starseerdrgn | Trying to make a gameplan... (Reply)

Disclaimer: This involves technology, OSes, and personal choice. However, tribalism of "X sucks, use Y instead" isn't what I'm looking for. I'll take suggestions, though. Keep it civil.

So... I've got a problem, and maybe someone can give some advice. See, I've been using Linux, but with recent kernels, the wifi on the laptop it's on will drop out occasionally. Doesn't matter what distro I use, it's flaky, but works fine in Windows. It's an Atheros 9377 card, so it's using the ath10k driver for everything.

I've tried:

using the v5 firmware
setting options in the kernel
compiling my own kernel
disabling ipv6

...and numerous other solutions I've found online. None of them have worked. And it's not the card itself, cause I've swapped that out with a brand new one of the same model.

Why don't I get help? I've tried! That's where I've gotten most of those solutions, as well as a large bit of smack-talk and tribalism—including one person who tried to sneak a command in to format my drive because he thought I was using Ubuntu (tribalism can fuck off). I didn't even notice it until an admin pointed it out. Mercifully, I was in the middle of looking up said commands (I'm not stupid), but I was glad someone was watching my back.

However, I need to just get shit done™, and having to constantly worry about flaky drivers isn't doing a good job of that. I have a few options, though.

I can deal with the flakyness and hope it eventually goes away.
I can start using my old MacOS 10.6.8 machines, get some respite from the internet in general, and work in an environment that had treated me well in the past.
I can use my Windows 7 laptop, which is stable, has great battery life, and of which I have a dock to use for quickly switching to mobile mode.

However, each choice has its downsides.

Going with the Linux machine means hardware support can drop at any time, and frustrations from having to deal with the issues by myself for the most part.
With the Macs, I'd have to use Parallels/BootCamp for accessing most of the web, since these machines can't really go past 10.6.8.
With the Windows machines, I get more distractions from various applications, and I'd have to figure out a new workflow. I'd also have to regenerate my story site manually from my server, or switch to a proper CMS like Wordpress.

Right now, I'm giving myself a break to think about all of this. Going with the Macs would remove a lot of the stress of system maintenance off my shoulders, and even the Win7 laptop to a degree. I just don't want to have to constantly worry about dealing with software/hardware issues. My focus needs to be on my work, not on "is this going to break in the next hour?".

So yeah. Advice is welcome, either here or on Twitter. I'm gonna be trying to relax for a while, and my my decision in a day or so.

Edit 1:

I want to clarify two things:

First, I have a workflow set up on my Mac systems. I write in Pages 09 or Scrivener, save as PDFs for archival purposes, and export to Markdown for uploading to my site and Weasyl. I also make a BBCode version for InkBunny and FurAffinity.

On Linux, I write in Wordgrinder, export to Markdown (Weasyl and my site), make a BBCode version (FA/InkBunny), and export to LaTeX to make a PDF for archives.

On Windows, I write in Scrivener or Word 2007, export to Markdown and PDF, and make the BBCode versions. I kinda have that part of the workflow set up. It's more the whole "distractions" issue that becomes a problem for me on Windows.

Second, I don't plan on downgrading to Windows 10. I've used it enough to know that it's not an OS that would do me any favors, and would actually become even more of a distraction than the Linux laptop's issues. Just... No. Not dealing with that.