#switching to linux

[gaymergirlgwen]

It's official! I've got the new ssd installed and we're running linux, baby!

buh-bye windows

[chahleybros]

Switching to Linux 🐧

Over the past couple years Windows 10 has been giving me progressively more asinine problems to deal with, from desktop issues and bloatware, to automatically installing out of date drivers to replace the ones I've manually installed.

Before you ask, I attempted using Windows 11 when it came out and I refuse to acknowledge its existence after the hell it put me through.

Most recently Windows 10 has seemingly made a point of making ASIO and all audio devices and software I use functionally useless, causing ridiculous amounts of crackling audio. No rollbacks fixed it, no re-installs fixed it, not even Reloading Windows fixed it. The reason for using ASIO is that Windows default audio protocol, WDM, has too much latency for live real-time use. This issue not only makes things like live-streaming basically impossible but it also outright made my Digital Audio Workstation and Video Editing Software incapable of processing audio for longer than a second without hanging. Both Mixcraft and DaVinci Resolve became useless on Windows 10, and OBS was barely holding it together. When I tell you I did everything to resolve this, I mean I spent an entire Month troubleshooting this. The only solution I could find was to abandon Windows all together.

I've been meaning to switch my Setup to Mint Cinnamon for a while as I've been testing it out in Virtual box for a year or so, and after this nonsense I got a new NMVe basically immediately to run Mint on, and after switching properly I have to say I'm likely to never use Windows as my Host OS again. And yes I tested Windows on the NMVe. The issue persisted there aswell. And testing Mint via Virtual Box on Windows with Hardware Exposed via PAE and AMD-V showed the issue was entirely on Windows.

For reference this is my current rig: Everything is the same as when using Windows 10

GPU: Nvidia RTX a4500 20gb

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600g

Ram: 16GB 3200mhz

DAC: PreSonus Audiobox iTwo

Capture Card: AverMedia HD Mini GC311

The Results:

Not only does Mint Cinnamon not have any of the issues I've had with Windows over the past Decade, which still persist to this day, but literally every single device I have just works.

Basically everything is Plug-n-Play with <20ms of latency on the Capture Card, which on Windows had a minimum of 600ms delay using drivers required for the card to even be detected. My Audio interface also works even better than before, with neither my DAC or Capture Card requiring manual driver installs, as their protocols are Native to the Linux Kernel.

Proton lets you play any Windows game on Steam that doesn't have explicit Linux Support, with Wine available for desktop applications. Both run better than a Native Windows install due to Mints lack of Bloatware.

Windows 10 has so much built-in Overhead that Mint can Emulate it through Virtual Box faster than if Win10 were the Host OS.

In Short: Fuck Windows. :) Also this is how my desktop looks currently:

You can make custom start menus. :)

[goldenclown]

One of my friends recommended this to me and it helped a lot! @theblindking181 thanks for that!

Be sure to read through it and don’t accidentally nuke anything you don’t need. Yes it gets rid of Copilot. And Cortana. And all the hidden bloatware. Can’t believe they all thought this was a good idea.

Literal definition of spyware:

Also From Microsoft’s own FAQ: "Note that Recall does not perform content moderation. It will not hide information such as passwords or financial account numbers. 🤡

[sineout]

I switched to Linux

Eight days ago I finally switched to Linux full time.

I've been a dabbler with Linux for near on 25 years, about as long as I've had access to a home computer. My first experiences of Linux came from Linux ISO's bundled on Computer Shopper magazine (and other similar styled magazines) demo discs; and about 5 years ago I started running Linux as a desktop on at least one computer fairly regularly. But I always used Windows on my main system.

As of eight days ago now, that is no longer the case. The only trace of Windows I will have now is if I ever have to run a virtual machine.

The reasons for the switch are many, but they boil down to three main reasons: 1. Issues with Windows itself; 2. Being tired of Microsoft's bullshit; and 3. No longer trusting Microsoft given the current political climate.

1. Issues with Windows. Windows is slow. I have a pretty powerful computer, it has a fast processor (a Ryzen 6800h), 32Gb of RAM, and two NVME SSDs. It therefore shouldn't take 30 seconds for an explorer window to open, just because I have the audacity to have an optical drive (at least I think that's the reason for the delay); it shouldn't take dozens of seconds for a folder of a hundred images to respond to me creating a new folder and then another dozen seconds after dragging some images into it; I shouldn't need to keep on disabling shit I don't want every time Windows wants to do an update, nor should I have shit installed on my system that I don't even know about until I visit my start menu. In short a lot of issues I have are, for the most part, pretty well known, and I'm tired of it.

2. Microsoft's Bullshit. You know what people really love. Being tracked. People really love AI being shoehorned into their computers. They also love their perfectly functional machines becoming unsupported in October this year (yeah just to remind you, Windows 10 support is ending October 2025). There are ways of mitigating a lot of this stuff. It's possible to disable the tracking and AI, and it's possible to build a Windows 11 bootable USB without the restrictions (and also with out the tracking and AI too). But I shouldn't have to do that. And honestly even doing that, there was always the nag in the back of my mind asking if I actually had closed all the doors.

Points 1 and 2 on their own, while compelling reasons for me to make the switch, were never quite enough for me to take that final step. The effort in actually committing was just a fraction more than staying. But point 3 pushed me over

3. Lack of Trust in Microsoft. The current political climate (aka President Elon and King Trumps new and hopefully (literally) short lived dynasty) is, uh, not ideal let's just say. Big companies are already folding on various inclusivity policies; even though the current Executive Orders are essentially just suggestions. They are for all intents, covering their arses in an effort to protect themselves from their new dictators. But that also means that any big company in America simply can't be trusted any more. Would Microsoft say no if they are ordered to give Elon and his goons a back door into anyone's computer?

I don't think, in reality Microsoft would actually do that, and I doubt they'd even be asked, as that'd be an own goal for Elon and Trump that I'd hope a lot of republicans would be upset by. But the possibility remains. I don't know, I realise this sounds a bit conspiracy theory; and it sort of is. But the simple fact is that with rising Fascism in the US among politics and business bowing to it, I can't ignore that possibility.

So, finally I switched.

I'm currently running Linux Mint 22.1, and honestly it's been a pretty painless experience. I knew already that basic stuff like web browsing is already a solved problem in Linux, so I knew I'd have no issues with that, but I've also got nearly all the software I used on Windows running too (I even compiled my first piece of software, MakeMKV, and it works). The only exception is Affinity Photo, but I can spin up a Windows VM for that until I can figure out how to run it in Bottles.

Would I recommend everyone switch to Linux. No I don't. As mentioned, I've been a dabbler in Linux for over 25 years, so I've long gotten used to it. I've also had a long time to prepare for it. For example with exception to Affinity and MakeMKV all the software I routinely use is Free and/or Open Source and thus already has native Linux versions. I also don't make money from working on my computer and I mostly play indie games that tend to have good Linux support too. In addition, I enjoy actively working to get my computer to do stuff; it actually feels a bit nostalgic for me to a time when I had a 486 computer with a stack of demo discs and playing the first few levels of Quake 2 at like 7 frames a second, and thinking it was awesome. Linux is by far not nearly that bad, but I feel like I'm actually using my computer, and not merely a device that lets me go on the internet and play games.

If you're all those things, then a switch to Linux might be something you should consider, and either way I'll probably be writing updates on a fairly frequent basis (I plan monthly), at least as long as I have something interesting to report.

[hindbodes]

Guess who's posting on Tumblr right now using a Linux system!

[c-rowlesdraws]

I swear to god computer people talking online about how easy computers/linux are are just that xkcd comic about experts in a field overestimating a layperson’s knowledge (“surely the average person must only know 2-3 feldspars”), over and over again. I felt this firsthand back when I was asking for advice when buying my desktop PC. When a casual computer user reads something like this, at least speaking from personal experience, it is nearly incomprehensible. It is wonderful to want to help the less technologically-fortunate, but you have to break things down more than this. You are speaking wingdings at people.

[astudyinpanda]

The Ubuntu app store, what a phrase! There you have it folks, Linux Mint or Ubuntu! Or take the distro quiz, amazing.

"windows 11 upgrade ready!" "your computer is eligible for windows 11!" "download windows 11 now!"

[opensuse-official]

I think it is very cool how tech companies, schools, employers, and universities make it actively difficult to distance yourself from Google, Microsoft, and Apple.

Yes most Linux distros are very stable, way more secure, privacy friendly, and way more customizable. But every institution is built to make technological independence as difficult as possible.

Yelling on the internet that everyone should switch to Linux and FOSS really ignores how much of the technological world is designed to not let that happen.

[curoopeez]

I need someone who's really autistic about linux and hates windows to infodump to me about windows alternatives for someone who uses their computer mainly for gaming and drawing on clip stuido paint, preferably before october 14, when the pre-11 versions will stop being supported

[gaymergirlgwen]

It's my birthday tomorrow and one way or another I'm getting a new SSD. Then I will finally be free of windows!

In my research I found this site that can be useful for anyone else needing to jump to linux

[muffinlance]

hellooo very cool person I am just now getting into the atla fandom and I know Nothing other than your fics are very cool and great and I was wondering if you have any recs (or links to posts with recs!!) bc I trust your judgment LOL

I hope this is ok to ask!! also I will add that I am not that picky but I will add that I am very much a longfic enjoyer so🫶🫶

My friend, may I open up to you the broad world of clicking an AO3 user's bookmarks. <3

AKA: literally click any ao3 username, "bookmarks" should appear towards the top of the resulting page. You can then voyage into the additionally wonderful waters of filtering by length, "recommended", fandom, etc.

Also: if the fic you like is in collections, try checking them out, especially if the title appeals to you. Can be a great way to find essentially a fic playlist.

Anyway all hail ao3's designers they done good work

[conceptuma]

quick mark study from 2mths ago

[frostedshore]

I‘m playing ts2 like it’s the first time & i literally can’t freaking stop

[lazytechsupport]

pretty girls named Hardware Error are sending me lewds anad promising to fsck me again later 😊 😍 🥵

[shelbswastaken]

You ever become so hyperfixated on something that you pull off a tech feat you've never done before just to consume it???

Anyways I installed Linux on my switch so I could play pso and stein's gate

[sludge-life-daily]

listening to sad songs and mourning the loss my my beloved arch linux install.