• SorteKanin@feddit.dk
    20·
    3 months ago

    I really really hope this will lead to some major UX improvements as more “normal people” start trying to use Linux. Currently, it’s still often too complicated or cumbersome, if not downright buggy.

    Example: I run Kubuntu and about 20% of the time when I plug in my external monitors, all my windows just crash. Things need to get to a state of “just working” much more often and in many more cases. I hope this surge of users will motivate people to move towards that or maybe bring in more contributors to advance that area.

    • barsquid@lemmy.world
      6·
      3 months ago

      I installed a new GPU and it changed the device name of my NIC so all my network setup suddenly broke.

      Now every ~5th time I wake my computer from sleep the monitor comes on briefly and I then get a black screen. If I turn the monitor off and back on it fixes it.

      Would be cool to have more people on Linux finding and fixing these little details.

      • FizzyOrange@programming.dev
        7·
        3 months ago

        Would be cool to have more people on Linux finding and fixing these little details.

        Unlikely to happen. This is very complicated low level stuff that’s often completely undocumented. Often the hardware is buggy but it works with Windows/Mac because that’s what it’s been tested with, so you’re not even implementing a spec, you’re implementing Windows’ implementation.

        Also the few people that have the knowledge to do this a) don’t want to spend a ton of money buying every model of monitor or whatever for testing, and b) don’t want to spend all their time doing boring difficult debugging.

        I actually speak from experience here. I wrote a semi-popular FOSS program for a type of peripheral. Actually it only supports devices from a single company, but… I have one now. It cost about £200. The other models are more expensive and I’m not going to spend like £3k buying all the other models so I can test it properly. The protocol is reverse engineered too so… yeah I’ll probably break it for other people, sorry.

        This sort of thing really only works commercially IMO. It’s too expensive, boring and time consuming for the scratch-an-itch developers.

        • Xtallll@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          5·
          3 months ago

          If Linux adoption reaches a critical mass then the manufacturers will start fixing these issues themselves. If Linux was 30% of all users and AMD paid a team to fix Linux support, they would eat the competition alive, but if Linux is 3% it doesn’t make sense for them to devote resources to fixing Linux.

          • FizzyOrange@programming.dev
            4·
            3 months ago

            True but it’ll have to be like 10% and I don’t see that happening ever really. Unless Microsoft really screws up, which to be fair they are doing their best.

    • Possibly linux@lemmy.zipEnglish
      42·
      3 months ago

      KDE isn’t focused as much on stability or having a clean UI. However, it is very customizable.

      If you want something easier look at gnome or cinnamon

      • SorteKanin@feddit.dk
        5·
        3 months ago

        clean UI

        I personally find their UI much cleaner than Gnome or cinnamon, but to each their own.

    • ulterno@lemmy.kde.socialEnglish
      11·
      3 months ago

      I run Kubuntu and about 20% of the time when I plug in my external monitors, all my windows just crash.

      This one’s weird.
      GPU issue? Or something with older OS?

      I use KDE and have never seen a similar problem.

      Sure, stuff may get wonky, but crashing windows on monitor detection is a big deal.

      • arendjr@programming.dev
        1·
        3 months ago

        I have a Framework laptop (Intel GPU) with Arch and KDE, and while I’ve never seen all windows crash when connecting an external monitor, I wouldn’t call it out of the ordinary for one or two to crash after I connect one, especially if I try to drag one to a new position right after.

  • henfredemars@infosec.pubEnglish
    16·
    3 months ago

    This is a big deal. More Linux users leads to more Linux-supporting software, which leads to more users.

    The biggest resistence is front-loaded into that first few percent.

    In my opinion, advancements in binary compatibility accross distributions (Flatpak, AppImage, …) and broad compatibility with Windows software (Wine and forks… thank you Valve!) are making Linux easier to use.

    • wiki_me@lemmy.mlEnglish
      4·
      3 months ago

      This is a big deal. More Linux users leads to more Linux-supporting software, which leads to more users.

      It should correlate with more donations , the donations linux mint are getting are also growing fairly consistently. the same is true for the “Open Source Collective” which is a fiscal host for open source projects.

    • Baldur Nil@programming.dev
      01·
      3 months ago

      At the same time, I feel like nowadays there’s less forums or places people can ask help with, although today ChatGPT can be a good help with newbie questions.

      • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
        3·
        3 months ago

        I feel like nowadays there’s less forums or places people can ask help with

        I’m sorry, what??

        There are more places than ever to find support. The Ubuntu forums, EndeavourOS forums, Manjaro forums, NixOS forums, SUSE forums, etc. Just about every larger distro has it’s own forum and they’re all very active. Then there are general Linux, Linux “newbie”, Linux help communities on the various Lemmy servers and (whether you like it or not) on Reddit also. Then there’s Mastodon. General tech forums like Level1Tech, Hacker News, etc.

      • boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net
        1·
        3 months ago

        I dont know about that. There is Lemmy and a ton of Distros or respins I know have forums.

        Some have chatrooms which totally suck for finding information.

  • ekZepp@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    3 months ago

    Great for portable gaming machines ✅️

    Resurrect old Pc/laptops ✅️

    Great for Servers ✅️

    Gratis and open sources✅️

    Feed multiple derivated systems with his codes (for free) ✅️

    Is not Windows ✅️✅️✅️

      • ililiililiililiilili@lemm.ee
        2·
        3 months ago

        Thanks! It does indeed look like people try out Linux before the new Windows release. Then it returns to the slower adoption trend.

        • Zangoose@lemmy.world
          2·
          3 months ago

          It’s also interesting because you can also see a steeper line corresponding on the “worse” windows versions (8, 11) while it’s relatively stagnant during windows 10

    • Jarmer@slrpnk.net
      0·
      3 months ago

      I had dabbled in it off and on since LONG LONG ago, but I only went full time (no dual boot) since windows 11 release. So yeah, I bet there’s lots others like me.

      • doughless@lemmy.world
        1·
        3 months ago

        I had been dual booting for a while with Windows 11/Fedora until one day I needed to update the BIOS on my motherboard. Windows decided it was too big of an upgrade and wanted me to activate again. I called support, and they said that I had used up all my activations and would need to buy a new copy.

        Thanks Microsoft, for helping me switch full time to Linux!

        • barsquid@lemmy.world
          2·
          3 months ago

          They force you to re-buy the same software for literally the same hardware. That’s insane.

          • doughless@lemmy.world
            2·
            3 months ago

            For more context, it was a Windows 8.1 license I upgraded to 11. But yes, still crazy they let it “expire” when using the exact same hardware. My theory is that because the BIOS update changed my TPM keys, Windows couldn’t tell that it was the same hardware.

        • Grass@sh.itjust.works
          1·
          3 months ago

          wait that’s a thing? I guess I’d never find out because I always used whatever activation method was available on MDL for each version for the odd time I used windows.