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Ditching Windows: 2 Weeks with Ubuntu Linux on the Dell XPS 13

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Re: Ditching Windows: 2 Weeks with Ubuntu Linux on the Dell XPS 13

#131

Post by chopin »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #72
chopin wrote: post #3

The Linux Mint experience of the author is strange. I was able to install with no problems on three very different machines (Dell Inspiron, HP Laptop (forgot the model, it's my daughter's) and an assembled game PC featuring 4 Monitors). The only qualm I have with it: For fear of data loss I decided against full disk encryption (the installation procedure asks for it) in expectation that one can switch after installat…

The article author was on a Linux podcast about a week ago and clarified that he couldn't reproduce the Mint issue, as it seemed to properly detect it when he retried later. But he had set strict guidelines for the article--basically, that he had to do this from a lifelong Windows user's perspective. So if the distro didn't work the first time, he moved on to the next one.

Yeah, I got that and I am absolutely fine with it. A bit strange though that this happened. Maybe he scrambled something during trying the live image...

As I migrated not only me, but also (non-technical) other users I would have wanted to stick to Mint even at the cost of jumping through hoops as the migration is said to be easier for Windows users (as compared to eg. Ubuntu). We never looked back.

Re: Ditching Windows: 2 Weeks with Ubuntu Linux on the Dell XPS 13

#132

Post by HeadsUpHigh »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #89
plq wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly don't see the problem. It's a different platform so it's got different quirks, that's just life. Having said that, I strongly prefer Linux's explicit shared object search paths and very user-friendly dynamic linker to Window's implicit search scheme (aka the DLL hell). If that means I need to add my dynamic linker along with a couple lines of wrapper script so my binaries work, so be it. And, you can even…

> I honestly don't see the problem. It's a different platform so it's got different quirks, that's just life. If Linux Desktop were one singe different platform there wouldn't be a problem. Instead it is effectively some ridiculously large number of platforms.

The differences between them are getting smaller and smaller with time. With the notable exceptions of some really cool distros like nixOS or Solus most others have almost the same libraries at this point at varying versions.

Re: Ditching Windows: 2 Weeks with Ubuntu Linux on the Dell XPS 13

#133

Post by monocasa »

pjmlp wrote: post #52
de_watcher wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, you've got to try very hard to be worse than MacOS that is openly sabotaging OpenGL and Vulkan efforts.

Lack of OpenGL and Vulkan support never mattered on game consoles. Even with Switch's adoption of Vulkan, most games are actually using middleware that makes use of NVN. If a platform is relevant to professional games developers, they will target it, regardless of which APIs and OS it requires.

Consoles give very strict contracts that you can rely on to not change for the whole lifetime of the console. In contrary macOS changes stuff every year apparently based on what a fortune teller says for Steve Job's ghost.

That means that early on, yeah it's as bad as Mac, but it gets way better over the lifetime of the console.

Re: Ditching Windows: 2 Weeks with Ubuntu Linux on the Dell XPS 13

#134

Post by marmaduke »

linsomniac wrote: post #112

If you don't have specific Windows apps, I'd be tempted to try a Chromebook these days. Around 2 years ago I got a cheap Chromebook and it was terrible. I think it was $250. Fit and finish and keyboard kind of sucked. I found one of those HP Chromebook 13 g1 boxes, which Woot had refurb for half off at just under $500, and it is much closer to the hardware experience I'm used to with Thinkpads, for 1/6th the price. N…

Goodness, two vpns?

Re: Ditching Windows: 2 Weeks with Ubuntu Linux on the Dell XPS 13

#135

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

cix_pkez wrote: post #124
AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They aren't hard problems at all. Even DOS handled them with ease. The problem is that the culture of application development around systems with package managers doesn't consider these use cases at all, forcing you to jump through a bunch of hacky hoops to do deal with them. Case in point: symlinking or mount-based tricks because developers hardcode paths.

Having multiple versions of dependency libraries was a pain on DOS, Windows, ... It just is what it is. For the record, you can have multiple versions on any OS, but it's important they have a version in their name and that the dependent application is aware of that convention. The specifics of path layout is just how Unix-like systems do things in general. It's not all that different on MacOS. If you really like the…

> Having multiple versions of dependency libraries was a pain on DOS

DOS didn't even have the concept of a dependency being separate from the application, so i'm not sure what you're trying to say. MacOS classic also didn't. Windows didn't either, really, until DLLs became a fad and ushered in the era of DLL hell.

> If you really like the filesystem layout of Windows, just use Windows. If you really like `exe` files, just use Windows. I don't see the problem.

I don't particularly like the way Windows works these days because it is becoming more like UNIX, and installers certainly aren't a great idea but I still prefer them to package managers.

There's no problem, I'm Just expressing an opinion about package management, same as you. If the Linux community doesn't agree, and they've made it quite clear that they don't, then that's fine and I'll just continue not to use their OS like most people.

Re: Ditching Windows: 2 Weeks with Ubuntu Linux on the Dell XPS 13

#136

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

kurtisc wrote: post #123
AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And if it doesn't cover software you use, then it sucks to be you. Or if you want to install an application to a different disk. Or if you want to have two different versions of an application installed. Or if you want to use an application that relies on dependencies your package manager has decided are incompatible. The package management paradigm has its own set of limitations and flaws.

Those are all problems with implementations, not the paradigm.

Show me an implementation that doesn't have these problems, because I've yet to see one. That's not surprising though, since once you've solved these problems you don't need a package manager.

Re: Ditching Windows: 2 Weeks with Ubuntu Linux on the Dell XPS 13

#137

Post by jseliger »

Wehrdo wrote: post #70

Glad that Ubuntu works well for the author, but I've used Ubuntu on and off for a good 5+ years, and could fill a book with small things that just don't work quite right, and cumulatively makes it feel like I'm fighting the computer instead of working with it. As a brief taste: * No trackpad swipe gestures (plus many more subtle trackpad issues) * Pre-Wayland the only way to attach a second screen at a different DPI…

No trackpad swipe gestures (plus many more subtle trackpad issues)

It's amazing how often this gets discussed: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17547817 without, seemingly being definitely resolved.

Re: Ditching Windows: 2 Weeks with Ubuntu Linux on the Dell XPS 13

#138

Post by panarky »

StavrosK wrote: post #120
linsomniac wrote: post #112

If you don't have specific Windows apps, I'd be tempted to try a Chromebook these days. Around 2 years ago I got a cheap Chromebook and it was terrible. I think it was $250. Fit and finish and keyboard kind of sucked. I found one of those HP Chromebook 13 g1 boxes, which Woot had refurb for half off at just under $500, and it is much closer to the hardware experience I'm used to with Thinkpads, for 1/6th the price. N…

Chromebooks sound amazing except I don't want to be locked into Google or give them more of my data...

Personally I choose Debian, but if the alternative is getting locked into Microsoft and giving them more of my data, then I choose Google.

Re: Ditching Windows: 2 Weeks with Ubuntu Linux on the Dell XPS 13

#139

Post by cdiddy2 »

dilatedmind wrote: post #84
bhhaskin wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are assuming the XPS is the developer edition. I am also running Ubuntu on my XPS, but it came with windows orginaly. I also don't have any hardware issues to speak of.

How is your battery life? I also installed ubuntu on my xps, and I'm only getting about 2 hours max, although I always keep it plugged in, so it's not a real issue for me. As for hardware issues, I had to download wireless drivers, which was a slight pain since there is no ethernet port. I was able to get my video card working with optimus, but that wasn't non trivial. I wound up disabling my track pad and using a mo…

Just got the XPS 13 developer edition here so still brand new. I am getting 10 hours or so with web browsing

Re: Ditching Windows: 2 Weeks with Ubuntu Linux on the Dell XPS 13

#140

Post by chadlavi »

jammygit wrote: post #47
rawfan wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I heard, this is not true for the Dell XPS 13 and other new Notebooks that supposedly run well with Linux. I get almost 5 hours out of my decade-old Thinkpad T410 (original battery). My 2018 Macbook Pro 13" with touchbar only gets me through 2/3rds of the workday (older models or 15" work way longer). Apple put in smaller batteries and optimized their own (!) apps to compensate. You're pretty much forced to…

I find its all WiFi. On an xps 13 with ubuntu, I get 10-12 hours on low brightness without wifi, but often 4-6 otherwise with wifi. Its really nice for roadtrips.

Turning off wifi is probably just turning off your ability to do a lot of heavy processing as you interact with the internet, right?
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