Comment by 999900000999
1 month ago
This is the reason Windows is essentially free.
I believe once( this is an urban legend) a manufacturer in a middle income country considered going with Linux to save money and Microsoft flew out a sales rep next day to put a stop to it.
Microsoft likes it when you get a "deal" and buy a pro key for 10$. Whatever, you'll subscribe to half a dozen Microwave services ideally paying them 30$ to 40$ a month forever.
The last thing they want is you to try Linux.
However, I had the joy of watching multiple Linux desktop environments crash when I switched to my Bluetooth headphones.
Cinnamon and Budgie both crashed. No one knows why. I had to switch to Mate and then spend another 20 minutes trying to get it look ok.
No typical user wants to deal with this. They'd assume Linux doesn't work and move on.
Some mornings when I wake my laptop from sleep, my USB webcam doesn't work. No matter how many times I plug and unplug, no dice. Sometimes the wifi just refuses to connect to my network. Only a full reboot fixes things.
Sometimes, while I do things on a browser, I get a BSOD, no warning.
Some mornings, usually when I left important work open and half finished the night before, my computer decides to do an update and all my open windows, tabs, reference documents etc are gone, as if someone came and cleared my workbench mid project and now I need to set up all my shit again from scratch.
My personal laptop is a 10 year old POS thinkpad T-something with Linux Mint. Biggest issue is I forget to properly shut it down, and to plug it in every now and then, and the shot battery runs down. Admittedly, the bluetooth is sometimes a little iffy, but I've spent 0 effort trying to resolve it. I just open the lid, and my computer is ready for me. Boots up in an instant and always in the state I left it in (unless I let the battery run down).
My new, modern, high spec, high ram, high-res laptop is easily an order of magnitude more frustrating to use than my linux shitbox laptop.
I quit my job, and bought the laptop from the company. It's getting a wipe this weekend and some flavour of linux, and the wife is getting it as a belated christmas gift. She's due an upgrade, and I decided she's ready to move to linux now.
Windows tends to be a black box. It works or not. Your options to fix a bad Windows install are usually reinstalling or hoping the next update fixes it..
However, on average Windows has less issues with compatibility, particularly on newer hardware. I had a laptop that had a brand new chip, and I pre ordered it so it arrived before the Linux support did.
I could never get Linux to work correctly. It eventually failed for unrelated reasons.
You have to test Linux on your hardware the day you get it. Some laptops will never work with Linux. You can argue the hardware oems are to blame, but that doesn't fix anything.
I'm actually hoping to get a really cheap used Thinkpad soon and experiment with Nix.
>I believe once( this is an urban legend) a manufacturer in a middle income country considered going with Linux to save money and Microsoft flew out a sales rep next day to put a stop to it.
non urban legend: Munich migrated whole city (15K computers) to Linux saving millions. Microsoft moved their German HQ to Munich to win back the contract, and year later city announced removing linux and going back to windows.
I'm using Fedora with KDE Plasma, and at this point I can assure you that I run into more annoyances with Windows than Fedora
Linux has the reputation of being buggy and hard to fix, so some people don't put any effort in finding the solution, but windows has its fair share of issues too.
The problem is with Linux you have a bunch of different "fixes". I like Cinnamon. I've used desktop Linux for a long time. I have no idea how to fix this aside from switching to Mate.
You have almost unlimited permutations of different distros, kernels, etc. Which combination will work for you ?
No one knows. Will the next kernel update bring relief? I will say when you get a Linux system working, it's the most productive experience you can have. Microsoft isn't constantly begging for more money.
It's not like Windows hasn't had a slew of bullshit like this over the years. Especially around audio and peripherals. It still changes my default headphones every time I log in, doesn't recognise my standard audio interface, it's a crapshoot if my USB devices are all recognised every boot.
Was it the city government of Munich? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21497372
Yeah, but now we have AI to handhold people in troubleshooting Linux issues, so huzzah, the golden age is upon us.