My first exposure to Linux was Ubuntu's first release. I settled on Slackware in those days because it was the only distro I could get my 56k softmodem's drivers to compile on. When I hear people talk about hardware support almost two decades later, I'm not sure they appreciate how far things have come. I didn't fully make the switch to full time Linux until recently though, once Steam and Proton really had me impressed.
I try to stay in the habit of keeping pace with the major desktop and mobile OS ecosystems. I daily drive Linux and Android, but I try to keep an open mind. As a desktop environment, I use Cinnamon the most--Linux has the most freedom of choice in that department by far. I don't care for the direction Gnome took, but MATE reminds me a bit too much of 15 years ago. The choice is up to the user though. There's also no real shame in using the GUI interfaces available to you, and it's very possible to use Linux without spending much time at all in the terminal.
Though, you'd be doing yourself a disservice shying away from the CLI. It really is faster, but even with double digit years of experience I don't consider myself a pro.
Comparing Linux and Windows in terms of productivity is tough. It really depends on what you do. There's probably a FOSS attempt at anything you could ever want, but sometimes the feature parity isn't there or relearning something complex with a different interface and shortcuts just isn't worth it to you. And as far as an OS--they have different paradigms and different approaches. Being an expert in the Windows ecosystem doesn't mean you'll pick Linux up instantly, and vice versa. Things are "harder" insofar as they're not "the same". The overlap in skills required like diagnosing, troubleshooting, and researching solutions are cross-applicable though. The ability to Google an issue instead of immediately giving up isn't as universal as we'd like, and I often forget that myself
I kinda like CLI, when fn keys do not work with Rhythmbox, I open rhythmbox-client in CLI with -i flag and It solves my problem. I can then use n and p keys for next and prev.
After watching many videos on Linux(YouTube), I am finally able to understand little about terms like MATE and why people like it or why the arch is so loved.
I think I made one mistake, I should have worded post better and researched more about the Linux community before posting this because I can solve problems generally because of very helpful forums. The point was just that it can be a bit frustrating when you are working on something important and things like OS break. So you have to kinda initially invest time in OS and work gets bit delayed. But then again these things don't hamper productivity if you are good with Linux. So I will just have to improve my knowledge.
When I finished college years ago, I worked at a warranty repair facility for a major laptop manufacturer. Hardware features that people like (in this case, fingerprint readers for login) require development efforts. I had multiple "internal" tools, including a half dozen drivers for that thing for Windows alone. The slightest difference in SKU was very problematic for that little device.
I recall the days where installing Linux on a laptop and having a WLAN card was a "good luck" endeavor. Hardware support is far from perfect; I just spent an hour today getting my desktop's PCIE wireless card working after a kernel update myself.
I'm lucky that my discrete sound card (think what you will about that haha, I dabble in audio hobbyism) has Linux support because the manufacturer sure doesn't support it. It takes resources to develop, and a company (especially a laptop manufacturer) simply has to say "we don't support Linux" and they're off the hook.
Hardware support requires having the hardware to develop, and the Linux community isn't getting free documentation and (expensive) hardware to test with... it's mostly a community funded and development effort. I know I'm straying from the point, but the Linux community remains small enough for vendors to effectively ignore.
My point is I very much see where you're coming from: time spent troubleshooting my WiFi on a production machine is wasted effort and possibly income. My home computer is one of my hobbyist devices and it's a little easier to digest lost time there. No matter how long you use it Linux always seems to feel like a learning experience.
If you stay patient you'll start to unlock your potential. If you're using Linux as a production machine, I would recommend checking into distros that tout time tested stability at the cost of being bleeding edge. Something like Debian Stable might be a better fit for you.
But I think now the Linux community is expanding especially because of distros like Ubuntu, PopOs, Mint, and Manjaro which are more beginner-friendly. Some hardcore Linux lovers sometimes hate on these distros but they are very important for wider usage and support for Linux.
Now many hardware manufacturers/vendors have even started to provide better support like Dell developer edition laptops and System76. The only thing I don't like about this is that both are not available in India, LOL.
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My first exposure to Linux was Ubuntu's first release. I settled on Slackware in those days because it was the only distro I could get my 56k softmodem's drivers to compile on. When I hear people talk about hardware support almost two decades later, I'm not sure they appreciate how far things have come. I didn't fully make the switch to full time Linux until recently though, once Steam and Proton really had me impressed.
I try to stay in the habit of keeping pace with the major desktop and mobile OS ecosystems. I daily drive Linux and Android, but I try to keep an open mind. As a desktop environment, I use Cinnamon the most--Linux has the most freedom of choice in that department by far. I don't care for the direction Gnome took, but MATE reminds me a bit too much of 15 years ago. The choice is up to the user though. There's also no real shame in using the GUI interfaces available to you, and it's very possible to use Linux without spending much time at all in the terminal.
Though, you'd be doing yourself a disservice shying away from the CLI. It really is faster, but even with double digit years of experience I don't consider myself a pro.
Comparing Linux and Windows in terms of productivity is tough. It really depends on what you do. There's probably a FOSS attempt at anything you could ever want, but sometimes the feature parity isn't there or relearning something complex with a different interface and shortcuts just isn't worth it to you. And as far as an OS--they have different paradigms and different approaches. Being an expert in the Windows ecosystem doesn't mean you'll pick Linux up instantly, and vice versa. Things are "harder" insofar as they're not "the same". The overlap in skills required like diagnosing, troubleshooting, and researching solutions are cross-applicable though. The ability to Google an issue instead of immediately giving up isn't as universal as we'd like, and I often forget that myself
I kinda like CLI, when fn keys do not work with Rhythmbox, I open rhythmbox-client in CLI with -i flag and It solves my problem. I can then use n and p keys for next and prev.
After watching many videos on Linux(YouTube), I am finally able to understand little about terms like MATE and why people like it or why the arch is so loved.
I think I made one mistake, I should have worded post better and researched more about the Linux community before posting this because I can solve problems generally because of very helpful forums. The point was just that it can be a bit frustrating when you are working on something important and things like OS break. So you have to kinda initially invest time in OS and work gets bit delayed. But then again these things don't hamper productivity if you are good with Linux. So I will just have to improve my knowledge.
When I finished college years ago, I worked at a warranty repair facility for a major laptop manufacturer. Hardware features that people like (in this case, fingerprint readers for login) require development efforts. I had multiple "internal" tools, including a half dozen drivers for that thing for Windows alone. The slightest difference in SKU was very problematic for that little device.
I recall the days where installing Linux on a laptop and having a WLAN card was a "good luck" endeavor. Hardware support is far from perfect; I just spent an hour today getting my desktop's PCIE wireless card working after a kernel update myself.
I'm lucky that my discrete sound card (think what you will about that haha, I dabble in audio hobbyism) has Linux support because the manufacturer sure doesn't support it. It takes resources to develop, and a company (especially a laptop manufacturer) simply has to say "we don't support Linux" and they're off the hook.
Hardware support requires having the hardware to develop, and the Linux community isn't getting free documentation and (expensive) hardware to test with... it's mostly a community funded and development effort. I know I'm straying from the point, but the Linux community remains small enough for vendors to effectively ignore.
My point is I very much see where you're coming from: time spent troubleshooting my WiFi on a production machine is wasted effort and possibly income. My home computer is one of my hobbyist devices and it's a little easier to digest lost time there. No matter how long you use it Linux always seems to feel like a learning experience.
If you stay patient you'll start to unlock your potential. If you're using Linux as a production machine, I would recommend checking into distros that tout time tested stability at the cost of being bleeding edge. Something like Debian Stable might be a better fit for you.
I agree with all of your points. I think this is my problem, youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/JBR-2269. so I will just downgrade kernel for now.
But I think now the Linux community is expanding especially because of distros like Ubuntu, PopOs, Mint, and Manjaro which are more beginner-friendly. Some hardcore Linux lovers sometimes hate on these distros but they are very important for wider usage and support for Linux.
Now many hardware manufacturers/vendors have even started to provide better support like Dell developer edition laptops and System76. The only thing I don't like about this is that both are not available in India, LOL.