Ask HN: Does a Linux distro that “just works” even exist?

8 pointsHex087y ago4 comments

I've been distro hopping for weeks, both on my desktop and laptop, in hope to find some magic distro that would just work out of the box like mainstream OSes like Windows and macOS do. Maybe not the best strategy but honestly I don't really wish to spend hours to get the audio working just so I can move on and go fix the next issue.

I really want to use Linux for work so bad but all the issues I've encountered are setting me off:

1) Audio not working or distorted playback or recording 2) Not smooth animations and everything feeling jittery and laggy in general 3) Low battery life 4) Running jobs preventing the system shutdown for whathever reason on a fresh install

Also I've had problems with files management (eg: I once needed to copy a 1GB file to my USB drive, KDE showed an instant 100% progress but hanged there for minutes before I got frustrated and gave up) and window managment (eg: some programs are not maximed when I click on their icon in kde).

I've done everything in dual boot alongside Windows and, to be honest, booting back to Windows after trying a new distro made the difference really clear, Windows works much better out of the box. This is unfortunate because Windows will never provide the same development workspace that Linux can. But right now, it seems like the best solution is running an Ubuntu server VM.

Has anyone else experienced the same problems?

4 comments

JPLeRouzic7y ago

I am not sure to answer your question but I was a long time Ubuntu user (2007) even if I am not an expert.

In recent years I feel it looks like many things were broken in Ubuntu, including the video.

Now I use the Trisquel Linux mini, also a Debian derivative, and so far it is much better than modern versions of Ubuntu.

https://trisquel.info/

blastbeat7y ago

No, never had mentioned problems. I'm using Debian GNU/Linux exclusively since 10 years on various computers, and most of the time it just worked seamlessly. But usually I run older hardware. If I buy something new, I first assure myself about the Linux capability of the box.

artie_effim7y ago

Same here - linux user for like 20 years, last 5-7 have been debian. I user it at home and work (3 HDMI monitors) no issues. I have a few things that don't work in the enterprise environment (Skype mostly works, cant transfer files or make calls directly - using Pidgin and SIPE; Evolution with Exchange connector is just OK, sometimes the Address book barfs; no Visio level drawing tool where I can share drawings with co-workers - have to use Windows laptop). But, everything else just works - running Gnome 3.22.3 - I am a NetSec engineer and I develop apps for my team using Python (PyCharm with Snap) - so, not totally FREE, but totally works and made my workflow faster and better. Tilda and Terminator as emulators, ZSH (best shell ever) - all in all, never going back.

lesserknowndan7y ago

Answer: Yes. Download a Ubuntu CD from 10 years ago.

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