Could be small or big.
My answer has always been that, Linux can’t handle everything I’d ask out of it that I normally can with Windows. I know the games issue has been progressing far from the days when that used to have been an archaic flaw with Linux for the longest time. Games might not be the issue except for some concerns I have for some games.
I was taking some time a few moments ago, to check if a program called Firestorm Viewer would work on Linux Mint which could’ve been my distro of choice. And the description written on the linux page described exactly the kind of concerns I’d have for compatibility and usability from going Windows to Linux.
They said that their viewer was tested and designed to function mostly with Ubuntu and while it could work with other distros, it’s not to be expected to be smooth.
That’s the kind of sentiment and concern I have always had with Linux if I were to go from Windows to it. There are programs and tools on Windows that I have that are used for specific purposes and I know they will not function on Linux. Furthermore, incase anything breaks down, any and all solutions would only be applicable to that thing that would be far easier to solve than just being SOL if I was on Linux.
It is something as a user that I just can’t simply afford to deal with on a regular basis if I made the switch.
So while I may not have too much of an issue running games, I won’t have too much of an issue using alternatives, I won’t have to deal with the Windows ecosystem .etc I will just be running into other walls that would simply make me second guess my decision and make me regret switching to the point where I would dip back into Windows in a hurry.
Distro choice makes a huge difference and it depends on your use case.
Not quite sure what you meant by you’d be SOL if things break?? If you mean with Linux then it’s best to go immutable distro, or opensuse, or nixOS, something where you can rollback your system at the next boot and it’s all back to normal.
I love NixOS but it’s clearly not a good distro to suggest for a first time on Linux.
I found it super straight forward if you know how to seach the package web page and copy paste to your config.
But you are right, the average Windows user won’t be Editting configs.
My machines are OpenSUSE. But for my wife, who has zero computer skill, I installed nixOS with the apps she needed for home and work and she has had zero* issues in 5 years, because it just works.
Yes, because you wrote the config and she didn’t need anything fancy. Could she write or update the config by herself, or even upgrade?
Between channels and flakes, the old and new CLI, the lack of documentation of a lot of options…
I mean I love it and wouldn’t go back but it was a difficult journey, at leat at the beginning. Even today I sometimes find myself having to go read the code because the documentation is lacking.
She couldn’t deal with windows UX, so no she wouldn’t be configginganythinfg, OPs concern was things breaking, and nix is awesome for that, with the rollbacks if something did