Any DE that looks remotely like Windows. My journey to Linux began with a seething hatred of the way Microsoft does pretty much anything. Including the Win10 UI. So when I jumped ship I wanted something completely different. I tried Gnome on a couple distros but ultimately landed on Pop!_OS and really like it!
I agree with this the most. People obsess over the start menu paradigm simply because they like it in Windows. I desire more open mindedness when it comes to looking into alternative ways to interact with your computer, so I align with GNOME.
Meh, idk tf he says he understands. Like “make [ported adobe CC] popos-exclusive”: sure, big brain, how’s that supposed to work, exactly? Or “there are 3 desktops ppl GAF about”: riiiight, me along with other wm users aren’t ppl anymore, apparently.
The whole video pretty much boils down to “I don’t need X, hence nobody [«meaning the vast majority of ppl»] needs x”. By the same logic, the “vast majority” doesn’t need CC either, it’s mostly necessary for professional designers, etc 🤷
I mean it’s probably possible to choose the windows route and go “we make one steaming pile of garbage that kinda works everyone but perfectly - for nobody”, yet linux distros so far have been pro-choice and pro-customization. You want “just works”? Sure, go with X, Y, and Z distros. Wanna something specifically tailored for your workflow? You may start with the same and replace/modify stuff, but also I, J, and K are a great base to build your future setup from the ground up and avoid banging your head against the wall while figuring out what drugs their devs were on. And the same goes for DEs/WMs: gnome is, gnome also works, yet if you want to change it significantly, you’ll either have to mess with extensions or maintain a fork of a huge codebase you don’t fully understand and most of which you don’t exactly need. So, building from scratch may just be an easier solution.
Technically, you can also PR, yet it can easily be rejected, and then you’re back to forks.
I started this way today but kept coming up with an error with rsync during install. I tried in Virtual Box and had the same error. I gave up and just installed Fedora in the end.
No clue what rsync would be doing. Maybe there’s an issue with the current ISO, but I’ve installed it on a few systems in the last couple months with no issues.
I mean, it’s one dropdown/checkbox click, to enable codecs sources. I get your point though, having to remember to enable that.
I’d used Nobara if I knew it was being supported by more than just one (great/special; I’m aware of his contribution to gaming on Linux) guy (please correct me if this is no longer the case?), since it would be installed on my daily driver box, and it’s important for me to have a high level of reliability, even though I do more gaming tasks than non-gaming tasks on it.
I’m aware that Nobara is based from Fedora, but am nervous about having a single point of failure, support wise.
I run Kubuntu on my desktop and laptop machines but I’m seriously considering switching to Debian (which I run on my server). Any reason I wouldn’t want to do that on my desktop or laptop?
(Previously I ran Slackware on everything, so both of them feel like gliding softly on a cloud to me.)
Yeah it seems to work very well on my server. I’ve always just wondered why I don’t see more people recommending it when they’re switching from Ubuntu/Kubuntu. From what I’ve seen on the server (which I mostly access remotely), it seems decent.
You probably will not notice that you are in other distro when you start using Debian. They are the same in most things, but without Snaps and most propietary stuff (by default. But if you really need propietary things, you may see the official non-free sourcelist)
I really do not know. But what I can say for sure is that during the installation of Debian, it allows you to choose the desktop environment at installation time, so you can have your Debian with KDE at minute 0 after installing it.
On the other hand, remember that Kubuntu is derived from Ubuntu. I don’t see Ubuntu fans very enthusiastic about creating another Debian-based distro with KDE preinstalled when they even offer it (live images) to you here.
Weird. I’ve been trying to find a distro I’m happy with and was setting Fedora KDE up today. Ran though my bookmarks and found no videos played on Twitch. Had to install codecs to get it to work. I hadn’t seen this in previous distros. Is this specific to Fedora? Other than this hiccup I’ve enjoyed it so far.
I liked how straight forward Linux Mint is but prefer KDE Plasma. Plus Mint seems quite far behind in versions.
In their gnome version, during the setup process (first boot, not install), they would prompt for third-party repo and codec (Enabled by default, IIRC).
I think you might have unchecked that? or KDE not offering such experience?
EDIT: NVM, I just checked, and I have never installed the codecs… LOL.
Fedora is notorious for avoiding shipping proprietary software with their distro even at the cost of new users.
I think this might stems from the fact that fedora used to be a distro aimed for advanced users. It is slowly getting better at being new user friendly.
Do most Linux users (in this context we’ll say people who specifically choose to use Linux and by extension chose a specific distribution) look unfavorably on proprietary software being excluded by default?
For me, I prefer it so I don’t see it that way. But it is also an extra step and an annoyance if you want things to “just work”. Which is an understandable position.
I’d like it if they weren’t necessary and everything was AV1, then I would be alright with the codecs being omitted by default without any simple way to install them.
Similarly with the NVIDIA proprietary driver, NVIDIA actually recommend installing the driver through the package provided through your distro on thier download page
I don’t run Linux (though I’m admittedly more interested in it than I used to be) but the reddit API stuff definitely made me learn more about foss, and value it more.
I do value FOSS sodtware and like linux for it being foss(there are many other reasons too though). I do think understanding importance of Free software is much important than admiring one of the(most important) free software projects. I can see yku usibg linux soon or later in the future, along with other free programs
I think maybe I’m misunderstanding—are you saying that valuing free software is more important than valuing FOSS? FOSS is inherently free, no? Free Open Source Software. I would understand if I was talking about open source in general, but FOSS does include being free. Maybe that’s not what you meant.
Interesting to know that steam, gog, and epic (specifically) all work well for you, I’ve heard mixed results with Epic, some say it doesn’t work. Maybe I’ve gotten wrong info.
I have an older laptop, and as soon as I can upgrade to something better, I’m going to use it as a Linux practice.
I am using heroic launcher to play blazing sails on epic right now. I am on Arch, which I believe is a positive since the steam deck is arch based (i heard).
The escapist 2 i have not gotten to work properly though. It runs but with like 1fps. Apparently this is because epics implementation and it runs smooth with steam. Definitely test things on a game by game basis.
There’s no real reason to use it over Arch/EndeavourOS
Their holding back of updates for 2 weeks is stupid and can cause breakage/dependency issues when you also have stuff installed via AUR (which doesn’t get held back for 2 weeks)
They hold back packages for 2 weeks, citing stability and that they can check for issues then patch before they push, but then they just… don’t do that. Known issues still get pushed.
Manjaro repos have had issues with malware in the past
Manjaro has on multiple occasions had their SSL certificates expire, with their advertised “fix” being to roll your system time back. This is a job that can be automated, or at the very least should have a reminder for someone in Manjaro to sort out. The fact it happened once is an embarrassment, but the fact it’s happened more times is absolutely inexcusable.
Once, I listened what some people said on the Internet, and I tried Arch. I came back to Manjaro, but I learned a lot so I’m not unhappy with the experience.
However, to say that there’s no reason to use it over Arch (I don’t know about Endeavour, I never actually used it) is just wrong. Maybe you don’t like the differences, but they are important and useful for someone like me. When I installed Arch, I needed to tinker it for hours before having something usable. I don’t want to tinker, I want my OS to work, even if it means other people made choices for me, as long as I can revert them; that’s what Manjaro offers. For example, I love GNOME, but only with some plugins, like dash to dock. When I installed Arch, GNOME made an update which broke a lot of plugins, included dash to dock; while Manjaro waited for dash to dock to work to push the new GNOME. Some issues may be pushed, but a lot of others aren’t. I prefer to have one big update twice a month instead of having to update and tinker again my OS possibly every day.
Manjaro is far from perfect, no distro is, but for people like me, it works very well, and better than Arch.
Someone already said Manjaro, so my second pick would be ElementaryOS. In the past they’ve had this weird attitude about open source things being free (I get supporting devs for projects you like of course, but I don’t agree that it’s “cheating” to not pay for every single piece of open source software you use), and they seem to get a lot of hype and praise for what’s essentially just Ubuntu painted up to look like MacOS IMO.
I very much don’t care for ElementaryOS, but I really don’t think it’s fair to paint it as “Ubuntu painted up to look like MacOS”. It’s not just GNOME with some extensions. They made a whole desktop environment and suite of applications for their distro. That’s a ton of work. I think any distro that does that deserves some amount of respect.
The distro I came here to mention has been hated on already. My dislike goes to the distros that start off fine, and somehow screw it up.
Honestly, I remember using Manjaro ages ago. It had an official Openbox spin (not a community thing). I had already used Arch but I didn’t even check to see what it was based on when I tried. I thought, “green is nice” and it was. It very quickly became less nice. I didn’t use it after that, but I’ve heard plenty of hate since then.
I’m going to put another one out there just for fun.
Distrowatch’s n°1… MX Linux
Nothing wrong with it, but the fact that it is number 1 (I know their ranking is just for fun and based on page hits) and doesn’t deserve it is the issue. It works great, when I used it I didn’t like how there was a second application for installating certain software. I think I used the Xfce setup. Again, it’s fine, but if a first-time Linux desktop user sat down and installed that, it might not be the best initiation.
Popular and highly ranked distros give Desktop Linux a bad name sometimes is what I’m saying.
Ubuntu: It’s not a lack of features that pushed me away; it’s more about the way things are going. I am not a fan of snap packages. I have run into odd issues trying to use them. I used Ubuntu server for my Dell Poweredge and I shut it down until I can find a suitable replacement. I struggled with it respecting my DNS settings which in turn killed my reverse proxy setup.
Manjaro: While I love Arch and some of its derivatives, I can’t stand by Manjaro. I thought it would have been a good OS to use since I was familiar with Arch, but it had enough dependency issues where updates broke them. Funny enough, never have I had a dependency issue with just plain old Arch.
I use Arch btw. But besides the meme on it, I legitimately eo use arch and couldn’t be happier.
Same. Both started out good but kept becoming more and more… not good. If nothing else Manjaro taught me how to chroot from a live distro to fix catastrophic failures. Ubuntu really ruined my week when they decided to try becoming a smart phone with the very touch centric looking UI at the time when I didn’t have time to revert or change distros, which is what finally pushed me to run servers headless and use ssh. Last I tried none of the phone like de’s are particularly intuitive as touch interfaces either.
I use KDE on Arch on my Lenovo Yoga 7i, and I don’t particularly use the touchscreen as much as I would have thought. Though for Waydroid it does work fairly nicely.
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