If you're having that much trouble with Linux in 2026, use a newbie friendly version.
If you're complaining and you're not a newbie, you'd bitch just as much about using my broken Windows software and Apple compatibility issues.
Linux is free like freedom AND free like beer.
Linux is "free" if your time has no exchange rate.
In terms of cash, yes, it’s 100% free.
No $100 Windows license, no forced subscriptions, and no "Pro" versions.
You can download the most powerful operating systems in the world for the price of a coffee (well, the electricity to download it).
On Windows or Mac, you’re a passenger. On Linux, you’re the mechanic.
If your Wi-Fi driver decides to go on strike after an update, you’re the one who has to open the "hood" (the terminal) and fix it.
You might spend three hours trying to get a specific game or a piece of Adobe software to run because it wasn't built for Linux.
That’s three hours of your life you aren't getting back.
The reason people love it despite the stress is Ownership.
Windows is like a rental apartment where you can't paint the walls, and the landlord (Microsoft) checks in on you constantly to see what you're doing.
Linux is a plot of land where have to build the walls yourself, and the plumbing might leak at first, but nobody is watching you, and you own every single nail.