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Ubuntu 26.04

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Re: Ubuntu 26.04

#151

Ubuntu 26 + KDE Plasma 6.6 perfectly handles high-DPI scaling for me. I was originally planning to buy a Mac, but luckily I saw the news about Ubuntu 26 being released a few days ago.

I've just moved to a Mac for the first time, after using Windows for work for decades and Linux as my primary desktop for about 3 or 4 years. It certainly takes some getting use to: - Keyboard shortcuts are all different - Doesn't seem to like my Microsoft ergonomic keyboard (lots of keys do nothing) - I really hate the dock - Limited customisation on the menu bar - I also hate the universal menu thing / menu bar in…

Ah I can resonate with your feelings! I've been using a MacBook Pro as my daily driver since 2013 and I initially liked it a lot, but things have not improved over time. MacOS got more buggy, bloated and less and less customisable. I never fully got used to the way window switching works, and to the fact that I always see all the apps from all work spaces. I still regularly switch to the wrong work space when I switch apps. So confusing. So now I'm in a process of switching back to Linux - it's just so much more fun! I have an M1 MacBook Pro now and Asahi linux is really nice on this one.

I do like the energy consumption of MacOS and that sleep just works so well. Also the laptops feel really nice. I got a few things to make life easier (sketchybar, rectangle.app, see other posts here) but overall these days Linux is just a more polished experience. Never thought I'd say that. At least it's the least glitchy experience nowadays.

Re: Ubuntu 26.04

#152
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think power users are not the main target of Ubuntu. I have put my parents on Ubuntu (gnome) in 2013 to replace windows XP. My mother is 88 now. I think it is the perfect fit for her (dad is dead years ago). I use ubuntu gnome because tweaking my computer is not where I want to spend my time. YOLO. Using a "mainstream" desktop that can be explained to "non specialist" has its benefits. I accept to suffer some annoy…

>I think power users are not the main target of Ubuntu. Then who is? Normies buy iPads and casuals stay on Windows. Is this why Linux can't gain any market share?

This isn't true any more, and hasn't been for some years, you know.

It was true but times change.

Microsoft chose to kill off Windows 10, which it once promised would be the last desktop Windows ever. Its replacement is bigger, slower, stuffed with adverts and upselling attempts, and has an artificial demand for TPM 2.

That's driven thousands of people to check out Linux, and if you don't know anything about Linux, then Ubuntu is the number one best-known distro. Many techies dislike Snap (to the extent of spreading lies like "it's not FOSS"), but it makes version upgrades safer, which matters more to non-techies.

(I say thousands so the pedants don't shout at me, but I suspect the reality is at least hundreds of thousands, maybe millions.)

Linux Mint is friendlier, yes, and so is Zorin OS, but both are based on Ubuntu.

Valve has sold millions of Steam Decks, which demonstrate that it's now possible to run premier new Windows games on Linux with performance at least as good as on Windows. All Linux users know their hardware runs faster and cooler with Linux than Windows anyway.

Chromebooks (which are as cheap as laptops get) outsold Macs (which are expensive) by revenue in 2017 in the USA and within 3 years in the rest of the world. ChromeOS is a desktop Linux, based on Gentoo. It has hundreds of millions of users who have never heard the word "Linux".

Companies with cloud-based IT are deploying ChromeOS Flex as a response to ransomware attach. (E.g. Nordic Choice hotels.)

Many of us see Ubuntu's characteristic desktop in shops, bars, travel stations and things regularly now. I hear its startup sound on trains. I have totally non-techie friends running Ubuntu at home. I've given Mint to lots of mildly technophobic friends and they get on just fine.

It's not over, but the year of Linux on the Desktop came about a decade ago, and the penguin taleban were too busy in-fighting to notice.

Re: Ubuntu 26.04

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I think power users are not the main target of Ubuntu. Then who is? Normies buy iPads and casuals stay on Windows. Is this why Linux can't gain any market share?

IMHO, Ubuntu is trying to gain market share by targeting non-experts — making Linux simple enough for normies and casual users. Casual users are generally less likely to mess things up on Ubuntu than on Windows.

Yup. And this is no bad thing.

Re: Ubuntu 26.04

#154
post #44
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and it's a great thing. Turning it off is another one of those GNOME decisions that are only made because the same feature does not exist in MacOS.

As a trackpoint user, I am glad it's off by default. Because of scrolling on Thinkpad keyboards (using the middle click), I had to turn that feature of every time, especially while working on longer documents I would otherwise accidentally paste stuff at random places. (It's not just macOS.)

No way, José.

From where I sit I have 5 Thinkpads set up within reach, and I have a few more in other rooms. They are by far my preferred laptop.

Most run Ubuntu as their default OS, most have the trackpad disabled because I usually use the trackpoint for everything, and on all of them I use middle-click to paste extensively.

Re: Ubuntu 26.04

#155

What should I use if I like Ubuntu but not snap, just Debian? Or are there alternatives around? Seems like Ubuntu has the best hardware and driver support so just curious what's new in Linux land.

Debian is good!

If you want something desktop oriented and Ubuntu based without the focus on snaps, take a look at Linux Mint: https://www.linuxmint.com/ (there's Cinnamon, Xfce and MATE versions; personally I think Cinnamon is pretty good nowadays)

Re: Ubuntu 26.04

#156
post #147

What should I use if I like Ubuntu but not snap, just Debian? Or are there alternatives around? Seems like Ubuntu has the best hardware and driver support so just curious what's new in Linux land.

LMDE: https://linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php

LMDE is Debian-based, I believe you meant Linux Mint itself, which also doesn't use snaps.

You get all the driver support and tools from the Ubuntu base, with some nice additons. However, not all desktop environment are supported.

Re: Ubuntu 26.04

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do we still put up with GNOME? I've spent the last 10 years off and on from Linux. Had I used something other than GNOME, I believe my experience would have been better. I've been on KDE for the last 3-4 years and things work so well I could never imagine going back to GNOME.

Been a long time i3 user. Usually works well if you put in the initial time. But of late been very happy with Xubuntu (xfce)

I had to migrate away from Xubuntu (xfce) due to the poor HiDPI support. Kubuntu (KDE/Plasma) is now my current desktop of choice.

Re: Ubuntu 26.04

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just install Ubuntu and remove snap. We are doing this for our University pool etc and encountered no issues. Make a list of all ppa before proceeding. What is your use case?

The issue is them adding it back, sometimes even on apt upgrade, or silently installing it as a dependency for certain apps without mentioning it unless you look closely. That gets tiring after a while and I gave up on Ubuntu as even after having removed snap multiple times it always returned.

Not listening to users is what drove me away from windows. Not a fan of snaps either (or forced windows updates). Recently re-tried linux going to debian instead, which i really like. Reminds me of the old dos days. Gnome was a no-go, kde was nice but too buggy, cinnamon turned out to be perfect. So here i am, on linux finally, enjoying having my computer back and playing around like its 1992 again.

Re: Ubuntu 26.04

#159
post #139

Unfortunately my favourite flavor, Ubuntu MATE, will sit out this release cycle: https://distrowatch.com/dwres-mobile.php?resource=showheadli...

That doesn't bode well for the future of MATE if they skip the 26.04 LTS releases.

Re: Ubuntu 26.04

#160

What should I use if I like Ubuntu but not snap, just Debian? Or are there alternatives around? Seems like Ubuntu has the best hardware and driver support so just curious what's new in Linux land.

> What should I use if I like Ubuntu but not snap […]

Because of business needs, if you're stuck with using Ubuntu (at least in some situations), an `apt(-get) purge snapd` helps. It's in all of our auto/post-install stuff.

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