My problems with Linux Mint
I want to full-switch from Win 11 over to Linux Mint, and I want to recommend Linux to other people as an alternative to Windows. But I have some problems.
And I don't want to fix them. I don't want to search about it online. I don't want to figure it out. I don't want "well you just have to ...". I want it to just work.
Top Porblems:
- Games are not easy. I can't count on them to "just work".
- Desktop icons for games on Steam don't work, so I have to launch from steam.
- Start-menu search is dumb. It's not smart. It doesn't interpret what I'm looking for.
- "Software Manager" is a terrible name for an app store.
- Booting into linux messed up my Windows clock timezone.
timedatectl set-local-rtc 1on the linux-side fixed this, but I don't wanna have to fix things. - Default grub (boot menu) is UGLY.
- Webcam software is not pre-installed.
Now, I'm a nerd, I'm a techie, and I'm a programmer. I'll work around many of the rough edges. I haven't tried coding on Windows in years, and I don't care to. I'm really happy coding on Linux. I'm happy writing word (libreoffice) docs on linux. I'm happy browsing the web, listening to music, video editing (kdenlive), and I like libreoffice spreadsheets too.
Idunno. I just dream of a world where Free and Open Source software is dominant, where our tax dollars don't get funneled to multi-billion (trillion?) dollar corporations like Microsoft, Apple, and Google, where children are not indoctrinated by our school systems into proprietary technologies that will benefit private companies for the rest of their lives.
LibreOffice isn't as good as Word, but it's good enough. I'm not sure Gimp even comes close to photoshop, but I'm happy with it anyway. I would love to see widespread adoption of Linux, but the basic things have to be fixed for that to happen. Things have to "just work". A lot does these days, but a lot also just doesn't.
More minor porblems or specific gripes:
- I need to look up ProtonDB to see if Steam install will be okay, or if I need to use Lutris
- Some games require extra steps to setup. For Trackmania, I had to download a different Ubisoft game bc TM for some reason fails to install the Ubi client, but Growtopia does it fine.
- I have to look up AreWeAntiCheatYet, and many games are not.
- I guess I need to use 'Bottles' to run some games? Idk, I'm literally not going to. I'll just keep booting into windows.
- Enabling system backups/restores required configuration, instead of just being a checkbox.
- I had to learn from a forum that I can search for Cinnamon Desktop customizations at cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com
- Different apps/software seem to use a different file manager, so my bookmarks and stuff don't work. A universal API layer for accessing files, then letting the system provide its own file manager would be better. Users shouldn't have to think about this stuff.
- LibreOffice & Microsoft Word docs are NOT compatible. They don't convert well. (that's not really a linux thing but its obnoxious)
- Phone synchronization software is not pre-installed.
- Cloud file sharing and cloud backup software is not pre-installed (nor readily available via a "first-time-use installer")