My Frustrations With Linux And Its Instability

One of the criticisms of Linux, especially from Windows and Mac users, is that Linux is unstable. And being strictly a Linux user for the last 15 years, I have to admit that desktop Linux can be unstable. In fact, a recent experience that I had was truly infuriating...

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[Adenybaloi]

Yeah, I dealt with a similar issue with Kdenlive when exporting a video for my YouTube channel a few days ago and how it looked like dog water for no reason.XD

Luckily, it didn't take too long for me to figure out what was causing it because I did notice that the section for Render Project was different than what it was the last time I used Kdenlive (2 weeks had passed since I rendered a video). So I lurked around and instantly realized that they had an option for Custom Quality and it was set to 3% as default. I don't know why it would be this low at default. I bumped it to 100% and the video looked about as well as it would be. Also noticed that YouTube took a bit longer to process the HD version.

[mjdxp]

Derek: I use Arch because it's bleeding edge, I don't like stable distros!
Also Derek: Linux is too unstable.

[raxelgrande]

There's a reason why Debian still rocks, they test like madmans so you don't have these problems.

[johnathanmcdoe]

Now, the real question here is why blender takes twice as long, why it's almost *exactly* twice (that seems pretty suspicious) and what can be done about that.

[shrkshdvv]

Many Windows programs also automatically update when you open them. I think the reason why they are more stable is because they don't require dependencies as much and there is more money behind them.

[PeterHendricks]

The solution seems simple: use a stable PC for your editing and an up-to-date one (Arch) for all the "playing around". Full system backups will get you back to working quickly.

[armynyus]

this one really hit me.
First: Title should be '...with **Rolling Distros** and Their Instability'
Second: I have real work to do. I happily ran 5 years debian and around another 5 Fedora. All cool. But watching linux channels is so fun for procrastination (you can always tell yourself, oh it is work related, so..) - and pretty much all of them run Arch (with the sole reason: Running a linux channel the creators need sth to make content about).
I should have known better but I began to believe the 'oh it's so stable - yet super new and shiney' - that I silenced all my knowledge about the simple fact that bleeding edge is and must be *always* a tradeoff against stability. Cost me crazy much time to switch to arch, just to go back to Fedora after half a year of the pain you described. Yes the packages updates do *install* cleanly 99.99 of the time and yes, that is sort of impressive - BUT: The massive distro maintainance teams at debian, ubuntu, fedora (...) are *not* hillibillies lowering noob entry barriers - while everybody professional should ignore their work and jump on rolling distros. Nope. Those guys' work, in my view, is the *essence* of Linux, for professional users.
Their work I value even more than those of the upstream authors, incl. the kernel team.
Having said that: Thanks arch users - the problems you find and report do help those teams creating the stable distro versions I as a pro user profit from.

[АлексейШилин-дф]

A few minor corrections.
1. Ubuntu LTS releases are based on Debian testing, not stable.
2. Debian stable releases once in ~2 years, not 3-4.

[computerman]

As much as I love FOSS, this is a downside to that. When software relies on people updating/fixing as a side project or hobby, there isn't the resources to properly test backward compatibility. Also when there is usually a workaround of "downgrading", the incentive to fix a "free" software takes a backseat to other life events.

[catwhisperer]

And that is exactly the reason why I switched to Mac OS.

[sajicek]

That's not Linux instability, that's Arch instability. On debian, the browser updates. A good compromise between new programs and stability is fedora and manjaro. Arch linux doesn't even test those packages, so of course they are unstable.

[adolforosado]

Instability in an OS is directly proportional to how much you yank it around as an OS. Using it as a daily OS to run my applications, I find it stable and the glitches minor. Never again will I use windows except for a moment here and there to recover old work. Linux let's me see my Windows drives and use them, heck, even my Apple formatted disks. I gave you a like because you came through as needing it today hehe.

[Tech-Relief]

Well, is the answer not simple then? Just keep one machine with a stable LTS release, whether Debian, Ubuntu or what ever and just use that for your production machine editing videos etc. Use your other machines for testing software with the latest package updates on it.

[thingsiplay]

Never update before you are finished with the work.

[myhandlehasbeenmishandled]

This will be the year....

















DT switches to Windows.

[IAmTheSlink]

This is exactly why I don't use rolling release.

Also, the idea that Debian stable only pushes security updates seems a bit inaccurate. I'm running LMDE, and I get updates of some sort pretty much every week. It just updated Firefox very recently. I think that it would be better to say that on Debian you get fewer updates, and that they come at a much slower pace.

[MarkusMaal]

Important rule for kdenlive users: if it works, don’t update it, unless you have a very specific reason to do so

[Zakaros]

Fedora is nice. It's like being in the middle ground between updates and stability. For new linux users I would recommend it. I've been using the cinnamon spin and the overall experience have been sweet. Arch Linux is just too upstream for person like me who explode fast and irritate easy when something broke like that, and Debian/Ubuntu their software is quite old, and you need to keep installing those random ppa's or compile the source code yourself to fix that.

[thegrumpydeveloper]

Nothing I love more than compiling my own drivers, reading 3000 forum posts about how to fix my unique problem. I’d rather pay my 15$ for a windows license with wsl and save those few hundred hours than deal with driver issues.

[lowang]

Thanks for keeping it real DT, alot of Arch Linux users like to act like it's the perfect system, but just like any other software, it breaks sometimes.
One time I even had Debian act up with sporadic cursor movement as I moved the mouse, all those old, well tested packages and something still went wrong.