Linux as your Daily - A Guide and Journal

Howdy everyone.

So, for those that follow the news, Microsoft launched Windows 11 this past October to the disappointment of many. The disappointment was loud enough for many that a proverbial line in the sand was drawn, with many now looking for the exits to find greener pastures. The telemetry, the advertising, the bugs, the endless hoop-jumping necessary to do something as simple as changing your internet browser are all valid reasons to make the switch. For me, I've been eyeballing this for a while and had done it in the past with limited success.

What's up with Linux?

Linux is, for all intents and purposes, superior to other commercialized operating systems in being customizable, free, and usually unencumbered with the bloat found in Windows, or the incessant spying found in both Windows and MacOS. However, Linux can be difficult in approachability for first time users, is notorious for having odd problems with Nvidia GPUs, and typically requires at least some familiarity with using Command Line Interfaces (CLI). For clarification, if you aren't familiar with the CLI, you will usually develop some skills with it once you dive into Linux.

We can establish that Linux is better when it comes to telemetry, customization, and price, but what are the big problems? The biggest for most is compatibility with the established application ecosystems found in Windows and MacOS. Without a doubt, the MS Office and Adobe product lines and their lack of representation in the Linux world are probably the biggest reason more users don't jump ship. Many of us use some of either or both product lines almost daily in the office. Sure, there are competitors in the open-source world; Open Office, Libre, GIMP, and all the trouble in having to relearn workflows push back hard against years of muscle memory and compatibility with how many work centers operate. You can just show up one day, emailing a bunch of files that don't open, or open with everything garbled and expect your boss or subordinates to be cool with it. In other words, Microsoft, Adobe, and other developers are established in the offices of businesses around the world; switching to Linux requires that we have a suitable and competitive replacement ready when we arrive in that greener pasture.

What's up with this Post?

What I'm going to do here, over the next several days, weeks, months, and hopefully years is switch to Linux and stay there. I'm going to share with you all the whole experience, the ups and downs, in order to give the casual observer a frame of reference and potentially even a guide to how they can get there too.

Background - Me and My Hardware

I am not an expert. I can probably be described as knowing enough to get into serious trouble, but not enough to bail myself out. I am highly proficient with most MS Office products, with my crowning jewel being Excel. I'll honk my own horn there. As I pointed out earlier, I used Fedora as a daily driver for more than a year but because of my love of video games and upgrading to a newer laptop, I went back to Windows and have been in that ecosystem for quite some time. If it gives you an idea, I left when Fedora 24 was brand new.

My laptop is the 2019 Alienware M17 R1. It has an Intel i7 9750H, Nvidia RTX 2070MQ, two 2TB NVMe SSDs (PNY is the brand) and an Intel AX200 Wifi/Bluetooth networking card.

Target Distro

I'm going to be using Endeavour OS; the combination of being able to choose from several desktop environments with Arch as the back bone would seem to be a winner in my book.

I'm going to start this process later today and provide updates on a regular basis.

 

As @etern4l pointed out, there are other distributions that aren't as obscure as Endeavour or as irksome to deal with as any of the Arch based systems (with Manjaro being the exception). Without further ado:

What you'll need

This is assuming you're starting from a Windows install to start. I downloaded the following:

• Endeavour OS ISO (or distro of your choosing)
• Rufus
• A Windows 10 Pro ISO (more on this in a bit)

In order to make sure you have all the luggage needed for the journey, I recommend backing up any important files you might have on your Windows install before proceeding. In my case, the goodies required for continuing my various projects once I crossed over were all found in my Documents folder. Once those were backed up, it was on to the next step.

You'll need to use Rufus to make a bootable USB from the Linux ISO you downloaded. I'm going to largely assume you're aware of how to use this application, but if you aren't please let me know and I'll put together something more comprehensive. Once the USB is set up and ready, you'll need to configure your laptop in preparation for the new operating system.

Alienware laptops, in particular, are usually set up from the factory with AHCI disabled and RAID enabled as default. In my case, I have 2, 2 TB PNY SSDs in RAID0, which Linux can't make sense of out of the box. Because this is a BIOS level RAID configuration, using an Intel RAID controller baked onto the motherboard, you'll need to break it in the BIOS before trying to install Linux. If you don't, your install will fail, every time. After breaking the RAID, you'll need to set your SATA to AHCI. If you don't, the installer won't see the SSDs, and you'll be wondering why your primary drive is only as big as the USB you're booting from.

Once all this is done, you're ready to install. This guide is all about not turning back, so we aren't dual booting. This is all or nothing. I deleted everything and installed Endeavour as the only show in town.

Installation of this OS was mostly simple with only three issues that I'm currently working through. The installer was easy to navigate, installed the correct Nvidia drivers right off the bat (and did most of the configuration too). The first issue that I ran into was Bluetooth was disabled and I couldn't figure out how to get it turned on. Arch, apparently, disables it by default on a fresh install due to potential security vulnerabilities. A visit to the Terminal got that sorted. The second issue is my Alienware Graphics Amplifier. Currently, the OS recognizes the hardware, but I can't seem to get it going. I'll be dealing with this over the next few days; I'm pretty confident I'll get it figured out. Lastly, Alienware Command Center. Sigh. AWCC is another Alienware centric bit of software that allows users to configure our RGB features. I'm aware of direct commands via Terminal to adjust these lighting tidbits, but I'm also aware of a Gnome extension that is supposed to provide a GUI for that as well. Last I had checked, it wasn't being maintained but that seems to have changed recently. The Github page shows the last version was uploaded this past April, which is encouraging.

So, where things stand right now:

• Linux is installed and running
• Steam, Lutris both installed
• Thunderbird up and running
• Bluetooth is working
• AGA is not working

Things left to do:

• Install Crossover
• Install some form of Virtual Machine
• Get Windows 10 up and running in VM (for office related tasks)
• Start figuring out what games in my library run with Proton or Lutris
• Get my AGA working

 

Good stuff, although the choice of a somewhat less known distro might limit usefulness to people who might benefit from such a guide (if not throw extra hurdles your way). Why not start off with Pop!_OS?

 

i use both daily between laptop / server. Laptop for MS and server is LX.

If you want raw power w/o all of the bloat then LX is the way to go. If you want convenience for apps then it's MS. Most software that is main stream tends to be Windows based since it's "dummy proof" and like a cell phone most can use it somewhat intuitively. Along with ease of use comes the hassle of a variety of things from space on the drive to exploits to steal your data.

Personally I use deb based kernel / packages on the server. I can do things like configure a PC to be a router / switch / DVR and so on within LX that can't be done in Windows easily or securely. Being able to do more network focused design for me at least bypasses the need for extraneous and expensive off the shelf equipment. If someone wanted to build their own router using easily adaptable parts it can be done for about the same price as an off the shelf solution but, more powerful and secure. I haven't run the numbers on a basic router / firewall / wifi though since I'm more performance geared but, just about any sidelined PC or even a Arduino / rasp pi or the likes of either. It can be relatively cheap to do with a little cheekiness. Things the mass producers don't want you to know so they can snag another couple hundred bucks out of your pocket each time you need a new one. With the latest round of routers / wifi being released these "consumer" prices have risen to $600+. Taken the project into your own hands though can result in a better solution.

CPU / PC - $100 (RPI 4) ./ $45 (cheapest / buy it now - ebay)

Go from there. PI has a build option for OpenWRT which feels more like an off the shelf router OS you'd be familiar with. LX take s a little more in depth approach though w/o the fancy GUI to bog things down. Either works better than relying on OEM's to keep their OS updated and secure. The versatility of LX and an old PC though as you can expand to the sky is the limits in configuration and function.

In the networking field though all of the major players use LX as the underlying source to make their HW work. Everything from Cisco / Juniper / etc. basically take LX and put their own wrapper on it to be their brand. If you break the device OS you get access to the raw LX commands to perform god like commands.

Expanding beyond networking though you can do many more functions as I eluded to above. I have my server setup for many different things to consolidate several different devices I was already using in the past into a single PC / plug. Taking on different useful devices and rolling them into a single box makes managing things easier as well as saving space. Just looking at NAS's for example sets you back ~$200 fir a basic 2 x drive setup w/o the drive prices included. Routers same thing another $100 on the cheap side. Firewall.... if you're relying on something off the shelf in your "router" then you're risking quite a bit of security if you look on the internet for news about bugs causing info to be leaked. DVR's typically come with subscriptions attached to them. I used to have a Tivo instead of paying the provider for their set top box @ $20-$25/mo in addition to the content monthly charge ~$100/mo. Taking a $100 card and sticking it in the PC and a lifetime Plex subscription for $100 means the monthly costs are gone forever other than your broadband costs. Plex has been releasing more "features" that allow live streaming of curated content similar to PlutoTV IMO. As you can see this adds up quickly to cover the cost of making your own "device" vs paying the "system" for their product.

I put together a higher end PC for all of this using an 8700K CPU / 16GB RAM to start off with. If you keep the costs down like the $45 PC + a couple of PCI cards w/o storage it's maybe $100 for a dual gigabit setup for WAN/LAN to function on the box. Going higher spec though allows for ease of use without stuttering when you put a load on the system. Plex has a feature that allows for the stripping of commercials when a recording completes and that needs some beefier CPU power if you want the server to do the handwork and not your laptop with something like MCEBuddy. ($30 lifetime). The server in my instance with OTA programming can comskip in a matter of seconds while processing the video file. Running it through another program though takes considerably longer even with a high end CPU. MCE allows for batch processing, folder monitoring, etc. to cleanse your videos of commercials and/or convert them to MP4 to save space and ease playing from remote devices without engaging transcoding on the server (high CPU). Most off the shelf NAS's though say they can transcode but, they really suck at doing so and need a buffer period from hitting play to actually playing the files.

With a PC though w/ LX you can open the door to do much more. If you're using it for daily use as a desktop / laptop if you have enough specs under the hood you can always run a "VM" on top of it for special programs that only work in a windows environment. There's a free tool to do so called https://www.virtualbox.org/ I've used this for years when I want to escape Windows and only need a couple of programs that require using windows. I'll usually make an image for Office and then make a copy of that image and store it somewhere else as a "backup" if I run into issues and need to roll back. Installing everything + updates and then locking away a copy of that VHD makes for a quick recovery if needed and only takes up ~100GB of space. Sure it's not quite as fast as running a native off the disk session of Office but, it's nice to kill it off and go back to LX performance when you're done working on a project.

Running in both worlds in tandem can be a struggle for some. It does take a bit of learning to be agile in both systems if you're doing anything more than a simple setup. Digging deeper into LX if you're coming from Windows only and never touched it can be daunting until you figure out how the underlying systems come together and function. There's been many of times when I first started with LX that I would break something and wouldn't' be able to figure it out. Over time you figure out what's "needed" and what's just fluff and can be ripped out to streamline the system. While the issues I was causing didn't completely kill the system from being recoverable in hindsight they did cause productivity issues on occasion and I found it faster to just reinstall it than to try to figure it out back then. Now though I've got the skills to break and fix it quite quickly. Lately I've been running into an issue with newer kernel releases not supporting my 5gbps NIC for some reason and hanging at boot / disabling functions when booted to the GUI. I opened a ticket for that w/ the powers that be and they're working on it since it's been an issue for almost 2 full releases on the kernel now. Anyway in the past I would have probably reinstalled the OS but, have it down to a ~5 minute recovery process.

Running this system mostly in a headless configuration (no monitor) lends to getting familiar with the CLI for most functions / monitoring. Seeing as though working in a networking capacity being familiar with CLI commands became second nature For system / processes I use Glances which gives an overview of processes / networking / load / etc from a SSH window. Its' useful for finding resource hogs and being able to kill them off in another window. Alternatively I also use Webmin to do similar functions from a browser. It's not as sleek as the CLI but, it does work and I use it mainly for letting me know updates are available for the OS and sometimes for a broader view of CPU/network stats. I use//d Netwatch form CLI to build some FW rules based on observed network traffic but, instead decided to put Norddvpn onto the server and use it for a whole house VPN and tweak IPtables as such to FW the connection even further. Netwatch though is a nice option for viewing the inbound connections that are being blocked that are unsolicited traffic i.e. intrusion attempts. You might be surprised how many hits you're getting from the outside world in a given day. I've clocked over 1000 hosts trying to come in any given day from innocuous "probes" / "surveys" to the RU / CN "hackes" probing around for hosts to take over. I added PIHole to the mix to nix the ADS / Telemetry / Tracking from websites as it's basically just another app to install and there are preformed adlists you can just paste the URL in and hit update to import them. NTOPNG is a nice web gui for monitoring statistics / traffic flows similar to the info you might see from an IPS.

If you don't mind getting your hands dirty and being a little bit of a nerd LX opens a lot of possibilities. It's free and there's a whole lot more guides these days out there if you're just starting out with it or seasoned and need to lookup something peculiar.

 

Good operating systems should be a combination of complexity and simplicity. I know, this is a paradoxical statement, but hear me out.

Most users here want something that just works, and works well. I mean, no crashes, applications install and work as they should, hardware is identified and either works or a clear reason provided why it isn't along with what action you need to take in order to get everything going. That's the simplicity we want. As far as complexity, we want rich options to tweak or tinker with in order to squeeze any and all available performance out of the equipment we've purchased. We don't want complexity in doing simple things. We want the option to peel back the layers of our systems and see the fine machining, like looking at the internals of a Hamilton 992B.

Which brings me to Nvidia, and Arch, and JFC. I installed the proprietary driver, as an option, when I installed the OS. Painless, right? Well, it appears the driver recognized my laptop is Optimus equipped and turned that feature on. My GPU is identified, is working correctly, and is turned completely off. Nvidia-settings won't open and I can't seem to get the GPU to power on. I'm getting crazy good battery life, but no gaming yet. I'm sure there is something I've overlooked. I will soldier on.

In other news, I've come across a Throttlestop Linux alternative; intel-undervolt. It isn't pretty, doesn't have any of the extended features @unclewebb has labored to create for us, but it works. It's all done from the Terminal, along with a config file that you tinker with, and that's it.

I'm currently setting up both VMWare Workstation Player and Crossover. I'm going to give both a spin to see which one works better - using MS Office with a WINE compatibility layer or just running WIndows in a VM for my office needs. I think the former would be the more elegant solution, but we'll see.

 

Nvidia and Linux has always been a war to work smoothly.

Wine blows chunks still.

Crossover has been tempting but, still hasn't gotten me to bother with it. Office Communicator is popular and I found Pidgin with a plug in of sorts to work just fine if you grab the certificate to connect. A web based Office like Google docs would solve that issue or using web Outlook offers an alternative to the full install.

Maybe in the next 5 years it will become more native as users revolt and develope other options. Just about every server runs Linux and it's a bit surprising there aren't solutions for this in 2021.

 

Crossover appears to be a bust on Arch for Office 365. The application won't install as Crossover is trying to run it as a 32-bit application when it is a 64-bit installer. I suspected there might be drama in this corner. I use VBA extensively in several of my spreadsheets so any of the MS Office alternatives can't cut it and/or I don't really want to spend the time to relearn another ecosystem. Plan B, VM.

I agree, WINE is still lacking. The whole Nvidia vs. Linux war sucks. I've been keeping my eye on an Asus laptop that's 100% AMD almost specifically because of these problems.

 

Out of the box Optimus support was the main reason behind my Pop_os suggestion.

 

I'm rethinking my selection. Never too late to make another go at it.

 

UPDATE: Following the advice of @etern4l , I attempted to install Pop_OS! I was greeted with utter failure. I've installed this distro in the past, without issue, but ran into some catastrophe right off the bat. The USB boot drive gave me the option to "Try Pop_OS!" and then went to a black screen. This was with the version that has the Nvidia driver installed. So, I'm moving on to Mint.

As info, this particular problem has been around for a bit with Pop and while it is solvable, the whole point of this move is to find a distro that works and works well. So far, Endeavour did install easily, was somewhat easy to use, the hoop jumping with Nvidia and the somewhat arcane nature of Arch (in general) puts both of these distros in a category of moderate to advance user territory. Not something a newbie can reasonably hope to figure out.

 

Weird. The option to Try Pop_OS worked like a charm for me multiple times on the same hardware (doubt 8750h vs 9750h matters here) except perhaps the WiFi (I've upgraded mine to AX210), and the SSD in AHCI mode.

 

Well, seeing as though POP / Ubuntu are the same thing w/ a different skin it's surprising this isn't installing. I'm running a 9750H on the laptop and Ubuntu installed just fine. Maybe the download got corrupted and needs to be downloaded again to install properly. Otherwise install Ubuntu and install the POP skin,

https://support.system76.com/articles/desktop-environment/

Pop!_OS is based upon Ubuntu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop!_OS

The base is still Debian when it comes down to it. It just has packaged "enhancements" in the ISO for x/y/z.

https://www.tecmint.com/debian-based-linux-distributions/

https://www.debian.org/derivatives/


https://www.slant.co/topics/15764/~debian-based-linux-distributions

 

Yup, I couldn't figure it out either. Found users from stackexchange, Ubuntu forums, reddit, and elsewhere all running into the same problem and from several versions back as well. Mint is another Ubuntu spin (basically) and it installed fine. Like better than fine. I'm still trying to get MS Office going, but everything else including the GPU set up just fine.

 

Debian based options have come a long way over the years for compatibility and automagically installing HW for you during install. It's not nearly as complicated as it used to be getting things working from ISO to desktop loaded.

With more powerful systems these days it's also a lot easier to run a VM for those pesky MS apps and not bog down either the VM or native system. Just depends on how much someone hates dealing with MS. I've always despised the though of paying the MS tax on new HW for an OS and despise them even more for apps. Linux being more transparent to work with though gives some ideas on how to break Windows and tweak it to your desire.

As to the whole Pop vs Mint vs Ubuntu... does it really matter? Getting the core system up and running is the goal and you can swap pieces of it for something else once it's working. There's usually a PPA somewhere dedicated to doing so or allowing you to circumvent an issue like drivers. I had to dig around when I was running dual RX590's for testing out mining awhile back and figured out how to get them stable through some different sources and flashing different vbios onto the cards and so on.

I laugh at the thought of people buying some of these prepackaged distros though for things like setting up a NAS or something else. Though paying up for open source OS does get you some more immediate support for an issue rather than waiting for a response on a posting somewhere it's still counter intuitive to me at least. Immersion works better than being handed the answer with a phone call / email. MacOS is based on similar underlying code with a fancy GUI / support system in place that created brand loyalty at a HIGH price.

 

My best guess is this has something to do with my running in AHCI vs your RAID, but clutching at straws here.

PopOS is not just a skin per se, lol. There are some differences in package management, and they really put a lot of effort into this Nvidia thing. When I tried an Ubuntu Live CD it just fell apart as soon as I started playing around with the Nvidia stuff, whereas Pop was solid.

 

The installer has some sort of known issue with Nvidia GPUs and requires modification of GRUB on boot to get it working. Some users have been successful by adding a NOMODESET flag, but that didn't do anything for me. I downloaded the ISO twice, using the one recommended for Nvidia systems both times. That could have been the culprit, but I'm trying to approach this as a search for a viable Windows alternative. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume the version of the OS that's specifically aimed at my hardware is the correct one to use. The fact that it might not be is a big problem in my book.

Linux Mint, on the other hand, has been super easy to set up and get running. I started on Ubuntu (a long time ago) and the muscle memory still remembers the apt-get versus yaorut/pacman/dnf. My GPU set up flawlessly, optimus included. I'm still working through trying to get MS Office working. I've tried PlayOnLinux, Crossover, and Lutris without any success. The best I've gotten is getting a little more than halfway through the installation before it crashes. For reference, I'm trying to install the 64-bit version of Office 365 (because it's offered free by the agency I work for). I've given up trying to use a compatibility layer and have moved on to using a VM. I tried Boxes, which had a lot of input and visual lag, but seemed to at least work. I don't think I'm going to stick with that one. I'm trying Virtual Box as I type this, which seems more responsive, but super slow installing. I'm probably going to go back to VMWare Workstation Player; it's simply the best out there.

 

UPDATE:

More tweaks and fidgeting have been completed. I've moved from Boxes, to Virtual Box, back to VMWare Workstation Player. Currently installing Windows 10 Pro (GUTTED) pulled from this forum. Some additional work completed includes:

• Installed psensors (a hardware monitor of sorts)
• Installed autocpufreq (a load limiter)
• Installed tlp and powertop (power saving functions)
  
• Installed undervolt (a command line version of Throttlestop)

I tried to get the Alienware lights going, but no success as of yet.

 

If you give the ini file of TS it will read the undervolt values. I didn't try autocpufreq instead I added tuned-gtk GUI or tuned-adm cmd version which has pre-defined power profile and made by Red Hat. I use Latency, balanced, laptop-battery and laptop-ac modes.

 

I read that I could port over my .ini file...if I kept it! Deleted everything when I made the leap so, much like an infamous sailor did several centuries ago, I burned the ships when I arrived at the new land. The only downside is I'll need to figure out how to start and apply that undervolt on boot as it doesn't persist when the laptop powers down. I'm not using anything super aggressive (-.125 core/cache) so I'm not worried about something unstable.

I didn't know about tuned-gtk. auto-cpufreq has a daemon that you can run silently, and more conveniently, automatically on startup. So far, I'm seeing better battery life on Linux than I did on Windows. CPU usage idles at 0-1%. The last time I did this was with an Asus G75VX that didn't have the best battery life under ideal circumstances. I don't know if it's a limitation of my hardware or how battery run times are reported to the OS, but both Windows and Linux seem to cap out at 10 hours. I'm easily getting close to that with light websurfing or watching movies. I'm actually kicking myself for not doing this sooner.

 

When I was using a QNAP AC WIFI card as a WIFI router it had 2 separate radios which required 2 .conf's to activate both of them. By default it setup 1 .service file and you put in the radio profile you wanted active at boot. I took that file and duplicated it and pointed it toward the other radio file and both activated at boot from then on and didn't require manual activation any longer. I tweaked the files too since the "AP" would randomly restart polling every once in awhile and set it to constantly be restarted no matter the attempt count and put an end to that as well.

So, if you have a .service file being generated by this program I would add it to the start config for boot activation.

 

To get things like keyboard backlight color control working, I needed to mess with the
acpi_os_name and/or
acpi_osi kernel boot parameters. I think acpi_osi=Linux ultimately worked the best on my Powerspec 1530 (Clevo PB50DF2). Depends on your BIOS/UEFI, afaik.

https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v4.14/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.html

 

Been using VMWare Workstation on Linux Mint for going on 3 yrs now. It is the recommendation I make to all who ask.

At the time I needed a new system 30 months ago, I also bowed out of the Laptop DTR market. I had VMWorkstation working well with Pop_OS! at the time on a x7200 Clevo system from AVADirect. But decided a small portable Mini-ITX build would better suit my needs than a laptop with ever so decreasing features.

Moving to the mini-ITX build was a bit of an adjustment, but I've had ZERO regrets with the decision to move to Linux/VMWare, even though this current machine is dual boot capable. I haven't booted into the WIndows side in 10 months.

 

You may also try Debian "unofficial" with firmware, e.g.

https://cdimage.debian.org/images/u...luding-firmware/11.1.0+nonfree/amd64/iso-dvd/

For an aficionado of bizarre and out of this world experience I recommend Void Linux. It is still very practical and I immensely enjoy it.
I am not steering away from GNU/linux here, we are not discussing truly elegant and innovative OSes to avoid distractions.

 

Its better not to persist or add startup service for undervolt since you can't revert or reset the service. I had black screen issue on startup due to insufficient voltage after uCode update and had to restore old image and remove undervolting service from starting up.
tuned-gtk has a daemon and the power profiles persists until you change it.

 

So...wow. I'm returning with my head hung low in utter defeat. I gave this, what I think was, a fair shake. As I pointed out at the start, this experiment was an attempt to move over to Linux as a daily driver and find out if it could serve as a stand-in for the big W or M in terms of stability, functionality, and usability. Here are my findings:

• Linux is a stable platform, depending on what hardware you bring to the party
• Windows is a monster in the marketplace. So much of what we do daily on our machines runs through applications made for that ecosystem and the end result is that if we attempt to move away from that place, we must sacrifice some degree of compatibility, functionality, or both in order to do so
• My plan of using Windows in a VM to access more detailed functions of Office (like VBA) resulted in a very buggy mess. The version of Office365 that I have a license for would not install in any version of Windows 10 VM that I set up (Pro or Home, which I both have licenses for). Just to try it, I installed KMSpico and whatever 2019 Office I could find via any torrent site. This did work, but the performance was horrible no matter what resources I allocated to the VM
• Adobe products fared about as well, which I use extensively at my office (InDesign and Illustrator specifically) both of which benefit from hardware acceleration that was not immediately available through VMWare, Boxes, or Virtual Box
• Gaming has improved significantly on Linux...but it still isn't comparable to what you can do on Windows. Steam is the furthest along in establishing compatibility with most titles installing but not all running without serious tweaking, and some not even after that. Other launchers like Epic Games, EA Origin, and Ubisoft Uplay install (sort of) but aren't very usable beyond that. Standalone titles like DCS, Star Sector, and IL2 don't work, period. You might get the launcher to load, or the game to install, but that's about as far as you'll get. Any money you've spent on titles through Microsoft like MSFS2020 or Astroneer, forget about it; that ecosystem is closed to Linux
• Any game or program mods that you're used to using will either be extremely difficult to get working or won't work in Linux. It goes without saying that running a program in a compatibility layer like WINE or Crossover and then trying to run some kind of modification to that program in the same layer is tricky. I tried and was entirely unsuccessful

I am not an expert user. I am not afraid to dive into the mechanics of how things work, even to the point of breaking stuff in order to figure out how to fix it. I think I can say with certainty that if you move from Windows to Linux, you'll need to sacrifice a very tangible amount of functionality to make that transition. What that amount is comprised of will vary depending on what your workflow is and what options are available on the open-source marketplace. What I can say, decidedly, is that my workflow has holes in it that cannot be immediately filled on the Linux side of this equation. The only way to make this work properly would be to dual boot (which is still an option) or have two systems. Having two systems begs the question, which would I use more? I believe I already know the answer - because of my work, I'll be on the Windows machine more.

Linux has been in development for thirty years. I'm sure it works very well as a daily driver for network admins or developers. If you've grown up in the Windows or MacOS ecosystems, this might be a tricky transition for you. There will be gaps in your workflow that will require you to use new tools (and relearning how to do things) or having to deal with not being able to perform specific tasks. I'm sure for some, leaving behind purchases made in whatever other OS you're coming from won't be that big a deal. For me, that represents several hundred dollars in licenses that either don't work, or don't work well under Linux.

This isn't to say that Linux is bad, or not as good as Windows. It's better in almost every conceivable way than any other operating system that's on the market currently. No telemetry, far fewer bugs, consistent updates (that you are not forced to install), and what I believe is a far more secure method of finding and installing software puts Linux ahead of its competitors. Where it falls behind is with other, mainstream software developers, be it for gaming or productivity. Because Linux users are still in the minority, vendors aren't interested in porting over say Acrobat Pro or developing solid driver support for Nvidia GPUs when they have a flourishing customer base on Windows.

I may try this again in a year or two as we get closer to the 2025 go stale date for Windows 10. Right now, Linux can't reliably serve as my daily in the current state of what software is available to it.

 

@ Gumwars

Some things come to mind with your post above.

• ESXI as your baseline and build containers on top of it for both OS's
• Take an image of your setup w/ O365 and then import it into a VM environment w/ all of your apps pre-installed

VM's mean more resources to run smoothly for more than just small asks from the VM. Biggest # of cores on the CPU / RAM side will make a difference int he traditional VM setup. vSphere on the other hand would be less noticeable as they're shared not segregated per instance.

As a network head *nix does come into play daily with how you configure devices. As far as common / best software though it's easier to use Windows w/o finding work arounds for things as often. Srue some apps have dual OS capability w/o getting WINE involved or some other compatibility layer that can be a pain when it errors out. I have a bit of a fluidity between the 2 OS because it's just how life is to make business / performance synergize. Being able to meld the 2 makes things easier. If there's a simpler way like WSL the merges things a bit more than one over the other it might be feasible. It's a preference thing as well as to not feeding MSFT more $ in licensing or having to deal with the malware aspect of it all due to bad coding.

Apple though is a bit of a hybrid of the common place GUI / linux underlying tones when opening a command window. The issue there is that it's a locked ecosystem and it's a helluvalot pricier when it comes to everything from HW / SW. I had one job a few years back where they issues a macbook for use and it threw me for a loop even though I had used MacOS in the past. The layout is kind of like having a touch of Dyslexia trying to get things done that are virtually hardwired from other systems placements. it performed fine and I added a VM to it for W based programs to be used and it ran fine as well.

 

This is a great thread, and your summary here is articulated in a highly effective and accurate manner. PC users are hog-tied and in bondage to Windows 10/11 trash OS for no reason other than the your sentence. That is 100% where I am at. To the extent that I don't want or need to rely on software that I use in Windows, Linux is superior and excels by every measurement. The sad reality is, there is too much that I want to do that becomes too complicated and unrealistic, even futile, to pursue on a Linux-powered system. No amount of effort is capable of rectifying that situation.

Unfortunately, the Redmond Reprobates have made a mess of things by making it all about the OS. The OS should be seen, but not heard. I love Linux and it would replace Windows for me entirely if it could. It's all about the software. Windows 7 was awesome, but almost everything they have done to it since then sucks.

My contempt for anything and everything crApple make it not an option; undeserving of the even slightest acknowledgment that it exists. I foresee a day approaching that I will have to make some hard decisions because Micro$lop is bending over backwards to earn similar status in the technology hall of shame. At the end of the day, the prospect of replacing Windows with Linux all boils down to the question of what you are willing and/or able to sacrifice and do without. It truly sucks to find yourself in that situation, but it is what it is.


This video is an excellent common sense gut check, from a expert Linux junky.

 

Sadly, your experience also mirrors my attempts at Linux too. There are too many compromises that I need to make to completely abandon Windows, and if I'm forced to still use Windows why bother with Linux.
Unfortunately, I don't see things improving much for Linux in the near future. As it sits it pretty much seems to exist as an OS for enthusiasts, or folks that only need the bare minimum (I know this is a pretty vague generalization on my part). Until there is a major endorsement from 3rd parties like Adobe, there just won't be nearly enough money/brain power to push it fully mainstream - remember that Apple was nearly dead until MS agreed to port Office over to Mac (along with a s-load of "investment" cash)

 

I think I might have covered a bit of this and if not then here it goes.

I use *nix for my server which serves a multitude of purposes that MS would never cover.

1st is making a PC into a touter/switch/firewall/access point - this allows for expansion / contraction as needed vs buying a new "router" for $600 every time something is improved upon. If WIFI switched from 5 to 6 then it's $250 vs $600+ or when 6E becomes more available from an OE release standpoint it's not that big of a cash output to upgrade just that portion of the network.

One thig I do miss about using the QNAP card for WIFI is the only thing you noticed were wifi antennae coming out vs an AP sitting on a shelf for WIFI.

2nd/3rd/etc - Since the "server" is already up and running for networking it's easy to add functionality and incorporate different features such as.... DVR / NAS / etc. There's a wintv 1609 quad tuner for OTA that can record from 4 stations at any given time for $110. Of course if you're going to be recording / storing things you need storage since the typical raw TS MPEG2 files are 5-6GB/hour / show. It just made sense to roll a NAS into the mix with a few 8TB drives and implement a Raid 10 to speed things up and have a backup if a dive failed. The DVR portion is handled by the tuner card + Plex to manage things.

Of course with Windows I can get some of these features like DHCP / ICS but, it all ends there for the most part. With this implantation you can get as granular with the FW as you want as if you would in an enterprise environment or as little as rejecting non-originating traffic from being processed. The 1 perk of adding a traditional AP to the mix is the the 8 SSID's per Radio to allow splitting / prioritizing traffic and/or QOS/FW rules per SSID / subnet if wanted.

Now, using Windows / MacOS for simplicity of daily tasks at this point is still the way things get done. From a set it and forget it standpoint though there's *nix and all of its flavors to make the rest of the world work behind the scenes. *nix runs everything besides your PC in most cases. It's in your phones, car, ISP, gadgets, and everything else besides your PC in most cases. If you can sever the ties w/ mainstream apps and use their GNU counterparts it's easy to make the switch. There's an app that mirrors anything MS has released it's not as polished and you don't pay up for it but, the same functionality is there.

The problem with converting over from the junk we've grown to hate is it's what's a reflex at this point and retraining our clicks takes time to get used to again. It's like spending your first 25 years of life being right handed and then being forced to use your left instead. Or driving on the right and being forced to the left. The problem with Linux is that it's free and there's no incentive to promote it if no one is getting paid for it other than RHEL of course. You can probably list ~20 OEM's that offer it as an OS OOB. The in between is MacOS as a hybrid GUI / *nix base but has a high stupid tax attached to it.

 

Yeah that really is the bottom line. Free comes with a cost for the end user. The price is living with limited functionality. What it does do, it does extremely well.

One could argue that Windows is also free to use for most people, but Windows isn't the final product. The people who get to use it are the product, and pay for it with their personal information and data being harvested, so the hidden costs are less obvious and not recognized. You put up with a lot of crap for the privilege of trading something of greater value for something of less value. Most are oblivious to it.

Many of us could do with a lot of what keeps us in bondage to Windows, but we don't want to do without. There is an old saying, "necessity is the mother of invention" that would be more accurately said as "necessity is a matter of perception."

 

I'm kinda saddened by the thought but I think Linux is actually very close to what the developers intend for it to be. I've used Linux almost exclusively for ~15 years, and attempting to use Windows for gaming after not using it since Windows XP was absolutely infuriating. A clean Windows 10 install reminds me of the virus-ridden Windows 98/XP installs I would clean up for people decades ago.
I don't really know what I would change about Windows since practically every casual user I know is fine with it. I definitely wouldn't encourage the majority of them to move to Linux.

I don't think either OS should make any drastic changes. I spent quite a bit of time trying to daily drive Windows 10 but gave up because each boot or update introduced some unwanted change(s) to my setup. It was uselessly stressful and fixing Windows was wasting too much of my time.
Though, much like y'all using Linux, I miss lots of things like ThrottleStop, MSI Afterburner, gaming... the stress just wasn't worth it though. It felt like the OS was always doing whatever it wanted rather than what I wanted. When I log into my Linux systems I get a zen-like sense of serenity while running commands to see that everything is still running smoothly and efficiently, just like I left them.

Also, it used to annoy me years ago but as I grow older I gain more and more respect for the political viewpoints of open-source. Without open-source, my TV, router, phone, VDSL modem, etc wouldn't be running Linux. Linux isn't perfect but it generally better than alternatives, from a few perspectives. Personally, "free as in speech" is much more important than "free as in beer". Both are good though.


Ultimately, with virtualization and networking improvements, I think the separation between operating systems will become less and less painful. Hopefully, we continue to be able to choose which OS we want, via dual-booting or whatever.

 

And that's why I block all of their telemetry and then some....



Pihole is great for preventing that silo from being topped off each time the device is fired up. Not even opening things causes the thing to call home.



The absolute only time they're going to harvest data / make $ from me is on the license tax on a new system "if" I were to buy "new". Which might be the case when ADL-P rolls out into production in a couple of months. Might be able to snag something w/o the tax though through RJtech or something along those lines w/ a barebones setup.

Obviously MSFT isn't the only chatty data miner when it comes to calling home as you can see here. The most annoyant device is the Yamaha Sound Bar pinging sites for connection verfication.



Not that any of the info they could get would come back to me anyway since it's all funneled through my "sever" via VPN for all devices on the network. The IP comes back to a different location and tons of other users which invalidates the info they gather. The only other problem would be cookies and that's the reason for blocking the worst domains comes into play.

I haven't paid MSFT tax on a new device in so long I can't even recall. Blocking all of the crap that companies try to use to gather info makes pages respond a lot quicker as well when surfing around w/o all the clutter in the background taking up bandwidth. Blocking those 2M plus domains makes for a quiet mailbox as well w/o the tracking / spam filtering in. Occasionally something specific might not work and just needs to be whitelisted to get it working.

 

I get it, free only gets you so far before the cost of doing business rears its head. The countless folks that work on all these Linux spins have my neverending gratitude. In fact, I'd be more than happy handing over cash if, and only if it meant an OS that could actually be a daily driver for what I do. About a year before Windows 11 was announced, there was some buzz that M$ was entertaining the idea of forking their OS with a Linux-based kernel for the next iteration. Granted, this was pure speculation, but it struck me as a fantastic opportunity for the folks at Redmond. You'd finally bridge that last gap between Linux and Windows, and they've already proven a very close level of compatibility with WSL/WSL2. It didn't seem impossible that Microsoft might actually have been listening to the userbase and was creating a new distro of Linux that would show what a commercial, for-profit outfit could put together if motivated.

Now, I'm not under the illusion that M$ wouldn't pack this OS full of the same telemetry/spyware/users-as-a-product approach they've come to be known for. I think it would be a paradigm shift. Windows moving to a Linux kernel would put it on par with MacOS in terms of stability and signal all of the other distros that the last piece of the compatibility puzzle was in place. This is likely why M$ isn't going in that direction; it would make any distro a viable alternative as you'd be able to enjoy the majority of the Windows software catalog.

This is all about the software. Linux is a better platform, it's a head above both M$ & Apple in terms of privacy, stability, and backward compatibility. The only weakness is what applications have been ported or natively made for the platform. There are many great applications built on Linux, but when it comes to Adobe and MS Office, there aren't good substitutes. Gaming is coming along and will probably be on par before compatibility becomes more widespread.

TL;DR - Linux is great, applications not so much. Windows had and still has a chance to elevate the kernel but won't do it because they'd literally be pulling the rug out from underneath themselves.

 

The fact that the OS is free to use does not imply applications have to be. Yes, some Open Source library licensing is problematic from the commercial closed-source developer's standpoint, but there is no requirement to use them.

 

I would think since RHEL is "commercial" there might be some more portability between OS's on well known apps. There are some apps that do charge for *nix native coding / installable though so, there's that as well. Since I manage networking devices I use SecureCRT to tab a bunch of different devices and store common commands in buttons and there's a native *nix version for those that use something other than Windows.

There's a paradigm in sort of chicken / egg situation where until there's demand developers don't bother making mainstream apps for systems running *nix. There are some variation issues as well between say Debian based systems vs Fedora / CentOS / SUSE. Conceivably under the hood outside of package management they should be similar the variances aren't quite as profitable as a one and done for Windows / MacOS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions

The hardcore *nix people I've met over the years tend to go more obscure than the mainstream DEB based options. Of course the Enterprise side of things goes for RHEL for the support options.

 

Not the best example, since RHEL only provides commercial support, not closed-source software. I understand all the code is open source and available say in CentOS.

We are saying there is a lack of native Linux ports of commercial software such as Photoshop. I think it's just that developers such as Adobe think they won't get enough users on the platform to cover the cost, rather than Linux being free being an issue. If anything that has helped. There have been quite a few interesting commercial (not free) attempts at attacking Windows: OS/2 and BeOS spring to mind. Both died alone, BeOS was basically stillborn. Linux has been a raging success in comparison.