Which Linux?

[Agent_24]

Agent -- 1st Read Post #16 by Dugimodo.

2nd, not going to Quote everything, so---

Tell us the punchline, then, because I don't know what's supposed to be so funny.

The Punchline is simple, Mint is not a Great as many say it is. As mentioned  I have and know many others as well, who have computers that run Windows 10 very well, but try to put Linux Mint on and they either won't install at all or are unstable.  If the USB drive install fine on 1 PC then its not the Media, its the OS cant run on said hardware. I got 4 workshop PC's ranging from 2- 6 years old, out of those 4 only 1 will run Linux Mint ( Tried Cinnamon and Xfce).  BUT install kubuntu - they all run fine.

I have so far yet to encounter an issue with it, but to be fair I have not used it on as many machines as I have tried Xubuntu, my current favourite. Then again my computers seem to be fairly well compatible with Linux in general, so I can't really comment on that problem.

That's another thing. You suggest Linux mint? OK, which distro—There are at least three—Mate, Cinnamon, and Xfce, all different Interfaces?   All the Distros have various interfaces so saying use Mint or Fedora --OK which one ??  Fedora has at least a dozen interface.

Obviously that is something up to the user to decide! Hence why I questioned what Galaxy01 meant when asking "Which version is closest to Windows for user who never used Linux."

Because usually what that means is "Which one looks/feels like my favourite Windows version"  but in most cases one just has to try some various DEs out and see what they like.

I would imagine that most people can look at a distro's website, see there are various interface options available, and be able to assess and figure out for themselves by looking at screenshots etc, which one is most appealing to them...

It's like going to a car dealer and saying "I want to buy a vehicle" ... and expecting them to suggest the perfect one for your needs, in your favourite colour, without you even telling them anything other than "I want a vehicle". Doesn't make sense, does it?

As for fixing an OS, yes some things dont work on every OS, but the way The Linux Geeks go on its perfect, never breaks -- LOL yeah pull the other one.

WHEN it does break - if you go to forums and look, often someone will suggest a fix, and others say something completely different, OR as in most cases give commands that no longer apply. AND the reason they don't work is that the instructions may have been for several versions previously, and programs have been replaced in newer versions.

I agree that nothing is perfect, but I'm using Xubuntu and very very rarely has anything just broken itself. Usually it's 3rd party programs that have bugs sometimes. This is usually solved by reverting to a previous version and/or waiting for an update to fix the issue.

Again, if you run a distro that is not bleeding-edge, you are unlikely to run into significant problems, because updates are well-tested and most bugs fixed before you get them.

While doing some investigating as to why Samba keeps failing on Mint, it was written by several people that its been broken for a few past Versions. The fix ?? Uninstall Samba, reboot then reinstall it --  NOPE still broken -- Everyone goes quiet - to hard basket.

One huge problem is unable to run some programs that are only designed for Windows. WINE is unstable and it's often stated it's hit and miss if it works. Sometimes there simply isn't a Linux version of a program people ( a lot of Businesses) HAVE to use.

I can't comment on that as my usage of Samba is basically non-existent these days. So it matters very little to me if it works in a given distro or not.

I feel we are going off track here. Yes, compatibility with some Windows software is bad, and Wine isn't perfect. But that's not what Galaxy01 was asking about. Most of the programs they mentioned have native Linux versions or alternatives, only WhatsApp could be a potential problem. I have no idea if that works in Wine, or if the alternatives are suitable.

It looks like https://itsfoss.com/franz-messaging-app/ and https://itsfoss.com/rambox/ both support WhatsApp, but I have used neither of them.

As an aside, Valve's version of Wine, Proton, is pretty good, and gaming on Linux is a million times better than it was a few years ago.

Lastly -- Some tasks are still too complicated, sharing over a LAN -- One person asked in a Linux forum, why do you have to manually configure a smb.conf  file and enter in loads of commands, and options ?? Why cant they make it like Windows, easy interface, still options for who can view etc.  

Guess what? No one could answer, just danced around the question. In saying that -- kubuntu NOW has a very similar way like windows to share folders over a LAN  No manually configuring files - and it works.

Not all bad though, I have two Servers and NAS running Linux-based, one has Openmedia Vault Debian-based, and the other has Ubuntu Server with CasaOS interface -- All rock Solid, never miss a beat.

Could they/should they do better with Samba? Probably.

In my mind, it's because there's not a big incentive to. It's not a commercial product, most distros are free. If editing a conf file gets you a working program/system, that's good enough for a lot of people, and most who run Linux are advanced users who don't mind doing a bit of conf file editing. It's just the way it is right now....

Then again, it's not like mucking around in the Windows registry doesn't happen. I've had to do all manner of things with that in the past. So it's not so different, when you get down in the weeds, chasing weird bugs and messed up stuff.