It’s been a week. Ubuntu Studio, and every day it’s something. I swear Linux is the OS version of owning a boat, it’s constant maintenance. Am I dumb, or doing something wrong?
After many issues, today I thought I had shit figured out, then played a game for the first time. All good, but the intro had some artifacts. I got curious, I have an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 and thought that was weird. Looked it up, turns out Linux was using lvmpipe. Found a fix. Now it’s using my card, no more clipping, great!. But now my screen flickers. Narrowed it down to Vivaldi browser. Had to uninstall, which sucks and took a long time to figure out. Now I’m on Librewolf which I liked on windows but it’s a cpu hungry bitch on Linux (eating 3.2g of memory as I type this). Every goddamned time I fix something, it breaks something else.
This is just one of many, every day, issues.
I’m tired. I want to love Linux. I really do, but what the hell? Windows just worked.
I’ve resigned myself to “the boat life” but is there a better way? Am I missing something and it doesn’t have to be this hard, or is this what Linux is? If that’s just like this I’m still sticking cause fuck Microsoft but you guys talk like Linux should be everyone’s first choice. I’d never recommend Linux to anyone I know, it doesn’t “just work”.
EDIT: Thank you so much to everyone who blew up my post, I didn’t expect this many responses, this much advice, or this much kindness. You’re all goddamned gems!
To paraphrase my username’s namesake, because of @SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone and his apt gif (also, Mr. Flickerman, when I record I often shout about Clem Fandango)…
When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall GNU/LINUX OS grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol’ Jack Burton always says at a time like that: “Have ya paid your dues, Jack?” “Yessir, the check is in the mail.”
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Flawless? No. But the bar is very low.
I know I’m very late to the party and any comment in a thread with 200+ posts is like yelling at the void.
BUT
My experience with Windows has hardly been “it just works”. In fact it has been a history of decades of tinkering and messing around with it to try and get it to do what I want.
The only difference is that Windows obscures everything, so when something breaks it does so quietly. Meaning you might not notice… Or. More likely. It’ll just crash out and you don’t even have an error code to google.
This isn’t to say that Linux isn’t a balancing act of constant maintenance. It is. Just… The Windows experience was never “better” for me from that angle. And… On some level, I enjoy all the tinkering. I think all Linux folks do.
Bought a Tuxedo laptop with Linux preinstalled. Literally flawless experience. Zero glitches. Sounds like an exaggeration but my work issued macbook pro has issues here and there.
windows just worked
This is not how I remember windows
I had to tweak things often in Windows too. Windows pushed a broken update around December 2023 (or 2022, don’t remember) and when I restored from a system image Windows itself made it broke everything worse. Windows isn’t perfectly stable. There’s currently a bug corrupting people’s disks.
I think a huge part of it is that you’re more used to the types of issues you ran into on Windows and knew how to solve them easily enough that they didn’t cause headaches.
Could be. I’m getting the hang of it but the first bit was literally “this doesn’t work”, found a fix, which made something else not work, etc. Drive permissions were a big hassle, I’ve got things going but it’s been a huge learning curve.
did windows just work? It didn’t for me
Most people are so used to the windows bullshit that they don’t even recognise it anymore, Linux (especially fedora) has been much more stable for me.
Also, the problem is always nvidia
I’m gonna be honest, I don’t remember the last time I had a problem with windows. I had some issues getting a media server set up that ended up being the router my ISP gave me, I had an issue with the 11 “upgrade” that ended up being a BIOS setting. But the last time I had an issue that was actually Windows related was on a previous computer, and my desktop is damn near geriatric.
Fair enough, although I don’t really remember having an issue with linux either, atleast for the last couple of years. Apart from getting my nvidia gpu to work properly on my laptop, but that’s jank on windows aswell. Not everyone has issues on either, but I use windows at work and fedora at home and I notice way more jank on windows personally
I had windows issues this morning, trying to set the aeay message expiry in teams. When I click the date … no problem, when I click time there is a long scroll list of times, when I go to move mouse over a time it closes the time picker window because it thinks I have moused off of it. I tried various mouse methods and acrolling. Had to resort to keyboard only to move and select.
Good stuff. As much as I hate Microsoft and everything they do, if you’re enjoying a stable system, and don’t mind the injected Spyware and ramsonware that comes with windows by default, enjoy.
Not everyone has to like Linux.
What ransomware?
Leave your data synchronizing with their cloud, pass the limit, miss 1 payment and see how that goes for you when you try to get your data. Good luck.
you tried one distro and it’s not working out, just go and try another one. i had to try a few before i found that mint works the best for me. it has some very minor flaws but it’s been smoother than wintoes
Wintoes
It’s been a week. Ubuntu Studio
There is your problem. I wouldn’t recommend a Canonical distro to anyone. Try Mint or Debian 13 if you absolutely need to stay in the Debian sphere. Otherwise, give Fedora a try. EndeavorOS is also friendly to Nvidia GPUs, but be careful when using AUR.
Yeah, I chose it because it’s built for creatives. I do audio work, voice acting, music, etc and I was scared I wouldn’t be able to do my work. Studio seemed safest.
Anything that you are currently using in Ubuntu Studio you can also get in any other distro.
Having said that, if you feel comfortable with Ubuntu Studio, just stick to it, learn to troubleshoot it’s issues, and you’ll be just fine.
That’s one of the beauties of the Linux world, choice!
Yeah, now that I’m getting used to it I’m probably gonna test some others on my laptop. Ubuntu seems finicky with my hardware. I REALLY don’t want to start over though, I’ve spent a lot of time this week setting things up and starting from scratch with another distro seems like a pain in the ass and a risk if I can’t get things (audio recording) to work right.
you might be able to try a live version of a distro to see how your hardware functions before taking the plunge
Yeah, I get it. I’m a tinkerer, so I enjoy checking what’s new out there, which leads me to distro hop every 3 to 6 months (only to end up right back on Fedora or Bazzite 😜), plus o don’t have a drop of art in my blood, so my use cases are pretty common.
If I was in your shoes, I’d probably just stay there until I’m comfortable with the software I need for what I do, and once I am, then I’d look into other distros that can run the same software flawlessly and try some until I find what I want.
You’re on the right path. Enjoy freedom.
I don’t think they have a studio focused flavor, but check out https://garudalinux.org/editions. Coming from windows this has been the easiest transition and great to learn on
Ubuntu Studio? Why?
Why not? Genuinely asking.
Ubuntu Studio is for professional creators who know quite a bit about Linux. It chooses systems (like JACK) that are really exceptionally good at content creation, but don’t Just Work™️. It is the exact opposite of what I would recommend to a Linux noob, and I’m not surprised at all that OP has had constant issues with it. It is not made for people like OP.
I have nothing against Ubuntu Studio as a distro. It is made for a certain group of people, and OP is not in that group. That’s why I’m wondering why OP chose it. Who directed OP to dip their toes into Linux with a distro like Ubuntu Studio?
I’m a freelance voice actor and musician. I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to do what I need to do and Ubuntu Studio seemed safest as it’s “designed” for this stuff.
It is designed for that stuff, but it’s not designed for Linux novices. Any distro can do that kind of stuff. Ubuntu Studio makes choices that are only intended for that kind of stuff. Pipewire is almost as good as JACK in that regard. The only difference is Pipewire has slightly higher latency. Ubuntu Studio also has a very slim desktop environment and a real-time optimized kernel that are specifically to reduce latency in audio and video processing. Unless you need real-time audio and video processing with extremely low latency (like you’re streaming and using tens of audio/video sources), I would highly recommend trying out another distro. Ubuntu Studio is a very good distro, but it is not user friendly. I would say you have to be quite familiar with Linux to have a good time with Ubuntu Studio.
Since you’re using your machine for other things besides content creation, a general purpose OS should be what you’re aiming for. I’d recommend either Mint or Fedora.
Good to hear someone say it’s a good distro. I’m totally fine learning as I go, just didn’t realize how different they can be. Kinda thought it was Arch for the pros and everything else was accessible easily. I’m loving learning it, and happy to hear I picked a bit of a harder one to start, it’s how I learn best. I was just frustrated.
Unfortunately the only audio I’ve been able to get to work right for my use case is Alsa, I can’t route anything through my mic interfaces with Pipewire or JACK.
I’m getting the hang of it, but it doesn’t help that my PC is also my media server so that was another layer to figure out. It’s been a journey.
Check out Helvum for routing audio through Pipewire. It’s a patchbay that just lets you drag and drop the wires to connect things. I use Carla, personally, which lets you also add things like compressors and sidechains, but Carla is a lot heavier, so Helvum is a good place to start.
Also, anything that works for JACK should work for Pipewire, because Pipewire implements a JACK compatible audio server.
Technically, ALSA is always running and controlling the hardware directly, but it can only accept one audio stream, so you put an audio server in front of it to allow multiple streams. It used to be just JACK for professional stuff and Pulseaudio for consumer stuff. Then Pipewire came along as the best of both worlds. It uses Wireplumber to manage the session (connect things automatically), and implements a JACK compatible server and a Pulse compatible server so everything can connect to it.
Think of your workstation running Ubuntu Studio as new shoes that need running in.
I’ve been using Debian Linux as my primary desktop for over 25 years. The amount of downtime I experience is negligible. When I look at the sheer volume of MacOS updates requiring a reboot, or the absurd number of “fixes” pushed by Microsoft, I’m very content.
^ This, Debian just works and gets out of your way. But no one seems to recommend it.
Yeah because if you have new hardware you’re shit out of luck
I’m on AM5 with a 6800 and would have a newer card if the cost wasn’t so high. I run Sid for fun but I can run stable with backports and flatpaks
Misinformation. Debian 13 is brand new. Backports supports new hardware as needed.
You’re trying to tell us Debian will always have the latest kernel and packages needed to support new hardware, and there’s no disadvantage in this domain by using Debian? (Sid aside)
Yeah, kernel gets patches even on stable Debian, plus at most it will be a year or so old
https://nerdburglars.net/question/getting-rx-9060-9070-gpus-working-on-debian-bookworm/
The internet is littered with posts of people trying to get new stuff working on Debian. Bookworm was the latest Debian release at time of posting. It does not support this six month old GPU
I usually start a desktop on Mint since it’s got at least some new drivers and a few more tools with Cinnamon desktop.
If the hardware is finicky or there’s odd devices a distro doesn’t handle, I often just try a different distro instead of driver hacking. It’s a very big hammer, but I’d rather have things work with the distro configs instead of maintaining it myself.
Servers? Debian.
Desktops? Mint (prettier Debian out of the box)
Otherwise? Use what works with the least effort.
Not really a friendly distro for non tech-savy people, so it’s complicated to recommend it online to strangers.
I get it that’s the impression and maybe i have used it for so long so i might have a blind spot but what makes it complicated? Its got a gui installer, a live cd. Other than the not having cutting edge software what makes it complicated?
This.
In my experience, once you have the potential hardware compatibility issue fixed, it’s smooth sailing and simply a matter of getting used to the different tools on Linux!
Yeah. I also appreciate the ability to actually fix most problems. I probably ran into fewer problems on windows, but when I did, the problems were beyond repair.
I get what your trying to say, and the analogy works between Windows and Mac, just a different GUI and keyboard commands. Linux is like wearing someone else’s shoes and learning to run in them. It’s similar, but not the same.
Literally every day something breaks. I’m at a point I have things working enough that I’m scared of experimenting because it’s so fragile.
I hear your frustration and understand what you’re concerned about.
Ask yourself this.
Is the thing that I’ve discovered is broken today something that I’ve fixed before?
If you use the package manager that comes with your distribution and don’t install random software from the Internet, and don’t follow unverified procedures written by anyone with a keyboard, then the answer is almost certainly “no”.
I say this with the benefit of knowing what’s good practice and what isn’t. I can tell you that if you come at this with a “Microsoft Windows” approach, you’re likely to spend weeks, if not months in purgatory. It’s no different from migrating between MacOS and Windows, or vice-versa. You need to remember that just because Linux looks similar, it’s a different beast and is so by design.
I’d strongly recommend that you start using the machine with ONLY the packages available through the Ubuntu package manager. If you run into strife, you can ask for support. If you go outside that and you break something, you get to keep both parts – and truth be told – that’s true with any other operating system, just that the lines are not as blurred.
In Linux world many of the distributions can cross pollenate applications and solutions, but that requires experience that new users don’t (yet) have.
One way to deal with the “jump” is to keep your “old” Windows (or MacOS) machine around while you get comfortable with the lay of the land.
The thing that most people switching to Linux have forgotten is that this requires experience. You cannot expect to just jump into a new Operating System and take all your old habits with you. Think for example about the differences between iOS and Android, a world of difference.
So, keep at it. This frustration will pass.
Make sure you backup your /home directory regularly. That way if you ever blow something up and are left on your own, you can blow away the drive and start again, restore from your /home backup.
Meanwhile, keep asking questions.
Good luck.
That’s great advice, thank you. If I just copy my home directory I can replace it if things go south? What about other distros?
What I do most of the time is have the /home directory on a different partition. If you really do need to reinstall, it is just a matter of selecting the existing home partition when reinstalling it (do not forget to uncheck the “format partition” checkbox 😅).
Reinstalls or running other distro’s is a piece of cake this way.
My experience with amd / radeon has not been that great over the years. The open source amdgpu driver is basic at best. If you have a modern intel gfx chipset that is way easier…
Pretty much the same.
Word of warning. Your /home directory contains your documents, but it also contains configuration files. If the packages you’re installing have different versions, you might discover that the config file for a different version doesn’t work on the version that’s installed. This isn’t universally the case, some applications are smart about this, others less so. You can find many of them as “hidden” “dot” files.
You can find all of them like this:
find /home -type f -name '.*'Explanation:
find- the find command/home- the place to start looking-type f- find files only-name '.*'- find things only starting with a ‘.’
https://wiki.debian.org/DontBreakDebian
if you wanna read up a bit more on that
Do you guys just have flawless experiences or what? … NVIDIA
Never had a flawless experience with NVIDIA. Hopefully their grift dies and gets replaced with RISC-V or similar open source…
Otherwise my linux machines have been awesome.
Am I missing something and it doesn’t have to be this hard
Nothing was missed. You said in your post that you’re using NVIDIA. No, it doesn’t need to be that hard.
is this what Linux is?
That’s what proprietary tech is. I definitely wouldn’t blame open source projects for the widespread abuse/failure of technology under capitalism.
Yes, I have a near flawless experience with Linux, but it was years in the making. One thing people don’t realize when they switch over is the amount of time you’ve spent in dealing with similar issues on Windows, but you did it so long ago and so often they’re second nature to you, so you don’t perceive them as problems. But when you start from scratch on Linux they’re daunting problems because they force you to learn new stuff.
The same will happen to Linux over time, some stuff you’ll fix once and forever, others you’ll learn to work around and be okay with it. For me nowadays whenever I have to use Windows for something more than simple stuff it’s death by a thousand cuts, because I haven’t used windows in so long that my muscle memory for those caveats and weirdness (that I didn’t even noticed before switching) is completely gone.
As for the specific things, you’re using an Nvidia card, which is known for not playing nice with Linux, you haven’t mentioned drivers but you have two options here, open source and very poorly performative Nouveau driver or the proprietary and doesn’t play nice with other stuff Nvidia one. Both are bad, but probably you want the Nvidia one.
Also I don’t know how Ubuntu studio is, but I would recommend you try other distros, maybe Mint or I’ve heard wonderful stuff for Bazzite. Any way you can have your
/homebe in a different partition so you don’t lose your data when switching over and trying stuff, eventually you might find something that clicks for you, and it’s smooth sailing from then on. Good luck.In short, no. Linux can be adversarial, finicky, and sometimes just plain bullshit. That’s the price of device freedom though. Can’t speak for anyone else, but it does get easier the longer you stick with it though.
I’m on AMD, but I do still run into frequent issues. Normally with Ubuntu variations most things just work but not everything.
Linux is created mostly by unpaid volunteers, so it’s gonna have it’s faults. For so many reasons I’m inclined not to use Windows so finding that a feature doesn’t work isn’t a big deal for me.
Regarding the specific issues mentioned: Nvidia support is subpar on Linux. There’s many distros that are specifically designed to handle all the graphics support for gaming and Ubuntu isn’t one of them.
Little bit of lore here: When I first started using Linux Nvidia support was better than ATI because they actually bothered to maintain a proprietary Linux driver. There were open source drivers for both but they weren’t performant. The proprietary ATI driver existed but it was maintained by one dude and required a goat sacrifice to install correctly. Since then, however, maybe after AMD bought ATI, they started investing in the open source driver. After that the open source driver just works and competes with the proprietary Nvidia driver. After that I’ve been brand loyal to AMD.
LibreWolf chewing up 3.2Gb is regrettably just normal for a modern browser. Firefox and Chrome will do this too. I’d be genuinely impressed though if Vivaldi has avoided that.
