I’m using Kubuntu as my main OS and it has been very stable for me. You can remove snapd and install the deb Firefox repository. You should look up tutorials on how to do it, I did it and nothing broke
I for one hope to move from kubuntu to debian with KDE, I assume that won’t have snap shit or systemd shit, but I might be painfully mistaken right there, I haven’t checked it out yet.
Debian does use systemd, but what’s so bad about it? I’m just curious, I’m using Arch with KDE, and that also uses systemd. Never had any issues with it. Debian doesn’t use snap by default though.
I have been enjoying OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. It’s a rolling distro unlike the Ubuntu and Debian derivatives, but the updates hardly ever cause problems and it’s very easy to roll them back if they do. It also gives you a choice between X11 and Wayland, and Wayland is working well for me on Intel graphics.
I jumped into Tumbleweed recently and have really been liking it. Last time I used Linux with a desktop environment I was using Gnome and KDE was a lot unglier. Things have definitely changed.
KDE Neon gets the latest package updates regarding KDE first but it is not official in any sense, as listed on their website. In fact, Neon is just a package archive built on top of Ubuntu that offers more up to date KDE stuff.
I have used the distro as a daily driver in the past. It uses it’s own pkgcon package management system.
Unlike Windows and MacOS, the Linux ecosystem is a lot more modular. For example, graphical user interfaces. There are a few types, ranging from ruthlessly simple tiling window managers to more complex desktop environments that more closely resemble the Windows or MacOS experience.
Linux users may take their pick between about a dozen desktop environments (DEs), including Gnome, Cinnamon, Mate, xfce and LXQT.
KDE (once standing for Kool Desktop Environment, now merely KDE) is a community/organization that produces open source software. They made Krita, a raster art program, KDENLIVE, a video editor, and many other such utilities. They also make the Plasma desktop environment, which is often referred to simply as “KDE” by distro maintainers. For example, you might download Fedora GNOME or Fedora KDE.
KDE Neon is an operating system maintained by KDE which features the Plasma desktop.
Things are more interesting in the Linux world. Plasma is just a user interface, a desktop environment. The actual operating system is Linux. And we have so many choices for how we want our desktop environment on Linux, but Plasma is the most advanced one.
I said its a linux operating system, and the whole installation from Desktop environment to the compiled kernel and preinstalled executables was carefully made by the KDE team. They literally said Operating system on their mastodon post, “toot,” this lemmy post shows. So its correct what I said
raises pendantic finger Ah-hem, sorry, but KDE Plasma isn’t an OS. It’s a desktop environment. For an OS bundled/built-around Plasma then Kubuntu or KDE Neon are both Linux distributions that would better fit that description.
KDE’s plasma centered Linux Operating system. So to not be overly pedantic, I stuck with what this lemmy post was about. I didn’t say the plasma desktop environment was an OS.
I said “a linux operating system made by the KDE team” in which the KDE team referenced their OS as Plasma in the Mastodon post, or “toot,” shown in this lemmy post.
Oh sure, defending people who aren’t even willing to read the text of the post while also attacking the one who complains about that circumstance is better, right?
Well, although usually it’s a good idea to read the original post first, in this instance the original post is at best misleading because it refers to Plasma as an “operating system” rather than a desktop environment.
(Or for those who want to use even more precise terminology: its full name is either “Plasma Desktop” or “KDE Plasma Desktop”, because KDE also has some non-desktop environments such as Plasma Mobile and Plasma Bigscreen… none of which are as popular as Plasma Desktop, though, so usually Plasma Desktop is colloquially called just “Plasma”.)
I never said anything regarding the truth of the original posts claim; it’s just irritating when people start asking questions without even reading what was initially written.
It’s a desktop environment for linux operating systems. Desktop environments pretty much dictate how a pc looks. KDE Plasma,Mate, Gnome, Cinnamon etc are some famous desktop environments
The kind of thing you interact outside of installed app/programs. Like the panels, window decorations (titles, close buttom, maximalize button), the way windows float and behave, system settings, etc.
Unix systems (like Linux) are very modular and you can install different desktop environments if you want. And even within those desktops are modules, like you can install different “start menu” or file manager on KDE Plasma.
KDE nerds: Is there a way to get a normal app launch indicator (cursor with a loading icon/hourglass) instead of either nothing or the little hopping icons that don’t animate right?
I don’t know about an hourglass specifically, but there are some options. Should be in system settings, applications, launch feedback and/or busy cursor.
I think you mean different. I find the bouncing very normal after all these years. The spinning wheel and hourglass is there but they are used to indicate system waits, rather than launches.
Of course you can shut the bouncing launch off if you dont like it.
No. Some people wanted to change it to that for Plasma 6, but on Xorg there’s apparently no way to make that happen, as the cursor is always decided on by the window you’re hovering over…
Oh, I see, thank you! Never noticed the cursor changing back when I put it over another window in XFCE, but I also never looked for that. I really just want that brief feedback, especially when I’m using a touchpad.
I don’t think you understand how zealous C&C fans are. Some of us have entire XP machines with CRT monitors just to play the game in its purest form. We’re about as culty as Linux.
But it’s also not just one program, it’s all the c&c games, their map editors, mod loaders, and any modding tools. World builder is just an example.
You can already get it working under Linux, running a Windows VM. I remember doing that for Homeworld, it’s basically the emulator approach. A VM is ok if it isn’t too demanding graphically.
Photoshop is now available in the browser. Just Excel (not always, sometimes LibreOffice Calc with VBA compatibility does the trick), the other Adobe Creative Cloud applications, and some other Windows-only software (for example I dual boot Windows, because of advanced game macros written in AHK that don’t work on Linux via wine or ahk_x11, and I have failed in porting or rewriting them (it’s too big of a task, there is a whole team behind the actual macro). So… still some reasoms to run Windows, but fhese reasons are decreasing.
You’re casually blowing off two of the main reasons why I still have to use Windows.
Is there a Linux alternative to Excel that will allow me to reliably write and execute VBA macros that I can then deploy to my windows using co-workers?
Is there a Linux alternative to Photoshop? Doesn’t even need to be the most current version. I’d be happy with something that is functionally comparable to Photoshop 7.
I’m not being glib with those questions either. It’s been probably ten years since I’ve really used Linux. If there are legitimate alternatives I’d absolutely give it another go.
Can I use MS Office natively with that? Also, can I use it as a non-techie lay man in a way that is similar to the way most office bottom-feeders use Windows?
I know there is Open Office but I am lawyer and the free office alternatives just don’t have the rich formatting options I need to do my job. I have tried and they just won’t do.
ToC via Styles formatting and Table of authorities - these are from the top of my head, which I remember not working properly with Open Office. They need to work when I do them and also should be displayed correctly when I receive them from colleagues in docx format.
Format painter, track changes, spell checker in two languages, intendation adjustments, page breaks, and paste as text - I use these like crazy but I don’t remember if they were OK in Open Office or not.
honestly Libreoffice is not on par with MS Office. I use MS at work and Linux at home and Libreoffice is great for general use, but it is very rough around the edges, and does not have all the capability that MS does. I wish it were not the case but lack of an excellent office suite is one weaknesses of Linux.
In my opinion, it stacks up VERY well, even better, except the toolbar is by-default a mess for some reason while there's a very easy option to set it to tabbed.
How does the UI size work out for you? I recently took a look at it on a windows pc and the tiny size of most things is the one problem I have with it. Then again, I read something about being able to scale different programs individually somewhere (not for windows though)
First of all, libre office is very competent but I understand that it’ll always be very behind whetever Microsoft decides to do next.
Office is available on all systems at office365.com if you must use Microsoft tools.
For the non-tech usage, very much yes. Most of the problems your hear about with linux stem from people trying to make it do stuff that you can’t dream of doing on windows because it will stop you. Simply installing a system and using it to browse the web, edit documents, maybe install a few popular programs like VLC or Discord is set-and forget. System installers have recently gotten much more noob-friendly as well, imo the debian and Pop!OS installers don’t really allow you to mess up. KDE is a good choice of DE, but you might be more confortable with others. Good news, you can decide later, as switching desktop Environments is easy and preserves your files.
Not the full suite, natively. You can install it via PlayonLinux, which works well without fiddling, or you can use Office 365 on the web.
Also, can I use it as a non-techie lay man in a way that is similar to the way most office bottom-feeders use Windows?
Yes.
I know there is Open Office but I am lawyer and the free office alternatives just don’t have the rich formatting options I need to do my job. I have tried and they just won’t do.
Open Office is deprecated. You can use LibreOffice which is free. Or WPS Office or SoftMaker Office, which run on Linux and are 100% compatible with MS Office, but cost money.
Last I used it, it seemed to lack a lot of more advanced features. I think I especially stumbled over the bibliography, though I did not use any add-ons.
I used to use Linux exclusively, but I eventually gave in to the appeal of Windows. I’m just too into gaming, even with all the advancements Steam and Proton are bringing into Linux. The main difference I’ve had is which OS type hosts which OS type.
It’s not a specific one, it’s about not having to worry about which one are in the ProtonDB list and how it actually performs and can be configured. I just lose less out of having Linux in a VM for what I use it for, and have less surprises running the games on the system they are marketing and testing for.
Maybe I can just post here and get a good explanation?
I have been using PopOS for a while now and I am super happy with it, but last time it tried to switch from Gnome to KDE I ended up with a black screen after boot and had to reinstall from scratch.
Does anyone have a good writeup on how to do it properly?
Just install KDE (package name is probably something like kde-desktop) and reboot.
Next login there’s a button bottom right for changing the DE. you don’t need to uninstall gnome desktop.
What probably happened, is that you uninstalled your display manager when uninstalling gnome. This causes you to end up in tty when starting PC when there’s no app configured for the login window
I already saw many issues with PopOS, I think they aren’t really that good at Linux and that’s why it’s messed up, you probably uninstalled most of xorg tools. Try Linux Mint, is more stable and serious.
think it more comes down to all the layers they’re having to deal with: (soon: Cosmic DE) on top of Gnome changes on top of Pop!_OS changes on top of Ubuntu changes on top of Debian changes on top of System76 hardware …
I like the word, it fits well with biased which is approximately opposite
My least favourite new word is ‘doom scrolling’ which is now used to mean “scrolling internet feeds mindlessly” where it originally meant “constantly refreshing the internet feed in the hope the result of the American presidential election will change”
I’d be happy if it was used in another doomy context
And then I have to install a windows vm to be able to play all my games properly. And the practical benefit of switching is basically zero for the normal user
VM adds too much overhead for anything near modern, even if modern VM integration does add GPU drivers that act as a bridge for 3D acceleration. But SteamOS and Steamdeck are great examples of how far gaming has come in Linux, it’s no longer something just on the fringe.
I sort of do agree with your last comment. I tried to introduce several family members, and their take was basically that, why bother with something that seemed as unfamiliar as Linux for something they were already used to using. And if you try to use it at work, you are going to have to end up installing a Windows VM most of the time for most jobs. Monopolies be like that.
I game on a linux mint desktop using proton all the time. The work they’ve done for the steam deck translates almost perfectly to every other Linux distro I’ve tried it on
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