Don’t get me wrong. I love Linux and FOSS. I have been using and installing distros on my own since I was 12. Now that I’m working in tech-related positions, after the Reddit migration happened, etc. I recovered my interest in all the Linux environment. I use Ubuntu as my main operating system in my Desktop, but I always end up feeling very limited. There’s always software I can’t use properly (and not just Windows stuff), some stuff badly configured with weird error messages… last time I was not able to even use the apt command. Sometimes I lack time and energy for troubleshooting and sometimes I just fail at it.

I usually end up in need of redoing a fresh install until it breaks up again. Maybe Linux is not good for beginners working full time? Maybe we should do something like that Cisco course that teaches you the basic commands?

  • @[email protected]
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    121 year ago

    I really wish the Linux community would do a better job of separating the software updates from the core operating system and user space apps. I feel like most distros do the ‘move fast and break things’ approach, even if that isn’t what they intended to do. I forget which distro it was, but they tried replacing X11 with Wayland way before the other distros, and IIRC, they had to revert everyone back to X11. This type of thing cannot be managed by regular users.

    Imagine if you had to understand how 90% of every car part worked in order to drive a car, and if you don’t understand something you ask for help and everyone ridicules you because they are mechanics.

    • @[email protected]
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      61 year ago

      I really wish the Linux community would do a better job of separating the software updates from the core operating system and user space apps.

      You can accomplish this with something like Debian stable and Flatpaks. OK, but now you have to explain these concepts to people, too 😆. It works great but it’s not quite user friendly. Ubuntu gets dunked on a lot for Snaps but I think they are actually the one mainstream distro that is trying to make Snaps as transparent for users as possible, thereby achieving the goal of separating the core operating system from user applications. Though I still prefer Flatpaks.

      • @[email protected]
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        41 year ago

        I’ve been using linux since 98 and have no idea what Flatpaks and Snaps are. I guess I need to read up on them.

        • @[email protected]
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          41 year ago

          Both are similar, and the very short version is they are sandboxed applications that bundle their own dependencies and can update out of band with your distro’s software repository. With Flatpaks they can share a common runtime environment, but I think with Snaps they bundle everything into the snap (I might be wrong about this).

          One key difference is that Snap is basically only on Ubuntu, and Snaps can also bundle CLI applications or server software. Flatpaks are currently really meant for desktop applications.

          In both cases you can modify the permissions of the the programs they bundle sort of like how you might expect on iOS or Android. That is to say you can restrict their access to the file system, the network, or other things. So, as an example, I can run a proprietary program as a Flatpak but ensure it cannot access my Bluetooth if for some reason I feel that need.

          • @[email protected]
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            21 year ago

            To expand on why snaps are Ubuntu only is because the back end for snap distribution is proprietary.

        • Captain Aggravated
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          1 year ago

          Problem: Every major distro has its own unique package manager; dpkg/APT, rpm, yum, pacman etc. It’s a nightmare to package apps for Linux, so let’s make one universal standard package management system.

          Three or four independent projects: Okay, here you go!

          Problem: Every major distro has its own unique package manager, and there’s three different incompatible universal ones and because one of them is made in-house at Canonical none of the three are supported out of the box on every distro.

          Arch users: muh AUR.

      • @mhz
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        21 year ago

        It is amazing how 3 steps can be challenging for some even though these are explained in flathub (for all major distros) 1- install flatpak which should install a pluging for gui Package manager automatically. 2- add flathub repo. 3- Configure your gui package manager to default to flathub 4- enjoy installing rhe latest software from flathub without even needing root password (except for Opensuse TW)

    • @mhz
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      41 year ago

      I think that is the route we are heading with flatpaks.

      • @[email protected]
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        11 year ago

        I’ll have to try one out just so I understand how they work, but I don’t personally need something like this. I’ve used Gentoo, Fedora, Slackware, Ubuntu/Debian, Arch, and more for years.

        • @QuazarOmega
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          21 year ago

          Yeah, actually I don’t know how I ended up responding to you, I have since deleted that comment, I meant it for the OP.
          Aside from that, when you’re as experienced as you, you generally don’t end up breaking your system anyway, if one really wanted I think the real good thing to do regardless of distro would be using one of the few packaging solutions that are siloed from the rest system

          • @[email protected]
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            11 year ago

            when you’re as experienced as you, you generally don’t end up breaking your system anyway

            haha, it only that were true :P