Next you'll be running NyxOS, crafting your own bash scripts, patching your kernel on a weekly basis and posting in the comment section on the latest edition of LWN1. 2024: Year of @ducky on the Linux Desktop.🐧😜
- Jokes aside, LWN is probably the best technical, least-hyped source of news around Linux and the open source community if you prefer long-form written articles.
But as far as things to hyper-fixate on go, Linux is far from the worst thing you could pick. It's a great way to learn about how operating systems work or if you want to tweak how various bits and pieces work. It can also be a great time sink if you enjoy building things or problem solving. 🤩
One of the best Linux environments out there for experimenting or occasional use is Windows 10/11's Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). It's able to run a number of the common Linux distributions (as a text console, not full desktop) and now has the ability to run graphical apps that blend pretty seamlessly into the Windows desktop (it can even use DirectX, so you get GPU acceleration in Blender 😱). I still have a standalone Linux storage server set up in the garage, but WSL is great when I want to jump back and forth between a Windows and Linux environment on my regular desktop.
Probably the greatest strength (and weakness) of Linux is the composability. Want to change how something works? Go ahead, or even write something new! But this also means that everything is a little bit duct-taped together at the seams.
This is a good part of the reason there's such a cultural clash when it comes to things like systemd. The idea of there only being a single way for things on a Linux-based system to work flies directly in the face of "well I want to do this thing my way". But modern computers are getting ridiculously complex. It takes a lot to get them to boot, let alone have good performance AND reasonable battery life; or support the latest hardware that requires some binary firmware blob.
I still find it fun to have something to fiddle with on my off-hours, but my free time is a lot more limited than it used to be.