Comment by zhte415 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by zhte415 | Hacker News Reader

On reflecting the writer's use-case, and my own use-cases for enjoying both Linux (Ubuntu, but Gnome3 no Unity) and Windows:

I've used Linux for 15 years. It truly was a pain getting things like ADSL modems (wired) connecting. But that was 15 years ago and not the point of this post.

I use Linux at home -

Gnome gives me no task-bar, or a highly customisable one if I want that. I'm focused in the application that I'm in. The UI supports the *NIX philosophy that one app does one app's job well, and if more need to be binded together, that's OK too. I feel peaceful in Linux. Terminal is running and that's an alt-tab away. Mouse to the top-left gives me other apps, though only ones I regularly find useful. Mint might not give the same.

Linux, or my Linux setup, allows me focus.

I use Windows at work -

Windows has a taskbar. Everything is in the Windows menu. The taskbar can be hidden but mouse-over activates it, and the Windows menu can be customised, but it still feels there as a distraction. Office is an outstanding piece of software today; Outlook: I used to receive 400+ email per day, and know people that get 2000+ everyday too - Outlook makes that almost manageable; Excel and Powerpoint are astoundingly good at their scope; Word, I transitioned to pmwiki (need for collaboration and flexibility); Sharepoint and AD integration... obviously this is a corporate environment.

Windows feels distracting. Adding a Linux sub-system doesn't change this UX (for me).

What works for me -

In a working environment I have Linux running on a VM and spend 60% of my time in this. At home I have a Windows VM running 20% when I want the best of Windows (which, for me, is Office). Not a gamer so no input there.

Choose the most comfortable tool for the job. YMMV.

Exactly. I've used all 3 major OSs and when we get into these discussions, you have to look at how each has its own pain points to be fair. Overall, Linux is a clear win for me. But YMMV, indeed.

It's a big problem though that when pain points are brought up the response is often to just point at one of the other OSs's pain points and dismiss the criticism. Unfortunately we can do very little to make Windows or MacOS better other than complain to the deaf ears of the companies that own them, but theoretically Linux Desktop could be better if complaints weren't simply dismissed in this fashion.

Yeah, I agree.

I've really taken the time to look at the pros and cons of each, but even a bundled list like that would likely not be useful to anyone else.

But at least I can fix the flaws I see on Linux (often).

Sure, maybe, if you have the time and expertise to fix those flaws. But if the community doesn't adopt your fixes then you're stuck maintaining them yourself forever.

Over the years I've seen several solutions to my personal gripes with Linux Desktop, and they are routinely ignored or rejected because the culture as a whole just doesn't seem to actually care about those problems, or doesn't even believe they are problems.

I haven't had the same experience. Which distros have you tried? Perhaps another would be a better fit technically or community-wise. I'd recommend Manjaro for a rolling release (no major reinstall every year), a focus on user-friendliness, a friendly community, as well as being based on Arch, which means the platinum-standard Arch Wiki is available as documentation for you.

I've tried many. The problems I have with the Linux Desktop are not solved by any of them, though Nitrux at least tries to deal with one, albeit poorly. This is because the problems I have are pretty much endemic to the thought process of people who use and develop for UNIX systems. Things like hardcoded paths, the weird file hierarchy (please don't try and "explain" it, I know how it works and the reasoning behind it, I just disagree with it), no separation between system and application, overly complex and convoluted abstractions, etc.

>a rolling release (no major reinstall every year)

In my experience, rolling release just break things more often.

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