Returning to Linux felt like a nostalgic journey, but it quickly turned into a frustrating reminder of why I left. Let me tell you why this decision became a cautionary tale for anyone considering the switch.
It’s no coincidence that I installed Linux around the same time as my colleagues Nathan Edwards and Stevie Bonifield. A few months ago, I decided to revive a 2019 Dell XPS 15 that had been gathering dust for years. Despite its high-end specs—a Core i7 CPU and 32GB of RAM—Windows had rendered it nearly unusable. The fan roared constantly, updates failed to install, and the system crawled at a snail’s pace. By early 2024, I’d had enough and switched to an M1 MacBook Pro. But I wanted to repurpose the Dell for my child to practice typing and as a distraction-free writing tool. Spoiler alert: it didn’t go as planned. So, I installed Ubuntu. Again.
And this is the part most people miss: I wasn’t new to Linux. Back in 2006, I’d installed Ubuntu on a ThinkPad X40, and it was my primary OS for 13 years across three laptops. Despite its quirks—like Wi-Fi not working out of the box—I was content. I dual-booted Windows for specific tasks and used a work-issued MacBook for video editing, but 99% of my life was in Ubuntu.
But here’s where it gets controversial: as I grew older, tinkering with Linux went from a hobby to a hindrance. By 2017, my passion for music production clashed with Ubuntu Studio’s limitations. I found myself spending more time in Ableton Live on Windows, and in 2019, I fully switched to the Dell XPS. Fast forward to 2024, and Linux has evolved. It’s now a top contender for PC gaming, boasts excellent photo-editing apps like Darktable, and even has commercial music production tools like Bitwig and Reaper. Yet, my return to Ubuntu felt like stepping into a time machine—not in a good way.
The installation process was familiar, but the interface was undeniably prettier. I opted for dual-booting instead of wiping the XPS, which meant repartitioning the hard drive. Almost immediately, Linux’s fiddly nature reared its head. The fingerprint reader didn’t work, and Ubuntu failed to install updates due to an EFI partition issue—a problem I’d faced with Windows too. I fixed it, but I’m not convinced I didn’t create a ticking time bomb by deleting essential files.
But here’s where it gets controversial: Linux’s infinite customizability is both its strength and its curse. For some, it’s a dream; for others, it’s a nightmare. Nathan’s CachyOS refused to recognize mouse clicks, and he was overwhelmed by the choice of bootloaders and desktop environments. Stevie admitted to ‘rage quitting’ when Ubuntu wouldn’t connect to a second SSD. Meanwhile, I spent hours troubleshooting software installations, outdated libraries, and crashes—even with something as simple as Steam. Sure, CachyOS or Bazzite might have smoothed the gaming experience, but that’s the problem: Linux’s fragmentation makes ‘using Linux’ a vague statement. There are too many flavors, each with its own quirks.
Even when things worked, they weren’t seamless. Bitwig recognized my audio interface but was picky about MIDI controllers and crashed on first launch. I missed my favorite Windows- and Mac-only plugins, like Arturia’s Pigments. Minor annoyances piled up: the laptop refused to reconnect to external drives after sleep, and waking it required opening the lid—no Bluetooth input allowed. Ubuntu excelled as a web browser machine, but for anything else, it felt like a compromise.
And this is the part most people miss: Linux can do almost everything now—sometimes better than Windows. But for every task, there’s a better alternative. Gaming? Smoother on my Switch or PS4. Music production? Ableton on macOS is easier and supports all my VSTs. Photo editing? GIMP and Darktable are solid, but Lightroom and Photoshop are leagues ahead. Linux feels like a jack-of-all-trades, master of none.
So, was returning to Linux a mistake? For me, yes. But here’s the thought-provoking question: Is Linux’s potential worth the hassle, or is it a platform that’s forever stuck in ‘almost there’ territory? Let me know your thoughts in the comments—I’m curious to hear if you’ve had a different experience.
