I left Linux after using it for a decade (for many reasons)

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I’ve been a Linux user since 2012. I’ve used many Linux distros during this time. I first started with Debian. It was solid, stable, and it had all the required tools I need for my university coursework and projects.

After using it for a while, GTK 3.0 was released. It was ugly as shit. GNOME transitioned to use 3.0 and that was it. It ruined everything for me. I liked it the way it was. Classic, usable, and familiar.

Soon afterwards, I caught the distro-hopping bug. I installed many distros and tried out a lot of desktop environments. But at the end I stucked with Cinnamon. It was quite usable. However, it had a lot of bugs. So, I switched to Arch + XFCE and used it for solid 4 years.

Even now, I think XFCE is the best usable and customizable desktop environment, which doesn’t suck.

After that, I wanted to give tiling window managers a try and installed dwm. It was simple and worked very well with several patches. However, it was too minimal. So, I switched entirely to SwayWM.

Sway has a lot of support but it’s a Wayland compositor. So, there were lots of issues like screen tearing, screen sharing, multiple monitor support, clipboard malfunction and so on. So, I had to search for packages all over the web for quick fixes and workarounds.

It went on for quite some time but at this point I was burnt out from all the fixing and plumbing. Not only that, but I also had issues with UI scaling. For instance, I use Intellij and RubyMine for work. The fractional scaling results in blurry fonts and widget. Not good for the eyes when writing a lot of code.

Essentially, I would spend more time fixing things than doing actual work. So, I Installed vanilla Ubuntu and left everything on default. Surprisingly, everything was smooth except for few bugs here and there.

But the issues didn’t stop there. It didn’t support A2DP. Fractional scaling was still a problem. Using snaps instead of debs was confusing. The top panel looked like a cheap copy of macOS bar.

I carried on with it for quite some time until a friend convinced me to give MacBook a try. I bought the MacBook a try. At first, I thought it was just a cute wrapper around UNIX but no. It was full-blown operating system with all the required drivers installed, built-in applications that weren’t useless, pretty screen, and the best touchpad I’ve ever used.

I installed Intellij and it looked so good out of the box. The performance was first-class. Everything worked so well out of the box. It got out of my way and I just started working. I felt relieved because I didn’t had to fix the small things with scripts and whatnot. I also installed the GNU utilities through Homebrew and that was it! I was hooked. I never felt so productive in my life. Every application has a unified theme that’s aesthetically pleasing (Linux required tons of work for this).

In a way, I feel like macOS is the most stable and polished Linux distribution that doesn’t get in my way.

So, in summary, here are the points that made me leave Linux for macOS:

  1. Linux is good for servers. It’s nowhere close to macOS when it comes to the desktop. The foundation of Linux desktop is weak. It’s all strings and patches hooked together with no consistent foundation
  2. Graphics are still an issue. Scaling and multi-monitor support is weak. Every application using a different ui library (like FLTK) needs to be scaled manually or doesn’t support scaling at all (fuck that!)
  3. Touchpad calibration (scrolling, dragging, tapping etc) is nowhere close to that of Mac’s
  4. Most commercial software doesn’t support Linux
  5. Most open source applications are copies of one another. Instead of channeling that energy to once central piece of software, most of the community work on different things, which results in poor userland software. Examples are Hyprland, Sway, Wayfire, WayCooler, dwl, and the list goes on
  6. Wayland still feels like a work in progress (and it is)
  7. Battery life is still weak on Intel based laptops (despite tweaking with things like tlp)
  8. There is no solid PDF editor (as compared to PDF Expert, Adobe Acrobat) and there is no central software that can handle e-Books, audiobooks, highlights, bookmarks (as opposed to Apple Books which works well in the ecosystem). So, on Linux, I’ll have to install different software like PDF reader, ePub reader, Audiobook reader, editors, and so on. Shit gets exhausting.
  9. Despite a gazillion dictionaries, there is no dictionary that we can actually use to look up words like in macOS and iOS. It’s instant with three taps over the word. I speak 3 languages. It has all of them.
  10. Flatpak? Snaps? Binaries? AppImage?
  11. No equivalent that comes close to Time Machine
  12. Apple Silicon beats the pants off Intel/AMD

In addition, I stick to the most built-in application in macOS and depend less on 3rd-party software except dev tools, iina, pdf expert, maccy, and rectangle.

Mind that I’m not against Linux (in fact I love what it does). I still use it for servers. My rant is about Linux on the desktop.

Thank you for reading. I’ll answer any questions that you have. :slight_smile:

edit: added another bullet

edit 2: fixed typos

edit 3: lots of you think i am flexing my macbook. i am not. i bought a used macbook for like $700. the laptop i used for linux was thinkpad t14s gen 3, which costed me around $1100

edit 4: the apple ecosystem is a walled garden, sure. but i don’t have to pick different platforms for syncing my shit and find different software that support that platform… like an autist.

edit 5: i’ve used all the major desktop environments and top distros that you find in the distrowatch list but like i said, the roots for linux desktop is weak as fuck as compared to macOS. it might be good for doing daily things like reading emails, writing stuffs, listening to music etc. but shit hits the fan when you’re doing heavy duty stuffs and it doesn’t work as expected.

edit 6: i ditched distro hopping once i settled on arch linux. i used it for about 6 years and still use it on my vm to remind me why i hate linux. xD

edit 7: some of you guys provide good suggestions. i appreciate it but i’ve made my mind and don’t want to go through the switch again in the near future.

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I think if you just stuck to Gnome or KDE, you would have saved yourself a lot of frustration. Seems like you have an issue with having options. That’s not a dig, it’s a genuine issue with Linux. There are a lot of alternatives to choose from and you can get caught in a spiral of constantly switching between options looking for the perfect solution.

MacOS is fantastic, I just can’t justify being locked into specific hardware.

Linux desktop’s major issue right now is related to the Wayland transition. X is a dumpster fire and Wayland is progressing slowly. That will hopefully be smoothed over in the next couple of years.

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Use what works for you.

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What problems do distro hoppers try and solve? I’ve never quite grasped that concept. It also seems like OP is very comfortable in Apple’s walled application garden and that is fine too.

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Thank you for informing us.

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Personally I don’t like how Apple tries to monopolize your devices by being stubborn about the Apple way. Still, I hope it works out for you and that maybe you can return to owning your device in the future.

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I see the points, and I agree that some people would be happier with Mac. But if you make good decisions Linux can be a fairly pain-free experience.

Use hardware known to work well: avoid super-modern hardware, research the model you plan to buy (archwiki), get AMD GPU. Use OS features known to work well: use X11, use your distro’s repos and flathub, use a solid mainstream distro (fedora, ubuntu-based), avoid main ubuntu / use a spin instead like mint/popos, avoid dual boot. Use software known to work well: some titles may not be available or there may not be an equivalent app, but more often than not I find a completely new and better way to get the same result in Linux.

If you want the safest experience, buy hardware that comes with Linux pre-installed. Even if you decide to replace the distro, you know the hardware came with excellent linux support.

As another commenter said, OP has self-inflicted various issues due to disto-hopping, tweaking, and experimenting. Nothing wrong with doing that, but if you are frustrating yourself and burning yourself out, don’t get mad at Linux.

Personally, OP’s list of issues aren’t a problem for me. I’ve mitigated them, don’t experience them, or they don’t bother me enough to care.

Some people just need their hand held and I get that. That’s why I tell some of my friends and family that want a shrink-wrapped UX to get a macbook (unix), an iPad (unix), or sometimes even a chromebook (linux). For those that want limitless power and flexibility, I 100% suggest Linux.

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Having used macs for years, I want to kill myself anytime I open finder and browse to a system folder. It’s been horrible for almost 20 years. Finder alone is worth using another OS.

Linux isnt perfect but at least you can choose what you want while using it instead of getting it force fed down your throat.

BTW I’ve been a xubuntu (xfce) user for years and love it but its starting to get some issues due to maintenance thats making me want to switch. Wish it got a little more funding and support because its exactly what I want in a window manager.

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Does anyone care about these posts? I wish I would see less of these if not outright ban them. Yeah you stopped liking linux for whatever reason, good on you mate enjoy macOS or Windows.

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macOS is on no way a Linux

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Another “airport departure” post on Reddit.

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Oh look, another "I left Linux cuz reasons ’ post. Not necessary.

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Linux is good for servers. It’s nowhere close to macOS when it comes to the desktop

After some tries with Gnome and KDE, I’m stick only to XFCE and LXDE on old/restricted machines. They are doing the job without bug or whatever. The only limitation as you said scaling (I don’t find a way to apply different scaling on different monitor) … Annoying, but no more for my usage.

Most commercial software doesn’t support Linux

So … I’m not using them :slight_smile: Most of the time, counterpart exists.

Most open source applications are copies of one another

Hé … yes : it’s opensource, no ? So developers are doing what they want, rebuild the wheel if the existing is not what they are looking for. And that’s good as everyone can find out what is the most suiting his needs, not obliged to live with what a company decided for them.

Wayland still feels like a work in progress (and it is)

So … don’t use it. Unlike windows, you’re not obliged to use semi-finished tools. You have the choice.

Flatpak? Snaps? Binaries? AppImage?

Don’t like it ? Don’t use it ! Again, if you choose a system obliging you to use them, it’s your fault. You have zillion of other choice.

It’s fine for U, you find your ideal environment. It was not Linux, right. And what else ?

Personally, my machines, my choices. I don’t want someone else to decide what I can or I can’t run. I don’t want to buy a machine 3 times it’s “normal” price. And I’m happy with what I got :slight_smile:

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I’m glad you’ve found something that works for you. I could never give up a tiling window manager.

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No offense, but this could of been a “one liner”. For this person it’s all about #4 (just didn’t give us the details). You can skip the rest, it’s “junk”.

And of course, we have to ask, why did they post this? Just think about the “why” for a moment.

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Gnome and KDE shit the bed years ago. Gnome 2 and KDE 3 were the best desktop environments and both were ruined by arrogant devs.

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The best thing about Linux is, if you don’t like something. Change it.

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So… you like macOS for desktop and it suits your purposes.

I’m curious what discussion you’re hoping for here. I think most folks here are a fan of the “use the right tool for the right job for you” ideology. Pretty sure most of us are familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of Linux. I just… what’s the discussion when your post is summarized as “I prefer macOS for my desktop.”?

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TLDR : Another Apple toe sucking

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This is typical. People that start disto hoping end up getting a Mac. If you stick to Ubuntu you don’t. Now laugh at me or get angry. I just talk from experience.