[999900000999]

Linux is great if you're hardware is supported.

I've never been able to get Linux working right on one of my laptops, on another only rolling releases work.

These rolling releases like to break every 3 to 6 months.

Windows is much more stable on both laptops.

With my mini PC eGPU combo Linux just won't recognize the eGpu at all.

[subjectsigma]

Never post anything like this on HN, you will get a torrent of people A) trying to help, but not being very helpful B) telling you that you’re dumb C) telling you that you’re holding it wrong and that you need different software/hardware/preferences/etc.

I have had tons of grief with NVIDIA cards that work stellar on Windows and the answer I always get talking to Linux folks is “LOL NVIDIA? You’re an idiot for buying NVIDIA.”

My friends who daily drive Linux have accepted that I’m particularly cursed. Either that or they privately think I’m a moron. Regardless none of them seem to be able to explain my issues or help.

[999900000999]

I welcome a good conversation.

Linux still isn't really ready for normal people who have other things to do.

Arguably if it's within your budget and you just want your computer to work, buy a Mac.

I make music and I don't want to fiddle with external drives so I'm basically stuck on Windows.

My biggest issue with Macs is not being able to replace the SSD. Eventually all SSDs must fail. Might not be in 2 years, might be in 6 or 7, but at that point the entire laptop is useless.

[AlotOfReading]

"It just works" was always a marketing slogan for Apple, not an actual reality. It's certainly not appropriate for an OS where perfectly standard mice have frustrating, decades-old limitations like scroll direction being tied to the touchpad settings and forward/backyard buttons not working.

[999900000999]

If you stay in the Apple Box of supported use cases it's fine.

The customer support story is also much better. Instead of dealing with IRC channels and Reddit post trying to figure out why the latest kernel ruined everything, you go to the Apple Store.

I literally run Tumbleweed on my second laptop, I like Linux.

It's just not for people who don't want to invest time into understanding how computers work.

[AlotOfReading]

I wouldn't consider products you can buy on apple.com like this corsair M75 outside their supported use cases: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HRYT2ZM/A/corsair-m75-wir...

This whole thread is about how Linux is difficult because you need to understand what hardware is actually supported and you're arguing that MacOS is different because you still need to understand what hardware is supported, but the apple store will sell you something else with a smile.

I'm not even denying that MacOS is a perfectly acceptable OS, I just don't understand your argument.

[999900000999]

Actually, you kinda have a point.

They shouldn't be selling 3rd party hardware, with an over 100% markup, that isn't well supported.

https://www.corsair.com/us/en/p/gaming-mouse/CH-931D101-NA/m...

It's less than half the price anywhere else.

But Apple's argument is it's not on them if a 3rd party mouse they happen to sell has issues.

With Linux you need to do significantly more work to get setup and every now and then a kernel update can ruin your day.

I want something Ubuntu stable that actually supports newer hardware, but that's just not where Linux is at.

The Linux community is amazing, but they lack the capacity to QA every possible laptop on the market.

Just a few days ago the sound on my Tumbleweed install decided to stop working. I thought about reinstalling, Chat GPT suggested I just accept audio not working and using a USB sound card.

Eventually, thinking as a last ditch effort, I asked Chat GPT how to completely reinstall the audio stack.

This went and removed my KDE desktop for some reason. Cool, I'll install Xfce from the tty.

I then installed Budgie since it's a bit easier to use.

All this because for some reason my sound didn't feel like working.

We, the types of people who visit this site, enjoy the process.

Not everyone does.

Macs definitely have issues too.

But you can go to the Apple store and have them figure it out.

Plus a routine update probably won't stop audio from working.

I've been using Desktop Linux for about 20 years.

It's better now, but it's still work to use.

[eYrKEC2]

This was true for me until ~2014. I haven't had substantial hardware compatibility issues on Ubuntu since then. Sure, a few google searches for the right nvidia driver, but otherwise I've found Ubuntu to just work for many years.

[int_19h]

It's a lottery that largely depends on what exact hardware you have.

I have one machine that I can't even install Linux on because no Linux installer or live CD will even boot on it. No idea why, and I don't want to spend a lot of time and effort figuring that out given that it's my dedicated gaming box, a "PC console" basically.

OTOH I have a laptop that I specifically purchased to run Linux on it. Which it does, and all devices work just fine. The only catch is that battery life when browsing is about 20-30% less, and, as far as I can tell, this is entirely due to Linux browsers disabling video hardware acceleration by default on most configs. If I enable it, things get much better for the battery, but at the cost of an occasional browser crash.

[dartharva]

I might have one of the very rare cases where my laptop works much better with Linux than with Windows (both 10 and 11).

Both Wifi and Bluetooth doesn't work on a fresh Windows install, I have to physically connect a USB DVD player to install the drivers from the DVD that came with the package (in 2024! btw). On Linux everything just works out-of-the-box. Okay maybe not everything, I did have to patch my kernel for bluetooth drivers, but other than that it's a LOT smoother in every way than on Windows.

[juujian]

Obligatory "my experience diverges." Which manufacturers were those? New flagship devices or more established hardware?

[999900000999]

https://www.asus.com/laptops/for-home/vivobook/asus-vivobook...

Maybe it's been fixed, but I brought this on release last year, it never worked right with Linux.

Hours upon hours of trying to fix it for naught.

I actually prefer Linux as a daily driver, I have the Ultra Core V2 version of the same laptop and rolling releases are generally fine for 3 to 6 months. At which point I just reinstall , while leaving Windows intact.

I guess if you want to buy a slightly older laptop or at least one with a slightly older CPU things are fine.

Refurbished Thinkpads excel particularly well here.

[aitchnyu]

5k screens over DP are two screens in a trenchcoat. I saw this abstraction broken with menubar (only on half the screen), blue light filter (have to program both harlves), screen placement (have to drag both halves into place). FreeDesktop Gitlab has been tracking this since 2017 but IME only 2023 Ubuntu got it perfect, IIRC KDE got it perfect later.