Comment by numakerg | Hacker News Reader

Comment by numakerg | Hacker News Reader

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>Then I just got tired of having to Google obscure Linux issues, edit config files, and reboot all the time.

So is this the normal state of Linux then? Every few years I'll take some time to try and "learn Linux" by installing a distro and try to use it as part of my regular workflow. It's always been a never ending train of very specific and obscure, time consuming issues. My personal motto for Linux is "It Just Doesn't Work" (at least for desktop). Even basic stuff like Wi-Fi and the login screen often doesn't work correctly and requires more tweaking. Using MacOS, it's different and you have to get used to things. But it's not an bottomless pit of time sunk into fixing configurations. Windows isn't perfect, but at least I don't feel like I'm wasting my time.

To be fair I don't think Linux is bad (obviously or it wouldn't be widely used), just that those who like it, either enjoy solving these issues or started with it during a time when they could spare the effort, and so they built up enough experience for it to no longer be a chore.

>I did get one of those telemetry killer apps

Which one do you use?

> So is this the normal state of Linux then?

Yes. I would also say it's part of the fun for some people.

I used to be obsessive about optimizing my workflows using customizations that are only possible on FOSS nix systems, but eventually I got other hobbies. Now I just want my OS to disappear in the background and "just work".

> Which one do you use?*

https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10 (recommended by other HN users, but would be interested to know if anyone has any concerns about it)

I wish ShutUp10 was open source, considering it pokes around with the registry and system files.

Which is why I like Linux. I just don’t have to worry about telemetry at all.

Edit: Here’s a comparison of Windows 10 privacy tools. I wish there was one with a “yes” in all three columns.

https://www.ghacks.net/2015/08/14/comparison-of-windows-10-p...

I agree. It's not a great situation.

Honestly the telemetry is arguably better from a security perspective. We already trust Microsoft out of necessity, so what additional harm does the telemetry?

I don’t understand. Microsoft’s telemetry is very invasive from a privacy standpoint. How does it improve security?

I was trying to say that installing a closed-source program with admin privileges is technically a bigger security risk than allowing Microsoft's telemetry, and it's arguably a bigger privacy risk as well.

The truth is it varies, largely based on your personal setup.

Personally, I think the "mean tweaking time" of an average Linux is very low now. I spend almost no time forced to tweak things, except maybe a bit after installation. In concrete terms, for me it's usually a few hours of work spread out over the first 3 weeks. It might be 3-20 hours tops, but some of that might be setting up cool new fancy fun things rather than necessary configuration. From then on I rarely have to touch configs for years.

That being said, I do read of some people having really painful bugs that take forever to fix. You can mitigate this by using mainstream distros on well supported hardware. Ubuntu and Fedora are your best bets for stability.

A decade or more ago, tweaking and maintaining felt like a constant Sisyphean struggle. Now I can throw Ubuntu on a laptop and 90% of the time it's fine after installation.

>Even basic stuff like Wi-Fi and the login screen often doesn't work correctly and requires more tweaking.

I haven't had wifi troubles on Linux in over a decade. Nor any login screen issues. Maybe things are better now, or maybe you've had bad luck with the hardware you're using. Ultimately it boils down to your individual setup. I know how frustrating these issues can be. Anyways, good luck!

I bought a System 76 darter pro and wifi and printing and bluetooth and sleep and so on work equally well to my partner's macbook air. I probably sound like someone with stockholm syndrome for saying this, but there is only one tiny problem which doesn't bother me which is that the laptop randomly hard powers off in the middle of use 1-4 times per week. Since everything I do autosaves, meh.

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