I’m a life-long Windows user who nowdays has a MacBook as a daily driver and a gaming PC running Linux. I consider myself somewhat tech savvy but holy fuck Linux just makes me want to tear my head off. I just spent 45 minutes trying to install Standard Notes “the right way” and in the end I just gave up and downloaded it from the Ubuntu store instead. Error, you need to add this repository. Error, you need to enable this feature. Error, you need to install this tool first which you can use to install another tool and that tool helps you fix the issue preventing you to solve the first issue etc. I honestly can’t even imagine how you could make this any more difficult.
I guess Linux is like welding; it’s great when someone sets the welder up for you and you just press the trigger and start welding but you’re up for some absolute misery trying to figure that out on your own.
Also, a huge credit to chatGPT. I can just take picture of my terminal window and it gives me step-by-step instructions on how to troubleshoot most issues I’ve had. I’d be at complete loss without it.
I have the opposite experience. Last time I tried Linux for daily desktop use was ten years ago and it was so fickle and cumbersome that I went back to Windows and terminals and x-server on virtual machines for my dev needs. A few weeks ago I got a new convertible laptop, hated Windows 11 with passion enough to do the plunge again, prepared to be cursing that shit ain’t up to shit. But… It just worked. Hardware support out of the box. Some quirks obviously but nothing deal breaking. I’m used to containerization on servers and I’ll be damned but Flatpaks are effing awesome. Even Windows games run perfectly. It. Just. Works. I’m almost expecting the entire thing to literally blow up in my face with shards of hope and OLED panel because, you know, Linux desktop experiences of the past. Fingers crossed. Maybe this is the future after all.
Edit: Fedora KDE on a HP Envy x360 15"
Somehow Minecraft runs better on a (well, not so-)crappy government provided laptop I have linux installed on, vs a £1k+ laptop with an RTX 2060
I understoon 30% of the terms used in this comment. May explain why your experience with Linux differs from mine.
Short version is that I expected nerd skills to be required but I was surprised that shit just worked, even my network printer. I even preferred the graphical tools to configure the system and install software instead of the command line. Desktop on Linux has come a really long way.
“Look, I don’t know what an engine is, or a transmission for that matter, but it’s the manufacturer’s fault I don’t know how to drive this car”