Don’t get me wrong. I love Linux and FOSS. I have been using and installing distros on my own since I was 12. Now that I’m working in tech-related positions, after the Reddit migration happened, etc. I recovered my interest in all the Linux environment. I use Ubuntu as my main operating system in my Desktop, but I always end up feeling very limited. There’s always software I can’t use properly (and not just Windows stuff), some stuff badly configured with weird error messages… last time I was not able to even use the apt command. Sometimes I lack time and energy for troubleshooting and sometimes I just fail at it.
I usually end up in need of redoing a fresh install until it breaks up again. Maybe Linux is not good for beginners working full time? Maybe we should do something like that Cisco course that teaches you the basic commands?
I don’t know what average people could do to break their system, considering nowadays, it is practically impossible to break anything if you are using Software Management tool your Distro gave. I don’t say I don’t believe you. Something could break. But I suppose you are trying to do something that average Joes would not attempt.
I installed Linux on my coworkers, friends and families, and nothing break. Heck, I even gave my friend Arch Linux. I told them to only install thing from the Store and never touch command line without talking to me first. It’s been 6 months.
Linux for average people is been there. It’s ready. OnlyOffice is just like Ms. Office but Open Source. If you are willing to learn, LibreOffice is far better than Ms. Office. Linux supports all browser. KdenLive and Krita work better in Linux. GNOME is way easier to navigate than Windows, with superior gesture and beauty Windows could only dream of.
Windows has its perk, but saying Linux is hard is no longer true.
Yeah, but let’s try to install graphic drivers and everything starts to break down. And without them performance is just shit.
Are you using the driver supported by your distro? I’m not Nvidia user, but I have fair share of installing Nvidia drivers on Linux. As long as you don’t stray from driver the distro gave you, I never have problem. Literally not once.
And if you are trying to install AMD or Intel proprietary driver. Why? Just…, why?
I upgraded Ubuntu 20 LTS to Ubuntu 22 LTS in place and it broke everything including the Wifi drivers. Left with a black command line with no Internet, so I just wiped the drive
Once everything is set up, linux is easy. But… that installation process can still go very wrong. eg. The last install I did was Ubuntu 22.04. The version of systemd that shipped with it had a bug that caused the system not to boot. Replacing systemd with a working version fixed that issue. Then it turns out that 5 of the graphics card driver’s dependances were held back (something recent that Ubuntu does, I forget why) so the driver didnt work. Force installing the dependancies (drop to root before KDE started) fixed that.
So yeah if you set things up for someone of course its going to be easy to use. It SHOULD be easy to use after 30 years of development. But that initial setup process is often not user friendly.
This is simply not true in my experience. Basically everyone I know has to deal with all kinds of shit when installing Linux. Broken graphics drivers, random freezes, the touchpad disabling after closing the laptop, wifi not working, etc. There’s always something. Now I don’t mind fixing that, because I enjoy Linux more despide all of these issues. Andost of my friends manage to solve it as well because they’re programmers like me. But the average person might not be able to solve it and will feel like they’re constantly interacting with a broken system.