zlacker

I have a feeling that the overall reality is far more hit-or-miss than the author implies. If you happen to be lucky to have all hardware that Linux supports well, then everything does work nicely (which is infact a nice improvement over the early days). If you get unlucky on your hardware, well buckle up, it's gonna be a ride. You are of course more likely to have good hardware support on very old devices.

Windows has its faults for sure, but it's much better in my experience as far as just working on any type of hardware and accessories. If it doesn't just work already, drivers are generally easy to find and install.

>>ufmace+(OP)
Anecdote time. I have a gaming laptop from Asus, 2022 model. It keeps hard crashing on Windows (both 10 and 11) while working fine on Linux.

Windows doesn't clearly have such an advantage anymore.

>>darthr+f
I use my desktop at home exclusively for gaming. I had Windows on it, but it would continually crash when trying to use my bluetooth xbox controller with it.

I've switched to linux for gaming and have no issues, even running games like GTAV (excluding the occasional nvidia BS...).

>>ufmace+(OP)
I have two Dell laptops and a Dell tower, all of which run flawlessly on Linux, all hardware supported out of the box. Everything I've plugged into them (most often via USB) or paired via Bluetooth also works without hassle (and never once did I have to search any manufacturer's websites for drivers).

>>ufmace+(OP)
The rallying cry of the Linux desktop enthusiast: “well, it works for me!”

>>mdtusz+M
About the only games I've had any troubles with lately have been those which include ridiculous DRM or anti-cheat (and even many anti-cheats work fine on Linux these days). Between WINE/DXVK and Valve's Proton, I find the vast majority of my game library from my Windows days now run fine.

(Of course it should go without saying that all my many Linux native games also tend to run fine as well, although a rare few of them require running in Valve's "Steam Runtime for Linux" container thingy.)

>>Hellio+B1
I prefer it to the MacOS mating call of "you didn't buy the right cable!"

>>Hellio+B1
Yeah, well, it's been that way for me for many years now through many machines of varying brands. These Dell machines are just the most recent, and I was shocked at how effortless the whole install process went this time around compared to way back when I first started using Linux. It really was a huge hassle back in the "olden days" of early Linux… Nowadays it's proven pretty "plug and play" all the way around every single time I've installed a new Linux rig.

>>blooal+Y2
This comment is exactly what I mean.

>>Hellio+B1
True though. Half our team runs Linux with minimal issues across a variety of modern hardware. Infosec consulting, so pretty demanding users, but also pretty experienced with Linux. there are caveats and small things, but I will take them over Mac or Win these days.

>>Hellio+54
Whatever… I'm glad to no longer have to fight my operating system to work with my hardware like I always had to on Windows - "Plug and Pray" was a joke for a valid reason. Installing drivers is for rubes. I'd rather plug stuff in and just get to work without going on a freakin' scavenger hunt for drivers… If you hate Linux so much, then just don't use it. Simple, yeah?

>>blooal+a1
I bought a very expensive 2018 XPS15 4K Dell 9570 fully loaded - bought for its good Linux support (although not officially supported by Dell).

Minuses: Many many issues with 4K support and Linux. 1 year ago hardware fault with screen getting black lines (very very disappointing for a premium laptop treated very well). Suspend never worked great (Windows not much better AFAIK). Some recent WiFi problems - probably hardware - will replace. Needed JackHack96’s patches installed when bought. Noisy coil hum (top problem mentioned for years on forums for many models of XPS, ignored by Dell through many model releases, maybe finally fixed now?).

Pluses: Worked with Linux. Dell kept improving Bios for 2 or 3 years, and many of the fixes were Linux specific.

I wouldn’t buy Dell again.

I would use Linux for a laptop again (Windows gives me hives, Apple pisses me off).

>>darthr+f
Different laptop, different issues, similar outcome. I ran into issues with Windows corrupting the EFI boot entries, even on a dedicated install. I have also had Windows fail to enter sleep or come out of sleep when the lid is closed. I have never had these issues under Linux on the same hardware.

Having investigated problems with Windows, I think it is fair to say that Linux is more reliable on supported hardware. The main problems with Linux are: some hardware is not supported, and sometimes Linux only supports a subset of the functionality of hardware it does support. If you're careful with what you buy, your experience can be just as good (if not better) under Linux. If you're not careful with what you buy, you can still luck out and have a positive experience.

>>blooal+r6
I greatly prefer Linux and use Windows when some software forces me to, but I don't feel that your comment is constructive in this conversation.

Windows is generally a smoother experience. Linux is generally not ready for the average user with a randomly picked computer, as much as we'd wish it is.

>>Negati+Yb
Except that windows is demonstrably a less smooth solution these days, regardless of Linux even existing. Windows just sort of fell over and started stabbing itself and bleeding all over the floor, so a dead windows is just no use at all. They even removed the start control panel stuff, just gutted and useless now. It really feels like Microsoft went out on a mission to literally destroy everything they built while still mandating OEMS to suicidally preload it on all hardware anyway, and people still buy this stuff.

When are people going to state the braindead obvious that it’s never going to be the year of the windows desktop ever again, as Microsoft has committed to utterly pooping on all its users henceforth forevermore or?

>>blooal+r6
Still making my point for me, thanks!

>>Negati+Yb
Yeah, well, I don't really feel that Linux gettin' shit on every single time it's mentioned anywhere is entirely constructive, either. I been using Linux for many years, and over that time it's quite simply continued to improve in areas where Windows was always a huge pain for me (and most all of my family and friends with few exceptions). Most notably, that whole "Plug and Play" hardware thing. In this most recent decade or so of my Linux use, that got to be a total non-issue with hardware I've bought ranging from cheap random Chinese garbage to high-priced high-quality hardware devices. I plug them in, and they work. On rare occasion (like with printers or NVIDIA cards) I'll have to install drivers (direct from my package manager), but even then, it's light-years ahead of any experience I've ever had with drivers on Windows. Is Linux perfect? Hell no! No operating system is. Is it the best operating system for me? Absolutely. It Just Works™ in my personal experience, and that's all I care about. I'll keep using it, and I will keep defending it to those who keep spreading decades old no longer even remotely true FUD. Don't like Linux? Don't use it. Period. Don't gotta keep telling those of us who do like and use Linux (for the billionth time) how much better Windows is. It isn't better - just different, and in some ways decidedly worse than all of it's competitors. But if it's what you need or want to use, then use it FFS. Just don't come to evangelize Windows to people who used it for years and learned to prefer something else because it straight up worked better/more reliably for them than Windows did. It gets beyond old to keep hearing that bullshit after a while.

>>Hellio+B1
Same for Mac users when people are struggling to use MacOS on a hackintosh or windows people trying to install windows on an android tablet.

>>Hellio+B1
The same is very much true for macOS and even Windows. Obvious flaws and mistakes are ignored by statements like "I just bought this $5 app" and "I use this freeware program from yetanotherstartmenureplacement.xyz".

People just like what they like and fix their problems in their own way and that's fine. Some people aren't annoyed enough to fix their problems and that's fine too. Just because someone else's fix doesn't fix your problems doesn't mean the fix is bad.

>>ufmace+(OP)
> I have a feeling that the overall reality is far more hit-or-miss than the author implies.

I really think that is the state of the matter.

Personally, I have been using Linux as main OS since 2000, so when I buy new hardware, I know it will be running Linux and I do my research on the hardware before buying anything. When you do that, chances are you'll end up with hardware that is supported and works well on Linux. The last 15 years I have been using high-end Dell Precision laptops through my employer and those run linux just fine; it's already been several years now that you can actually order them with Ubuntu.

Still, I've been on location where they used USB-C docks to access external screens and the network. The network was working fine out of the box, but for the screens I needed to install DisplayLink drivers, which was not a nice experience. It also did not work out of the box with xrandr. And then I got a linux kernel upgrade and it was no longer working. So, while the laptop itself is working just fine on linux, and is working out of the box with external screens connected through a cable (HDMI, DisplayPort), you still don't have good support for something like DisplayLink, which seems to be used more and more because it allows user to project wirelessly on a screen.

I try to avoid depending on closed source drivers in Linux. I did use Nvidia long time ago, but switched to AMD for that reason. In a way, it's nice that companies support Linux and that they are releasing closed source drivers. It is better than not having any driver at all. But depending on closed source drivers is misery sooner or later, so I avoid them.

>>Hellio+B1
The rallying cry of the Linux desktop skeptic: "I had an issue this one time!"

>>blooal+Ve
It's not shit on every time it's mentioned. Only when people post nonsense like this article. Do you expect people to just go "yep, Linux has no hardware issues, you're right".

Of course not! That doesn't mean they hate Linux, just that they aren't delusional about it's level of hardware support.