It seems like the more interested I get in Linux, the less appealing it becomes. The community seems to have no fucking clue what they’re talking about, because everyone is just constantly talking over each other and contradicting themselves! I have spent so much time reading about Linux and distros and such to prepare for my eventual switch, but after all that I’m starting to question if I even want to make the switch. Here’s a few of the things I have read over and over, that confuse me to no end:
- It doesn’t matter what distro you use, but also you absolutely should not use that one!! Use that one it’s much better trust me!
- Gaming is good on Linux now, but also it’s super shit and you should keep windows if you want to game
- Sure you can use Nvidia cards, but also no you can’t because nothing will work with them
- Just dual boot if you’re not sure, but also no don’t dual boot because windows will erase your shit if you do
- Trust me bro Linux is super easy to learn, also here’s 14 different specific terms you’ll have to Google, but even then you’ll barely understand them
- Everything will work out of the box, but also you can’t use that thing with that other thing without configuring that other thing first but that’ll break that thing which needed that thing […]
I’m slightly exaggerating and I may get downvoted but I needed to vent. It honestly sometimes seems like Linux diehards are intentionally hiding some of its major pitfalls in order to “convert” more people to their side.
I know windows sucks and that’s why I want to switch, but at least when you have a windows question there’s a concrete answer, not a bunch of nerds yelling out incoherent technobabble-sounding answers that all contradict each other.
And for fucks sake please type the whole words when speaking to beginners. How am I supposed to know what a DE, a VM, a CLI, a WM, PM, or all that other stuff is?
Linux is the “least welcoming, yet most aggressively butthurt that no one is joining it” community I’ve seen in a while.
Alright rant over, you may yell at me now.
From my point of view, Linux lacks consistency.
Each version functions differently. Then after you install one, It’s rare to get a ‘setup’ file from a website like you do on Windows where there’s just one choice (typically an exe file) - instead you might end up with a deb, a flat pack, a tar ball, a snap, a docker, a shell script. Then you double click it and end up with a message saying there’s nothing to open this file, or it loads one of multiple software ‘stores’ and either crashes it, says it’s not compatible or some such. Or you end up with two copies of the app - the one that came with your distro but can’t be updated via the about window, and another that is a plain file icon that nonetheless is the newer copy of program now running from your downloads folder.
That said, they’re all good in their own ways. It is freeing to be out of the Microsoft spyware world, and not have your CPU fan spinning constantly as a “compatibility telemetry service” Hoovers through your system repeatedly.
For many people it’s probably more practical to decrappify Windows with various tools such as Winaero Tweaker.
You are not supposed to download .deb or AppImage files from random sites. First, try out your package manager when attempting to acquire software. After that has not worked out, investigate potential Flatpak distributions via Flathub. If that fails, you will likely have to compile from the program’s source code. Now, that’s just the reality with GNU/Linux and it is nothing that new users should be afraid of. Using a Terminal Emulator and command-line tools to accomplish goals is an incredibly valuable skill and we should teach beginners to leverage them in a respectful and helpful manner.