Ras wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:38 pm
You can. See
https://linuxmint.com/release.php?id=39 for a long term stable distro (use the "Edge" kernel version for recent hardware such as Ryzen 4000 laptops). Or if you want a rolling release distro,
https://manjaro.org is a good one. Otherwise, you can curse all day through, but as long as you still keep using Windows, you're telling Microsoft that you agree with their practices because actions speak louder than words.
No you can't. The operating system is not the most important piece of software: the applications are. Most users don't buy a computer to run an operating system, they buy it to run applications. Then they choose the operating system that runs most of those applications. In my case, I was contemplating to move over to Debian Linux; I've tried it many times in the past, and always returned to Windows. Not because of Debian or Linux being crap or bothersome, but because of the software I want or need to run. Some examples:
Chess:
- The Fritz GUI. Arena is OK, but compared to Fritz, it feels clunky. (Arena's tournament facility is better though; but for that I use CuteChess.)
- Chessbase. I've tried to use Scid. I really tried. It can be done, and the basics are available, but Chessbase is the standard. If you need to know anything, how to do anything, you can just look it up in the manual, or find it online within seconds. Not so with Scid. (Also on Windows, Scid often leaves the analysis engine as a zombie process, which Chessbase doesn't do.)
Photography and Office:
- Capture One, and Affinity Photo, or LightRoom and Photoshop, if you don't mind paying up for Adobe stuff or need that software, as it is the standard. Darktable and RawTherapee are fine programs, but Lightroom is just more convenient, and Capture One is A LOT more powerful. All of those are (expensive) commercial software packages, but when doing (semi-)professional photography, you need well-supported, standard software. It takes too much time to try and find out how to do X in DarkTable / Gimp, if you can just look it up for Capture One / Affinity or LightRoom / Photoshop. And, in this case, the commercial packages can do things the open source offerings just can't. (PS: You could run this software on a Mac if you want, but a PC is more powerful for the same money.)
- Eizo ColorNavigator, which I need to calibrate my monitor, doesn't run on Linux.
- Some people actually NEED Microsoft Office for collaboration purposes or using Microsoft services, others WANT it. LibreOffice is fine for stand-alone documents (I use it too), but if you need to use MS Services or need to collaborate, it doesn't cut it.
Music and E-books
- Handling FLAC files can be done on Linux, but there are just better GUI's (better maintained, more user-friendly, more functionality) available for Windows; both open-source and paid. Yes, I know streaming is in today, and I sometimes stream radio (and I have Netflix), but I'm not going to give up my massive personal music library.
- Even though Calibre is available for Linux, both Kindle for PC and Adobe Digital Editions (the software to download the e-books) are only available for Windows and Mac. The DeDRM-plugin, to remove encryption from books works in tandem with K4PC or ADE. It can be done with Wine, but it's a huge hassle to get working. (The DeDRM decrypts books: it basically opens the book using ADE's key, reads it, and then writes it back to the hard disk again without the encryption. So, this only works with books you bought yourself: you can't "crack" decrypted books.)
Games:
- Even though there are now (some) games that get a Linux version, and you can run games in Wine, it's just MUCH easier on Windows, especially if you use either Steam or GOG.com: buy, download, install, play. It _always_ works, if your computer is powerful enough and you don't have any weird problems.
Hardware:
- There's still a lot of hardware that doesn't work with Linux. The DGT-board only started working with Linux when Picochess became stable in 2015, and it's basically still the only option if you're not on Windows. (On Windows, the only viable option is Fritz for playing against engines, because the support by other programs is lackluster in comparison.)
- Many Logitech mice don't fully work on Linux, except if you write your own button mappings. On Windows, you just install Logitech Options, and you have 5 million settings available.
- Same with printers... you'll have to figure out Cups, and Foomatic, and stuff... on Windows, you install the driver, select either USB or network, and print. With *any* printer. You don't even need to think if the printer/scanner/copier is supported; it WILL be.
Don't get me wrong. I love Linux. I love BASH. MSYS2/Bash is my main shell on Windows, and before that, I used Cygwin and Windows Services for Unix before that. I abhor Powershell.
The point is: Yes, I _can_ do most things with Linux, but compared to Windows, it is just inconvenient, especially with regard to the user-facing software. Some things I can't even do. Windows is the only operating system that basically runs EVERYTHING, including Linux shells. As I said, with regard to user-facing software, I don't have to think if I can do something on Windows; I can automatically assume I can.
I do have two Raspberry Pi's running Picochess though, and a NUC that runs Bubble Upnp Server to cast music around the apartment. I might even convert the NUC that runs Pianoteq (a virtual piano instrument for connection to my digital piano) to Linux... but when I do, it'll be a hassle to get the external sound module running. On Windows, I just install the driver, plug the USB-cable in, and it runs. So maybe I'll just leave it running as it is now, because the Windows version was paid for (OEM) 6 years ago, upgraded to Win10, and everything just works.
So yes, I'd love to switch to Linux because of the customizability, the fancy capabilities in the desktops (especially KDE), and the massively powerful command-line... but it just can't run the software I either need or want to run. Not on the desktop or laptop, so it's a no-go. I do use Linux for computers that have a dedicated purpose though, such as the Raspberry's and at least one of the NUC's, and that's not going to change.
Linux for software development; yes.
Linux for running servers; yes.
Linux on a computer dedicated to one cause: yes.
Linux for a general purpose computer running a lot of user-software: no. And I don't see that changing very soon.