> - only one speaker works so volume is low

I had this problem too on my old XPS, it's hardware, not software. Linux cannot magically fix broken cables.

> - finger print scanner doesn’t work

There is no driver for the common Chinese fingerprint readers. That's hardly Linux fault.

Volume works on Windows so this is some kind of software issue.

Fingerprint scanner might not be Linux’s “fault” (whatever that means) but fact is I can’t use it on Linux.

> - only one speaker works so volume is low

Never had this issue.

> - finger print scanner doesn’t work

Can't speak for this as I don't have a device with an FP reader

> - battery life is poor compared to Windows on same machine

I get ~6hrs on my laptop running Ubuntu + XFCE. I haven't ran windows on it but Amazon reviews claim ~5-5.5 hrs battery life for the same machine so seems to be inline for me.

> - suspend and hibernate doesn’t work

Works for me

> - random freezes

I can think of only 1 freeze I've had in the last year and that was due to me dropping the laptop

> - charging indicator unreliable

Pretty reliable for me except when it comes to the last 5%... my work macbook pro seems to have the same issue though when predicting how long that last 5% will last.

> - boot failures after OS updates

Never had this problem, on the other hand our work macbook pro has nothing but problems when upgrading os major versions. Atleast 1-2 people on our team always end up losing an afternoon whenever we are forced to upgrade it.

> I have now switched to a Mac with Apple Silicon.

> I really tried with Linux for philosophical reasons, but honestly what professional developer has time for all this?

What professional developers have the time or patience to deal with a Mac with:

* It's proprietary hardware without any ability to upgrade components

* Garbage oversized trackpad which registers false positives all the time

* Terrible built in keyboard

* All the nonsense with "we have a physical escape key, now we don't, now we do" actively making it unusable if you use Vim/Vim key bindings

* Whatever nonsense they have done replacing physical function keys with that touchbar thingy

* Actively user hostile decisions like putting the headphone jack on the right side of the laptop

* A complete inability to connect peripherals unless you buy a (often expensive) dock.

* Docker being a complete hog on these machines, yes that is not the fault of the mac but still something developers have to deal with every day

I am forced to use a macbook for work and the only reason I can even bear working with it is connecting it to external keyboard/mouse and using it in clamshell mode.

What is your point here? How does you great Linux experience help those it didn’t work for?

My point is that Linux is a great desktop environment and people shouldn't write it off based on isolated complaints from people for whom it didn't work for as there are a lot of people who never encounter these issues that keep getting brought up in these threads.

> isolated complaints

Can you produce a HN thread about desktop linux computing without a fair number of complaints about how desktop linux is broken?

I'd love for Linux to be my primary day-to-day OS. I try out several distros every year -- nix, arch, elementary, ubuntu, popos. None of them have been smooth for my use case of:

* Casual gaming

* Web browsing

* Voice/video calling

* Text editing

In my most recent install, some video games would work with Steam's proton, until it suddenly stopped working. I'd have to open my command line and look up `bluetoothctl` docs to connect my headphones. Windows would stop rendering when any window manipulation was occurring. Sometimes my display server's login screen would not appear (my screen would be black), so I'd have to guess when to put in my password when booting up.

It has certainly gotten better in the last few years, but I would not recommend it to anyone unless they are wanting to delve into technical topics.

The point is that you still have a decent chance of running into issues if you install Linux on any hardware for which you didn't specifically research Linux compatibility beforehand. Whether Linux is great or not in and of itself is a separate point, and kinda moot for anyone who can't get past the broken hardware - which is most non-technical users.

You're mostly mentioning matters of personal preference.

A "poorly designed" MacBook is probably better than a laptop running Linux with a myriad of misbehaving functionality.