So first of all, this is not a “help me like linux” post but desktop linux specifically and it’s not a “linux is shit” post either.
I run a whole bunch of linux servers (including the one that hosts the instance I’m posting from), the first thing I install on a Windows machine is WSL and I’ve compiled my first kernel about 20 years ago so that’s not the problem we’re facing here. I understand how linux works and considering the end of support for Windows 10 this is as good an opportunity as ever to fully make the switch.
My problem is more that specifically linux on a desktop still feels more like an unfinished prototype than like something I’d want to use as a daily driver. About once a year I challenge myself to try it for a while and see how it feels. I look around for a distro that seems promising, put it on a spare SSD, put it either into my Framework laptop or my gaming machine and see where the journey takes me, only booting Windows in an emergency.
And each time, I get fed up after a few days:
- Navigating a combination of the distro’s native package manager (apt, pacman, rpm, whatever), snap, flatpack and still having to set up the maintainers’ custom repositories to get stuff that’s even remotely up-to-date somehow feels even messier than the Windows approach of downloading binaries manually.
- The different UI toolkits, desktop environment, window manager and compositor seem to be fighting each other. I feel like even for something simple as changing a theme or the UI scaling, I have to change settings in three different places just to notice that half the applications still ignore them and my login screen renders in the top left corner of the screen but the mouse cursor acts as if the whole screen was used.
- All of that seems to be getting worse when fractional scaling is involved which is a must for the 2256x1504 screen in my Framework 13.
- The general advice seems to be “just wait until you run into a problem, then research how to solve it”. For my server stuff, this works really well. But for desktop linux, it feels like for every problem I find five different solutions where each of them assumes an entirely different technology stack and if mine is even slightly different I eventually run into a step where a config file is not where it should be or a package is not available for what I’m using.
- I do a lot of .NET programming and photo editing. I could probably replace VS with VScode or Ryder but it’s an additional hurdle. For photo editing, I haven’t found a single thing that fits my workflow the way Bridge, Camera Raw and Photoshop do. I’ve tried Gimp, Krita, Darktable, RawTherapee and probably a couple more and they all felt like they were missing half the features or suffer from the same unintuitive UI/UX that Blender had before they completely overhauled it with 2.8.
Sooo… where do I go from this? I really want this to work out.
I don’t think desktop Linux works for you. That’s the truth. You know, I was like you, and so was my husband. These individual projects that never felt that they fit together to create a cohesive product, always bothered me. So what you’re asking, will never get fixed, to be honest with you.
But speaking about myself, I decided to use Linux because it’s the right thing to do. As a painter myself, who needs some of the features Photoshop has but Gimp 3 doesn’t, I feel you. But still, I use Gimp now, 100% of the time. I settled for less, because again, it’s the right thing to do. I have no interest to use Windows and its spyware. I have a macbook air with macos for occasional browsing (I like the hardware), but again, I use OSS software on it (including gimp). The rest of my 5 laptops and 3 desktops, all run desktop Linux. I’m more often on an old Macbook Air from 2015 running Linux Mint, than I am on the new Mac running MacOS. My main desktop is Debian-Testing. Is it as cohesive as Windows? No, and it will never be. But again, it’s the right choice.
The right choice doesn’t help me if I can’t get my literal job done and have to give up half of my hobbies.
Thankfully for me, I don’t work anymore, so it’s easier to move to Linux. But my hobby (painting), it’s done in a less optimal degree with Gimp, yes. And that’s ok with me.
If you need theming stick with KDE and Qt apps. Gnome considers large amounts of theme to be a hack. Remember in windows there is no themeing so by switching that’s an extra feature you get. Even if half baked
In reality a lot of these desktop standards are competing. Some are working together but some clash. It’s part of the open source model
A general rule of thumb I follow is that if I’m getting a lot of resistance trying to do something, it probably wasn’t designed to do that.
Fractional scaling works better on KDE from what I hear to but I have no idea.
Personal something that has really helped me was switching to Nixos and configuring everything in a nix file. I don’t even complicate it with home manager just plane nix
Nix also makes installing developer binaries a breeze. Number one nix packages as the largest number of packages over any other repo. Two, it provides a very organized method for installing packages
So, I made the full switch to Linux about a year ago.
My journey has lead me down the Arch rabbit hole. And I feel KDE has the most complete feel. And you can make it as close to what you’re used to with Windows. Hotkeys included. KDE is improving vastly. I have no issues with fractional scaling on KDE backed by Wayland.
As far as package management goes. Sounds like you’re comfortable in CLI, so between Pacman and Yay package management is fairly simple. I have an alias “yeet” to uninstall.
As far as for coding, you can use VSCodium
I’m quite happy with Arch, and KDE on Wayland
I think that this is just the reality. Linux is not Windows, and each has their issues. I run an Arch based distro so that I can get new changes as soon as is reasonable without needing to go to user repositories, but some things still lag behind Windows because there is no corporate motivation ($) to build those features for Linux.
I’ve changed my workflow and mindset about what I need to do and how to get there in Linux. This involves making tradeoffs when Linux can’t do things the same way, or at all. I think this is a common experience.
My earbuds’ firmware can only be updated with a Windows app. My tax software only works in Windows. I have to use a Windows VM for those.
There are online games I can’t play with friends. I use FreeCAD instead of Autodesk stuff, I made sure that I can use the slicer for my 3D printer in Linux before buying it, and so on.
Realistically, I can’t be the change that I want to see, so I live with it. For me, it’s still worth it.
