop for the following reasons:
●Rolling distro, always up to date
●Stable via their automated OpenQA testing system
●Built-in snapshots with easy rollback in case of update
byallo ( 1728082 ) writes:
Do we get a new article for every tech blogger who tried Linux now? There are only like a few million of them. What's next? News for podcasters mentioning Linux?
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byallo ( 1728082 ) writes:
How do you measure most popular? Is there some registry for blogs? Everyone can claim having many clicks, nobody can check.
byQbertino ( 265505 ) writes:
The last Windows I used for anything important was Windows 2000. The last Windows I ran into was at my current job with a few beginning weeks with a standard issue laptop for regular non-IT employees. It was basically unusable.
Windows is an anachronism. Anyone using desktop Linux for a few hours will notice this and likely will want to switch.
bydfghjk ( 711126 ) writes:
"On Windows or macOS, most problems I run into are caused by a restriction or bug in the OS. Linux gives me the freedom to break my machine and fix it again, teaching me along the way."
Who is this dipshit?
byiggymanz ( 596061 ) writes:
OpenOffice and then compatible LibreOffice have been around for more than 20 years. That's what most people use plus a browser. Thunderbird for mail is over 20 years old too. That's a totally backwards-compatible realm.
The major Linux UI have been fine for over 25 years.
byOl Olsoc ( 1175323 ) writes:
While the Linux UI has been good for a decade and great for a few years, that's not sufficient to make it a ubiquitous appliance.
I know - People are so addicted to Windows, they put up with a Windows 11. OS that is worse than Windows 1. Read my post below, and tell me why W11 should be used, instead of MacOS or Linux.
Or perhaps the Windows faithful don't realize there are other options that work regularly. If all some do is fix problems, maybe they think that every OS is full of problems.
bydwywit ( 1109409 ) writes:
"every OS is full of problems"
Heh.
"but only after about 45 minutes of reading manuals and forum posts."
Every OS *is* full of problems. Some more than others. It's only recently that Debian has started asking "Do you want to use non-free software?" and, more importantly "Do you want to use non-free firmware?", 'cos you couldn't finish a Debian installation without an ethernet cable to fetch the wireless drivers, or have them ready to go on a USB stick. Never had that with a Windows installation. Other failur
byShades72 ( 6355170 ) writes:
3 motherboards I have here, all with built-in Intel NICs, can be installed via pendrive, but won't install working network drivers. Not with Win 10, Win 11, Windows Server 2019 or 2022, only Windows Server 2025 did. On each of the boxes that came with those mainboards, there was a logo 'Windows 11 ready".
Tried also with Pop!_OS and Linux Mint, the built-in Intel NICs worked immediately.
Thought I mention it, to show that experiences with Windows installations can vary a lot between users, reducing experience
byComputershack ( 1143409 ) writes:
Somehow I think you're bullshitting....
byOl Olsoc ( 1175323 ) writes:
3 motherboards I have here, all with built-in Intel NICs, can be installed via pendrive, but won't install working network drivers. Not with Win 10, Win 11, Windows Server 2019 or 2022, only Windows Server 2025 did. On each of the boxes that came with those mainboards, there was a logo 'Windows 11 ready".
Tried also with Pop!_OS and Linux Mint, the built-in Intel NICs worked immediately.
Thought I mention it, to show that experiences with Windows installations can vary a lot between users, reducing experiences from both to an 'n==1' experience at best. I don't contest that Linux installations won't work flawlessly, because they don't. But Windows isn't the 'be all, end all' when installing it, either.
But I can say that the main Linux distros take a lot less time to install than Windows 11 does.
Yup - I have horror stories of nice and RS232 drivers that Windows won't install, but Linux installs them seamlessly.
byChunderDownunder ( 709234 ) writes:
No, they reversed that policy. Non-free firmware is now included in the install media by default.
https://wiki.debian.org/Firmwa... [debian.org]
But it's a Boolean flag still in the boot options, for the purists.
byOl Olsoc ( 1175323 ) writes:
No, they reversed that policy. Non-free firmware is now included in the install media by default.
https://wiki.debian.org/Firmwa... [debian.org]
But it's a Boolean flag still in the boot options, for the purists.
And Linux Distros have done this for years. The h8ers are regurgitating bullshit that is from 1999.
byOl Olsoc ( 1175323 ) writes:
"every OS is full of problems"
Heh.
"but only after about 45 minutes of reading manuals and forum posts."
Every OS *is* full of problems. Some more than others. It's only recently that Debian has started asking "Do you want to use non-free software?" and, more importantly "Do you want to use non-free firmware?", 'cos you couldn't finish a Debian installation without an ethernet cable to fetch the wireless drivers, or have them ready to go on a USB stick. Never had that with a Windows installation. Other failures and problems, yes, but not a lack of drivers to run the network adapters.
I suppose my years of experience don't mean anything, perhaps it is a crime to expect an internet connection to install Linux, and Windows needs no internet to install - perhaps you know the secret sauce that make no internet connection for Windows - please share! But if you believe that Linux is the same trying as Mac OS or Windows, you aren't making yourself look very credible.
Would you be interested in doing a Zoom where you can explain to my students how to have a Windows system wit very close to 100
bycodebase7 ( 9682010 ) writes:
Debian has a full set of offline install ISOs. If you just download the network install cd, you shouldn't be surprised when it requires the network.
Also, if you've never had to install wireless drivers on a Windows machine, then you've been using some pretty ancient hardware relative to the OS version by Windows' standards. (In the modern era, it will just auto-download if it's able to establish any connection to Windows Update, but historically new hardware released after or at the same time as the Windo
bysmoot123 ( 1027084 ) writes:
While the Linux UI has been good for a decade and great for a few years...
I guess I'd have to see a demo. Every time I've tried it, Linux GUIs look amateurish compared to macOS and Windows.
Thing is, from the summaries, Linux ain't there yet. The summary of the summaries was "yeah, then I had to do this annoying workaround which would flummox any non-techie and everything was great!" Do hear echoes of Jerry Pournelle and Chaos Manor?
"Looks worse and harder to use" isn't a great sales pitch.
byArchieBunker ( 132337 ) writes:
Especially when you open up a config file and get greeted with a warning not to edit this file yourself. The whole point of plaintext config files is I can make changes and not rely on other software.
by93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) writes:
Yeah that is one of the annoying things about many modern distros. It's like they're trying to shove all these desktop-first "innovations" down our throats, even though Linux's desktop share is only a tiny portion of its installed base.
The one that especially drives me nuts is they way they've tried to add unnecessary bloat and extra layers to iptables.
"We've got this new firewall system! It replaces iptables!"
"Sounds great! What does it do?"
"Uh... it writes the iptables rules for you."
bysk999 ( 846068 ) writes:
"Every day, we stray further from Unix"
Uh, which Unix? Xenix? Ultrix? SunOS? Solaris? IRIX? HP-UX? AIX? UnixWare? BSD? SVR4?
But I understand your pain. My favorite Fortran-66 standards-compliant source code subroutine can no longer be compiled on any system that I have tried. Maybe *BSD will do the trick.
byTooTechy ( 191509 ) writes:
Sigh - that was a trip down memory lane. Thanks.
SunOS 4.1.3 - the dreams to be had...
I'll add AEGIS in there too. Along with SCO UNIX. Tru64 anyone?
(AIX - I miss Smitty)
Others??
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