Unusual quirks of Linux on Google Sheets
Unusual quirks of Linux on Google Sheets
Looking at upcoming Windows plans and Microsoft's focus on making user experiences tough, I feel it’s time to get ready for the shift. Switching between Mint and Windows now, evaluating each use case to compare performance. So far it’s working well—especially with game support. Surprised to see newer titles run smoothly, but impressed that older mid-2000s games still function after some adjustments. Beyond basic fixes, I encountered a few odd issues I can’t find online. One notable problem is with Google Sheets.
For context, I spend most of my time 3D printing and track print stats in a web-based sheet. While editing it in Mint, changes to cells shift unpredictably—values jump, reset, then revert after clicking elsewhere. The issue only disappears when zooming the page. This behavior didn’t appear in Windows or iOS testing. I spent nearly an hour manually verifying counts, only to find discrepancies later. It’s been a bit of a headache, but I’m still trying to understand what’s going on.
If anyone else has faced similar quirks, any tips would be helpful. I’m new to this and just want to share what I’ve discovered.
Chromium appears to function correctly at the moment, though I plan to verify again later. It looks like this issue is being activated by something specific; restarting the browser or opening it in a new tab resolves it temporarily. I also tried clearing the site data and running the sheet in a private window, but problems persist. I didn’t realize I hadn’t mentioned this earlier, but I’m using Firefox 130.
The problems you mentioned are generally not tied to the operating system itself, but rather to the browser engine or extensions. It seems like the issue was caused by Firefox, which is the default on Mint and many other distributions. Historically, Google products have been a common source of trouble, though sometimes Mozilla is responsible as well.
What bothers me is that I also use FF on Windows and it functions properly with this same sheet. Regarding extensions, I thought uBlock and Dark Reader might interfere, but turning them off—even in private mode without any extensions—still works. Edit: It looks like the issue won’t show up when launching FF in troubleshoot mode. I also tried disabling hardware acceleration and all add-ons in normal mode, but it had no impact. According to Mozilla’s troubleshoot settings, those features are disabled: Add-ons, Hardware acceleration, WebGL window size and position, userChrome, userContent customizations, JavaScript, JIT compiler. It seems something more subtle might be the problem, so I’ll keep investigating later. Edited September 7, 2024 by Potatoes2241
Alright, here’s the update. Since posting, I switched to Kubuntu instead of Cinnamon Mint. The problem is even more severe now—on Kubuntu any change triggers an error instantly. The updates themselves are saved on the server, but the displayed data keeps switching between old and new versions each time you open a sheet. Chromium seems fine, though.
For context, I’m using Kubuntu 24.04, Plasma 5.27.11, 550 Nvidia drivers, and Flatpak Firefox. This case stands out because it’s not very common, but it might help someone later. On the positive side, I really like this setup. For the first time in years, I’m seriously considering moving away from Windows. It’s still not perfect, but neither is Windows these days, and the work needed to get things running smoothly is similar.
So far, I need two things: a simple fan control tool and a music player with good tag management and syncing features. And definitely better than Google Sheets!