For anyone reading this and rolling their eyes, if you have ever tried Linux in the past and left feeling like it was too much hassle or missing too many things, it might be worth another try.
8 or so years ago I found myself wanting to like Linux but missing too many apps and annoyed by how much fiddling everything took, and became a Mac user while going through school.
But after the election with all the Apple App Store BS, I decided it was worth another try, and since I'm a more competent software developer now, I thought it would also be a chance to put my money and time where my mouth was and start helping to add to the Linux ecosystem.
So I bought a Dell XPS 13 with Ubuntu pre-installed, and honestly, everything works great, and so much of everything I was missing before is now on the web or available in some form on Linux. I still have a Macbook for iOS development, but this Dell with Linux has unintentionally become my daily driver.
Good to know! The XPS was me dipping my toes into the water, but after playing around with Pop! OS a little bit, a System 76 is definitely next on my list.
I've never had a linux laptop where everything just worked until my system76.
I've used linux for the last 15 years and I've always had to live with something funky on every laptop, from wifi randomly disconnecting to suspend resume not working to having to jump through massive hoops for full disk encryption.
All of that just works on their laptops. Quite frankly, I'm beyond impressed with what they have been able to pull off.
The only downside, is windows doesn't really work on their machines. The driver support is kinda not there, so windows runs slow, meaning their machines are bad at gaming unless your into linux gaming which is hit or miss.
So far, Linux gaming with Proton has gotten me pretty far. I’m rather impressed by how far gaming has come outside of Windows.
That said, I’m intentionally trying to stay away from more competitive stuff like Valorant for the moment so that my time can go towards “better things”, but if I ever do get back into “hardcore” gaming, I’ll probably bite the bullet and get something dedicated for Windows gaming.
It’s more expensive that way, but this is the year I start putting my money where my mouth is, and start supporting the open and free alternatives FIRST, and the big tech oligarchs only if necessary and only with whatever money I have to spare.
For anyone reading this and rolling their eyes, if you have ever tried Linux in the past and left feeling like it was too much hassle or missing too many things, it might be worth another try.
8 or so years ago I found myself wanting to like Linux but missing too many apps and annoyed by how much fiddling everything took, and became a Mac user while going through school.
But after the election with all the Apple App Store BS, I decided it was worth another try, and since I'm a more competent software developer now, I thought it would also be a chance to put my money and time where my mouth was and start helping to add to the Linux ecosystem.
So I bought a Dell XPS 13 with Ubuntu pre-installed, and honestly, everything works great, and so much of everything I was missing before is now on the web or available in some form on Linux. I still have a Macbook for iOS development, but this Dell with Linux has unintentionally become my daily driver.
Just wait until you get a system 76. :) They put the xps to shame.
Good to know! The XPS was me dipping my toes into the water, but after playing around with Pop! OS a little bit, a System 76 is definitely next on my list.
I've never had a linux laptop where everything just worked until my system76.
I've used linux for the last 15 years and I've always had to live with something funky on every laptop, from wifi randomly disconnecting to suspend resume not working to having to jump through massive hoops for full disk encryption.
All of that just works on their laptops. Quite frankly, I'm beyond impressed with what they have been able to pull off.
The only downside, is windows doesn't really work on their machines. The driver support is kinda not there, so windows runs slow, meaning their machines are bad at gaming unless your into linux gaming which is hit or miss.
So far, Linux gaming with Proton has gotten me pretty far. I’m rather impressed by how far gaming has come outside of Windows.
That said, I’m intentionally trying to stay away from more competitive stuff like Valorant for the moment so that my time can go towards “better things”, but if I ever do get back into “hardcore” gaming, I’ll probably bite the bullet and get something dedicated for Windows gaming.
It’s more expensive that way, but this is the year I start putting my money where my mouth is, and start supporting the open and free alternatives FIRST, and the big tech oligarchs only if necessary and only with whatever money I have to spare.