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This week in KDE: Converging towards something special

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Re: This week in KDE: Converging towards something special

#11
I’m happy to see https://kde.org/hardware exists, but why do all of the pre-loaded laptops come with 1080p screens?

This includes the $2395 model, so it can’t be cost.

I haven’t had a daily driver screen with resolution that low since 1998. For almost all of those years, that was with desktop Linux / Unix. The problem clearly isn’t software support.

Re: This week in KDE: Converging towards something special

#12
post #3

I've been using Kubuntu at home and work for over four years now, and it has been a stable and productive experience. The only significant difficulty I can recall was immediately after upgrading from 19.04 to 19.10, where GRUB was having difficulty with a Secure Boot extension. I should have waited for the 19.10.1 release, but the issue was relatively easy to fix by commenting out a line in GRUB config. I really beli…

A casual computer user is going to figure out they need to comment out a GRUB line? Nope. That is an experience that will push them right back to OSX or Windows.

These things kinda happen everywhere though:

https://www.techradar.com/how-to/macos-1014-mojave-problems-...

Re: This week in KDE: Converging towards something special

#13

Anyone thinking about using Linux on their desktop or laptop should give latest KDE a try. Rolling release distros like Arch or OpenSuse Tumbleweed should be good options. Reasons you may like it - no new paradigm bs to learn just your plain old customizable desktop, it’s stable(they’re fixing stuff like crazy every week), if you don’t like something they are making contributing to / building KDE components very easy…

After years using Ubuntu 16 I upgraded to 19 as I heard it was really good and fast. It wasn't either... lots of things just didn't work anymore, like function keys (switching languages takes like 5 seconds and it's a known issue they just won't fix) and shortcuts changing or just not working anymore in several applications I use.

So I decided to install KDE Plasma, and I couldn't be happier! Everything works exactly as I expected. And it's a beautiful desktop environment, especially after I installed a dark theme. I also use a Mac, and now I honestly don't know which desktop experience is better! Which is a huge compliment to Plasma, as MacOS is actually quite polished.

I can't recommend Plasma enough to anyone who wants Linux on desktop/laptop.

Re: This week in KDE: Converging towards something special

#14

Anyone thinking about using Linux on their desktop or laptop should give latest KDE a try. Rolling release distros like Arch or OpenSuse Tumbleweed should be good options. Reasons you may like it - no new paradigm bs to learn just your plain old customizable desktop, it’s stable(they’re fixing stuff like crazy every week), if you don’t like something they are making contributing to / building KDE components very easy…

Yeah! BTW let's not forget the (probably) best filesystem browsing experience (Dolphin), the Event Calendar add-on, and: KDE Connect!

Re: This week in KDE: Converging towards something special

#15
post #11

I’m happy to see https://kde.org/hardware exists, but why do all of the pre-loaded laptops come with 1080p screens? This includes the $2395 model, so it can’t be cost. I haven’t had a daily driver screen with resolution that low since 1998. For almost all of those years, that was with desktop Linux / Unix. The problem clearly isn’t software support.

Not trying to yuck your yum, just offer another perspective. I see no benefit from resolutions >1080p for common laptop sizes. I think 17" is the transition point where 1440p even begins to make sense.

The majority of people I've actually discussed this with (note, N=V.Small) tend to agree.

I say this having had multiple laptops 1080p and really not seeing any benefit. Those have all been provided by employers. I really cannot justify paying for it myself.

What is the benefit you see from higher resolutions on laptops? Am I just missing something?

Re: This week in KDE: Converging towards something special

#17

Anyone thinking about using Linux on their desktop or laptop should give latest KDE a try. Rolling release distros like Arch or OpenSuse Tumbleweed should be good options. Reasons you may like it - no new paradigm bs to learn just your plain old customizable desktop, it’s stable(they’re fixing stuff like crazy every week), if you don’t like something they are making contributing to / building KDE components very easy…

I've been tring and eyeing KDE since 4. There's always something that is not right in the UI foundation. I've heard how lean to WM/GUI code is, low mem usage .. but I always end up in XFCE.

Re: This week in KDE: Converging towards something special

#18
post #15
post #11

I’m happy to see https://kde.org/hardware exists, but why do all of the pre-loaded laptops come with 1080p screens? This includes the $2395 model, so it can’t be cost. I haven’t had a daily driver screen with resolution that low since 1998. For almost all of those years, that was with desktop Linux / Unix. The problem clearly isn’t software support.

Not trying to yuck your yum, just offer another perspective. I see no benefit from resolutions >1080p for common laptop sizes. I think 17" is the transition point where 1440p even begins to make sense. The majority of people I've actually discussed this with (note, N=V.Small) tend to agree. I say this having had multiple laptops 1080p and really not seeing any benefit. Those have all been provided by employers. I rea…

I use an X1 Carbon with a 14" 1440p screen.

It provides sharper text, better rendering of high-res photos, more working area, and the ability to run a 1080p VM or play a 1080p video in a window or browser tab.

I absolutely consider this screen worth the premium.

Re: This week in KDE: Converging towards something special

#19
post #15
post #11

I’m happy to see https://kde.org/hardware exists, but why do all of the pre-loaded laptops come with 1080p screens? This includes the $2395 model, so it can’t be cost. I haven’t had a daily driver screen with resolution that low since 1998. For almost all of those years, that was with desktop Linux / Unix. The problem clearly isn’t software support.

Not trying to yuck your yum, just offer another perspective. I see no benefit from resolutions >1080p for common laptop sizes. I think 17" is the transition point where 1440p even begins to make sense. The majority of people I've actually discussed this with (note, N=V.Small) tend to agree. I say this having had multiple laptops 1080p and really not seeing any benefit. Those have all been provided by employers. I rea…

IME, it’s not 1440p that is interesting, but skipping all the way to 1600p or 2160p. This lets you use 2x scaling factor and keep the same ergonomics of 800p or 1080p, but has a few other big advantages:

- “Retina” resolution with significantly less artifacting due to density (your eye doesn’t see “pixels” individually)

- Ability to tweak resolution scaling without paying a huge cost in visual artifacts (on a MacBook, the native resolution is often 1600p with virtual 800p, but you can scale to 960p, 1080p, or even down below 800p if you want, and they all look pretty good)

Re: This week in KDE: Converging towards something special

#20

Anyone thinking about using Linux on their desktop or laptop should give latest KDE a try. Rolling release distros like Arch or OpenSuse Tumbleweed should be good options. Reasons you may like it - no new paradigm bs to learn just your plain old customizable desktop, it’s stable(they’re fixing stuff like crazy every week), if you don’t like something they are making contributing to / building KDE components very easy…

I've been tring and eyeing KDE since 4. There's always something that is not right in the UI foundation. I've heard how lean to WM/GUI code is, low mem usage .. but I always end up in XFCE.

>There's always something that is not right in the UI foundation

What is fundamentally broken with their UI that a competent person can't change?

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