As a nearly sole Linux user, this is a strength for Linux. The ability to complain about features and push for improvements is exactly what sets it apart from having to submit to profit motivations. Maybe they're misguided, but I'd rather embrace it and chance at growing the community.
this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2026
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If Linux works well for you I'm genuinely happy for you, but it's incompatible with what I use a computer for so that's mighty unfortunate.
I'm stuck with beating windows with a pipe wrench.
What's your use case? Just curious
Playing video games and streaming video games. Sure plenty of video games are compatible with Linux. But plenty aren't! Also you know some day to day software.
A lot of people who try to incite me to swap over are like "Yeah bro just abandon all the games you literally own a computer to play to swap to an unfamiliar OS"
There's something to be said about the fact that I'm not super comfortable with doing everything with commands and am used to GUIs and have multiple decades working in windows environments and 0 with Linux. It's not the world's smoothest transition.
Note: I will now be blocking anyone else who tries to "Erm ackshuallly" me on this.
But plenty aren't!
Just a pet peeve of myself and probably plenty of other Linux users/fans. This phrasing makes it sound like there's way more incompatible games than there are.
Out of the top 1000 games on Steam only 21 don't work on Linux. I personally wouldn't call that "plenty". And for most of those games, the devs actively chose to make the game incompatible with Linux and Proton.
I get that the games you want to play aren't compatible, and that makes you not willing to use Linux. That's good and valid, and I have nothing against that. It's just annoying when people (usually accidentally) exaggerate game compatibility issues on Linux.
There's something to be said about the fact that I'm not super comfortable with doing everything with commands and am used to GUIs
I'd like to add that this is somewhat outdated information. While there are some distros where you still need the CLI a lot (mainly server distros), many of the mainstream distros have enough GUI support that 99% of users don't need to touch the CLI. I switched to Nobara a few weeks ago and I haven't needed to use the CLI yet.
It's not the world's smoothest transition.
Another thing to note is that the transition doesn't have to be a hard break. Many people dip their toes into Linux by dual booting. That being said, there's some pitfalls, namely not keeping Windows and Linux on the same drive, since Windows has a habit of deleting the bootloaders of other OS's during updates.
But, as I said earlier, it's fine if you want to stay on Windows. I just want to clarify some misunderstandings you seem to have about Linux
Spot on, though I will admit, the gaming working as well as it does is a pretty recent development to be fair, and everyone (especially not people who don't use linux) may not be up to date on that info.
Also to the CLI, sure you may not need it as much as you used to, it isn't "doing everything with commands" anymore, but I'll be honest claims of "never needing it" are often exaggerated on the other end. In reality, most linux users will still need to use it sometimes, varying by usecase and distro. To that end, I will say, before I switched myself this was the largest thing holding me back, but I'd heard it had gotten better, and windows was changing shit on me so often that I figured "if I'm gonna relearn X on windows every month I might as well just bite the bullet and learn linux instead." I watched a few videos on youtube after searching "bash basics" and "linux terminal basics" and followed along like it was a basic computer class teaching use of Powerpoint, and within a couple hours (maybe three) I was not just "no longer scared" but almost comfortable in the terminal. Doing this has greatly improved my experience over the years of running linux and I recommend it to all newcomers even if you then still avoid it after, if just for a passing familiarity. Basically: "Only use sudo carefully, and always keep a backup of any important files, so if you do break your shit you only lose the time it takes to reinstall. Also you can use timeshift or snapper." These days I'll even open up a terminal inside of my GUI file browser sometimes, I love the CLI now.
As to dual booting, I like to recommend either if your laptop has two drives dedicate one to each OS, or if not, linux will run on a potato, if you or anyone you know is going to upgrade PCs because "it runs too slow," no it doesn't, that's just windows' bloat. Take the old HW for free or cheap and slap an appropriately weighted distro on it, then use it to learn while you still have your main, then when you realize how much better it is just switch your main over too, it's free!
There’s something to be said about the fact that I’m not super comfortable with doing everything with commands and am used to GUIs and have multiple decades working in windows environments and 0 with Linux. It’s not the world’s smoothest transition.
It's more GUI focused than Windows
“Yeah bro just abandon all the games you literally own a computer to play to swap to an unfamiliar OS”
That's me, the longer you're on Windows the more you'll be on Windows.
Every decade people abandon all their games when they buy a new console. Why is that not weird? Game compatibility also drops when new Windows versions are released. Some things just.. are.
I wouldn't let it hold you back too much.
Also, i'm running more commands in powershell to fix things than i'm running commands in bash.
Not to convince you, but to assure you it's not that daunting.
Is this a joke?
No sir that's a mirror
Me using krita: "i hate your liquify tool, why can't your vector layors behave normally? Why if i change a modifier key for one tool it messes up all tools?"
Krita won't open: PANIK
I mean this goes both ways. Someone asks for help diagnosing an issue in windows and inevitably some snarky Linux user feels compelled to say something unhelpful.
I've seen variations of a snarky "I never had this problem on Linux" one-liner comment so many times that I have to resist the urge to write "I never had this problem on Windows" every time I see a Linux user asking for help.
I'm using Arch btw
Inevitably?
My friend, the MAJORITY of the comments will be unhelpful Linux snarks.
This wouldn’t be a problem if you used Linux.
Instead you would have a different problem.
And someone would definitely comment that you wouldn't have that problem on their distro.
And even if you did... You can fix it yourself. And submit the fix for others.
Ignoring that 99.999% of people have no idea how to even begin to write code and believe the terminal to be "hacker mode".
Sounds pretty inevitable to me.
Yeah as a huge linux fan we gotta be honest with ourselves 😅 we're kinda fuckin insufferable at times
I think a lot of the technical folks who built the space made interpersonal skills kind of a dump stat- and to be fair, I benefit enormously from the technical ability they have in exchange for that lack of social skill. But it does define the culture of Foss spaces in a bunch of ways that aren't the greatest 😅
It's what convinced me to make a switch to Linux, two years ago by now.
I've seen it mentioned for years at that point. Did it feel annoying? A bit, especially when I was trying to solve something. But it was one post that pushed me over the edge. I've probably seen a lot posts/replies like that before.
I can't say why, I guess the stars aligned, but I'm glad it happened. I probably wouldn't do it, if it weren't for years of constant reminders that Linux is in fact an option.
Yeah, and sometimes the solution really is just "stop using a garbage OS".
Like maybe there's a good reason why it's such a common thing people suggest here
Especially when the only other answer to the problem is "windows is actively preventing you from doing X/doing Y to you because they hate their users and you are the product."
Yeah I think its a balancing act. That's why with this kind of thing I prefer to just share my excitement with people without expectations that they wanna engage with it the same way I do
I think you can share what makes linux special and expose people to the idea without it needing to be badgering. Which I'm sure works for some folks who are open to the idea, but it also just fuels kinda tribalistic antagonistism and resentment in many cases
It took a long time for one of my friends and I to be able to have conversations about linux cause she got so burned out by the prosthelytizing she'd gotten previously that she was defensive, and I got defensive that I couldnt easily talk about the thing I'm excited about. I'm really excited that these days I can just tell her about the shit I think is cool without her feeling like I'm demanding something of her :) yesterday we had a lovely conversation about social media and the fediverse ☺️
Speak for yourself. I’m a huge Linux fan but I find it rather easy to not annoy people. Mostly because IDGAF what OS anyone who isn’t me is using. And the only time I’d ever recommend Linux is if someone technical was asking for advice. If they’re non-technical, I will tell them to not use Linux (no fucking way am I going to be their tech support). If they’re technical, they can decide on their own (unless they ask me directly).
On that subject of social skills not being my dump stat- if I include myself in the group I'm critisizing (WE have this issue, vs YOU GUYS have this issue) it is less confrontational and more people will be able to connect with what I'm saying and think about it. Its more effective verbiage
And ultimately I'm part of this culture too, dysfunction and all, and want it to be healthier :) trying to use my social skills to support that change is a way that I can contribute, even if I can't contribute technical expertise
I do maybe wanna contribute to UI design work for Foss/floss stuff someday though ☺️
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Arguably, the other stalls are all paywalled. So no, you can't just walk away from Linux.
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I feel like this is specifically targeted at the one user posting stuff on the linuxsucks community
It has to be rage bait. It's too funny not to be
It’s hilarious and the older ones especially are riddled with references you’d find in the linuxmemes comm
He did try, years ago, to post cynical but inoffensive memes. I'm pretty sure I had to suspend his account at some point. He's also gotten himself banned from political communities for quoting holocaust deniers, using ableist slurs, and generally being a wanker. He's also posted some antisemitic remarks on other communities. The modlog his quite colorful.
Does he also think number generators are the words of God and is working to build his own OS from scratch?
Wrong flavour of insane.
Oh shit, madthumbs is back? He's always been a hilarious, but equally pathetic troll. I thought we'd lost him when he got all pissy and locked the community a year ago.
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If your whole identity, personality, community or social group is based on hating something then you should reevaluate how you spend your time. This is only marginally worse than making your whole personality being a fanboy for a specific brand/product. Things are there to help you do stuff, so get on and do that stuff ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Does this actually happen, or is this an argument someone had in their head?
On Lemmy…it happens more in reverse.
Example:
That’s in the Windows11 community.
Yeah, that's the smugposting we know and expect.
Seen it happen both ways.
Unrealistic to believe the guy at the Linux stall would not come at him like John Constantine pulling out a demonic possession.
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