Is using Linux really productive?

I am now using Ubuntu for around 9 months, before that I was a windows user.

There are certainly many things in Ubuntu I love like custom themes, terminal, native docker support, and search bar without irritating web results (referring to the Windows search bar, getting web results when you just need to open a local app).

But the time I have to invest sometimes to get simple things working is just crazy. My Bluetooth doesn't work from time to time. Sometimes even audio doesn't work, keys like play/pause never work with Rhythmbox and suspend was working in ubuntu 19.10 version but it is again behaving weirdly in 20.04 (and never worked for me on 18.04). Many more similar problems.

Now the above problems are pretty common and after spending some hours(sometimes many hrs) things start to work. So why I am writing this post, because from last week Intellij Idea is freezing again and again because of some bug and I can't live without Intellij Idea.

Even though I can't think about moving away from ubuntu. I would like to hear your thoughts on this topic, dev community?

Comments

[Aadil Ayub]

I faced many of these problems when I first installed Linux as well, on several distros. The common denominator was that they were all Ubuntu-based, which gets outdated quickly because of its LTS release cycles. Once I switched to Fedora, it was smooth sailing. The only configuration I had to do was install a few proprietary codecs from the Software Center and enable a few repository. Didn't even have to think about my system after that. Upgrades were effortless as well.

[Otso Kurkela]

There might be problems in linux, but problems can always be fixed, unlike in Windows! Ubuntu is pretty slow and old-school distro. I prefer some other distro like Mint or pop os.

[Dan Davis]

I keep running Ubuntu at home for two reasons:

• Now that I'm an "architect", my employer doesn't think I need root. Struggling with those simple things keeps me current.
• It is more secure - running Windows is as big a target.on your back as running WordPress.

[Dhruv garg]

That is awesome. I have always liked the role of system architect.

[AvantR]

I've been using Linux for about 15 years, ofc not exclusively but almost equally with Windows.

One of the things that I'm very grateful for linux, open source generally and the community is that, they taught many many things.

Linux is fine and has improved tremendously, as well as windows, but I would never force myself to use something that has many issues.

For the past 2 years I use mostly windows coz now I don't really have the need for linux.

Some reasons I'm not using linux as my main OS are mentioned in the following link but I'll list the most frustrating for me:

itvision.altervista.org/why.linux....

1. Backwards compatibility is still a joke.
2. Hardware support (I always had problems, especially with peripherals and more specifically with wireless adapters and printers).
3. Graphics performance is inferior to windows in many cases the difference is high. That's because of the relic that is Xorg and its absurd amount of issues, GPU drivers are not as good as on windows, many apps (especially web browsers) and games are not very optimized and last but not least the desktop environments have also a fair amount of issues.
4. Lack of software. While the situation is much better now, still misses a lot or the alternatives suck.
5. Battery life is poor.
6. Font rendering still not perfect.

As I said, Linux is fine, in many cases is even better than windows but as a generic desktop OS is still not quite there yet.

About docker, personally I've never used it but I believe it works fairly good with wsl2, if not, virtualbox/vmware or dual-boot. Use linux as your dev OS and windows for everything else.

Moreover, you can disable search results via registry

howtogeek.com/224159/how-to-disabl...

PS. plz don't tell me linux is a kernel and not an OS

[Nathan Orris]

Sometimes I find myself spending a lot of time configuring something that would be simple on a Mac or Windows. For me though, that's why I love it. Not only have I gotten so much better with Linux but it also has improved my ability to read, debug and write code. When I think back to when I first started using Linux how confusing it all was to the progress I've made now it's a real sense of accomplishment. I say stick with it you can learn so much and you're guaranteed to. That's the point of being a developer isn't it? Developers are lifelong learners.

[Matt Hucke 📸]

One machine for work, one for play.
I love Linux for a work machine because it matches production - all the same libraries, tools, utilities, exactly where I expect them to be, and it runs my IDEs of choice (RubyMine and Idea) flawlessly. I have a desktop machine with two large monitors and a full-sized keyboard.

But for recreation, or for Photoshop/Lightroom, I use a Macbook Pro. Sure, the disk capacity is tiny, the keyboard is cramped... but I'm not programming on it all day. It's for morning and evening use.

This way I don't have to care that Linux doesn't support every video format known to mankind, or interface with oddball peripherals like drawing tablets, as I never ask it to do these things.

I've had Linux as my primary desktop environment since about 1996. (Yeah, I'm old).

[Andrew Buchanan]

I've been using Linux since the late 90s in server roles. I don't use the desktop due to issues such as others have mentioned. I stick to basic hardware with in kernel driver support for everything except Nvidia if I need CUDA support. As much as possible I use official repos. For development I use windows with putty, winscp, git, and vscode with the ssh extension. Once you have your certificates setup it's a easy and you still get breakpoints and variable debugging and whatnot through vscode at least in .net core and python.

Bluetooth, audio, video hardware acceleration power management, wifi, non Intel or realtek NICs, etc have all caused me grief in the past. I also strongly recommend not using the latest hardware the day it comes out. Proper ryzen support took a while. New chipsets sometimes take a while as well.

[Caio Costa]

Do you have a mechanical hard drive? That might be it. The only time I had issues with any Intellij based IDE(In my case Android Studio) was because my mechanical hard drive was old and reaching the end of its life. Then I switched to a SSD. What a huge difference. But even when I had a HD and it was working normally, never had any kind of issues regarding Ubuntu or Intellij. I've been using Ubuntu MATE for 4 years now and never had such problem. Intellij is really well tested so chances are the issue may be related to your hardware. If it's everything ok with it, then it might be some bug on Ubuntu really

[Joshua Heagle]

I recently purchased a laptop with the intention of only running Ubuntu on it. I ended up setting up dual boot because manufacturer updates only work in Windows. Other than that it has been a superior development machine for nodejs, php, ans anything else I've needed. I like how it starts up and shuts down quick and I can easily get into whatever projects on it.

That being said, I too have that weird Bluetooth glitch where I may need to restart the computer a couple times. Also, getting the wifi adapter setup and a few other things for the first time took a lot of time. I generally don't like to customize much so I haven't seen much advantage in that front. All-in-all it has been great for development, but there are some pain points getting things set up and maintained.

[Mario Kober]

Even only one of your problems make me stay in my MacOS world. Ten years ago I would have had the energy to solve problems like this - today I want simple things to work without tinkering.