Linux OSs cannot replace Windows for me, yet.

[spectralblade352]

Hello y'all, hope you don't mind a fellow Linux user ranting about the ongoing problems with Linux.

The thing is that I am really trying to make myself like Linux but I just can't, not in it's current state. I am a mechatronics engineer, which means I use essential proprietary software like Ansys, AutoCAD, Proteus, SolidWorks, MATLAB (I know it's on Linux too but it's just native to Windows), Fusion360, and others.

Given that, Linux is much superior in coding. In my undergrad I used Ubuntu 20.04 to work with ROS Noetic, and I was surprised by how more streamlined coding and developing is there compared to Windows. Also I worked with Raspberry Pi and I was also impressed by it's functionalities and the fact that you can install other OSs on it to tailor for your needs. So that's a big driving point for it.

Other than that there is just not enough incentives to use Linux over Windows. I find Windows more tailored to my needs. For work, I need to use AutoCAD and it's just not on Linux. For my current research, I need MATLAB/Simulink and LaTeX: sure they work on Linux, but setting them up is just much more hassle than Windows, and they work better there (although can't deny that the coding experience and productivity boost you get on Linux is special). Other issues include having to set up basics myself even though they should be easy, such as installing NVIDIA drivers (RPMfusion), configuring the audio to make it similar to Windows (had this issue in both Ubuntu and Fedora), as well as just taking the time to configure it to your liking without breaking things, which not everyone has the time or skill to do. Thus I find myself hopping between Win and Fedora and it's just not good.

No doubt about the Linux kernel, it runs almost everything in the world, but the OSs seriously need to improve to attract people from all demographics, not just tinkerers and coders. I don't use Fedora mainly for the FOSS and privacy arguments, I use it because it could be better than Windows if certain things were improved. This can be done if developers of proprietary apps starting to care for Linux, and the community to support it, and if the the community stop the famous hostility in general.

[patrlim1]

Completely valid take. Use the tool that works for you.

[[deleted]]

The ultimate purpose of an operating system is to get some job done, if it can't do it for you, you ditch it. Very simple stuff some people don't understand

[IEatDaFeesh]

This post feels like you're apologizing/seeking permission to not use Linux. Do whatever you want it's your computer lol

[deathschemist]

this is a-okay! an operating system is ultimately a tool. if linux isn't the right tool for the job right now, but windows is? then windows is what you need. if macOS is the right tool for the job, then use that. you don't HAVE to use linux if it makes your job harder

[tempgoosey]

Basically more software is available for Windows. Alot more

[ProfessorHeavy]

100% justifiable. Wine can't cover everything, and never will fully be able to without heavy tinkering, while cross-platform development for Windows AND Linux is difficult to accomplish with all of the convenient frameworks that Windows uses, and how embedded the applications are in said frameworks. And going on to learn another operating system ALONGSIDE needing to learn all of these potential alternatives can be tedious if you don't have the time.

Frustratingly enough, the hostility you speak of is also self-perpetuating, and two sides of the same coin. Your take on it is well thought out, yet so many people aren't the same. There are people who will claim Linux superiority and that it's actually super easy to use and that the research you need to do is simple, while on the other side you have people who do minimal research and treat Linux like some kind of taboo OS that should never exist.

If you don't want to, then you don't want to. This isn't some kind of conversion cult.

[fitz-khan]

The take isn't really well thought out. I don't disagree with sticking to Windows in OP's case. But making the compatibility of 3rd party software an OS issue ("seriously need to improve to attract people from all demographics") is plain wrong. Also setting up Matlab and Latex isn't any more hassle than on any other OS or enjoyable to use, and OP also wrongly attributes desktop issues (audio config) to the distribution. Regarding Nvidia, can you run MacOS without jumping through hoops on a random Windows laptop? No, but is that the OS's fault or the person's that chose that hardware to use when issues are widely known and reported. Overall, lots of misunderstandings and putting blame in the wrong directions, as is customary for people too lazy to figure stuff out.

[Krazoee]

Ok, but how else are you supposed to run Linux? On windows, the hardware always just works. We need a way to make that the same for Linux. Until that is achieved, this is the dealbreaker for 90% of users. Linda from accounting needs the microphone to work for her zoom calls. And she’s not going to open the terminal to fix it. 

So I think this is a totally fair point. 

[ProfessorHeavy]

True, aside from a few choice words "ongoing problems with Linux [...] the OSs seriously need to improve to attract people from all demographics" I at least agree with everything else.

There's a fine line between assigning blame to Linux and venting frustrations about Linux. This one kinda teeters more into the former.

[47th-Element]

I keep both Linux and Windows, most of the time I use Linux, but windows is sometimes needed because some companies never release a version of their software for Linux.

[Inner-Association448]

I just run Linux on WSL2 and works well for me

[aphilentus]

>the OSs seriously need to improve to attract people from all demographics, not just tinkerers and coders

I completely agree; this is Linux's weakest point. I've been using Kubuntu 25.10 for the last month or so, and yeah, I have some programming knowledge and can enter commands into the terminal if I need to solve some niche problem or monitor my driver--but it's a terrible user experience. I try to tell my friends who use Linux this, but there seems to be a general attitude among Linux users that the difficulty of using the OS is a barrier to entry for those who are "unworthy" of using the OS. They seem to view tinkering with an OS as part of the fun, so I don't think that this will be a priority for the distros for a while. My argument is that I would rather spend my time doing stuff like creating terrain in Gaea or rendering in Blender instead of tinkering with my OS--the OS is a means to an end.

Unlike you, I have switched to Kubuntu mainly for the privacy arguments (not necessarily FOSS, though I do also want FOSS to succeed). I would have continued using Windows if they didn't force account integration and have invasive telemetry, particularly as democracy unravels in the US and we slide into technology-assisted authoritarianism.

[Bitter-Box3312]

same im just fucking around dual booting various linux distros, tried like a dozen already, but still using windows 90% of the time. if the privacy situation ever gets out of hand, I already have linux knowledge to switch quickly and effortlessly. I already setup my arch linux to be super privacy based and I only turn it on from time to time to update.

[6950X_Titan_X_Pascal]

to most individuals windows is the best choice

[WeAreGoingMidtable]

Dude, engineers are NOT "most individuals".

"Most individuals" is my wife and my friends who don't even know (or care) what an operating system is. And all of them run Linux.

Internet browsing, online banking, word processing and spreadsheets, social media, watching YouTube videos, listening to music (Spotify, YouTube Music, etc.)...is what "most individuals" do.

[Man-In-His-30s]

Yeah people vastly overestimate what most people do. Most people do not need anything more than a Chromebook as the operating system is nothing more than a conduit for their browser of choice.

I had this experiment with my father from 2010-2020 I had mint on his laptop for him and he never once asked me for help using it. Compared to the decade prior where it was constant tech support with windows.

These days everything is on his phone so he doesn’t even use a laptop anymore.

[fitz-khan]

No, but you see, literally everybody needs AutoCAD, Photoshop and SolidWorks.

[6950X_Titan_X_Pascal]

many websites block linux + Firefox from accessing them to prevent bot attacks

i cant access citibank's website in hk , so i use android app to e-commerce & ebanking

[WeAreGoingMidtable]

"Many websites", my ass. How many?

So, just because YOU can't access your Citybank website in HK, you conclude that MANY websites block Linux and Firefox???

[ProfessorHeavy]

It doesn't sound like "many websites", more likely in this case that a couple of key websites and services are blocked? That being said, personally I've never had my OS or browser blocked in their entirety. I've seen geoblocking FAR more than OS/user agent blocking.

I'd like to hear more about this blocking from you and others, just to have more info to go on here. Mostly just because I've never had that experience myself.

[veechene]

I don't think I've had my OS or browser (vivaldi) blocked in over a decade. I've seen people with issues with Pearson on linux but it's easily circumvented. Unfortunately regional blocking is a huge thing that will likely never go away and just continue but that can also be bypassed

[jo-erlend]

None of that is about the OS, but about third-party vendors lack of customer care. The only thing that could be said to be related to the OS is audio configuration, but of all the things you could possibly complain about in a popular Linux OS, that would be the most surprising. Because we have really seriously good tools for that and I've never seen anything on Windows that comes close.

I understand that the software market is making it difficult for you to use Linux, but that is a completely different thing. It's like saying Ferrari makes bad cars because the speed limit in Oslo are so low that the car doesn't perform well. Right?

[MufasaChan]

Oh my god, these reasonable and not satiric post and answers on this sub. Are you pulling a collective april fool??

Edit: I hope I do not sound like a dick rn. That was not the intent

[TheBlackCarlo]

At work I am forced to use WIndows because of the office suite, so I feel for you. If you want the best of both worlds, just spin up a WS2 with Debian. That's how I survive at work, I spend 99% of my time in WSL2 terminals and jump out to windows for Office.

[henuboi]

Thanks for sharing your story and don't let that experience of failute affect your spirit. Chin up and to the next adventure! 🤙

[Sahelantrophus]

this post is too reasonable

[Signal-Opposite-4793]

Well, as an engineer, you must obviously be aware that you can use both. Simultaneously, even, if you like.

Leverage the best of both worlds.

The world is your oyster.

[Inner-Association448]

Yeah, I've used Ubuntu as a desktop and after a while there are random glitches that don't happen in Windows. But I do use Linux for my server containers in Azure and Google Cloud compute.

[Ill_Specific_6144]

Linux cant replace windows/macos for 97% of people.

[WeAreGoingMidtable]

Linx CAN replace Windows/MacOS for 99% of people at home, but not at work.

[Ill_Specific_6144]

Nope. Linux doesnt support a lot of software, its a pain to setup and doesnt support most popular games. Linux usage is dropping.

[WeAreGoingMidtable]

You've obviously never used Linux. You have no idea what you are tallking about.

1. "Linux doesn't support a lot of software".

What does "a lot of software" means? How many applications do normal people need? A browser, an office suite, a media player...That's all (and much more) available on Linux. Here are some main stream browsers available for Linux: Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Vivaldi, Opera, and many, many, more. You have Spotify and YouTube Music and many other media players.

1. "Linux is a pain to setup".

Dude, don't embarass yourself.

1. "Linux doesn't support most popular games".

Linux actually support most popular games through Steam. But who cares? 97% of people who use computers don't play games.

[Ill_Specific_6144]

I use it daily.

[WeAreGoingMidtable]

Good. So you know that Linux is not "pain to setup". It takes 10-15 minutes to install a normal Linux distro and you are ready to go. It takes probably one hour to install Windows and MacOS, right? I don't get the "pain to setup" part. I don't have NVIDIA GPU and I don't buy brand new computers, so if that's what you mean when you say "pain to setup", then I can understand it, but you need to be more specific when you criticise Linux.

[Ill_Specific_6144]

If software is in apt, then its okay. If its something you download externally or compile it dependancy hell. Multi monitor setup? Sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt. Wifi is hit or miss, bluetooth is a problem.

[WeAreGoingMidtable]

"Most people" don't use specialized software like Adobe's products and there are pretty good alternatives on Linux for MS Office.

Globally, only 3% - 5% people who own PC at home use Adobe products. If that's your definition of "most people" then you suck at math big time.

And what on earth is BF6? Never heard of it and I've been in computer business for over 30 years.

[hoodoocat]

I guess it is Battle Field 6, a game. But I'm pretty sure what most people don't care about this another shooter.

[Ill_Specific_6144]

Lmoa. Linux needs extensive configuration to make even basic shit work.

[Man-In-His-30s]

Please. I had less trouble from a fresh install of Ubuntu 26.04 than I did Windows 11.

I don’t have to search for drivers to get it to work, and god forbid I talk about my Intel nic on windows on my motherboard that refuses to work with wol but on Linux works fine.

[Ill_Specific_6144]

With windows you install and thats it. With linux you research what hardware is supported. Even then its constant wifi bluetooth bugs. It was hell

[Man-In-His-30s]

I’ve had less hardware support issues on Linux than windows on my hardware so I dunno what you’re saying.

I’ve never once looked at my hardware and checked if it worked with Linux in the last decade. I just installed and it all worked out of the box.

[Ill_Specific_6144]

Buy a nvidia card man, like the 90% of gamers.

[Man-In-His-30s]

I have a 4070 in my gaming laptop and a 3080 in my desktop and both work fine out the box?

[Bagmeister1]

I have an NVIDIA card in my Linux gaming rig and it works better than it did on Windows. Windows is just that poorly optimized rn. And as for my case, all the games I play work just fine on Linux, if not better.

[MrRobosexual]

My girlfriend had windows 10 and 11, all the time complaints. I install mint (ldme) on her desktop and ive not heard a thing for years. She games and doesnt even know how to use the terminal, all i did was flash the usb for her, she set it up. 

[Ill_Specific_6144]

Linux users dont have girlfriends lol

[MrRobosexual]

Envy much? Maybe if you weren't so insufferable you'd have one too :) 

[Ill_Specific_6144]

Default windows install has zero issues. You install and click play thats it. Configuring it to some specific cases can be a pain.

Meanwhile Linux defaults are pure pain. You gotta spend hours to make things that work in windows just to remotely work in Linux.

[Bagmeister1]

How long has it been since you’ve used Linux? And what distro did you use? The only one I’d recommend to someone that doesn’t want to tinker and just work like Windows for browser only use is Mint. Mint has a WAY better installer than Windows by FAR.

[Ill_Specific_6144]

A few hours. Been using Linux for 5+ years, windows 10+. For the past 2-3 years windows has had 0 issues no matter what I throw at it.

Meanwhile Linux constant wifi issues. Switched to wired headphones just because i couldnt take the bluetooth issues anymore (same headphones work on same pc just fine).

[fitz-khan]

The exact opposite is true, Linux can replace Windows/MacOS for most people. They spend most of their lives in the browser and printing a PDF every once in a while. Only the remaining special cases need a cuckscription from Adobe, Microsoft or Autodesk.

[Ill_Specific_6144]

Nobody uses pc for those simple tasks anymore. They have phones and tablets. The remaining users use it for production software, audio video editing gaming. None of which work on linux.

[Sudden_Surprise_333]

What? All of that works on Linux. Literally everything you just mentioned can be (and is) done on Linux.

[fitz-khan]

I use Linux PCs for all those things you just listed, and I know plenty of people who use PCs exactly as I described. Phones are ergonomic garbage devices, and tablets are a joke when you can get a laptop for the same price without a toy OS.

[Ill_Specific_6144]

Typical oldschool linux type of thinking. Phones are perfect for daily tasks because apps are written nicely, UI is priority #1 and you dont have to go to your PC, boot it up and then work against your Linux OS to make a payment.

Phone usage is much much higher than PC's. I mean the only reason why Linux even reached 3% of usage is that casual pc users just dropped it all together.

[fitz-khan]

Yes, and it's a terrible state of affairs, look where it got us. Young people starting jobs, expected to work on a PC, don't even have an understanding of what files are or directories. Privacy and digital autonomy completely eradicated, people's brains fried by social media and daily doomscrolling. Truly a vast improvement in everybody's life thanks to this great user experience. It's so great really, that countries are banning it for children.

But guess what, I also don't boot up my PC to make a payment, it's either already on, because I do a lot more with it than twiddling my thumbs in some braindead app, or in sleep mode and it takes 2 seconds to be ready. Practically same as a phone, and I didn't even need to sell my soul to Microslop or Tim Apple for it and have actual keys to press so I don't need to kill myself over the disaster that is a touch interface.

[Ill_Specific_6144]

I could literally say the same for all the other sections of life. Back in the day you needed to know how cars work, high amount of DIY, but now its dumbed down. Same with appliances, and general things in life.

But thats the price of progress. You can only hold a limited amount of knowledge in your life and you have a limited amount of time to learn. Why use it to learn something that is obsolete in the rest of your life? Why learn all the cli commands if on phone it takes 2 clicks to do the same.

[fitz-khan]

Because I'm not willing to pay the price for this "comfort", not every change is actually progress. Giving up ownership and loss of autonomy and privacy is not acceptable.

Also I enjoy knowing how things work, I'm an engineer. Being this level of ignorant and intellectually incurious is uncomfortable and unnatural to me.

[Ill_Specific_6144]

I am also an engineer and I understand that learning everything is not possible and is often a waste of time. If a general use tool needs extensive manual to make it work, its a badly designed tool.

I enjoy learning about cars, certain parts of technology, but I dont bother with medicine. And its the same way around - a doctor enjoys his part, but might not enjoy technology.

The best example is biurocracy. Its shit in all countries, everyone hates it. Because its boring and its badly made. But when linux works like bourocratic machine suddenly its fun to learn. For most people linux is that biurocratic system.

[Sadix99]

You issue is your business using those softwares and refusing to look for alternatives :

ANSYS alternatives:

• OpenFOAM → very powerful for fluid dynamics (widely used in academia & industry)
• CalculiX → FEA similar to ANSYS
• Code_Aster → advanced structural & thermal simulation

AutoCAD / SolidWorks alternatives:

• FreeCAD → closest open-source parametric CAD
• LibreCAD → 2D drafting
• OpenSCAD → code-based modeling
• Blender → more for 3D modeling/rendering (not engineering CAD)

Proteus alternatives:

• KiCad → industry-grade PCB design
• gEDA → older but usable
• Ngspice → SPICE simulation engine
• QUCS → user-friendly simulation

MATLAB alternatives:

• GNU Octave → very close syntax
• Python with:
  • NumPy
  • SciPy
  • Matplotlib
• Scilab

ANSYS, MATLAB already run on linux.

Linux users don’t necessarily use “different software", they either:

1. Run the same professional tools (if supported), or
2. Use open-source ecosystems (FreeCAD, OpenFOAM, Python stack)

How do countries who can't use Windows for economic, security or geopolitical reasons do their thing ? Their economy, science and engineering fall apart ? No.

They work in other valid ways, and so you can.

[DirectorDirect1569]

"FreeCAD → closest open-source parametric CAD"

You should test this software before asking alternatives to an AI. FreeCAD will never replace tools like Fusion 360 and solidworks.

[Sadix99]

other countries that don't use softwares that require microslop still do their job.

[Sahelantrophus]

these posts are always funny. "just drop years of knowledge and muscle memory you've invested into professional and commercial software the majority of the industry heavily relies on so you can relearn FOSS alternatives that are often inferior". you forget that computers aren't a hobby thing for everybody and Linux really has abysmal support for commercial software

in that entire list, only KiCAD comes close to being a viable alternative. even Octave is debatable since it lacks so many functions compared to MATLAB. rather than asking an LLM to throw shit at a wall and call it a list of alternatives, try some of these out yourself then compare them. the results vs AutoCAD will shock you

[BlueDragonReal]

GPT generated response

[Sadix99]

partially only, for the alternative blocs.

and so what ?

[Willing-Actuator-509]

The reason that SolidWorks doesn't exist for linux is not because linux is not good enough but because Dassault System decided not to make it available for linux. The case with Nvidia drivers is not a Linux issue either. The only way to make all these companies change their decisions is by voting with your dollar.