I respectfully disagree with this post. When a user encounters a glitch in OS, whether Windows or Linux, or anything else, most do not have the wherewithal to fix it themselves. Conversely, if you are smart enough to fix a Windows issue, you can fix a Linux issue.
I tried reading the linked post and just encountered the typical ranting, but i did see someone talking about software titles. I totally agree that there is a lack of support for Linux from some vendors (Adobe being one of the most notable offenders), particularly in the enterprise line-of-business segment, which tends to be a windows only type business. Shame on them, but if you need something like that for work, you haven't much choice.
However, for most consumer needs, there are fantastic applications where Linux is a first class OS. I argue that most of Adobe's subscriptions could be replaced by quite capable alternatives, and you probably shouldn't support them anyway. I do hear people say, "I can't learn xyz, i am used to abc (photoshop)." But then these same people howl everytime Adobe refreshes the UI, and wind up learning something new anyway. Stubbornness is powerful.
At any rate, the success of Chromebooks are a testament to the fact that most use-cases don't actually require much in the way of specialized software anyway. However, some people still want to work locally, and i respect that. But the idea that Linux is hard or too different is a defeatest attitude. My kids have been using Ubuntu for ever, they use Windows at school. Guess which has more problems, guess which has full time IT support (school). I never have to touch their Ubuntu box. However, i am about to head to my mother-in-law's house because she insisted that we leave windows on her new laptop because she didn't want anything "new or different" , but the UI is different and she can't figure out how to set up her scanner, and now she's mad.
All of this is to say, there are VERY few reasons to not use Linux as your primary OS, it's not hard, it is stable. Yeah, if you MUST have a specific piece of software, then maybe you need wondows around. But don't tell me that i should stop recommending linux, i think most would better off using it. It probably IS for you.
The great problem me and my friends are suffering in Ubuntu is it's not suitable for game development. I am mostly to the task of web dev and web automation, so Linux is perfectly smooth there, but for game dev it's really frustrating.
That could be. Not being familiar with game development, is it because there is not sufficient game development focused software available? Is it because the target environment for games is mostly windows?
Somehow, it is because target environment for games is mostly windows. There are popular engines available for game development in Linux, but the problem arises while testing others game and making assets/graphics. Most of the games of other creators are build in Windows in itch.io. Also, making 2d graphics, and images you need Abode Photoshop or something equivalent to it.
I am going to again, respectfully disagree about the need for Photoshop. There are some fantastic graphics applications for Linux, and they would only get better if more people would use and support them. I think Gimp gets a bad rap (though i think it's quite good for 99% of what one might use Photoshop for), and i think if more people would, instead of paying Adobe, put that money towards the Gimp project, you'd see it improve even faster. And, as a web developer, i much prefer the SVGs Inkscape produces over Illustrator any day. I'm willing to sacrafice some UI polish to support open source.
I think the problem linux suffers is a perception issue. Where i work, there are Windows, Mac, and Linux. The Windows users are the ones that are always needing tech support.
To add to Scott's post; Aseprite, Krita and Gimp are capable enough for 2D raster graphics. While I dislike Gimp's current UI, for 2D asset creation, most of one's time will be spent with the brush, eraser, select and transform tools anyway. Krita is actually great for this part of the pipeline, specially for UV Map painting when texturing 3D meshes. A lot of the techniques one might use in Photoshop usually translates well into Gimp and Krita. I personally haven't touched Photoshop in years since finding alternatives to get away from their subscription fees.
My issue with this is that you're not talking about game development. Judging by your profile, you're talking about Untiy development, which may be frustrating in Linux, I don't have experience with that, but everything in your article, and in your comments shows how overgeneralised you think about these things. You say things like "regular user". What does that even mean? Does my 54 years old mother with no computer experience count? Because she's a Linux user. I installed Manjaro Gnome for her once, and she manages on her own since then. I showed her that if the system tells to upgrade software just click yes, and she's fine since then. She even likes it much more than Windows, told me it's much more intuitive to use. I can much more imagine your "regular user" as a much more technical person, who is still not that technical, but they want to pirate Photoshop for themselves to make memes or something, and they fail on Linux. Sure, they might find Linux frustrating, but statements like "Linux is not for regular users" is a toxic oversimplification. Same thing happened with the LTT Linux challenge which was a gaming challenge with a conclusion that Linux is for technical people. No it's not, but it may not suite your particular usecase. Which is funny, because gaming is ligthyears ahead on Linux compared to MacOS.
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I respectfully disagree with this post. When a user encounters a glitch in OS, whether Windows or Linux, or anything else, most do not have the wherewithal to fix it themselves. Conversely, if you are smart enough to fix a Windows issue, you can fix a Linux issue.
I tried reading the linked post and just encountered the typical ranting, but i did see someone talking about software titles. I totally agree that there is a lack of support for Linux from some vendors (Adobe being one of the most notable offenders), particularly in the enterprise line-of-business segment, which tends to be a windows only type business. Shame on them, but if you need something like that for work, you haven't much choice.
However, for most consumer needs, there are fantastic applications where Linux is a first class OS. I argue that most of Adobe's subscriptions could be replaced by quite capable alternatives, and you probably shouldn't support them anyway. I do hear people say, "I can't learn xyz, i am used to abc (photoshop)." But then these same people howl everytime Adobe refreshes the UI, and wind up learning something new anyway. Stubbornness is powerful.
At any rate, the success of Chromebooks are a testament to the fact that most use-cases don't actually require much in the way of specialized software anyway. However, some people still want to work locally, and i respect that. But the idea that Linux is hard or too different is a defeatest attitude. My kids have been using Ubuntu for ever, they use Windows at school. Guess which has more problems, guess which has full time IT support (school). I never have to touch their Ubuntu box. However, i am about to head to my mother-in-law's house because she insisted that we leave windows on her new laptop because she didn't want anything "new or different" , but the UI is different and she can't figure out how to set up her scanner, and now she's mad.
All of this is to say, there are VERY few reasons to not use Linux as your primary OS, it's not hard, it is stable. Yeah, if you MUST have a specific piece of software, then maybe you need wondows around. But don't tell me that i should stop recommending linux, i think most would better off using it. It probably IS for you.
The great problem me and my friends are suffering in Ubuntu is it's not suitable for game development. I am mostly to the task of web dev and web automation, so Linux is perfectly smooth there, but for game dev it's really frustrating.
That could be. Not being familiar with game development, is it because there is not sufficient game development focused software available? Is it because the target environment for games is mostly windows?
Somehow, it is because target environment for games is mostly windows. There are popular engines available for game development in Linux, but the problem arises while testing others game and making assets/graphics. Most of the games of other creators are build in Windows in itch.io. Also, making 2d graphics, and images you need Abode Photoshop or something equivalent to it.
I am going to again, respectfully disagree about the need for Photoshop. There are some fantastic graphics applications for Linux, and they would only get better if more people would use and support them. I think Gimp gets a bad rap (though i think it's quite good for 99% of what one might use Photoshop for), and i think if more people would, instead of paying Adobe, put that money towards the Gimp project, you'd see it improve even faster. And, as a web developer, i much prefer the SVGs Inkscape produces over Illustrator any day. I'm willing to sacrafice some UI polish to support open source.
I think the problem linux suffers is a perception issue. Where i work, there are Windows, Mac, and Linux. The Windows users are the ones that are always needing tech support.
To add to Scott's post; Aseprite, Krita and Gimp are capable enough for 2D raster graphics. While I dislike Gimp's current UI, for 2D asset creation, most of one's time will be spent with the brush, eraser, select and transform tools anyway. Krita is actually great for this part of the pipeline, specially for UV Map painting when texturing 3D meshes. A lot of the techniques one might use in Photoshop usually translates well into Gimp and Krita. I personally haven't touched Photoshop in years since finding alternatives to get away from their subscription fees.
My issue with this is that you're not talking about game development. Judging by your profile, you're talking about Untiy development, which may be frustrating in Linux, I don't have experience with that, but everything in your article, and in your comments shows how overgeneralised you think about these things. You say things like "regular user". What does that even mean? Does my 54 years old mother with no computer experience count? Because she's a Linux user. I installed Manjaro Gnome for her once, and she manages on her own since then. I showed her that if the system tells to upgrade software just click yes, and she's fine since then. She even likes it much more than Windows, told me it's much more intuitive to use. I can much more imagine your "regular user" as a much more technical person, who is still not that technical, but they want to pirate Photoshop for themselves to make memes or something, and they fail on Linux. Sure, they might find Linux frustrating, but statements like "Linux is not for regular users" is a toxic oversimplification. Same thing happened with the LTT Linux challenge which was a gaming challenge with a conclusion that Linux is for technical people. No it's not, but it may not suite your particular usecase. Which is funny, because gaming is ligthyears ahead on Linux compared to MacOS.