this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2023
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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0:36 Gaming.
4:38 Microsoft Office.
5:31 Photoshop.
7:15 Ecosystem of Linux.
9:39 Hardware compatibility.
What games do you play so that nothing works? The only problems I had in over half a year with Linux and pretty much daily gaming are cyberpunk 2.0 (which is nvidias fault and already a lot better with 2.01) and the Xbox service in aoe2. Everything else works perfectly normal, from DOS games like Commander Keen and fate of Atlantis to MMOs like LOTRO and ESO to triple A games like Witcher 3 and Dark Souls 3. They all work perfectly fine and in >90% of cases out of the box, only sometimes do they need minor adjustments like a certain proton version or commands
Playstation also doesn't support PC or Xbox games. It's pretty clear what IS supported and its like 60% of steam games for PC along with a massive library of classic games via emulation. Excuse me while I switch between playing a switch game and a windows game and take a break to play a native game.
Most of what people do "for work" with office is crap out a presentation, word processor doc, or spreadsheet which all work fine in Libre Office. In fact for a lot of users the triviality of shared editing of google docs actually trumps every other feature that office has.
Most people's usage of an image editor is resizing and cropping. Only a tiny minority actually need a professional image editor like most people don't need a backhoe
Good hardware support is having good hardware to buy in every category not supporting literally every piece of hardware in existence. Smart people who use Linux buy Linux friendly hardware.
This is the problem with Linux in general. Such a huge portion of the user base are elitist pricks. "Well just buy the RIGHT hardware." Nah mate, I can't be arsed to buy a new motherboard with a wifi chip that's supported by this OS. I've already bought the audio interface. That scanner was a gift. The printer was a deal. It goes on.
Compatibility with old hardware and hardware support in general is fairly good and traditionally Linux has been a lightweight solution to re-use hardware that otherwise might end up as e-waste. This doesn't mean it supports everything nor does it mean continuing to buy random windows hardware and hope is a reasonable strategy nor is it a failure of the overall ecosystem if the hardware you yourself purchased isn't supported.
For instance when I discovered linux back in 2003 I tried Linux on my existing hardware it happily worked. Since I liked how it worked so my next computer was purchased with Linux in mind. If that machine hadn't worked well but I liked how the software worked I would have done the same thing.
Since people with working computers don't bitch much forums are full of people at Linux Computer 1 bitching about how it doesn't work as if not supporting that singular machine as if continuing to use Linux would require them to continually purchase random hardware based on what was on sale at walmart that week and rolling the dice
It's funny you mention printers. Printers that are a "deal" usually aren't. More often than not they are of poor quality with ridiculous printing costs. 80 dollars now 800 dollars of the next 5 years before it breaks down.
Instead for a few dollars more I got a laser with great per unit costs good reliability and I ensured compatibility through the magical and technical art of googling the model number and the word Linux. It took longer to remove the packaging than configuration and it works great but then it wasn't like I picked it out by 1 factor I had several parameters to satisfy so I narrowed down the entire range of options in 15 minutes of research for a device I'll probably be using for 10 years.
Laser/double sided printing/reasonable speed/scanner/linux support/affordable toner/ ethernet support/good resolution/price range.
Good hardware support doesn't mean every cheap piece of shit you find in the reject pile in walmart will work perfectly because the support of free labor to build that support isn't infinite. F
Lastly making memes with photoshop doesn't make one an "advanced" user and most "advanced" usage doesn't require photoshop specifically.
If you're too fucking stupid to know who the actual users of Photoshop are and why moving to Linux doesn't work for them, brother, you can fuck off.
yes the point is that this is constantly brought up as if Photoshop was a staple of everyday computer use that was a vital missing piece of making Linux "ready for the desktop" instead of a professional tool by its nature primarily used by a minority. Of course if you are an artist and use windows/mac software to make money you probably shouldn't bother with Linux but random bob kid who uses pirated photoshop to make memes can probably learn to make memes with gimp considering one can copy crop and put text on images fairly easy.
-Fuck you -Fuck you -Fuck you -Fuck you -Fuck you -Fuck you
"Fuck you" instead of anything useful or meaningful. Like trying to get help on a Linux forum.
You sound like someone who can't figure out their own problems and feel the need to attack the community because you don't understand.
You sound like the kind of imbecile that thinks "it's open source, fix it yourself!" is a valid response to anything.
😂
The first three boil down to, “If software that you need/want only develops for a specific OS, use that OS.”
It’s time we stop blaming linux for vendor choices.
Gaming: Only if you're playing one of the VERY few games that doesn't run in Linux yet, and that number continues to drop rapidly. There's plenty of tools out there to make games work well in Linux.
Office: For basic things, there's a million and one office suites that work in Linux and you can even use Office 365 Online if you really need that Microsoft Office experience/compatibility. This is only valid if you or your company need specific add-ons that don't have any equivalent in other office suites. My own employer uses these, so in that instance, yes, I do need MS Office for those. But from what I know, still not an entirely common thing, and you can still get by with Linux compatible office suites for most things.
Photoshop: I don't work with images, but from what I understand this one has some validity, comparing the tools available in Photoshop vs the GIMP or other drawing tools. But that's just if you're doing some really advanced image editing.
Ecosystem: if this is just referring to the fact that most people don't use Linux, there are plenty of FOSS programs that work in both Windows and Linux and very few common file types that aren't mutually compatible.
Hardware: another instance that has greatly improved over time, and there hasn't been anything in years that I haven't had "just work" by plugging it in. If the proprietary drivers don't install, there's probably an open source driver out there to get your hardware running. Will admit that in some instances features may be more limited, depending on what the drivers will be able to do, but as I mentioned that's really getting better almost daily.
You don't have to be doing advanced work to notice the difference between GIMP and Photoshop. Working in GIMP is painful. Working in Photoshop is also painful, but at least you know your files will work with everyone else.
Try some audio hardware. Linux is still a fucking wasteland when it comes to that.
Random? Small? Niche? Nah, just an entire global professional industry and hundreds of millions of hobbyists across every walk of life around the world. Nothing important there.
Here's a 19 minute video trying to explain the brainfuck of stupid that is the Linux sound landscape: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxEXMHcwtlI
Is that the sound of goalposts being moved in the background?
@hiddengoat @original_reader @LastYearsPumpkin @Grangle1 @Xatolos yikes. Troll much?
Pipewire fixes a lot of issues and is a huge improvement. The best part of OSS and Linux is its the upstart, the underdog, the do-it-for-the-love, the chronically underfunded, hacker os. You’ll find things not as polished as the proprietary alternatives but that’s okay. There’s far more to enjoy: auditable code, open to contributions, infinitely customizable
Oh honey, you'll know when I'm trolling.
Pipewire sucks less. It still does not make hardware work properly.
I have no use for underdogs when it comes to getting shit done. Being less polished is not okay when it comes to getting shit done. I do not give a shit about auditing code when what I want to do is record a song. I do not give a shit about contributing code to literally everything I ever open because precious few pieces of software are actually feature-complete. Trying to push "it's half-assed and broken" as a positive is a new level of Linux evangelist gaslighting I haven't seen and I've been around for a whiiiiiiile.
"Sure, only of your hardware works and the half that does has latency issues or can't communicate with more than one piece of software and also the software can't really communicate with itself very well BUT AT LEAST WE HAVE THEMES!"
I really REALLY would like Linux to suck less ass at audio but more than two decades of trying to get any developers to listen to someone that actively makes music rather than software has proven completely fruitless. At a certain point you realize that devs are there to wank their egos, not produce usable software. At that point you shrug and buy a Mac. Then you plug in almost any piece of musical gear made in the past four decades and holy shit it actually works because MacOS has one sound system that everyone uses because it isn't shit.
But yeah, somehow having three or four incompatible systems is totally better...
Well good thing it's all open source, feel free to get in there and fix your problems with your audio equipment. Something makes me think you'd rather complain about it on the internet than fix anything though.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://www.piped.video/watch?v=HxEXMHcwtlI
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
A fraction of 1% of Windows users use Photoshop. 99.9% of users just crop and resize
Which is utterly fucking irrelevant to the conversation.
Gaming... yeah it's not like there's a dedicated portable hardware device for gaming that runs on Linux by default.
MS Office, well it's literally a Microsoft product so yeah, though O365 does work.
Photoshop I haven't tried in years to run on Linux but I wish haven't bothered with Photoshop in years period so...
He does counter with Gimp tbf.
If you use the ecosystem of Linux you shouldn't use Linux? Does that mean if you're locked into a different ecosystem it may be harder?