While it's true that the vast majority of everyday tasks in Linux can use the GUI interface, it only takes ONE exception to ruin that reputation.
It's in the nature of Linux that some applications and drivers are supported by entities outside the main distributors: manufacturers, talented individuals, talented teams, all contributing their work FREE of charge. While this is a great strength (in numbers), the lack of a commercial relationship and it's underlying responsibilities for warranty etc, means that some manufacturers do not support their products fully in Linux.
I agree with some of this - and the obvious example (call it a reverse example if you prefer) is the Steam Deck. I've seen on numerous sites that when using Windows, the Deck just doesn't feel right.(Some things didn't work at all. Valve has issued driver updates, but still)
But I don't think anybody would dare say that Windows is full of problems, this that and the other thing, just because Valve has specifically chosen not to properly support Windows. The issue is Valve. And the troubleshooting to get it working, yes, that's wonky.
The same thing goes for, as you mentioned later, bluetooth drivers. Is that really a Linux problem? Or is that a vendor problem?
As an example, over the past year, I've had to:
- Find bluetooth drivers online that have had to be renamed (as a different driver to the one it's chip is supposed to represent) and posted to the correct driver directory. (The bluetooth works perfectly in Windows)
- Re-compile WLAN drivers (because the manufacturer didn't update them), from a generous Github individual. (The Wifi works perfectly in Windows)
- On a normal Secure Boot system, re-register the nVidia drivers(!) - that's now fixed. (My 3070 works perfectly in Windows)
- On a Raspberry Pi (yes, the most popular system ever manufactured), jump through a few hoops to get it to boot off a HDD or SDD (ok, not Pi4), eg replacing PARTUUIDs, modifying fstab etc. Part of the 'fun'! (Yes, I can boot from any storage device my motherboard recognises, in Windows). PS, I'm not a Windows fan! I dual-boot and mainly use Linux Mint - a great distribution.
- Having problems with an encrypted Home directory, that borked the Swap directory settings and impacted RESUME. I've reverted to the old 'safe' settings.
These aren't 'wonky tasks'.
These are definitely wonky tasks, as are editing the registry, issuing PING commands in the MS CMD terminal, and tracking down various missing DLLs needed in some SYS directory or other. Anything at all with Raspberry Pi in the same sentence is by definition wonky. Grandma doesn't do this stuff. And if you do happen to have a Grandma that's going around setting up AIs with RPIs, wow are you lucky!
🙂
On a normal Secure Boot system, re-register the nVidia drivers(!) - that's now fixed. (My 3070 works perfectly in Windows)
Again, Steam Deck with Windows. Nvidia chooses to make life difficult for Linux Users and recently (finally) open sourced a large portion of it's driver stack in order to address issues, yes wonky issues, such as this.
Ask any Linux user with an onboard Intel HD or AMD video card. They don't have these issues. That's because they're not a Linux issue.
This is an Nvidia issue. I probably cannot say that strongly enough, really. This is an Nvidia issue. There's not one person in the Linux world who could, ever, fix this. Linus Torvalds couldn't fix it. The entire Red Hat Corporation - who actually pays developers to work on graphics and related directly to Nvidia - couldn't fix this. It required the Nvidia Corporation to get up off of its couch and fix the problem.
They were guarding all of the doors and they were holding all of the keys. And it will still take some time from this moment for the new driver to go through its maturation issues. And whatever Terminal nonsense had to be pursued on your end because of Nvidia's issue, was ultimately unnecessary and due to Nvidia.
Ask any Linux user with an onboard Intel HD or AMD video card. They don't have these issues. Or on the rare occasion that it does happen, a bug ticket can be put in and get it fixed so that whatever terminal headaches can peacefully go away.
The fact is, that Linux changes quite a lot, over time. New ideas are introduced (systemd, snap etc) or expanded upon. Some distributions favour certain 'flavours' etc. This has a bearing on which directories are used for which purposes, and requires everyone to choose which structures they are going to deliver into. That requires a commitment to maintain software and drivers, that isn't always forthcoming. And I'm not talking about some old, obscure hardware or driver. Yes, Windows has had such problems too - going from 32-bit to 64-bit, for example, but it pretty well provides all maintenance tasks through a GUI, even regedit! Sure, Powershell is still needed by Systems Admins in commercial settings, but the 'normal single user' doesn't need to revert to it, EVER.
Maybe the mistake I made was in using the word 'wonky', but mostly what you're describing are wonky administrative tasks. What I meant was precisely this.
The average user does not need to put on an administrative hat like they would've had to do a decade ago or so in Linux. Everything "just works."
The challenge that Linux users have had (which is much easier these days) has been to assemble a known - basically Steam Deck - computer. Get an AMD video card so that the drivers are generally unquestionable, get a motherboard with Intel this and that so that all of the other components are using Intel's driver sets. They put a lot of time into ensuring driver quality. The Wifi is a key issue point because of how prevalent Broadcomm hardware is and how stuck up Broadcomm is about its absolute refusal to issue decent Linux support. Broadcomm is the same way as described earlier.
They are guarding all of the doors and they are holding all of the keys. So Linux users when they can do so get either Qualcomm wifi, Intel wifi, or there are a few others. Who is your Bluetooth chip manufacturer?(if I may ask)
But all of this avoids the point. And as a Linux Mint user you should know this. Everything you want to do in Mint is all easy, and it's all GUI driven. When you wanted to install Blender or some word processor, it was GUI driven. When you wanted to launch your web browser, what did you do? You clicked on the "start" menu with your mouse and there it was. Click. Mouse. Open. There's no terminal requirement anymore. Even when they release Mint version 22, you can upgrade the whole ---entire--- operating system with one single button click. I know its only one mouse click. Because I've done it myself.
The system snapshots are GUI driven. Securing the repositories is GUI driven. That's how mature the Linux environment is these days. None of it requires the terminal. These are more of the "daily tasks" that a user might run into.
While it's true that the vast majority of everyday tasks in Linux can use the GUI interface, it only takes ONE exception to ruin that reputation.
Systems troubleshooting are not the exception. Windows has powershell and regedit just the same when issues pop out. Yes, I've had my fair share of broken drivers pulled off of driverguide that needed some sort of "help".(usually, it was DLLs or an INI file) Now maybe you can laud regedit for being UI driven, but go ahead and ask 5 people to describe what an HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT is, and see what answers arrive.
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