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1M Downloads of Zorin OS 18

blog.zorin.com

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Re: 1M Downloads of Zorin OS 18

#101

Post by ddtaylor »

I have a long history with ZorinOS, and I will make it very short.

They are grifters.

The simple fact is that they release open source software, much of which is licensed as GPL. They modify these programs from time to time to be compatible with ZorinOS, etc.

They refuse to release any of their sources sometimes, and when they do, they put takedowns and ban people from their community because they believe their paid-for ISOs are closed-source - which is not true.

If you think I'm wrong, mistaken, lying, etc. grab any ZorinOS ISO and go put it on a ZorinOS community website, such as Reddit and sit back and watch.

It's worth mentioning I find all of the ZorinOS downloads using DHT scan. I haven't touched them in a while, but I still find the entire situation perplexing. I have to imagine part of this issue is that the Chinese community is newer to FOSS and doesn't understand these longstanding ideas.

Re: 1M Downloads of Zorin OS 18

#103

Post by AuthAuth »

aucisson_masque wrote: post #91
ac29 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zorin OS' main pitch is the design work they put into it to make it look like Windows or macOS. As far as I can tell they wrote zero new software (the taskbar is a forked GNOME extension, and the Zorin Connect app is a forked KDE Connect). So, its not surprising they made an effort to make a nice looking webpage, design work is basically the only thing they are doing.

Honestly that's one of the thing where Linux is truly behind other os. Design really need someone to step up, gnome choices are really debatable, kde is great but c'mon.. it's not for beginners or people who just want things to work. I found that Linux mint desktop environment is the best of both world, zorin a bit behind then everything else.

there is actually nothing complex or hard to understand about KDE. You can navigate your way around as you would with any other piece of software you're new to.

Re: 1M Downloads of Zorin OS 18

#104

Post by prmoustache »

casey2 wrote: post #66

One thing that's important but rarely mentioned in discussions like these is how many Windows users even have experience working on unix systems these days? I feel like they are in for a rude awakening if they assume every OS is like windows

It took months for my other half to realize she wasn't on windows anymore after her hdd died and she only knew it because I said I could not install office 365 on Linux so she'd better get used to either libreoffice or onlyoffice is she didn't want to pay 5bucks a month to use a limited web version of office.

Re: 1M Downloads of Zorin OS 18

#105

Post by ddtaylor »

BoppreH wrote: post #63

Very sleek marketing, but why did they rebrand (the fantastic) KDE Connect to "Zorin Connect"[1]? From the mere If it was tightly integrated into the OS I could sort of understand not mentioning its name, like you don't want "Foobar Control Panel" and "FizzBuzz Start Menu". But KDE Connect is a standalone app you can install even on Windows. And this is not just hiding the name, it's replacing it! So, why the "rebran…

Forking it makes it easier to convince your flock of sheep that you must pay for GPL software. It also gives them a lot of opportunity to inject their own happy accidents into there.

Re: 1M Downloads of Zorin OS 18

#106

Post by slow_typist »

incompatible wrote: post #86
cosmic_cheese wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Distros like Debian and Ubuntu also suffer from issues with compatibility with newer hardware due to their older kernels. This is part of why distros based on Fedora and Fedora Atomic (such as Nobara and Bazzite, respectively) have seen popularity.

I have tried Debian, but I found that the software on the main version was out-of-date, and the testing version eventually broke during an update (which is when I abandoned it.) It's not something I'd recommend to a new Linux user.

The question is, do you really need the newer versions? If so, maybe check availability via backports or extrepo.

From my perspective a solid OS that stays out of my way most of the time outweighs the slight disadvantage of working with older software versions. YMMV.

Re: 1M Downloads of Zorin OS 18

#107

Post by EffrafaxOfWug »

constantcrying wrote: post #44
garganzol wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A distro working out-of-the-box for a certain user group is not a weird spinoff. Some people love to economize time; a distro that takes care of exactly that is a good deal.

None of these distros economize time. This is not Debian/Arch/Ubuntu with some preconfiguration. Every single user of these distros is in the hands of a tiny number of developers who mostly work on this as a hobby. Things are going to break and they will break in ways nobody will know why, since the base distro does not have these problems. There is a very good reason why the Arch forums do want reports from arch der…

I think you have a typo. The arch forums don't want reports from arch derivative distros

Re: 1M Downloads of Zorin OS 18

#108

Post by laxd »

api wrote: post #74
Someone1234 wrote: post #60

I've been a Windows user since 3.1; and I've even defended Microsoft in the past (particularly when they made unpopular choices, but for technically correct reasons, like UAC or forcing vendors to rewrite their drivers into userland or using a safer driver model). BUT, I won't defend Windows 11 and Microsoft's general direction. I feel like there has been a slow cultural shift within Microsoft, from a core of fantast…

A big concern I have for the industry is what happens as people who truly understand how this stuff works age out. Unfortunately we seem to have stopped replacing them. Part of the issue is that computers today require no deep knowledge to use, unlike first or second generation PCs that genX and millennials grew up with. So you’re not getting as many people with this knowledge. Just as significant I think is the prev…

> Part of the issue is that computers today require no deep knowledge to use, unlike first or second generation PCs that genX and millennials grew up with.

A point that I've often tried to convey among friends and family. No! Todays kids aren't natural tech wizards because they grew into it. All they know is pressing buttons where the UI/UX norms are good enough that you'll figure it out quickly, especially as a kid.

In my early days I'd press commands out of the back of a manual in order to see what my commodore 64 was all about if I didn't load a game. Turned out I was programming basic (at the level you'd expect from a clueless kid, but still) Later, in the 90's with your family PC, you were bound to learn some stuff just by wanting to play games. Drivers? Filesystem? Patches? Cracks? OS? Hardware components (you'd not unlikely put it together yourself).

And I think I was born too late for the best of lessons.

Re: 1M Downloads of Zorin OS 18

#109

Post by lousken »

constantcrying wrote: post #41
more_corn wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This opinion is what’s holding Linux back. Having a clean and pleasant user experience on top of a stable Debian based distributed is the goal.

Exactly, you do that by installing Debian with KDE. Not by creating a new distro, which you do not have the resources to properly maintain, which is then perpetually broken in weird ways, which no user can figure out since the base distribution does not have the problems the completely understaffed maintainers introduced. What all of these distros want to be is a basic configuration script. What they are is a nightma…

You could also ask why XFCE does not use KDE in the background and just work on apps and provide their own KDE theme instead. They can't even make a wayland session in 2025 working so why bother? Or unity, mate, Pantheon from elemenetary os - why don't they just stick to being a theme on top of gnome or KDE and instead focus on the apps?

The answer is the same.

Re: 1M Downloads of Zorin OS 18

#110

Post by lousken »

WD-42 wrote: post #58
constantcrying wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, you do that by installing Debian with KDE. Not by creating a new distro, which you do not have the resources to properly maintain, which is then perpetually broken in weird ways, which no user can figure out since the base distribution does not have the problems the completely understaffed maintainers introduced. What all of these distros want to be is a basic configuration script. What they are is a nightma…

Username checks out. Not everyone wants to use Debian stable, with 3 year old packages. And most certainly not everyone wants to use KDE. Choice is what makes the Linux ecosystem great even if it leads to fragmentation. Most distros are created by volunteers, what do you contribute?

It's not like Ubuntu LTS does not provide 3 year old packages as well. Other than that I agree
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