Ask HN: How Do I Stick with GNU/Linux If Important Apps Crash Frequently?

I've never owned a Mac. I haven't used Windows except transiently for about 4 years.

I'm currently on a Dell XPS 13 9360 (Late 2016) Developer Edition with the stock Ubuntu 16.04--in other words, about as orthodox a GNU/Linux setup as one can have.

For work and studying, I use some non-free apps like Slack, TeamViewer, and Zoom. All of them have crashed or behaved weirdly at critical times when I needed smooth, stable operation.

So I've been thinking about getting a Mac. I would rather stick with a (mostly) free OS, even if I have to use some non-free programs at the application layer.

The problems I experience do not tend to surface with software like Chromium, VSCode, etc. so maybe I shouldn't be blaming GNU/Linux. But I also have things to do and a family to feed, and don't want to dig in my heels and waste time and energy diagnosing problems--I'm a developer, not a sysadmin!

Is my experience with proprietary apps on Ubuntu typical? Is the situation on Macs truly better? What can I do to improve my GNU/Linux experience (again, without becoming a full-time sysadmin)?

4 comments

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havemylife 8y ago ↗

I don't have experience with those particular programs however things I would consider are duel booting windows when you need to use them. Or run them in a VM so you won't have to reboot your system.

Then, since they're proprietary programs, you can't really fix them yourself even if you had the ability to do otherwise. Therefore research if others have had similar experience with those particular programs. Then, if those programs have actual Linux support, contact them and let them know what issues you're encountering. Since they're not open source libre software the community can't fix it so it's those companies programmers jobs to fix those problems.

jstewartmobile 8y ago ↗

Windows VM, seconded. Wife has a high-end macbook. Feels very slow to me. Physical build quality is nice, but nothing to write home about performance-wise.

jonnismash 8y ago ↗

Could not 3rd this harder, forget about the Macbook, you'll have greif on that as well. VM a Windows 10 copy, shouldnt take you more than 10 minutes with VirtualBox. Lmk if you have any questions on setup.

fps_doug 8y ago ↗

From that list, I only used TeamViewer on Linux so far, and never had an issue. Apart from the Windows VM another idea might be switching distro if you don't feel that that's already too much hassle. Fedora or Suse would seem a viable alternative.