I’ve been using computers since the 90s. My first was an Atari, which I used for MIDI sequencing before offloading the task to professional workstations like the Roland W30 and later the Kurzweil K2000S. This freed up my next computer for what eventually became my main focus: Linux-based web design, and later, software development and 3D work using Blender.
During those years, Linux went through an incredible period of growth. It became fast, polished, and versatile, a real alternative to commercial operating systems. But starting in early 2024, something changed. Things that used to work just… stopped working.
And what’s worse: no one in the Linux world seems willing to admit it. Everyone talks about the next kernel, the next software update while sweeping current issues under the rug.
Where Things Started Breaking
In the past, I could install Blender and it would “just work.” Lately, Blender often failed to detect my NVIDIA GPU on Linux without time-consuming troubleshooting. Fedora, one of the most polished distributions, refused to install on certain USB sticks due to obscure dracut errors. Errors that never existed before.
Then came the audio issues. Distros like Manjaro, CachyOS, and EndeavourOS developed a persistent hissing noise in their audio output. Debian and Ubuntu weren’t affected, but the pattern was becoming clear: the cracks were spreading.
At one point, my Dell PC would experience monthly screen glitches where the screen would fill with garbled noise. Thankfully, that seems to have been resolved in the last few months but it’s telling that such a severe issue was ever allowed to exist for that long.
My Dell Gaming PC Became Unusable with Linux
Another PC, a Dell Inspiron 5680 with an Intel i7-8700 and NVIDIA GTX 1070 ran Linux flawlessly for years. But since Q1 2025, Linux can no longer handle suspend/resume properly. When waking from sleep, only one of the CPU’s 12 threads becomes active.
No fix. No workaround. No explanation.
Windows 11, on the other hand, handles it without issue. It uses all 12 threads. It just works.
Let that sink in: I have to use Windows, because Linux no longer functions on the same hardware it once ruled on.
Windows Isn’t Great But It Works
Do I like Windows? Absolutely not. It’s bloated. It’s manipulative. Every year it becomes more invasive.
But thanks to brilliant tools like Chris Titus’s Windows Utility and Rufus, I can disable the junk, remove a lot of the telemetry, and actually use the system efficiently. I can tune Windows to be more performant than most modern Linux distros and that’s just depressing.
When Devotion Dies
Linux freed me from using pirated software which was everywhere in the late 90’s. Looking back, I’ve spent decades building ever‑faster PCs, running Linux on each one of them, loving the freedom, the performance, the elegance.
But that era is over.
Modern hardware is throttled by endless security mitigations. Software is increasingly bland, fragile, and indistinguishable. The soul of Linux, the passion, the innovation, the obsession with doing things right has been replaced by conformity and shortcuts.
A few months ago, I gave up and as of now, Linux runs only on my Zephyrus laptop, a ghost of its former glory. I sold one Dell Workstation, installed GhostBSD on the second one and when it came time to replace an older PC, I opted for a Mac Studio which exceeds my expectations every day.
Hopefully, someone out there understands how to steer this ship before it sinks. Because if Linux loses users like me, users who stuck with it through thick and thin, it won’t be long before there’s no one left to care.