Ever have one of those times where you try new things, move and shift your point of view, your techniques, your skillset, your opinions and beliefs, only to find that you come full circle back to where you were at the beginning? Ever find that what you had at the beginning was just better for you and, well, just worked?
I’ve been doing some minor experimentation over the last few years with technology, testing the waters of “new to me” things, doing some of that shifting in opinions and seeing what’s on the other side of where I used to be. I’ve been doing some deeper thinking about why I use what I use, why is X or Y any better or worse, where I want to be in my IT career now and in the future, what creates ease and what creates stress, anxiety and just overall frustration.
Let’s talk.
First, if you don’t read anything else, know that I have the deepest respect for all kinds of tech, both closed and open source, big business and mom’s basement alike (no offense). If you have made something awesome and it has made my day better, my life easier, or my job not so bad, then hats off to you good sir or maddam. You rock!
Here comes some random rants and thoughts.
Hi Linux, it’s me, the guy that loves you for what you are but just cannot commit to you full time. Linux OSs and I have had a love/hate relationship that we’ve been working on for a few years, only to find small, nit-picky problems that only I care about when it comes to gaming. There always seems to be something that just doesn’t work. A good case is one of my favorite games: Doom Eternal. When I play this game, I expect high framerate (120+), NO slow downs or hiccups, Ultra level graphics settings all around, no BS with the keyboard or mouse (Bluetooth), and quick loading times. It’s essentially what I get with Windows 10/11. I have tried and tried with all kinds of distros and tweaks, but there is always something wrong. Terrible framerate, slow downs for no reason, texture issues, and Bluetooth on Linux is just horrible no matter what.
I don’t really have this issue with other games as they aren’t so “demanding”, even though Doom Eternal is 4 years old now, so I can’t really say that other games are like this. But for it to be a game that I play very often, I want the best out of it.
“The best”. Keep this in mind for later.
I found myself at the start of this year, thinking about my tech and tech habits, finding that I have been spending a lot of time trying to get Doom Eternal running 1:1 with the Windows counterpart, trying new distros, (heck, even learning NixOS), different drivers, wired connections to the KBM, etc. And then I thought, why am I doing this? I finally just got tired of trying so hard to get something so simple to work. Steam has done amazing things with Proton, but for me, it doesn’t fully act as a replacement for Windows and native performance and features (yet).
So what did I do? I went back to Windows on the gaming PC. And 2 weeks later, it has been flawless. Doom Eternal runs so well to my expectations and even HDR works!
But seriously, why should I work so hard just to get the simple things working “normally”? Just because Linux is morally “better” than Windows? Should my wanting to play one (or more) game(s) suffer because of morality or Internet “cool factor” points?
Honestly, I’m over it. I’m over lying about Operating Systems and tools that just work for me.
When I spend hard-earned money on tech things that I’ve worked hard for, I expect a lot and hold it to a high standard. I expect things to work easily and not to cause me a migraine.
This is one of the reasons why I’m a happy camper in the Apple walled garden. Things work and it keeps me from getting multiple calls from family for tech support. I am and will continue to pay the Apple tax if it means that we get amazing hardware that works with no hassle and provides my family with services we enjoy.
What about that morality factor? Why am I enabling the big tech companies with my money? Why don’t I just forget about video games and support open source projects?
This is something else I’ve been thinking about. When I put Windows back on my gaming PC, I started to feel like a hypocrite. “OMG I’m putting this back on here. Microsoft is going to spy on me! I’m not doing the right thing by leaving Windows behind for Linux!”
Can we all be honest? We all at one point or another have become tech hypocrites in some way. Do you use Google or Gmail? Do you use MS Office, Windows or some other MSFT product at home or work? What about Apple? Have an Android phone without GraphineOS on it or some other de-Googled OS? Do you strictly use the Internet for Gemini, RSS and Matrix chat? See where this can go?
I don’t agree with some things that what big tech companies are doing these days (like pouring so much time, effort and money into AI for the wrong reasons) but like I tell all my clients, you have to pay to play.
Windows isn’t a terrible OS and neither is MacOS, even though they have their flaws as well.
Another thing that has me deep in thought is quality control. Just in the last 2 months, I’ve had multiple things break or die on me: 2 battery backups, a set of gas logs, fridge (for the 3rd time in 2 years), and an ice maker. I’m not oblivious in that companies are being extremely greedy and lowering the quality for higher prices, but this is just mind boggling. Things are just not built to last anymore. Old man yells at cloud.
There is such a lack of shame in this world and it’s really starting to show.
Where do we go from here?
I know for me, I have to walk away from some things that are just sucking the life and time away from me. Unfortunately, Linux for a gaming OS is one of them. I also need to start calling things as they are. Linux is a great OS for most people who don’t play video games or need special applications. I really hope that the adoption climbs from here on out, especially for older and lower powered machines! However, Windows isn’t really that bad either, nor is MacOS. Android is a great mobile OS and so is iOS. Morality also shouldn’t be the reason behind what you are standing up for. Every company/person is imperfect, and if you look closely enough, you’ll find it. I guess it’s a game of “what sucks the least” and making a decision? And for me, it’s Linux for server, Windows for workstations, and Mac for everything else.