[the__alchemist]

What were the use cases you've found success at? I've only found Linux (Ubuntu etc) to be a smooth and stable experience when not installing things beyond what's included by default. Have tried some variant of Linux every other year for the past 20. Turns into dependency hell and arcane incantations.

[nicoburns]

The only things I've had issues with were:

- Device drivers and configuration of things like the X Server. From what I've heard this can be mitigated by buying well-supported hardware.

- Software that wasn't included in the distro's package repositories. This is where linux can really fall down in my experience, along with the fact software like MS Office isn't supported at all. But if you don't need anything beyond standard software then it can often "just work" more smoothly than something like Windows.

[the__alchemist]

Same experience re standard software - Generally works great out of the box if you can get through the installation process. Should have clarified re distro's packages working great too.

[pessimizer]

It might be that you're thwarted by trying to install it on bleeding edge machines. I've run Debian stable on my home servers and Debian testing on my workstations for years. Nothing ever goes wrong, it's boring. Debian stable is rock solid.