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by rvz·6y ago·view on hn ↗
> I question - why am I really doing this?

Honestly, I don't blame you for asking this as I also ask myself the same question every-time I use a Linux distro. Even as a software developer, I just want to get my work done which I can do on my Macbook or my PC which has Ubuntu dual-booting with Windows just fine. I try to ignore those miscellaneous "Ubuntu app has crashed" problems I get every now and then but then again, I only use Linux to test some software I wrote which has been ported to the platform.

I don't really bother with editing those dotfiles or sudoing my way into customising the whole GUI via a config file deep in the system folder. Sure, it is a free and open-source operating system which is great, but if touching a setting results it in resetting the whole OS, then back to Windows it is for me.

2 comments
I have a macbook (purchased this summer) as well as a dell inspiron running linux (for the past couple years). Coming from Windows, Linux felt like a relief from many headaches. No bloat (I can't overstate this), no weird UI that couldn't decide whether the device was a tablet or laptop or desktop, programs opening right after I'd click on them, customization, etc.

There will be cases where the trade-offs involved for a specific user mean Linux isn't really a viable option. For some, there are different trade-offs that make Linux an attractive choice.

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Personal note: Even OS X seems bloated at times to me, and I don't mean the pre-installed packages. I mean things like the number of options for some menu bar selections. Also, for pdf viewing out of the box viewers for many Linux distros win hands down compared to Adobe (if you are simply looking to read pdfs). In 'utility' programs like Adobe, you might have 200+ things you can choose to do. With a Linux viewer you get like 5-10.

Gaming and lack of Office are the primary downsides. Steam mitigates the first to a non-trivial degree. If Google would just improve the robustness of Docs and Sheets a bit more, then some of the of more robust and beginner-friendly distros would (I bet) get some more traction.

I like coding on my Mac, and the experience of using OS X to be best described as "solid". I miss spending most of my time on Linux though.

> Ubuntu app has crashed

Try disabling apport in /etc/default/apport

Or with the command: sudo systemctl disable apport

Yes, it sucks having to do that.