Thank You Linux! You've brought the fun back into computing!
Posted by Sargent_Duck85@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 71 comments
I miss the late 90's and early 200's and being a Windows guy (Win 98/XP), you were always trouble shooting drivers and crashes and dealing with a hardware issues.
But then around Win7 and Win10, computers got boring. This is of course due to the industry maturing and all the engineering to make sure everything "just works".
But with Win10 support ending, back in July I decided to jump over to Linux (Mint- Cinnamon). And it was exciting having to figure things out.
"Ok, why won't my Steam library see this additional drive?"
"Ok, I need to mount it"
"Ok, why can't I mount it?
"Ok, how do I mount an NTFS drive"
"Ok, I can install my Steam game (Windows only, yes I installed under compatibility mode), why won't it launch?"
"Ok, why can't I format it to EXT4?"
"Ok, I need to unmount it and I'll restart"
"AHHHHHHH!!!! What is it booting into recovery mode???"
"Ok, I need to edit the fstab to change from NTFS to EXT4"...
Honestly, I've had a LOT of fun troubleshooting Linux and trying out all the new softwares out there. It's been a hassle sometimes, but it honestly brings me back to the 2000's when computers were "new" and fun.
Just wanted to say thanks to the Linux.
(I've been on Linux Mint since July and opening up Windows 10 now just annoys me)
raven2cz@reddit
I don’t know, it’s more that you’re just new to it and don’t really know it yet. Around every corner you see something new and get either excited or frustrated, depending on whether it’s a success or a problem.
We’ll see in 20 years ;-)
ForbiddenRoot@reddit
If you really miss the 90s trouble-shooting and tinkering to get things to work, then give FreeBSD a try :)
Purple-Geologist-709@reddit
For me Mint feels like if MS never did Window 8 and keep improving windows 7
Sargent_Duck85@reddit (OP)
Yes. Win7 was peak Windows.
wdfour-t@reddit
Actually one of the appeals to a bunch of people I’ve installed it for is that is mostly just works, while the same cannot be said of windows 11, where you are battling for control of your PC.
Ok. Why is it forcing a restart? Ok. Why is everything running slowly now. Ok. Why can I not connect two Bluetooth controllers at the same time. Ok. Why are they leaving me without security updates effectively junking my PC?
All questions asked commonly about windows.
Phydoux@reddit
If you like figuring things out, give Arch Linux a fo. And use the Wiki (not archinstall).
This is how I setup Arch all the time.
Sargent_Duck85@reddit (OP)
I’m still learning the basics.
(Next is figuring out why my speakers are crackling),
So meaning Arch Linux is at LEAST next years project :)
Michaeli_Starky@reddit
These kind of posts are hilarious
ArchAngel_1983@reddit
Well, currently I am using a laptop. And its my bad that I did not check the compatibility of my hardware before the purchase. Its a gaming laptop (HP OMEN 16 2023) so many of the components just don't work flawlessly as there are not available for Linux. Hopefully in future that might change. But it is not there yet.
DoubleOwl7777@reddit
for my lenovo ideapad 5 2in1 gen 9 literally everything worked on kubuntu, i know the thinkpads have great linux support, but i didnt know everything would work on an ideapad.
imoshudu@reddit
Hard to tell but many people would complain about the same thing you are writing about. Though nowadays you can easily look up anything.
adenosine-5@reddit
Im still not sure OP is not being sarcastic.
"Linux is fun because it constantly breaks, not like the boring Windows that just work".
DoubleOwl7777@reddit
that works until it doesnt and you cant fix it because m$.
Sargent_Duck85@reddit (OP)
Nope, not being sarcastic at all.
I LEGIT enjoyed troubleshooting and problem solving.
Dramatic-Rub-3135@reddit
They may well be, but it's not inaccurate of a certain group of users.
albertowtf@reddit
it is sarcastic, just low enough to be able to go through. People see, thank you linux and upvote
We have been bambuzzed
hbdgas@reddit
When people list advantages of Linux, they often leave out: "It teaches you how things work."
Tuxhorn@reddit
I remember a title that said "Linux isn't free if you value your time".
Feels very much like a hustle culture take. Since when has learning been bad? It's awesome!
I totally get if you just want things to work. Good thing is though, most modern distros just work.
DoubleOwl7777@reddit
yeah exactly. kubuntu just works for me on my laptop, no driver issues nothing.
BadFabulous6417@reddit
Linux feels like how computing felt in the early to late 1990s. you have to figure some stuff out, applications don't install without your permission, the manufacturer of the OS isn't spying on you, some applications have some rough edges.
It's how computing should be from an OS perspective.
DoubleOwl7777@reddit
exactly. linux for me feels like windows 98 ot something, not in the speed or anything, but in how little it gets in my way.
BadFabulous6417@reddit
yeah, it just feels closer to the bare metal.
DoubleOwl7777@reddit
linux is how an os should be. Not spying on you, not running 10 billion processes for no reason and being able to do whatever you want to do.
VoidDuck@reddit
No. It's way more reliable and easy to use than anything from the 1990s.
BadFabulous6417@reddit
thats not what i meant, obviously there are differences between computing now rather than 30 years ago......ffs.... I never said linux is exactly like computing in the 1990s, fucking around with dip switches and high memory issues....jeeesus
undrwater@reddit
It's how I started!
"Wow, I got myself out of that jam! What can I break next?"
Now it's more about building than breaking, and living on the edges.
kevichi7@reddit
Yeah. The feeling of tinkering is what brings joy to people like us
vpShane@reddit
100% - I find joy in knowing my hardware. My software. I love tinkering and optimizing. Been having fun with Cursor IDE and making my own system level tools. Brings the joy for tech to the surface.
legitematehorse@reddit
Yup. Sometimes I'm in the mood for learning linux and sometimes I need to get some work done. That's why I've got silverblue on my work laptop and another one I call the distrohopper.
HayLinLa@reddit
I've been on Fedora for a month and I'm enjoying it a lot. Overwrote my windows drive with arch yesterday. I have no fucking clue what I'm doing with that one but man am I having fun. I'd rather have to troubleshoot a bit here and there than see one more OneDrive or copilot ad when I turn my PC on.
Sargent_Duck85@reddit (OP)
OMG yes, Windows has become SO annoying. I use my OS to launch Steam/Internet/Office and that’s it. I don’t need AI (co-pilot) to do any of that.
HayLinLa@reddit
Yeah and the start menu was to find the shit on my own computer, not pull up internet results. If I wanted internet results I'd open the goddamn internet.
Sargent_Duck85@reddit (OP)
This.
Dist__@reddit
> LOT of fun troubleshooting Linux
no, thanks
maxm@reddit
Troubleshooting on Linux is absolutely not fun if your goal is to just get work done.
I installed Fedora as a dual boot disk on my windows box.
My password has special characters in it. And until it has booted into the desktop it uses US keyboard layout. So I have to remember where on my keyboard the US character is.
I have found two places so far to change the locale and keyboard. One on the desktop and one in the prompt. None of them works.
Using time on shit like that is just a waste of life.
Real-Abrocoma-2823@reddit
Read archwiki installation guide as it should work on any distro, section 1.5 has this : ""The default console keymap is US. Available layouts can be listed with:
localectl list-keymaps
To set the keyboard layout, pass its name to loadkeys(1). For example, to set a German keyboard layout:
loadkeys de-latin1
Console fonts are located in /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/ and can likewise be set with setfont(8) omitting the path and file extension. For example, to use one of the largest fonts suitable for HiDPI screens, run:
setfont ter-132b
""
Tuxhorn@reddit
This is definitely a part of Linux that makes it fun. If you have a problem like the guy you responded to, chances are you can fix it.
Oerthling@reddit
OP made things complicated for himself by trying to mount a NTFS volume with his games. If you start fresh and just let Steam download the games it would have simply worked without all the tinkering.
Sargent_Duck85@reddit (OP)
My drive had Steam as well as a whole bunch of other stuff, so at the time, formatting wasn’t really an option. After my games failed to launch from steam, the Internet was saying it could be due to NTFS.
So I had to move everything off and reformat it.
I also created a new folder called “storage” that I wanted the drives mounted into.
But yeah, once I formatted to EXT4, I just re-downloaded Steam and everything works.
Real-Abrocoma-2823@reddit
Why NTFS would be a problem? Did windows screw with him and encrypted it without consent?
Oerthling@reddit
It's extra steps, hence the required research and tinkering.
Real-Abrocoma-2823@reddit
No? Double click in any file manager and it should just mount. That's how I always mounted mine NTFS in Linux.
Oerthling@reddit
Sigh
Real-Abrocoma-2823@reddit
?
Oerthling@reddit
It's not about whether NTFS can be mounted.
OP describes how he had to figure out to get it into fstab. Which you want to do to get it auto-mounted, without having to manually click anything.
Of course NTFS can be mounted, of course it can be done with just a click. But these are literally extra steps.
Install Linux. Install Steam. Let Steam install some games from your library.
Everything works, no extra steps, manual or otherwise needed.
But OP enjoyed the tinkering and thus all is good for OP. My comment was for people who think this is required, instead of optional.
ThatsALovelyShirt@reddit
I'd rather be able to fix things or customize them to work exactly as I want rather than be at the mercy of the mercurial and opaque design and implementation decisions of a multinational corporation.
Even if that means I have to read dmesg or journal logs once in a while to debug a weird problem.
A lot of the issues OP is describing is more just trying to apply Windows operational paradigms to a completely different operating system ecosystem. But once you learn it and become competent in it, it becomes "boring" too.
Sargent_Duck85@reddit (OP)
Yep, this.
Having been with Windows my entire life, I definitely had some unlearning to do while learning how Linux works. There is still so much I have to learn, but it’s been fun.
Stock_Childhood_2459@reddit
Linux seem to work if you don't tinker anything. When I set up Linux for my parents and don't give them root password everything seem to "just work" when nothing in OS is changed by the user. But with my own Linux tinkering often leads to tinkering loop.
classic_lurker@reddit
So you Mac?
_Arch_Stanton@reddit
More money than sense?
classic_lurker@reddit
Well windows wasn’t in that category….
Josef-Witch@reddit
Linux is like a muscle or tuner car. It takes more work and more care, but you have something completely unique that is tuned to you
Sargent_Duck85@reddit (OP)
This.
Real-Abrocoma-2823@reddit
Why did it refuse to mount NTFS? I never had anything but python packages not work in Linux, NTFS just mounts when I double click it in file manager. (python needed venv for everything and I didn't know)
Sargent_Duck85@reddit (OP)
I was trying to install Steam on it and Steam needed it auto-mounted into fstab.
shroddy@reddit
I want my OS to be boring so I have more time for the exciting stuff
Spektronautilus@reddit
«It’s more fun to compute.»
yesmaybeyes@reddit
The [serotonin] of learning is fascinating as well.
frenchchevalierblanc@reddit
I honestly don't miss it at all.
The less I have to troubleshoot Linux the better I am. Usually today I have almost nothing to do.
Mj-tinker@reddit
That's the point! Linux is fun and tempti gbto experiment. Win and mac are boring in comparison. I have all 3, but but only linux is used daily. Son grabs macbook for Roblox, windows for creating custom isos and evaluating win softs, and lmde is for everything else: web, music, video and audio editing, radio, texts, yiu name it.
LaundryMan2008@reddit
I still deal with tinkering as I read old data storage media off many different types of drives and I use Windows XP to do the job, most drives just work and are covered by the software I use to read, test and wipe disks/tapes in one go but some are extra annoying and that leads to a week or two of fun trying to get it to work
Prize-Grapefruiter@reddit
I never went to windows as there was always something better to use. first os/2 then Linux.
archontwo@reddit
What you are really saying is, learning is fun , but unlearning is hard.
Good luck.
ScientistJason@reddit
Okay this was not where I was expecting it to go. I thought you were going to say something about the customization and ability to express yourself through your Linux environment but this is cool too lol
Tight-Operation-4252@reddit
For many years working for corpos I was using windows and would not touch other systems… in 2009 I have bought my first Mac and I tried not to touch windows since. Only if I had to… now I just have no clue how windows look like and work… a year ago I have started to tinker with microcontrollers and with SBCs, ending with two computers in paralleled on my desk - a Mac mini (i dropped MacBook as I do not travel that much replacing it with iPad and Magic Keyboard and it works fantastic), really powerful thing for my daily stuffand RPi 5 with Debian on it for my tinkering and python programming… I can not say that I love when some of the modules do not want to load, but it is in a way very satisfying when you overcome problems and get things to work… few weeks ago I have set up a VPS with Ubuntu on it and now trying to develop some webapps… lots of fun :-)
ImbuedMechanic@reddit
I too enjoy the detective work attached to the troubleshooting process on Linux.
ScanianTiger@reddit
You've got a bit of a controversial take but I agree with.you, I quite enjoy the tinkering as well. It has been less fun with Linux recently but I still have a lot of fun with FreeeBSD.
datalore7C5@reddit
I had tried Ubuntu 10 years back and after a day or so went back to windows. Later shifted to mac (for a very long time) and then back to PC. Don’t get me wrong I have the latest hardware but I found the ads in windows extremely annoying. Didn’t know that over the years windows was this bad. Finally decided to see if Linux was the best choice, was extremely hesitant. A month back started checking different distros and I just fell in love with Linux, it’s almost as good as any other OS or maybe even better. Most games work with just a click of a button, excel runs on VM. It’s the most versatile. Finally it after so many years I was having fun. Login and shoot up the terminal!
kudlitan@reddit
Huh? I use Mint precisely so I don't need to tinker when I use it.
Things just auto mount when I click them open and I don't need to bother with filesystems after the initial install.
DisturbedFennel@reddit
Holy glazing. I don’t think anyone has ever thanked their operating system. Many of us choose Linux because we need to run applications or modify components that’d otherwise be impossible on Windows or Mac
somerandomxander@reddit
I agree with this! Linux is fun because it's super customizable, it's open source and has some unique features.