# Anyone seriously considering the switch from Windows to Linux? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 12, 2025, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650 "2025-12-12T21:54:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/241 "2026-01-21T00:22:13Z")
Well, from the app center, i find no snap packages with names like that. I find debian packages called PulseAudio Volume Control (two different ones, with the same name and icon) and something called PulseAdio System Tray (an applet for PulseAudio). And it warns they are not from a trusted developer. Anyway, I’ve run out of time this evening, I’ll try some more tomorrow evening. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/242 "2026-01-21T05:08:01Z")
Those are not snap packages, simply regular Ubuntu/Debian packages. The command in @CaveMike 's post should install them if you run it from a terminal window. In the GUI package manager (“Software”) they are called “Volume Control” by “The PulseAudio Developers” and “qpwgraph” by “rncbc aka. Rui Nuno Capela”. Instead of `pavucontrol` a good (better?) alternative is `pwvucontrol` , but it is a flatpak, not a snap: [pwvucontrol/README.md at main · saivert/pwvucontrol · GitHub](https://github.com/saivert/pwvucontrol/blob/main/README.md) Under “Software and Updates” I just have everything “Downloadable from the Internet” checked, except for “Source code” which is not relevant. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/243 "2026-01-22T01:34:17Z")
I installed those packages, but wasn’t able to figure out anything to do with them. I also fiddled with Audacity’s permissions last night. I have no idea what happened, but now, instead of having a dropdown with options like “default” and “system default”, the only output audacity sees is "sof-hda-dsp: -(hw:0,31) My husband suggested trying different headphones, and handed me his wired headphones. And !!! They Worked. My bluetooth headphones are old enough to come with an optional wire, and after fiddling with the physical connection a bit, I got them to work, too. But not with bluetooth. Both youtube and netflix work with the cable, too. So I didn’t lose that functionality. That might be good enough, but it’s all very frustrating. I wish I had some clue what was going on, and what those codes mean, and why audacity gives me such weird options for playback. (The system “sound” menu gives me much more intutitive options like “speaker” and “headphones” (both followed by “Ice Lake-LP Smart Sound Technology Audio Controller”, but hey, I can guess what each option does, at least.) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/244 "2026-01-22T05:32:43Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I installed those packages, but wasn’t able to figure out anything to do with them. The `qpwgraph` should show up among your applications and open up a graph where you can see all your audio inputs and outputs (and re-wire them if you wish). The other one is called “Volume Control”, and under the Playback tab you can change to which device an application sends audio. Audacity has its own quirks; what are all the audio output options when you run it? You usually do not want/need to select an explicit hw:0,31 type device. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/245 "2026-01-22T12:56:54Z")
That is literally the only option it’s showing right now. 🤷‍♀️ Yes, this is mostly an audacity question, as all my other applications seem to work fine with the headphones. (And have from the start.) But because this is Linux, all the information i have about what is going on is in language i don’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/246 "2026-01-22T14:53:11Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yes, this is mostly an audacity question Yes, I have personally experienced the exact same quirkiness with Audacity, also under Linux… > [@puzzlegal](#): > > because this is Linux Ubuntu, anyway 🙂 > [@puzzlegal](#): > > all the information i have about what is going on is in language i don’t understand Well, before delving into any level of detail (it’s not that bad, actually, just the drivers have certain names and so on) see if this helps at all: first, make sure you install the `pipewire-alsa` and `pipewire-jack` packages the same way you were able to install the other packages, i.e. `sudo apt install pipewire-alsa pipewire-jack` from a Terminal is the quickest way. We want those to be installed; “pipewire” is the sound driver which should be installed already out of the box on Ubuntu. That enables compatibility with those other drivers, in case it was not installed already. Now in Audacity, under the Audio Setup button, there is Rescan Audio Devices, then under Audio Settings try selecting “ALSA” under “Host” (on my test machine this was the only choice) and “pipewire” under Playback. That makes it actually play sound on my test setup, and during playback the stream shows up in the Volume Control and in the qpwgraph already mentioned (so you can divert it to a different device, for example). ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/247 "2026-01-22T16:40:00Z")
PS also install `pipewire-pulse` if it is not there already; Also, for simplicity and just in case you may want to reboot after installing all those packages (or you could restart the sound stuff via `systemctl --user restart wireplumber pipewire pipewire-pulse` ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/248 "2026-01-22T19:08:38Z")
I just gotta say, it’s a _little_ scary that changing the audio output device still requires like four drivers and six different apps… “I want it to come out of my headphones” shouldn’t be harder than the OS install 😅 ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/249 "2026-01-22T19:59:02Z")
This SEEMS to be an Audacity thing? My Bluetooth headphones work fine with no tinkering on my part; in fact, I run incoming voice chat through my Bluetooth headphones, game/other audio output through speakers, and am able to choose any of my available microphones for input… ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/250 "2026-01-22T20:13:15Z")
It is not quite as bad as it sounds 🙂 But there are different drivers out there, so you might as well install all the compatibility packages, and Audacity in particularly is sometimes quirky for some reason. Most of the software you will find just works (especially ones that use Pulseaudio, for which the compatibility layer is pre-installed), and you can change the output device from the Volume Control menu if you have a bunch of audio cards plugged in, to select headphones instead of speakers, for example (if it did not do it automatically or you feel like overriding the defaults) If you want to do pro pro audio stuff under Linux you may find yourself tuning the system for low latency, but that is its own thing (could be as simple as adjusting the block size in the DAW settings, though) ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/251 "2026-01-22T20:20:33Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > first, make sure you install the **`pipewire-alsa` and `pipewire-jack`** packages the same way you were able to install the other packages, i.e. **`sudo apt install pipewire-alsa pipewire-jack`** from a Terminal is the quickest way. [bolding mine] you know, this thread has taken the very direction I had worries it might take some 200 posts above … suddenly you find yourself wading knee-deep in blood in the Terminal, cutting and pasting strings of information, disguised as “sudo…” (that you dont really understand) **from some potentially crazy guy on “the internet”** … \*) I hate it everytime I am in this situation, b/c you could easily self-install a deadly virus in your system or damage your kernal beyond repair → just for LOLs \*_) truely NO offense meant to @DPRK (who seems very helpful), it is just a generic observation_ ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/252 "2026-01-22T20:22:51Z")
> [@CaveMike](#): > > sudo apt-get install pavucontrol qpwgraph Of course! How perfectly obvious! 🙄 **This** is a good example of why I won’t touch Linux any more with a ten-foot barge pole! I have a technical background but nothing in the Unix/Linux world, and I’m too old for this shit. I used to be able to write drivers and do system changes to RSX-11M and VAX/VMS, and today I can do some magical incantations in Windows but that’s about it for me. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/253 "2026-01-22T20:35:54Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Of course! How perfectly obvious! 🙄 > > **This** is a good example of why I won’t touch Linux any more with a ten-foot barge pole! I have a technical background but nothing in the Unix/Linux world, and I’m too old for this shit. > > I can do some magical incantations in Windows and that’s about it for me. [Apt is a great package manager](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APT_(software)). It is quick, concise, simple, direct, and has recently been improved with an update to add a few new modern features (before I would often use [Nala](https://github.com/volitank/nala?tab=readme-ov-file#nala) as a wrapper for apt to add contextual colour and other QoL features). Package Mangers are one of the secret sauces of the non-Windows world. It off-loads application dependency management to the back-end devs who maintain the repositories and distros, while providing users with a centralized place to get their applications and have them automatically installed. This is opposed to Windows where you need to navigate to the application developer’s website to download the correct binaries filled with redundant dependencies. Also, I must repeat, absolutely no one is demanding that you use it. Linux is just not for EVERY SINGLE PERSON. Its 100% fine that you cannot or will not learn to use Linux. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/254 "2026-01-22T20:49:27Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Also, I must repeat, absolutely no one is demanding that you use it. Linux is just not for EVERY SINGLE PERSON. Its 100% fine that you cannot or will not learn to use Linux. Of course no one is demanding it, but I do get tired of hearing how absolutely fantastic Linux is after my two separate attempts to try it – years apart – both of which were basically disasters. And each one was preceded by the assurance that Linux had improved so much that it would be no problem – as I said, it’s like Bullwinkle the moose, “this time for sure!”. I’m certainly in no position to diss an operating system that so many are using successfully. But I think there’s a valid and objective point to be made that Linux by its very nature and heritage requires a lot more techie-type tinkering than Windows typically does, and if you have no experience with it, this can be quite a challenge. Anyway, I’m not telling anyone what to do. The title of this thread is “Is anyone seriously considering the switch from Windows to Linux?” And my answer is “no”, for the various reasons I’ve already indicated, including applications that I require that only run on Windows. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/255 "2026-01-22T21:13:41Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Of course no one is demanding it, but I do get tired of hearing how absolutely fantastic Linux is after my two separate attempts to try it – years apart – both of which were basically disasters. And each one was preceded by the assurance that Linux had improved so much that it would be no problem – as I said, it’s like Bullwinkle the moose, “this time for sure!”. Wolfpup. I’m aware. You have made this point so crystal clear. > [@wolfpup](#): > > Also, I’ve been burned by Linux not once but twice due to a combination of unsupported devices due to lack of a compatible driver and its obscure Unix-like interfaces. I was drawn into it a second time by blind faith in the assertion that Linux had advanced so far that – in what might have been the words of Bullwinkle the Moose, “this time for sure!”. Nope. And never again. > [@wolfpup](#): > > I’ve been burned twice by this hype about Linux. It’s like Bullwinkle the moose going “this time for sure!” I fully appreciate the dislike of Windows 11, but what should I call myself after being burned **three** times? > [@wolfpup](#): > > This technocratic obsession with character encoding rather than natural human interpretation is one of a bazillion things I hate about Linux, besides the fact that, for me, it has never fucking worked well enough to be actually useful. > [@wolfpup](#): > > I don’t know why it doesn’t support Linux since it supports just about everything else. Maybe the developers feel the same way about Linux as I do! 🤪 > > What’s that old expression – once bitten, twice shy! For me and Linux, it needs to be revised to “ **twice** bitten, never again!” At first I tried giving advice, but I’m now quite confident you are not interested. Which is fine. But then I keep reading the same gripes (often involving Bullwinkle and the fact you tried twice) about a system you have no interest in using. It’s remarkably frustrating. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/256 "2026-01-22T21:24:04Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > This is opposed to Windows where you need to navigate to the application developer’s website to download the correct binaries filled with redundant dependencies. Windows has a bunch too, like chocolatey and winget and scoop: [https://www.xda-developers.com/chocolatey-vs-winget-vs-scoop/](https://www.xda-developers.com/chocolatey-vs-winget-vs-scoop/) Microsoft also has its own GUI app store, though that isn’t as often used as the random downloads you mentioned. The coding and terminal situation has gotten better on Windows over the years, between Powershell and WSL and the package managers. I still don’t like developing on it, but compatibility (and similarity) with the \*nix world is better than it used to be. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/257 "2026-01-22T21:41:52Z")
I’ve tried installing Linux as an alternative to Windows several times. I found it too frustrating. There’s several desktops to choose. Even the help library has different systems. Pick one damn thing and use it! The installer seemed to work fine. PC booted and came up on a desktop. But my devices were dead. I was on the cmd line editing config files trying to setup my DSL modem and network. Lots of cursing after a few hours. Maybe it’s better now. My last brush with Linux was in 2010. The cmd line needs to be hidden from casual users. Devices need to be plug N play without editing the config files. Don’t get me started on permissions. That was another nightmare. I was a power user in DOS 2.7 all the way to DOS 6. Linux kicked my butt. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/258 "2026-01-23T01:04:53Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Don’t get me started on permissions. That was another nightmare. Not compared to Windows though. I really liked Windows NT and Windows 2000 was it’s peak, but the ACL security mechanism is a huge pain for desktop use. POSIX permissions can be confusing, but they can be reasoned about by a human brain. Nothing compares to the IAM permissions exposed by cloud providers. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/259 "2026-01-23T01:31:30Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Of course! How perfectly obvious! 🙄 I knew someone would reply with this. I almost didn’t respond to @puzzlegal , but hoped it would unblock her. I’m too old to have a dog in this fight. I use Windows and Linux every day for different reasons. While it might be true that command above is byzantine, at least it’s something that can be cut and pasted, searched for, reasoned about. I had a bad SATA cable on one of my son’s Windows machines and it would hard lock intermittently. There was nothing to go on, except a weird error code that mapped to a million and one type of disk errors. Another son’s machine couldn’t accept a Windows 8 update. It would download, install, fail to boot, reboot and try again twice, then rollback the update and skip it with a generic error code. The next time Microsoft pushed a new update it would fail again. The solution was quite simple, wait 2 years for Windows 10. There’s a huge range of possible hardware out there. With Windows, all functions work on most hardware; on Linux most functions work on all hardware. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650/260 "2026-01-23T01:44:33Z")
I was one of the persons quarrelling about the “sudo…” dance … but your mail helped me remember, that my computer out of the blue would no longer boot (w10) … extremely persistent BSOD, no reset-to-factory was working nothing. I was rather close to purchasing a new HDD or dumping it all together …until I managed to boot linux _Mint_ from a pendrive and then partition/format and setup Mint … and it is 99% working today on a computer that I’d nearly dump in 2020. just as perspective … so … some battles you win, some you lose … pd: Most of my (few) problems with Mint were also BT / Audio related … there is a (nowadays legacy) BT-chipset that has problems working with linux [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-seriously-considering-the-switch-from-windows-to-linux/1025650.md?page=14)