@andrew_writes @mcc @dangillmor I'm on that boat too, but the fact that I use X or Y Linux and P or Q hardware choices doesn't make the problem go away, and doesn't entitle me to make a recommendation, or place "better choices if you knew" as a solution.
What the reply guys do is to shift the responsibility from the product to the user, which in other areas is a form of victim-blaming.
@andrew_writes @mcc @dangillmor yes. There is always something, and there'll be always something unless the different products related to Linux (DEs, Distributions, init managers,...) put some consensus and focus on some areas. Those are not problems for a user to solve.
That's why I think so passionately that telling someone "Try Fedora" or "I use Arch btw" is essentially adding insult to injury.
@andrew_writes Windows 7 was the last version of Windows I actually wasn't tempted to replace until I ran across issues with a game.
At the time (it's long since been fixed) the 64-bit windows version of Kerbal Space Program was broken and the 32-bit version could only allocate a bit over 3 GB of RAM, limiting how many mods I could play with. The 64-bit Linux version, though, worked almost flawlessly (to this day, it still needs a community-developed plug-in to use controllers, though).
@graemek @andrew_writes The problem is, the reason I'm doing this is MacOS and Windows now come with unacceptable user freedom or surveillance issues. I don't feel like I chose this. I just had my alternatives taken away.
Maybe I should have jumped directly to ChromeOS???
@andrew_writes
So I’ll push back on this a bit. I’m just at 4-yr anniversary of switching to #Linux, specifically Pop!_OS from MacOS. I had no particular tech skills, a little Python, but I am curious and love learning.
I have no plans to ever go back to Macs, and certainly not Windows. (I dual-booted with W for a while but never found any reason to use it & removed it completely.) I’m running Pop on a refurbished Dell latitude from ‘17. On balance it’s been a pleasure.
@andrew_writes @mcc I won’t dispute other people’s experiences, but they aren’t mine. Saying people “will” experience these issues is a bit much, though.
I’ve used Linux happily on a variety of hardware for many years without these problems. Primarily Fedora for the past >14 years, with a bit of Pop_OS and Debian as well.
@andrew_writes @mcc It's "been that way basically forever" for precisely this reason -- it's a chicken and egg problem.
As long as people stick to Windows/macOS, vendors continue to focus on those -- and Windows and macOS continue to get worse for users, because they have learned the majority of users will put up with just about anything to avoid friction in switching.
@andrew_writes @mcc I wasn't assigning blame, just pointing out the facts - if users don't vote with their feet (and $), why would MSFT or APPL do anything differently? As long as they can make more $ by making the product worse, that's what they're going to do.
As long as Linux is a negligible share of the desktop market, vendors aren't going to invest in better support, so the experience will continue to be hit-and-miss.
There's pain in either direction, but only one offers hope of change.
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