The state of Linux is not great. We still can't get the basics like sound, wifi, etc out of the box. I get why it's a problem, and it's generally not the fault of Linux devs, but it's still a problem that turns people away.
I really want to see Linux take over on the desktop, but turning a blind eye to our problems is a poor way to do it.
>We still can't get the basics like sound, wifi, etc out of the box.
Complete and total fabrication. Video for gaming is still trouble, but I have no more issue with Linux wifi or sound output than I do with Windows. In fact, Linux networking to me is better than Windows.
Depends on your device. I have had issues on some laptops, other laptops worked flawlessly. I know this is anecdote but a lot of people share this anecdote.
What was the last Linux laptop you installed a Windows on? (edit: removed unnecessary remark.)
The last laptop I did a clean install of Windows (7) on was a HP netbook. Even though it was a Windows machine, and I used their Windows install disc, it was a miserable experience (because I didn't have the separate driver disc). Not only did not the WLAN work, neither did the Ethernet port: the only way to get online was by using my phone as a Bluetooth dial-up – luckily I had a Symbian device you could do that with. And even then, Windows Update was of no help – I had to navigate to HP's website to download the very separate driver packages for WLAN and Ethernet functionality (and any other packages I can no longer remember).
By the way, with Ubuntu connectivity worked fine out-of-the-box – which is lucky, because although I have used Linux for over a decade as my daily driver, I have never had to install WLAN drivers for one, and probably couldn't. (Nothing could save the slow Atom from offering woeful user experience, though. One of the worst deals I ever had as far as computers go.)
I haven't installed Windows on any device since 2010-2011 I think. I have been only using Mac OS and Linux since that time and never looked back.
Only reason why I miss Windows is gaming but for entertainment purposes I am considering switching to console (I used to be a PC gaming maximalist but don't feel so strongly about it anymore) - probably PS4.
I do agree with what you are saying though. Installing Windows from scratch is a pain too (at least it was last time I tried it with Windows 7). But almost nobody installs Windows ever, majority of people buy laptops with preinstalled Windows (plus ton of malware as a bonus from the manufacturer).
This is exactly the kind of experience i base my initial argument on.
Its a pain to get Windows running. Even trying to create a bootable Windows medium without having a prior windows machine is like some kind of freakish experiment whereas Linux (and everything else essentially) usually is fine with a `dd` transfer on a USB medium. (None of my machines has a CD drive.)
More often than not i would find missing drivers after the install. Not everyone has only 100% typical gamer hardware, everything a little more "unique" can be expected to not work properly out of the box if the machine is older than a few years, or newer, and will require manual driver installation.
New Windows versions always introduce the possibility to introduce new driver pains. And dont get me started with updating (drivers, software, libs, OS, ...) generally.
As it is, my mum can install and maintain a Ubuntu, she can however not keep a Windows machine alive for longer than a year. Same thing i've seen with many other non technical users in and around my family. Even thought that is anecdotal again.
But in the enterprise you'd only have a few tested laptops and the would be tested and configured by IT. It may be an issue for home users, but this doesn't make it not user friendly enough for enterprise users.
I just installed the latest version of Linux Mint and the default graphics card driver had a bug that caused my entire system to freeze after a few hours of inactivity.
To be able to replace Apple or Microsoft, not only do you need user friendliness for how the machine works, but you also need to get rid of all the miscellaneous tech and configuration problems that crop up.
As I understand it, Linux laptop sleep/suspend/hibernate is still a big PITA.
I am on high Sierra. Just today I clicked on an update which broke while updating. First it was displaying Mac os not found. Restart again. Restart would hang up and say some installer is missing. I had to Google, run some commands to eventually make it work.
On clean of windows I used to download drivers from ubuntu since windows did not load them.
I've helped people who lost access to their Windows 7 home directory. It didn't mean they ended up in commandline mode, but it meant their home folder was recreated from scratch. Many things didn't work anymore.
I bet 99% of Windows users can't solve that by themselves. I don't see any difference with your problem.
The problem you describe is bad as you can't use the computer at all, while my problem created a false illusion that the home folder was OK as it was still there. That the old one was renamed, made invisible, and then the new one got the old name - didn't help at all.
Just one example: every few weeks I need to manually remove old images as described here [0], otherwise security updates won't be installed. Four versions and four years later, it's still not fixed.
Publishing software – especially close source software – for Linux has always been, and still is, a huge pain. Beside all the nightmarish things you have to do to package something.
Ubuntu did not enable the energy saving options by default on my notebook and did not install the wifi drivers out of the box.
Which was a "bit" painful because the office is wifi only and getting online then is impossible. Had to hunt down the driver, put it on a stick and install them. Never again.
I use Ubuntu but after spending a day trying to fix display drivers I can confirm it's not user friendly. An OS is more than just the software, but the support received from other software/hardware companies.
Very good example actually. Take a look at driver issues within the Windows "Support" community forums. Then do the same with Ubuntu or any Linux really.
For a more enterprice thought, try giving Microsoft a call with a Technical issue and then do the same to the Ubuntu Enterprise team.
One is obviously better than the other in this field. Feel free to decide yourself
