Problems You will Encounter on Linux (and How to Solve Them) | Rob Braxman Tech

Today we’ll cover the six most common problems when switching from Windows to Linux, and I’ll also tell you how to get around these issues. Yes, Linux is different from Windows, but nowadays it’s not that different from a user’s perspective. Back when Linux just started, it was very different for sure. The old Linux was obviously command-line and didn’t match with Windows. But nowadays you can do most things almost the same way on Windows or macOS as you do on Linux. Many applications are supported on both Windows and Linux. When there is no provided version, usually there’s some open source equivalent that provides most of the app functionality.

Back in the day, only a few devices were compatible. Now most new computers can run Linux with maybe a few specialized devices and peripherals not working. Most of the issues encountered commonly by users can be overcome. But for those few that cannot, then there’s always the dual boot option. The main issue though is that if you want a safe computing experience, with none of the spyware that has invaded every other OS with the onset of AI with client-side scanning, then there’s no choice. You have to make the move. Otherwise, you have to accept truly invasive activities like key logging, screenshots, and media scanning, and basically AI creating a personal profile of you on the device.

If you’re planning on moving to Linux, or if you’ve begun your journey to Linux from Windows, perhaps by trying a dual boot, there’s a lot you can pick up here, so stay right there. The biggest headache when switching to Linux from Windows is the hardware compatibility, or more specifically, the absence of a device driver that can support some feature of your device. Usually, this occurs with newer types of devices. For example, touch screens on laptops were not initially supported. For a while there, you couldn’t use NVIDIA GPUs on Linux. Certain versions of Linux like cubes only work on hardware that supported a particular kind of virtualization.

There may be a limited display resolutions and a number of display monitors with power users. Advanced power saving techniques like lid closing actions are typically not supported, or no power saving at all on some models. Usually, what I’m describing here are more advanced uses of computers, and probably not reflective of the average device. In general, in Linux, the device driver is passed as source code to the people managing the main Linux organization, and people under the auspices of Linus Torvalds or Linus himself will approve or disapprove the driver. If approved, it eventually makes its way down the different versions of Linux called distributions or distros.

But this can take a while since Linux only releases mainline versions of Linux on a predetermined schedule. Also, the device driver has to be provided by whoever makes the device peripheral. Some companies don’t provide it, and then some ingenious engineer has to reverse engineer it, and that can result in a buggy version. This also is common with NVIDIA, which only provides a binary driver, no source code, and has been painful for Linux to deal with. Let me just give you my personal experience. Certain brands of computers that heavily support corporations are very Linux compatible.

Models like Lenovo ThinkPad and Dell XPS, for example, almost always have very standard peripherals, so they are generally compatible. The more unusual the configuration of the computer, the more likely it will not have immediate Linux support. But here’s what offers the best chance for compatibility. Some distros like Ubuntu end up generally more compatible. And the reason is that since Canonical is a big company supporting corporate users, they tend to invest time adding drivers on their own. Even if those drivers are not yet in mainline Linux. Some may balk at me suggesting Ubuntu because they prefer some other distro.

I don’t care. If the issue is making it work, then I would likely try Ubuntu first. Later, you can always switch to some other distro. If you’re on Ubuntu, it has a bunch of additional drivers and media encoders and NVIDIA drivers that you can just load quickly. They’ve batched them up for quick installation. Here are the common ones with the installation commands. One is for codecs and one is for NVIDIA. I would also install VLC as my media viewer since it will support most of the codecs. You’ll have to search for your driver case if you have other specific issues.

Most other things are loaded automatically. By the way, OSs that are forks of Ubuntu like Pop OS may also be more compatible since they include drivers found in Ubuntu. Worst case scenario is that some feature of the computer will not work, but most everything else will. Typical issues may be power management, may not be as efficient, like sleep mode or maybe a touchscreen will not work. Usually not issues that stop you. If you choose the computer model that best supports Linux, you typically will not have any issue at all. Well, this sounds more scary than it is in real life.

When Windows first came around, lots of things had to be done on the command line too. And frankly, having it in 10 million layers of hidden Windows in control panel does not make it any easier. I deal with this every time a new release of Windows comes about. And many tweaks in Windows are done in the registry, which is no different in difficulty than a command line. So, is this a big negative? Frankly, it’s just different. You may think less of it as an issue with Windows because you know where things are now.

But the basic structure of Linux is actually simpler than Windows. I would recommend creating a little notebook of common commands and after a while, you can just cut and paste. The basic skill set is to know how to go to each directory using commands like CD. You should understand these commands. But frankly, you can use the Linux file manager instead with the GUI. Make clear, make directory, CP copy, MV move, RM remove. Then using the text editor, which at the very beginning will be nano. Understanding what sudo is is important. Most things that require root permission has to have a sudo before the command.

In Windows, the admin password window pops up all the time. sudo requires a password one time. A lot of apps are installed using commands preceded by sudo, like sudo apt install app name. It will usually be part of some installation instruction for some app. In Windows, you run bat files or batch files. In Linux, you run sh bash shell scripts. Same thing, but the difference is that nothing runs by default. You have to enable execute permissions on the file. And again, for a beginner, you can do this from Linux file manager file properties. Mostly even for advanced users, unless you’re Mr.

Robot in the TV show, you cannot possibly memorize everything in the command line. So we keep notes. It’s hard to remember because some tasks may not have to be repeated unless you’re reinstalling Linux. The amount of stuff requiring command line is very low nowadays. Maybe when doing initial installation there’s a lot, but after it’s all running, it tends to be quite rare. The one unique thing about Linux that really supports sticking with it is that most of the apps are free and open source. This is really the pillar of what makes Linux valuable.

But I understand that some people will need some specialized apps sometimes. This is a big thing to consider for many. There’s always a workaround though. In the worst case scenario, you can dual boot. For example, I have an app that I cannot replace on Linux, and that is DaVinci Resolve for my video editing. But I only edit videos once a week, so six days out of the week, I don’t have to be on Windows at all. An occasional dual boot is not that much of a bother. However, you will find that this is less and less of an issue.

For example, I don’t really use Microsoft Office even in Windows. I’ve switched to LibreOffice, which is free, and for most people writing documents is not much of a different experience unless you’re doing something fancy like book formatting. So be aware of alternative apps that work in both, and you can try it out first in Windows and then switch. Things you do on a browser are identical with Linux and Windows. Frankly, there are less and less apps that require dedicated Windows use. For example, for programming, I’ve used NetBeans or VS Code. So they work just as well in Windows versus Linux.

I’ve just generally, for privacy, stuck to open source apps everywhere, and so the Linux switch is also easier. The real pain that you have to overcome is the many different ways you can install apps in Linux, which is so much more confusing than Windows. And this has to do with package managers. This is partly why I say start with Ubuntu because it may make app installation slightly easier. They tend to have a more updated package repository with APT. They created Snap package installer, and it’s rare to have to do things like compile your own version of an app.

This is usually the fault of the developer of the app in question. If they make it difficult for the app to be installed, then it’s a burden on the user. More than likely, app developers will provide more support to Ubuntu users because there are more of them, and many of the apps are available directly from the Ubuntu app store as well. So Ubuntu tends to work at limiting the pain. Still, it’s not perfect, so you have to learn to search the internet for a solution. Not that I don’t have to do that on Windows, I do.

But on Windows, there are fewer methods of installing apps. 99% use a Windows installer. Linux has 50 million ways, so the trick is to read the app installation instructions. Clearly, and make sure to pay attention to the distro they are referring to, since there are different instructions per distro. One of the most confusing, though really easy to install options, is when the app provides a file with the extension .app image. This actually does not have to be installed. Put it somewhere in your documents folder, maybe make a folder called apps, then using file manager, set the file as executable, and just tap on it, and it will start.

Don’t forget this step. The main problem with this kind of install is that there is no icon to launch, and you cannot put it as a favorite in the taskbar. But when you encounter it, don’t fret, click, and it runs. But generally, 75% of apps are installed using the package installer, which is this command on all Debian distros. sudo apt install and then whatever the app is. If I were to pick some major differences between Windows and Linux, it’s not really so much the GUI differences, but the differences in inherent structure. First of all, Linux has no conception of the reference to drives like C drive or D drive, etc.

In Linux, and this came from Unix back in the day, everything in Linux is in a directory or folder. Everything, even devices, are controlled through some directory, so a drive can be mounted on any directory. You can call it anything you want. Unfortunately, this requires some command line instructions to set up, but also simplifies everything if you understand the thinking. Just an example, what’s mounted and where? Well, the command cat proc mounts will display all the mounted devices because it’s just stored in that virtual file called mounts. In Linux, practically every device is virtualized into some file in some directory.

That’s the conceptual difference. In Windows, you separately deal with concepts like devices, drives, USB storage, registry, and so on. It’s neither here nor there as far as which method is better. It’s just different. But here I think Linux is easier to understand because it is consistent. The other main difference is that Linux needs to have an ext4 file system in its partition. Windows, on the other hand, will use the NTFS file system. Windows cannot see an ext4 file system. Linux, however, can see an NTFS file system. And though neither will use it as a base file system, both can see FAT32 or exFAT file systems.

You just have to be conscious of this since many people will load some media formatted in ext4 and wonder why Windows doesn’t see it. Now let’s talk about the GUI itself. This is tricky because Linux itself has so many desktop environments. It’s not one thing like Windows. The common ones are GNOME, KDE, Matei, KFCE. Generally speaking, each distro will default to one of these, but currently most will default to GNOME. Ubuntu now uses GNOME. It didn’t use to. When you use it, you can really make your environment look a little bit like Windows.

For example, the taskbar in Ubuntu is on the left by default. You can move it to the bottom like Windows and macOS. All the usual things to control the computer are in settings, which unlike Windows, it’s accessed by clicking the icons on the upper right hand corner on GNOME. So in Linux, the desktop environment that handles the GUI are themselves applications that are written by someone else. You are thus free to change desktop environments anytime you want. More flexibility, but initially a cause of confusion. Is it really that different from Windows? I feel you can configure most of it to be very similar to Windows and just from settings, not using command line stuff.

A distro like Zorin makes the desktop environment mimic Windows. This may be needed for those that have such a big fear of not being on Windows, but I don’t think this is necessary. It doesn’t take that long to adjust to the differences. I mean, it’s a computer. You click on something and an app starts. The Windows system is just like Windows. You move it around and close Windows like normal. File manager works as expected. It’s not a big deal. This is less of a concern than you’d think once you’re in Linux. Well, the complex GUI of hidden settings in Windows may seem like a plus.

To be honest, in Windows, it’s overly complicated. Not everything benefits from going GUI. Having the ability to do things on the command line means that the GUI in Linux is fairly simple and has limited things to learn and figure out. Now, gaming is a big issue for some. And seriously, if this is a big deal, then this is perfect for using dual boot. So in the end, not a big deal. The issue is that the best games are designed for Windows, and of course, there’s the Xbox platform. But I myself have a Steam Deck.

A Steam Deck is a portable Linux device designed for gaming. It runs games using an environment in Linux called Proton. And Proton is really a Windows emulator, which then runs the Steam client, which is the base framework used by a lot of games. Surprisingly, a large number of games now run on Proton. Well, not surprisingly, if they’re made with the Steam client. In fact, Proton was initially designed on Ubuntu. So this is where I expect the most compatibility and the best support is going to be found there. Of course, this is tied to the fact that many games use the Steam client, which are the ones designed to work well under Proton.

Some games that do not use the Steam client like Halo can run via direct Windows emulation, but not through the Steam client. And some games, of course, are not compatible at all. Like I said, dual boot gives you an option, and that is not a dead end. In general, gaming computers are perfect now for dual booting with Linux, since most of these computers have NVIDIA GPUs. So these same computers with NVIDIA on Linux would be perfect for running Olama local AI models. Now, this is truly the thing that irritates most newbies to Linux the most, and I hope this changes as more and more people use Linux.

The problem is that Linux, being an OS used heavily by developers, open source enthusiasts, programmers, server farms, and so on, it has a very tech-heavy user base. So the newbies from Windows are considered a bother in many communities on the Internet. This is really terrible. And you Linux people, you need to change that. First, I hope more people are around to provide tech support in Linux, and for a newbie, there are companies that offer this for a fee. It may be worth it considering Linux is free. In fact, that’s what keeps companies like Canonical, who makes the free Ubuntu, afloat.

They provide corporate tech support. The problem is that Linux is used in so many different scenarios with so many distros that often only a few people are really experts in some areas. I remember trying to diagnose some Bluetooth problems years ago and seeing so little documentation on the Bluetooth driver and finding out why it was so buggy. Sometimes there’s no one to ask. And then when you do ask, some people are snarky and dismissive, like you’re expected to be reading the source code of the Linux driver directly. I hope this changes over time.

As we get so much spyware on other OSs, this becomes more and more important that newbies aren’t turned off by the attitudes of the community. My solution to this is that at some point, a more standardized installation of a typical user will be better documented, so there are less problems. For example, OEMs could pre-install Linux on the computers they sell and half the problems would be eliminated. Fortunately, there are companies that sell Linux computers. Here are some popular companies. System76, Starlabs, Frame.Work, Tuxedo Computers, Purism. If the typical setup of 90% of the users is firmly established, then there would be less issues.

We are definitely not there. This is where the fragmentation of Linux into so many distros, desktop environments, package managers, and installation methods is a deep negative. Someone needs to rethink this. Maybe some new distro becomes the standard newbie distro. Maybe it will be Ubuntu because right now it is the closest. Some people will always prefer some other distro and will denigrate Ubuntu as not being privacy focused enough, etc. But I’m not going to be one of those people because I think at this point, mass acceptance is more important of an issue.

I hope this takes the fear of Linux away and hope you venture into it. First as a dual boot and then next into full-time Linux use. Folks, the move to Linux is definitely a big step towards privacy and protecting ourselves. I created a company to help solve additional threats that are needed in addition to switching to Linux. We have the Brax virtual phone which will allow you to have additional phone numbers without a SIM card or even without a phone. We have the Google phones which, like Linux, are running open source operating systems and are invisible to big tech.

We have Braxmail which you can install on your Linux machine and gives you unlimited aliases and identity-free use. We have bytes VPN and BraxRider which is important to protect your IP address which is a privacy invading identifier. All these are on my store in the platform Braxme. Braxme has over 100,000 users who talk about privacy issues in the communities there. Join us there and support what we do. The store is accessible when you’re on the platform. Thank you for watching and see you next time. [tr:trw].

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