Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

wisefool wrote

For me it's just habit. I've been using Apple since the Apple II computer and when the Mac rolled out I was an instant fanboy.

Though I've moved on from 'loving' Apple a long time ago, it's a prevalent OS in my general industry (web development, graphic design, animation design) and while it's not privacy perfect out-of-the-box, it's can be with just some adjustments to settings.

I use Linux a lot too, but only in a terminal using commands (all web servers are like that) and while I enjoy it, I'm still faster with a GUI interface when working. But like I said, that's habit.

3

emma wrote

battery life was really awful with kde neon

4

edmund_the_destroyer wrote

All my personal computers only have Linux.

But as a general thing, getting people to switch from their preferred technical environment is incredibly hard. If you're not really passionate about the thing you're switching to or extremely angry at the ecosystem you're leaving, you won't bother.

And really, as much as I hate that I don't blame anyone. Changing away from something you're comfortable with is hard. So I'll gently recommend Linux when I think it fits, but I don't push it otherwise. I've had an open offer to help people move to Linux for most of my social circle for a long time and so far I've had 3 successes and 100+ "no thank you"s.

3

edmund_the_destroyer wrote

Yuck. Yeah, my Linux laptop has pretty awful battery life. I don't care because it doesn't move much, but I understand how that's an obstacle. I wish I had a solution to offer, but I don't.

3

An_Old_Big_Tree wrote

In short, just thinking about it is emotionally overwhelming.

7

AndMyAxe wrote

I'm the kind of person who wants to keep all my devices running the same OS, and as far as I know there aren't any Linux Phones.

Also, iCloud is super-convenient for keeping all the important files accessible across my devices. Back when I used Windows and needed to transfer something between my desktop and laptop, I'd have to do it through a USB and it was kinda tedious. These days everything I need is just there already.

3

edmund_the_destroyer wrote

Interesting. I switched a laptop from Windows to Linux, and I would expect the battery life to be roughly similar even with a heavyweight desktop. It wasn't, battery life cut in half.

Of course, that's a statistical sample of one and it was four years ago. Maybe a newer kernel or different hardware or both would make a substantial difference.

3

edmund_the_destroyer wrote (edited )

I hate Microsoft as much as I hate Apple, but to be fair OneDrive should synchronize files between Windows machines as well as iCloud does. (Edit: There are also a number of third party applications that do the same thing. That includes syncthing, although that's mildly technical to set up.)

I have Linux machines, and I used to use periodic rsync commands to synchronize data between them. I'm switching to using 'syncthing' as an experiment.

3

Bells_On_Sunday wrote

Yeah, there's no real reason it should be but KDE was always a hog like that IME. Could definitely be worth trying again and maybe seeing if you like any of the more minimal desktop envs/WMs (XFce, iceWM, XMonad etc). I love how blazingly fast a minimal linux setup can be even on old kit, and battery life is correlated to that.

3

AndMyAxe wrote

For the same reason I like wearing clothes of a uniform colour. It just sort of bugs me otherwise.

Besides, having everything running the same OS makes inter-device interaction a lot easier. The iCloud thing I mention probably wouldn't have worked if I had an iPhone and a Linux computer, for example.

3

AndMyAxe wrote

I don't know if OneDrive was a thing with Windows 7 already (which was the last Windows I used), but I remember having to work with OneDrive to return some school assignments and it was really inconvenient. iCloud is a lot easier to manage, at least IMHO.

4

GaldraChevaliere wrote

Lack of technical knowledge, time, and worries about accessing programs that I use to interact with most of the people in my life, who generally also lack the technical knowledge and time to switch over. The annoyance of putting up with Win10 and skeevy latest shit Windows is pulling is definitely pushing me towards swapping to Mint or something, but the time I usually have set aside is reserved for friends and my support network.

4

edmund_the_destroyer wrote

I understand. When you use Windows or Macs sometimes you don't know how something works, so you plug in "Windows 10 add ...." in a search engine or "OS X 10.3 add ..." in a search engine. It's no different for Linux, or anything else. But people get so used to one domain that everything else seems alien.

But for context, I consider my own inflexibility. I don't know how to make more than a basic stir fry or cook pasta dishes more complex than noodles with a sauce. I want to be better, but I just don't put the time. I hate paying a plumber for a lot of simple fixes, I should learn what I need to do more myself. But I don't put the time in. Likewise for sewing, music, dance, car repair, and dozens of other domains. So I'm definitely not a polymath, I just happen to be flexible inside the tech domain. I can't blame someone else who can do fifty things I can't for being inflexible inside tech.

3

nov wrote

GPU support. Buggy webcam drivers. Wonky power management at times. HDMI port doesnt work properly (part of GPU support). MS Office for work. Back in the day, WiFi support was awful, and video drivers were suspect. I used to dual boot, but have switched to WSL for quality of life.

I like Linux a lot, but there is too many edge cases that are frustrating enough that I don't want to commit my personal and professional life to the eco-system.

3

PerfectSociety wrote

I don't have the time to learn to use a new operating system unless it's very user-friendly to people who are noobs with software (like myself).

3

MrPotatoeHead wrote

Making a live Linux Mint bootable USB drive is only a few steps, and well worth it. People can learn how well their existing hardware works with it. I learned that my printers were found, driver was downloaded and installed, and everything just works. It was easier to set up than Windows 10, which can be pretty easy when doing a clean install from a USB stick made with MediaCreationTool1803

2

Just_An_Author wrote

shrug sheer inertia, mostly. I've occasionally used a linux machine, but both my main computers came with windows on them.

1

edmund_the_destroyer wrote

I used elementaryOS for a few years. It's nice, but it has a user interface similar or maybe identical to Apple's OS X. I don't know how close they are, I haven't used an Apple product for more than a few minutes in decades. So if PerfectSociety likes an OS X -style interface, it's a good fit. If they are more comfortable with something like Windows 7, less so.

For what it's worth I use Ubuntu MATE Linux, which has a similar user interface to Windows 7 except that by default the menu to access features (like the Windows 7 start menu or programs menu) is on the top left of the screen instead of the bottom left. Xubuntu Linux also has a default layout like that. Both can be adjusted to match the typical Windows 7 approach, but I got used to the menu at the top.

But again, pressure to switch is counter productive. I would be pleased if you and PerfectSociety gave it a try, but I won't condemn you otherwise.

1

edmund_the_destroyer wrote (edited )

The situation is a lot better now than it was in 2000 or 2005. If you're motivated, put Linux on a USB flash drive, boot into that, and see if it works.

I've got two laptops and two desktops running Linux, and the only hardware headache is the builtin wireless in one of the laptops. I did have to research Linux-compatible USB wireless devices and buy one for that laptop, but otherwise all hardware worked properly on install with no special work.

(Edit: Sorry, I forgot to address Microsoft Office and webcam drivers. I don't have any webcams, so I don't know how their hardware support is. There is a project called Crossover Office from Codeweavers that supposedly runs Microsoft Office on Linux, but I have no idea as to how well it works. I completely understand if either of those issues is a blocker.)

2

edmund_the_destroyer wrote

As I've written elsewhere, I'm not going to condemn anyone. I just respectfully request that if you're interested and have the time you download something like Ubuntu MATE 18.04 LTS (Long Term Support) and put it on a USB flash drive, and boot your laptop from that. If everything works out of the box, consider installing it. If not, forget it. There's a good chance everything will work.

Maintaining Linux isn't a second job. I've hit a few install headaches with my machines, and everything else just works. On one laptop I had to research and purchase a Linux-compatible USB wireless device because the builtin wireless wouldn't work, and on the same laptop battery life is poor. Installing my printer drivers for our newest printer was a pain. Our previous two printers were a Canon and an older Epson, but our new Epson required extra work.

Since installation, everything has worked fine with no effort for years.

1

nov wrote

Yeh, the wifi and video drivers have come a long way since dapper drake, when I first lost some hair dealing with them.

But GPU for computation, laptop power management, and web cam drivers are issues right now. I switched to WSL this year after getting sick of rebooting every-time I needed to use a particular tool chain. This was with ubuntu/lubuntu.

2

edmund_the_destroyer wrote

Understood. Sorry, I thought your earlier references to GPU headaches were for GPU drivers in general. That's mostly resolved. But I know a number of GPU computing tools aren't available for Linux, and understand how it would be a blocker.

2

edmund_the_destroyer wrote

I'm going to make an idealistic suggestion - if you have the time or money, please consider supporting some of the fully open source games.

In a better world all the best games would be free-as-in-freedom. DRM in games only exists because the most fun games are more in demand than the fully free ones.

1

dark wrote

I don't know why more distros don't have them installed by default.

Strong agree. My laptop has gone from dying from being left in sleep overnight, to preserving almost 100% of it's sleep-point battery.

1