Linux desktop appreciation post

I recently had to use windows for stuff and after a year of using Linux, it made me realise how janky windows is in comparison. Even on a top spec pc unminimized (or resized) windows flash white before their contents appear. Super-d to minimize/maximize doesn't bring all windows back up or in the same order. And these are greatly amplified when the computer isn't that powerful, so much so that you can see individual regions of some programs render one by one. In addition, moving the kde connect window sometimes made the screen stutter and flicker (???) and at some point my mouse stopped working (touchpad was fine), I tried reinstalling drivers and stuff but ultimately I had to reboot for it to work again.

Brings back memories of my laptop loudly booting up in the middle of the night for no apparent cause or reason and mouse cursor going invisible upon random boots that made me save a file in the middle of the desktop about how to fix it.

It's incredible how Linux is both free and a more stable experience, even as a nvidia+wayland user.

SaltyIceteaMaker ,
@SaltyIceteaMaker@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

Well linux can be janky too, my arch install for example feels like it's held together by ductape and some silly string. It does work tho! for now

jerrythegenius ,
@jerrythegenius@lemmy.world avatar

Ah yes but is it fast, minimal, and bloat-free?

polskilumalo ,
@polskilumalo@lemmygrad.ml avatar

If it isn't Plan9, then the answer is of course "No".

SaltyIceteaMaker ,
@SaltyIceteaMaker@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

Fast? Yeah it's Linux you gotta try to make it slow

Minimal? Only optically

Bloatfree? Hell no. That's like the main reason of my problems

Well technically it's not really bloat cause i need all that

danielfgom ,
@danielfgom@lemmy.world avatar

Yes indeed. I used to work in IT but due to a change in my life I'm doing something else now. Which means I only use Linux at home and only see Windows when I need to print. I keep Win10 in a VM, disconnected from the net, just to print. Which is rare.

But I remember well how crap Windows is, even on good hardware. The issues I had with Surface laptops at work was painful. I stopped ordering those for management because I'm the one who had to fix the issue they inevitably had. And that's MS' own hardware.

Even powerful graphics orientated HP machines would need regular rebooting to fix freezing issues on Win10.

Meanwhile the few Win7 and XP machines we had still in use, ran just fine, even though the hardware was 10+ years old ...

I'm on Linux Mint Debian Edition on a Mac Mini and it runs flawlessly.

Linux is really great, considering it's free of charge, and I wouldn't ever voluntarily run Windows again.

pingveno ,

I love that with Linux and somewhat older/underpowered computers, I can always find some software that makes it work. Things might take longer and I might have to budget myself with browser tabs a bit, but it is doable.

possiblylinux127 ,
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

It runs well on new hardware too

luves2spooge ,

Let's not pretend Linux isn't without its own jank. Currently broken on my install

  • importing open vpn certificates
  • USB file transfers
  • after monitors time out and go to sleep resolution, refresh rate and screen positioning resets
  • sometimes fails to go to sleep
  • have to change /proc/acpi/wakeup after every boot or the nvme ssd immediately wakes the system up from sleep
  • Chrome can't update

I know I'll get down voted for saying this because lemmy is a Linux circlejerk. But if we want Linux to proliferate we can't keep ignoring its problems. And sure, if I could be bothered I could probably fix most of these things with enough time. But I don't want to spend my limited free time fixing stuff that really should just work out of the box

CaptDust ,

Mate, your gonna get downvoted because these absolutely aren't universal problems lol. Chrome can't update? USB file transfers are broken? Ssd waking a system? These are not problems I've experienced in years of Linux distros across a rainbow of hardware..

luves2spooge , (edited )

Ssd wake is a bios issue. Monitor issue has happened on every distro I've tried. Vpn cert import is a distro issue as its been fine in other distros. Idk what's going on with chrome. It's not bothered me enough to look into yet. When I do have to use windows there are non of these issues.

BCsven ,

You are saying these like it is every Linux OS. Mine has been good, even hibernate and nVidia work great when others complain about this stuff.

luves2spooge ,

I've been dailying Linux for 6 or 7 years with a variety of hardware configurations and there's always been something that's broken or not working correctly

BCsven ,

Have you tried OpenSUSE? I have been running since 2017...everything is working, all distro upgrades have been fine. Either I'm super lucky or SUSE/OpenSUSE has things figured out

possiblylinux127 ,
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

It sounds like you need to jump over to !linuxquestions (disclaimer: I'm the mod)

I'm going to try to respond to each of your bullet points. (I don't know everthing)

  • This should theoretically be easy to setup. I found a old post for your reference. https://superuser.com/questions/271740/how-to-set-up-vpn-connection-with-p12-and-ovpn-file You should be able to import keys via your desktop settings but if you can't do it via the command line
  • I don't know why USB transfers wouldn't work. I need more information.
  • For your sleep in display issues I need logs. I can't help you without more information. If your on Nvidia it is probably Nvidia
  • Chrome shouldn't be updating. You should use your package manager (either flatpak or native)
luves2spooge ,

Thanks for trying to help. I have already managed to import the ovpn certs using the CLI. It's just the Gnome import wizard that was not working. I suspect one of my monitors is incorrectly reporting its native resolution and refresh rate as its an issue that occurrs with both nvidia and AMD gpus. I'm on vacation now but I'll visit linuxquestions when I'm back because it's a really annoying issue lol.

ikidd ,
@ikidd@lemmy.world avatar

After well over a decade since I had to regularly use Windows, I can't last 5 minutes before I'm in a lathered up rage.

survivalmachine ,

I love Linux, but you got some weird shit going on with your PC. I've got 3 4K monitors hooked up to a moderate-spec PC (Ryzen 9 3900X, 64GB RAM, RTX 3060 12GB) and I never saw white flashes when adjusting windows. Also it only rebooted when I told it to and never made much noise (quiet fans and all solid-state storage). Can't say I ever used the super-D thing intentionally (I launched programs from the start menu, never used desktop shortcuts).

I run Linux now because it's sick as tits and it's the principle of the thing, but windows has been pretty fuckin' rock-solid since 10. Shit, I had more graphical instability with Linux a few months ago, but that's just because I insist on using Wayland, and Nvidia drivers had a rough year last year.

Lojcs OP ,

I guess experiences vary. My laptop is a quite old system so the problems are more apparent but as I said they exist in modern hardware too. I'll try to record tomorrow to show what I mean.

I never had my laptop reboot on its own neither thankfully. Although forgot to mention the overhead windows has for seemingly no benefit. It constantly used 20% ish of the laptop's cpu. And search indexer claiming external drives as its own and preventing ejection..

BCsven ,

I have a worstation Zbook, not newest but very good specs. The problem with Windows is it is inconsistent. Sometimes things go well, and sometimes like OP mentioned I open a folder in file explorer and i get a white window while Windows figures out if it wants to show me files in that folder.

Sometimes I unzip an archive and no folder or files showup, even after a refresh, so I try the unzip again and it tells me thr files/folder already exists LOL.

When I add a network share to a mapped drive letter in the command prompt it shows up fine in the command line for use, but does not update network mapped drives in File Explorer. Last Year this worked 100% fine...so some update killed whatever update process should happen.

I could go on, but I think you would get bored. And before people say "it must be your machine" I also run another brand new workstation managed by a corporation. Many weird issues there also.

Lojcs OP ,

https://files.catbox.moe/ytar81.webm

Here are depictions of (in order):
Resized window going white before it's contents resize
Window tiling suggestions only animating right side of the screen
Windows rendering one by one after super+d
The kdeconnect stuttering I mentioned happening with passmark. Not sure if it's visible in the video, but was very noticeable in person and also made the display brightness fluctuate. (This is probably a problem specific to my install/configuration as it didn't used to happen in the previous install)

cyborganism ,

Win 10 or Win 11?
Win 10 works great for me, but Win 11 is a fucking nightmare.

Lojcs OP ,

10

Hestia ,

I game with friends online, so I've always had windows on a second drive. Compatibility has gotten so good though that it's actually kinda rare that I even need to boot windows anymore. It's better than ever to be a gamer on Linux.

jaykay ,
@jaykay@lemmy.zip avatar

Unless you want to play games with anticheat (thanks Riot) (:

JRepin ,
@JRepin@lemmy.ml avatar

Yeah it is way to often we forget how good we have it on GNU/Linux. I also had to work a lot with the two proprietary OSes a lot during the past year or so at work where our software is cross-platform so I had to test it everywhere. Oh and boy the closed proprietary options are even worse then I remember them from 5+ years ago. So dumbed down so much spyware. One is also very bloated and don't get me started how hard it is to properly support them when programming and it is so hard to debug when something goes wrong. Just terrible experience for things I take for granted while using GNU/Linux every day.

So yeah thanks to all people developing libre and opensource software and GNU/Linux especially, just love it how it gives me the choice of which desktop to use, or if I do not want to use GUI desktop at all, thanks for keeping everything deep down event to the center of the kernel accessible, and just hidden behind a very nice GUI desktop, thanks for being so open it is much easier to see things when they go wrong and see where it went wrong and is so much easier to debug. Thanks for keeping and strengthening our 4 essential freedoms and for actually caring about our privacy instead of just bullshiting and talking like you care. And thank you for not adding more stupid corporate bloat into your OS and apps. You are the real unsung heroes of the digital world, unlike this GAFAM/BigTech exploitative mafia making their products ever more closed and shitty in general just to exploit you more.

possiblylinux127 ,
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

I'll drink to that! 🍻

TCB13 ,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

It’s incredible how Linux is both free and a more stable experience, even as a nvidia+wayland user.

Yes, I agree with you generally speaking until... I've to use MS Office and the alternatives aren't up to it when it comes to collaboration with other MS Office users. Same goes for Adobe and Autodesk.

Lojcs OP ,

This totally. Every oss office suite I've tried is either incompatible, glitchy or has weird workflow for some things. But ms office is available on the web for free so it doesn't bother me

TCB13 ,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

But ms office is available on the web for free so it doesn’t bother me

True, but that doesn't work for everyone as online MS Office has limitations.

Lettuceeatlettuce ,
@Lettuceeatlettuce@lemmy.ml avatar

Been using OnlyOffice for years in multiple companies, haven't had any problems. Word, Excel, PowerPoint presentations, no issues at all collaborating with other MS Office users.

And if you must have 100% MS apps, just use the browser-based apps. My current company is all Microsoft, I just do everything through the browser on my Debian 12 system. Teams, Email, SharePoint, Onedrive, etc. No issues whatsoever.

TCB13 ,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

And if you must have 100% MS apps, just use the browser-based apps.

True, but that doesn’t work for everyone as online MS Office has limitations.

ikidd ,
@ikidd@lemmy.world avatar

WPS Office isn't FOSS, but I've never had any sort of compatibility issues with what it produces. And it's UI is way better than LO or Only.

sturlabragason ,

Yeah I've been using Gnome exclusively for about 3 years. Every time I help someone with their Windows desktop I'm always as surprised with the performance and general bad UX. Why is something hidden behind a 3rd hidden menu? Billions are being paid in licensing for this.

Shame.

BCsven ,

After using GNOME, i absolutely hate how Windows 10 settings are setup. Random places, random UI, some hard to get to unless you already know what you want, some greyed out by an option in a totally different UI dialog. It is a goddamn mess. Windows 7 had it figured out in the central Control Panel

possiblylinux127 ,
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

The performance is what surprises me. I had someone complaining about a computer being slow so I offered to reinstall Windows.

Moral to the story is Windows is slow. I even had to try to explain why Nortan is generally not advisable. (They were paying a lot of money for it)

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • linux@lemmy.ml
  • random
  • All magazines
    •