LINUX DESKTOPS are JANKY, but it's what makes them so GOOD

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If you're watching this, you probably really like Linux based operating systems, just like me. But we also have to admit that our operating systems aren't perfect and that there is a small amount of jank in some areas. What I'd like to do in this video, is get you to embrace that jank, and try and see how it's actually part of the experience of using Linux.


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00:00 Intro
01:27 Linux isn't perfect
02:24 Inconsistency
04:45 The Linux Stack
07:37 The Foot Guns
08:56 App Support
10:37 Parting Thoughts

Yes, Linux based OSes aren't perfect. And it's OK. Linux as a desktop doesn't need to replace windows entirely. it doesn't need to become the dominant, 99% market share OS out there. I'd argue it only needs a market share of about 5 to 6% on the desktop to be relevant to third party app developers and get more attention.

The first thing people notice is that Linux based operating systems generally tend to look pretty incoherent after a while. When you install your distro of choice, things are nice and tidy, you generally only have stuff from one desktop environment, one theme, and it all looks pretty and coherent.

But start adding various applications, and the experience quickly starts to change: you get GIMP, which doesn't look like your other GTK apps, or your Qt apps. You install LibreOffice, which looks kinda like the rest of your apps but not entirely. Your web browser never completely feels like your other programs either.


And while that incoherence isn't such a big problem in terms of mass adoption for Linux, because Windows has been more incoherent than that even out of the box, since Windows Vista, it still results in a bit of a janky experience.

This gives a sense of progression to the Linux desktop as a whole: as time goes on, this difference is starting to erode, and while it will never be completely erased, as the UX paradigms are really different between GNOME, KDE, and other desktops, it's a constant reminder that our desktop is always evolving, always improving.


The second thing comes from the very nature of Linux desktops: they're built by stacking third party systems on top of one another. It means that from time to time, you get a new system that reinvents how we do things, generally for good reasons, but it takes time for the other systems to adapt, decide whether to adopt and integrate that new technology or not, and attain the same stability on the new system than it did on the old one.

From the outside, it might look like this stack of disjointed projects is creating problems
But if we look at it from further away, then we can start to see the advantages it brings.

It makes Linux desktops highly modular: you can swap components for others to make the experience fit what you want, what you like, or what you need.

We all had something break on us in our Linux desktop, unexpectedly. Sometimes it's just an application that doesn't start anymore, sometimes you lose your entire graphical session because you HAD to use the lastest kernel.

You have every possibility to shoot yourself in the foot, or sometimes, get shot in the foot by an update.

It's part of the freedom of that operating system: it doesn't restrict you from making mistakes, at least not too hard, and so you make them, and stuff breaks.

This contributes to a janky experience for a lot of users that discover what works and what doesn't.

One big complaint often levelled at Linux based systems is the lack of some staples in terms of applications.

This means that for a lot of users moving from other operating systems, there is a big gap in terms of what they're used to. In the meantime, people who stick with Linux anyways have to deal with alternatives. LibreOffice, Inkscape, GIMP, FreeCAD...

It does mean that people are lost when they start using them, which, you guessed it, creates JANK.

But this is part of the experience: when you move to Linux, you don't just transpose your previous knowledge and expect things to work as they did. You learn how the desktop works, and you learn how the new apps you're using work.