[iforgotpassword]

They merely said other platforms have issues too, not that linux doesn't have any. It's funny you mention Stockolm syndrome, then continuing on with an anecdote how Windows always works for you. I had win8 installs that would search for updates for hours on end with no result, weird error codes from windows update, windows 10 updates that left the system unbootable, broken .NET installs that couldnt be fixed without a windows reinstall. So where does that leave us? Exactly the "Linux meme" mentioned a few comments up.

[59nadir]

> It's funny you mention Stockolm syndrome, then continuing on with an anecdote how Windows always works for you.

I didn't say "Windows always works for me", but rather that these imagined conversations about issues like these aren't a regular fixture among Windows users. The perceived polish of Linux that supposedly made things like these much rarer is just that, perceived.

Windows doesn't always work perfectly, it just works for hundreds of times more people way more of the time than Linux. You seem to take someone calling this a "meme" as saying it's not real. It's not a joke as much as it's just something that is and something that naturally happens in an ecosystem where nothing is made to work with anything else.

> I had win8 installs that would search for updates for hours on end with no result, weird error codes from windows update, windows 10 updates that left the system unbootable, broken .NET installs that couldnt be fixed without a windows reinstall.

I've had equivalents of these (unbootable computer after an update being the most exact match) with OS X. It doesn't mean that OS X isn't all-in-all a much more well put together operating system than Linux + userland or Windows. Does that mean it's perfect? No. But let's at least establish that Linux is nowhere near close to offering the same quality experience overall as neither OS X or Windows, even in a ballpark sense.

As an additional point to this: Do you believe, once non-enthusiasts start using Linux, that issues will be more or less visible? I know what my bet is.

[iforgotpassword]

> You seem to take someone calling this a "meme" as saying it's not real.

My take on this was that this is generally a moot way of discussing a complex software setup because it usually doesn't get any more specific than that. It shouldn't come as a surprise that a certain tech stack neither works for everybody nor nobody, be it Linux- or Windows-land.

> I didn't say "Windows always works for me", but rather that these imagined conversations about issues like these aren't a regular fixture among Windows users

Might have misread that then.

Likewise yes Linux definitely isn't a flawless experience compared to OSX or Windows, but I do however think that Windows is getting worse in that regard since a few years now (less internal QA because of telemetry?), there were a few pretty severe issues with updates, while at the same time Linux is making progress. Which brings me back to

> It's not a joke as much as it's just something that is and something that naturally happens in an ecosystem where nothing is made to work with anything else.

That is the root cause indeed with Linux, the user space really. It's not coordinated by a central authority, so you don't get a smooth experience combining arbitrary components in arbitrary versions. This is where distros come into play. They go through the pain to pick a combination of components at a certain version and make them work together with a sledgehammer. If you only ever use the package manager to install software, you will have an experience on par with windows or osx, but it's love it or leave it. Need anything that's not offered there and you have a good chance of messing things up.

Regarding your last point: My bet is on the web, eventually casual users only need a browser, which even linux can manage to offer you without blowing up, but then a Chromebook is probably what people go with.

[I_complete_me]

> It's funny you mention Stockolm syndrome: but I recently came across this one by Ken Dodd: "Just read a book about Stockholm Syndrome. It started off badly but by the end I really liked it."