I like Ubuntu, but I can’t stand GNOME and hate PulseAudio

I’ve been using Ubuntu and Fedora for years — at least 10 years. The two distros I typically use for desktop and server is Ubuntu and Fedora. I like Ubuntu because of the out-of-the-box compatibility with most of the packages I use; although, Arch and the AUR offers many of those packages. Fedora, I love because it’s just so fast and up-to-date. I’m part of a small amount of people that like having SELinux, can troubleshoot, and fix issues if I run into any — which happens less now and days. Fedora will always be a loved distro.

GNOME

Although I like using Ubuntu, I don’t like GNOME, simply because I don’t think it’s stable. I’ve run into multiple bugs using this desktop environment. I’ve been lucky with overall performance using GNOME, but it also tends to freeze under heavy disk I/O load. I keep my GNOME config near default. There are some thing I change with the GNOME Tweak Tool, but it’s nothing major, and I don’t add extensions.

The biggest issue I’ve had with the latest version of Ubuntu (18.10), is a lock screen bug in which you can still see the dock. I’ve also had an issue where switching the user doesn’t switch back to the login screen (TTY1), I have to manually press Control+Alt+F1. The amount of times this has happened since the move to GNOME is more than annoying. Although, this could just be a GDM issue.

PulseAudio just sucks

PulseAudio is by far the most problematic. Yes, GNOME gives me issues, but PulseAudio is by far my most hated software on Linux. Over the 10 years I’ve used Linux, PulseAudio has been the reason for more reinstalls. No matter what I do, there comes a day when audio just stops working. I can remove the package and blow away the configs, reinstall, and it still won’t work. It’s like there’s some other config on the system that purge won’t remove. After a reinstall, everything just magically works, and that’s just beyond frustrating. I don’t customize anything with audio on my Linux installs, the only special thing is Nvidia on some systems. PulseAudio alone makes me rethink using Linux as a desktop OS.

Other than GNOME being annoying, and PulseAudio making me think Linux isn’t useable, the desktop experience has improved. I’ve recently switched to the Budgie desktop and I’m not running into as many issues as I have. Although, I’m still waiting for the day PulseAudio stops working for some reason.