Surprising to myself, I have been a Linux user for over 12 years…

Through the many years I have bounced between and tried Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, Arch, Parrot OS, Linux Mint, Manjaro. I have tried Gnome, Cinnamon, XFCE, KDE, Mate, Deepin. And more. I have 3 computers, all using a Linux distro right now.

I love the idea of Linux - free, free as in freedom, free of telemetry. And well, I thought I would never entertain the idea of switching, here I am today, strongly considering Mac OS.

Lately, I have become extremely frustrated and tired of dealing with little bugs, crashes, versions, and dependencies. Not to mention notable UI issues. It is starting to hamper my productivity when working.

Right now I am using Ubuntu and I cannot drag and drop into VS Code from Nautilus, I can’t drag and drop from the default archive manager, I am experiencing screen tearing issues, one piece of software I use crashes often but not Debian and vice versa, I have to manually reset screen brightness when it dims after timeout, etc. I have experienced issues of similar nature across all distros I have used and I am becoming burnt out.

I think part of the issue is that there is a huge variety of Linux distros, different combinations of kernels, desktop environments, window managers, package managers, file managers, network managers, etc… Not to mention devices. There is too many variables, and too many projects to maintain.

Sorry for the rant, I have seen many similar posts, but I have been using Linux for over 12 years, powering through, ignoring and working around these issues and I am pretty fed up.

While I am conflicted, I am thinking Mac OS looks like a good middle ground.

Any suggestions? What has been the most stable distro and compatible for you?

  • klangcola@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    I’m actually having the opposite experience (for the most part). All the little papercuts of yesteryear are almost completely gone, and it’s only looking better on the horizon. Of course your mileage may vary depending on use case and hardware…

    Some things of the top of my head:

    • Flatpak replacing 3rd party PPAs. Brand new software without dependency hell or breaking system packages? Yes please
    • Snaps and AppImages too
    • XDG Portals standards, making snaps and flatpaks play nice with confinement
    • Audio and Bluetooth? It “just works” now
    • Pipewire
    • Even gaming works really well now, with Proton, DXVK etc
    • AMD and Intel drivers baked in to the kernel
    • Wayland finally being production ready for many use-cases, and being adopted as the default, fixing so many of the ancient X11 issues (screen tearing, multiple displays with different scaling, refresh rate, fractional scaling) ( cries in Nvidia )
    • Nvidia finally changing their mind so Wayland on Nvidia can be a thing (I can’t wait 😊)
    • KDE Connect / gsConnect phone integration
    • Screensharing on Wayland even on legacy X11 apps becoming a thing through the new screensharing Portal

    The only problem I’ve had recently is Ubuntu’s forced snapification, and snap being very rough around the edges for Desktop apps (ahem drag’drop)

  • neuromante@feddit.it
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    1 year ago

    Always choose what’s right for your work. You can still keep your Linux distro for the less relevant tasks and skip to macOS for the main productivity job. It’s not a matter of religion

  • heliumlake@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    macOS is still Unix, so you’ll find yourself somewhat at home in the terminal.

    Honestly, if you’re distro hopping a lot, find one that supports your hardware well out of the box with a desktop environment that suits you and works and stick with it. Futzing around with everything can definitely make it more frustrating.

    I’ll echo others’ comments and say that operating systems are tools. Find the one that works for the job. If I’m doing audio production, macOS wins for me. If I’m gaming, I have a Windows install. If I’m doing anything else, Linux is my preferred environment. Don’t overthink it, go with what works for what you need!

  • bbbhltz@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    Right now I am using Ubuntu and I cannot drag and drop into VS Code from Nautilus, I can’t drag and drop from the default archive manager,

    anything from Snap or Flatpak in there?

    If you can afford it, or even give Mac a test run, it might be worth it for your mental health. Health trumps everything and if your are honestly burnt out and you feel like it could be linked to your operating system, it is worth trying a change.

  • thisfro@slrpnk.net
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    1 year ago

    I use Linux, MacOS and Windows more or less parallel. Each has its quirks and benefits, but I would say Windows is the worst. MacOS looks very clean at forst glance, but has some weird things that appear randomly and seem to get worse with every update. On Linux it depends a lot on how you set up your system, my Fedora with mostly flatpaks works really well, but there are UI inconsistencies all over the place and maybe you need to look for a workaroubd from time to time.

    • Malin@omg.qa
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      1 year ago

      +1 all my servers run Linux or FreeBSD, I use macOS as desktop (most of the stuff is neat and out of the box and it uses less resources) and I use Windows while working with my customers and some of their servers. I would definitely not choose Linux for desktop (I tried and gave up), but it is great for the servers.

  • mrmanager@lemmy.today
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    1 year ago

    Yup Im like you, been using Linux since I was a kid basically. Probably for 20 years now I guess.

    For me, its just screen sharing that is a major annoyance. This is something that is so annoying when it doesnt work, and quite embarrassing as well.

    I have had periods when my Linux machine has been the most stable in the team. Mac users had constant problems with bluetooth issues and other bugs.

    Currenly im the one having the most issues though, and my collegues with macs dont have any major issues.

    So yep, its frustrating. But i really love linux and when I have used mac, I stopped being interested in open source and technology. I dont want to become that guy who just waits for the next Apple conference for exciting news. I enjoy new Gnome and KDE releases and reading about Linux features very, very much.

    But yes, its not without its annoyances to run Linux.

    • squarewagon@lemmy.fmhy.mlOP
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      1 year ago

      I will never stop using Linux, special place in my heart. But for my primary work machine and daily driver, I need something that is just going to work.

      • mrmanager@lemmy.today
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        1 year ago

        Yeah i can completely understand that. Its really frustrating when you are trying to get a work related task done in time, and your machine gives you issues.

  • 🧟‍♂️ Cadaver@lemmy.one
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    1 year ago

    MacOS is a good middleground and everything blends it smoothly.

    But tbh Ubuntu has gone south lately and GNOME has always had troubles with apps interoperability.

    I find it easier to use Plasma because I can actually drag and drop to another app. But it’s not perfect either.

    Anyways, be it MacOS, Linux or windows the choice is yours. You should switch to something that feels good to you. Plus, on macOS you still have a decent terminal, zsh, etc.

    Be free.

  • Cora@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’ve been using various Linux distros since Ubuntu 8.10 came out, when I was back in high school.

    Ever since I got my iPad mini though, my computer usage has honestly kind of dropped off. I have a ThinkPad X13s, and I’m waiting on it to get better Linux support (since is has a Snapdragon ARM processor). Until then, it’s currently running Windows 11, and it’s fine. Not the greatest thing in the world, but it works for the things I need it to do, and that’s what’s important to me as I get older.

    Once it gets better Linux kernel support, I may install a Linux distro, but at the end of the day 90% of what I do on my personal machines is just browsing the web and content consumption. I’m a Windows SysAdmin at work and tinker plenty. When I make it home, I end up just chilling and reading or watching something interesting.

  • Locrin@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Weird. I can drag and drop just fine. Are you using VScode from a snap or the DEB straight from https://code.visualstudio.com/

    If it is frome the Software store then it is a SNAP and the application is now allowed to work that way. Perhaps the SNAP can see your Documents folder, but not your Downloads folder as an example. While annoying this is a security feature of SNAPS.

  • themobyone@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I’m new to daily driving Linux. I’ve dabbled with Linux for years, but never used it that much until I installed it on a new m.2 drive on my main PC. Been using Arch for a little over 1 month now.

    I can understand your tired of tinkering, I came from windows where I was tired of fighting the OS to do what I want. So in that regard I use the same “energy” but instead of fighting windows I’m learning and getting better and building and customizing my Linux install exactly how I like it.

    As for other suggestions I don’t mind macOS, but their hardware screams planned obsolescence. they charge obscene amounts for a few gigabytes extra of SSD. I checked just now and they charge 259euro in my country to go from 256GB to 512GB. And I bought 2TB Samsung 980 pro NVME m.2 drive for 120euro a month ago.

    Windows is probably the worst OS, but you can install software that rips out all the built in spyware. And you get keys around the web for cheap. This way you can keep your PC, and the next time you get a new PC you can buy one you are reasonably certain will work well on Linux.

    • squarewagon@lemmy.fmhy.mlOP
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      1 year ago

      Yeah the telemetry in M$ Windows is what is stopping me. I have no need for Windows, I don’t play many games. I do agree with the Apple hardware argument, I am thinking of doing a hackintosh to test the waters.

  • mbirth@feddit.uk
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    1 year ago

    I’ve been a Ubuntu user for 12 years. Got bored. Turned my hp laptop into a Hackintosh. Got hooked on macOS and all the convenience the Apple ecosystem has to offer (copy on iPhone, paste on macOS; AirPods automatically switching to whatever device started to play audio; drag&drop works everywhere in exactly the way you’d expect; etc. etc.) Also with brew.sh you can install some commandline tools and use the Terminal almost the same as with Linux. Python and bash scripts work, there’s FUSE available, etc.

    And the best: it all “just works”. There’s the odd issue after a major macOS update, but nothing critical.

  • Communist@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    You should really try a distro that’s actually up to date instead of ubuntu or debian, things are changing rapidly because of wayland, and you might not have a good experience on stable distros until the big transition is done.

  • Silki@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    It’s called F R A G M E N T A T I O N. Wasted thousands of hours despite having weaker manpower…

  • madeindjs@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    I use Mac OS for work and Debian for my personal stuffs. Both have pro and cons.

    On Debian. bugs happens, but not that much. But you are right, some stuffs are not simple as it should be, like configuring my wide screen display need to enter some CLI commands.

    On the other hand, for Mac OS, everything work out of the box until you have a special need. I have those in mind:

    • you need to install homebrew as package manager. Debian/Ubuntu have apt which basically works for (almost) everything out of the box
    • can’t play my FLAC files using iTunes, so I need to buy a paid software or do some research. On Linux, Rhythmbox works pretty well out of the box. I currently use mpv using CLI, I didn’t find a better alternative
    • the AZERTY keyboard layout doesn’t work well with “not apple” keyboard. I needed to install an extra software to do this
    • some pieces of software don’t work as good as Linux (Inkscape, Libreoffice, etc…)
    • Docker is not as good as it is for Linux
    • OpenVPN is not integrated as the Desktop as Gnome do
  • Sinfaen@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    Been trying out Linux mint recently and I haven’t had any significant issues with it yet. I do miss some of the the tiling options that I get with windows though. I’ve been gaming with the steam deck, though I keep around a windows 11 desktop with WSL2 for windows only workflows and some games.

    Whenever there’s an issue I just RDP into the other machine for what I need, haven’t had anything game breaking for me yet

    • bluebarcode@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I second Mint with XFCE. I have been using it for a decade and since I’m family tech support guy I installed it on all the PCs I have to support including some used for watching TV and YouTube high end Thinkpads, cheap Laptops used for school. It stays out of my way and just works. Of course there are issues here and there, but it was most solid distro for me. The ease of upgrade is stunning, dealing with Ubuntu servers an upgrade is almost always a new install and data migration, with Mint upgrading feels easy and fun.