My primary reason for not using Linux for my desktop is that when I connect a bluetooth device, headphones, a monitor, a keyboard or a mouse, when I want to run a GPU intensive application, or when I need to connect to a VPN and have my DNS requests correctly routed through the VPN it just works on Windows or MacOS.
I don't have the time or energy to work out those issues in a community supported environment where half the time the community support treats you like a half-witted imbecile for needing support and where the environment itself uses a CLI tool that my wife or kids can't use to manage the settings.
Ease of Use, Dev Tooling, or Cheap. Pick two. Linux is consistently harder to use. With WSL-2 I've found windows eases the dev tooling pain that existed a few years ago. A Mac is not cheap.
> Sure it's nice if a machine "just works", but machines don't just work.
I want Linux to be great as a desktop, but I’ve given up. I use Windows (with WSL2 for a Linux dev environment) because it is not my experience that “machines don’t just work.” It’s just that _Linux_ doesn’t ;)
MacOS doesn't work by design. It's by far the worst choice there is.
Having spent multiple years on all three I promise you that my experience does not bear out your assertion. And to point it out: I am more than capable of making Linux do most of the things I want it to (tar flags be damned) I just prefer the UX on MacOS or windows
yet I typically run weird systems(xmonad, arch) and they're infinitely more reliable after the initial couple hours of setup than my windows install.
My thinkpad with a 7 year old Antergos install and i3wm "just works", but without a hint of irony. Literally the only issue with the laptop happens equally in windows and linux, and that's the USB ports going to sleep and never waking up until reboot.
The big thing about playing around deeper in the system, is you can fix it relatively easy. It's like a 90s honda civic where you can step into the engine bay vs doing any kind of maintenance on a modern audi or bmw. Sure you can see the guts but if a bolt loosens on both, which one would you rather have to fix?
This is exactly why I love to use my Linux machine. When I have a thought, I simply command it to the computer in written language and it immediately obeys.
I don't have to figure out where Johnny Ive hid the toggle switch in an attempt to make things more minimal. In fact, I don't have to figure out where anything is hidden at all because everything is right there at my fingertips. I shutdown the computer by saying "shutdown". I lock it by saying "lock". I open firefox by simply typing "firefox". It's a simple system, but I love it.
My girlfriend simply calls my computer "broken".
One time my brother was in my study and I needed to shut down my computer. After bashing on the keyboard for ten seconds or so he commented "THAT is how you shut down your computer?!" It honestly hadn't even occurred to me it might seem weird from the outside.
I wouldn't have it any other way, though. Sure it's nice if a machine "just works", but machines don't just work. They are layers upon layers of complexity and if I have to understand them then I might as well interact with those layers directly.