Major Linux Problems on the Desktop, 2021 edition
So I&#x27;ve been running Linux (and various BSDs) on the Desktop for at least 20 years or so. All flavors and distros. And I think the problems in 2021 are mostly the same as they have always been: caused by vendors.<p>It always comes down to what you&#x27;re willing to tolerate in your desktop and hardware support and what vendors are dishing out.<p>Most people can just install Linux nowadays on a fresh PC and be done with it. It mostly just works which is amazing in many respects.<p>But - if you come up against some bug for some specific piece of hardware you have (eg graphics driver is not working properly out of the box), you&#x27;re in for some work. And that&#x27;s fine if you are OK with that.<p>Personally, I am not OK with that anymore and here are my rules:<p>1. If I have a random PC I will just run Windows 99% of the time.<p>2. If I want desktop Linux, I will purchase from a vendor who is testing with their hardware (e.g. System 76 or PINE64) OR I might buy a chrome book for Crostini. But I don&#x27;t consider Chrome OS or Android &quot;linux&quot; because they are at their hearts proprietary operating systems that happen to utilize the Linux Kernel, IMO.<p>I consider this whole issue orthogonal to systems like macOS. I appreciate the work being done for M1 by the Asahi folks and will donate to it, of course.<p>I believe in 2021 it&#x27;s time for me to start voting with my dollars if I want Desktop Linux (or phone Linux..) to be a thing. As much as I enjoy building a software system that  matches my expectations, it&#x27;s time for me to fully pass these expectations back to vendors, many of whom deserve my support.