this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2024
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LOL it absolutely is not. Not even close.
In what way is it not? It has a desktop, a browser, free app for a word processor. For the CASUAL user it's fine. Just don't go into the terminal, like you wouldn't for the command prompt.
Hardware compatibility. I have one machine that won't boot any Linux installer at all. Another with constant gpu driver problems. Another where Bluetooth doesn't work at all. Another where wifi firmware crashes all the time. It never ends.
Hell, even if you do go into the command prompt it's pretty easy if you're on something Debian based, apt is really easy to get a hang of.
"Why does my .docx document look all mess up on my computer?"
I can open .docx just fine with LibreOffice.
Bro I actively challenge you to install Mint and have problems with it. It's nearly impossible. Worst case you'll need to wineskin some niche Windows-only game or program, but honestly even that isn't necessary all that often in my experience. You're going to have a no-stress install finished in a quarter the time that a windows install would be, and a robust OS that apes the windows environment to such a degree that average non-technical users won't have any idea they're even using Linux.
Barring some sort of hardware incompatibility that I haven't experienced personally, I've installed Mint on around a half dozen machines in the past several years and have yet to recieve a complaint from the end users. It just works.
Seriously. I'm pretty sure my housemate hasn't noticed the difference between Mint and Windows. At least they haven't asked me to help them with anything in over a month, and they would have, if they needed help.
I’ve been daily driving Mint at work for a few months and I love it. It was painless to install, and I like all the GUI/DE stuff better than windows. It also has better multi-monitor support than when I boot into windows.
But it’s still Linux so all the techy development shit works great too. I’m always in the terminal, etc.
Had some windows users loving the Cinnamon DE on Mint. They managed to get right into it straight away. Plus, on most Linux distros they come with easy to use package managers. And you can still get deb or rpm packages that can be used to install applications just like a windows installer exe.
the problem is always hardware incompatibility.
Mint installer does not boot on any machine I have.
I acquired an ewaste laptop with a 5+ year old Celeron, 4GM of RAM and a spinning rust drive. I tossed mint on there after fighting with Windows update to try to apply 3 years worth of updates and while the installer took 2 hours to complete, it actually is a bit more usable and once it's booted it's amusingly chirpy with random slowdowns whenever it has to hit the disc for data.
I might set it up as my daughter's first computer. She's getting to that age already so it's about time to do it
My mother and aunt picked up on it just fine, they're actually enjoying it more because there aren't full screen ads that confuse them and it made their computers faster.
Tell me you haven't used Linux recently without telling me you haven't used Linux recently.
I use it every day across many machines. Still continue to have serious hardware compatibility problems with a wide range of devices. It's extremely frustrating.
I realize not everyone's experience is the same, but it can still be a really bad time for some people. Maybe the same can be said about Windows too but I still think it's not as bad.
Remember, hardware incompatibilities is very often the issue because we don't have many users so many don't care about Linux
The more people use Linux the more drivers will come. The better hardware will work