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Discussion on: If you've tried Linux and opted against using it, tell us why for the chance to be featured on our podcast!

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Tagkit

Hey there, so I was looking through your reasons to make sure how much of them have truth, and how many of them are based on things you may not have heard or known of.
A note: I have very limited experience with MacOS so I will be approaching this from Linux and Windows 7, 8, 10 comparisons.
In short order here are the things that I found totally valid in your criticisms of Linux and with no easy fix:

  • Inconsistent theming: Compared to MacOS, there are almost no real desktop themes that are universally applied across all software regardless of being QT or GTK based and people often reason this is the result of the flexibility of the desktop framework ecosystem. On Windows, my understanding this is still a problem because not all applications will honor the Windows Win32 or similar frameworks for the GUI (Please anybody correct me if I am misguided here). Some of my favorite examples for this sort of thing would be Steam, Discord, some Java-based, or python based applications, and electron-based applications that do not respect the Windows GUI guidelines.
  • The Dials comment can be layered in with the Inconsistent theming since theming is based on what GUI framework is relevant and being applied by the application and/or the system.
  • Flakey Driver Support: Sadly this is a very common one, but I find that all systems I have tried have some form of issue with this and it is based on quality of technical support provided by the parent company. Probably the best example I would have for this is the Realtek/Broadcomm Wireless drivers. I was having trouble with these drivers on both systems to where it was a nightmare to keep an internet connection for the longest time. Eventually I was able to find a custom driver for the Linux ecosystem released by the company and supported by the community. I won't speak to the nightmares I've had on Windows systems in setting up printers, scanners, proprietary items like the Cricut or other devices. That seems to be a case of each person may have a different experience.
  • Application sandboxing: From what I have heard of MacOS systems, I believe it is likely the only system that widely employs sandboxing and most of that is due to the control the company has over their own ecosystem. A huge issue with this though and it wasn't hard to find academic papers verifying that much of the software available outside of the MacOS appstore does not apply sandboxing creating the same issue as found in other personal user systems.

Next, things that were found inaccurate or mostly subjective based are listed below:

  • Linux does have secure boot access. If you merely google SecureBoot Linux, you will find many articles, howtos. Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch Linux, OpenSuse, Debian, and other distributions support SecureBoot access and have resources available to guide users on how to implement it on their systems.
  • Easy root access: This is a user security issue. If you are installing items from unknown sources without verification, the issue is the same on Windows as it would be on Linux. Even for people using the Arch User Repository or Ubuntu's PPA's come with the disclaimer, make sure that the applications or repositories you are installing are trustworthy. Windows has the same issue still though they are getting better from what I've seen in that some people just don't respect best security practices when developing, distributing, or installing software. Sidenote: This is why using sudo only when necessary and in secure environments is so insanely important. Is it applied appropriately by all users or developers? Not necessarily, but it is important.
  • Time Consumed to get a functional development environment: This one is variable to user experience and heavily depends on what system you are using or how niche the software you are using is. I use Slack, Telegram, Discord, OBS-studio, VScode, Jetbrains Suite, and rust-lang. I have also installed Eclipse, Mend, ArduinoIDE, QGIS, Virtualbox, Ki-Cad, and other applications to explore as a student, and I have had no trouble finding a working application that is available through flatpak or the apt package manager. The name of flatkill.org is enough to make me consider it a biased source, and their claims are not entirely correct and not enough sources are provided but after looking it up and other discussions held about it I believe it can be said that there are valid concerns there. Like with the MacOS environment or Windows environment applications not distributed through their own software stores or systems, it is the developers faults at the lack of proper security or updates in their systems. These same problems may exist in any software that is niche, or found from 3rd-party suppliers.

You have many good points, I just wished to provide an alternative view as someone who bounces between both Windows and Linux on the regular. Both systems have their issues, and much of the problems with any operating system is how high a priority as a target audience for providers, and how biased others will be as it is a fairly popular system for developers that people will target with passionate opinions that the reader will have to sift through and will vary based on each person's experience. Thanks!