Why the Linux community is a pain and why Linux just can't succeed as an everyday desktop.

Please, before I begin, I LOVE Linux operating systems.  I've even petitioned our laptop team where I work to research Linux laptops, since our application servers also run Linux.  So please don't think I am anti-Linux.  I am not.  I have Pop OS running on this PC, dual booting with Windows (for gaming).

But here is the problem with open source projects, especially of the "flavor of linux" kind:  people.

Simply put people are people and since these are open source projects and little anarchist societies that pull together with a starting goal, very very soon, one year, two years, five years, some major conflict hits and the distro goes *poof*.

Yeah yeah, "well then SPIN YOUR OWN".  No.  I seriously have a full time job++, I have a family and other responsibilities and I just don't have the extra time to spend on building out my own gentoo or slackware or some other build... and I want support.  I want the apps to be updated, the OS to continue to grow and improve... and again, no time.

As an example, two very good distros recently went AWOL:  elementaryOS and SolusOS.  Both were excellent distros.  Both had interesting and "different" features from the mainstream.  But in both distros PEOPLE got in the way, resentment and anger built up and soon the lead developers abandoned the projects (more or less).

I will stick to my Windows PC for gaming and my Mac Studio for other stuff.

The hypocrisy of this is I am now following SerpentOS closely...

One can only hold out hope.

Why am I a Pop!_OS advocate?

I write a lot about pop (looking back on previous posts).  Why is that?  Well honestly, since the BeOS came out almost 2 decades ago, Pop!_OS has become my favorite desktop operating system.

Pop! just works.  That's really all there is to it.  It installs and updates flawlessly.  It handles my NVidia card like a champ.  I can play many of my favorite games either through Steam/Proton or PlayOnLinux/WINE.

If have been using Linux off and on (as well as BSD) for a decade or so.  I have used Mac OS 7,8,9 and X... I have used OS/2... mostly WARP... I have used AmigaOS/Workbench... and of course I have used Windows in all its iterations.

I like Linux.  It is a decent kernel and the posix libraries and interfaces that are wrapped into it are solid.  I enjoy the WIDE range of software (most of it free) that is available.  I enjoy the modern UIs that are available.

Over the years the "year of linux" has been a running joke.  But to be straight forward, Linux is ready.  It is just a "different" OS and people need to get used to it, kind of like switching from Windows to a MAC or the other way around.  There are differences and similarities.  But in the end Linux meets all of my needs and more and it is as cheap as air.

On top of that, POP!_OS is just the distro (distribution of linux) that speaks to me personally.  I enjoy its look and feel, it's handling of proprietary drivers, its stability, etc.  It is solid.