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How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

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Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#161

Post by amaccuish »

wyattpeak wrote: post #87
agumonkey wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

blender is getting fun; inkscape reaches 1.0, gimp might evolve methinks if libreoffice gets a bit leaner and featured it might be

I thought Libreoffice was fine enough until I started working in an office with people on Windows. I ran into so many compatibility problems I could barely believe it. Couldn't edit each other's headers, no maths support worked between the two, images and other objects would get randomly shuffled in the documents (one image showing up where another used to be). To say nothing of the minor niggling display differences…

Use OnlyOffice. It uses the Microsoft xml formats internally and I've found it work miles better for compatibility than Libreoffice. Plus it looks nicer :) you can install it as a snap.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#162

Post by agumonkey »

ikfmpwdsoz wrote: post #68
agumonkey wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

blender is getting fun; inkscape reaches 1.0, gimp might evolve methinks if libreoffice gets a bit leaner and featured it might be

Krita has been much nicer than Gimp in my experience, although they fulfil slightly different niches.

Yeah forgot Krita (sorry Krita) but I from the few I gathered, I agree.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#163

Post by jimmy1 »

jayalpha wrote: post #149
zzo38computer wrote: post #107

I have used Linux for some time (I do not remember how many years), and it works very well. I uninstalled the desktop environment (I don't use it (but I do use X, with a window manager, which is not the same as the desktop environment); I use the command shell to start programs and for almost all other purposes too). It is much better than Windows! Someone mentions restoring a Ubuntu system after a hard drive replace…

"Some people are disheartened to see how much you still need the command line to do some very basic things." I am more surprised how someone can do serious IT work with windows. A nightmare for me.

At my internship for a large logistics company I shadowed the system administrators a couple of days.

There was so much clicking involved that It made my left index finger start hurting. Adding a MIME type to IIS seemed like a chore.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#164

Post by leppr »

andrepd wrote: post #134
bootlooped wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have infrequently fooled around with Linux only a handful of times in the last 15 years. I recently installed it on my laptop but was disheartened to see how much you still need the command line to do some very basic things. Installing a program (not from the Ubuntu Software Center) and getting a launcher icon into the start-menu-equivalent took way too much time and Googling.

>Installing a program (not from the Ubuntu Software Center) and getting a launcher icon took way too much time and Googling. I don't understand this. You can open the "App Store" and search and download programs. If, for some inexplicable reason, you don't want to use the Software Center, you can open a terminal and type "apt install [name]". Surely this is easier than installing a program on Windows. What exactly is…

Installing a program on Windows that's not on the App store:

With installer:

  - Download installer
  - execute installer by double clicking on it
Without installer:

  - Download .exe
  - (Optional) Drag'n'drop .exe to some random folder
  - Right click .exe and select "Create desktop shortcut"
All of that is way more intuitive for a regular user than entering even one string of text in a terminal. People aren't trained to enter case-sensitive, exact-match strings of text in any input nowadays. Product designers are trying to eliminate the few times users are forced to do so (login forms, and again the difference with login is that the text is familiar to the user). The CLI feels too much like coding for regular users.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#165

Post by sdfjkl »

doxavore wrote: post #17

Is there a pleasant way to run a Linux laptop today with decent drawing/touchscreen support, HiDPI, and working dock/undock multi-monitor support? I have used various distros on and off over the years, but today I can run Windows 10 on a Surface Book 2, and the non-development portions of my experience are spectacular, for the low, low price of selling my soul: lazy file syncing with OneDrive, pen support combined wi…

I've looked into touchscreen support on Linux and it was very disappointing. You can fiddle most things to a workable level eventually, but no matter which implementation, there does seem to be a lack of integration for the virtual keyboard, i.e. it doesn't pop up when I touch an input field or won't go away when the input field loses focus. Overall it was pretty awful. Since I wanted to use the device in tablet mode (without hardware keyboard), I have to run Windows for now :(

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#166

Post by tchaffee »

Animats wrote: post #83

I've used Linux on the desktop for over a decade. Currently, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS on x64. It still sucks for the average user. The GUI is lipstick on a pig. As soon as anything goes wrong, it's back to the command line. You look up the problem, and there will be a dozen articles about it, all contradicting each other. Look up what it takes to create a desktop icon for something. (Hint: the top result in Google won't work…

Whichever OS you use is the one that will give you the most problems, and once in a while problems that are difficult to fix that require the command line. When I was on Windows I had plenty of problems that were just as difficult to fix as you described. I usually leave Ubuntu running for weeks or months, rarely having to reboot and it's highly stable. I've never come even close to that with Windows.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#167

Post by AsyncAwait »

mehrdadn wrote: post #160
AsyncAwait wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the frequency of freezing on each one actually makes a huge difference? Of course it does. But you presumed that Windows freezes much less frequently, which is not accurate in my experience and indeed I don't specify numbers precisely because the difference isn't significant.

Then my entire point is that you need to say that! For me Linux freezes noticeably more often than Windows so hearing how I can recover more easily from it is cold comfort and makes no sense. For something like this you just can't assume people know how often your system freezes or otherwise all have the same experience as you.

> Then my entire point is that you need to say that!

Perhaps. I assumed it was implied.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#169

Post by tchaffee »

gst wrote: post #47

I've used Linux since the early 1.x kernel versions, but for my next laptop I'm thinking about switching to a MacBook. Not because of the software (I prefer Linux to macOS), but because of the hardware. Apple seems to be the only manufacturer that so far escaped the race to the bottom and which still produces somewhat premium hardware. I want: a hidpi screen with lots of nits and a good contrast, a trackpoint or a hu…

My wife gets Apple products because her work pays for it. She has been to the repair shop multiple times. My last couple of Dells meanwhile feel rock solid like a Mac but have never needed repairs. It's anecdotal on my part, but I think worth looking into more.

Re: How and why I transitioned to Linux, and how you can too

#170

Post by aembleton »

doxavore wrote: post #17

Is there a pleasant way to run a Linux laptop today with decent drawing/touchscreen support, HiDPI, and working dock/undock multi-monitor support? I have used various distros on and off over the years, but today I can run Windows 10 on a Surface Book 2, and the non-development portions of my experience are spectacular, for the low, low price of selling my soul: lazy file syncing with OneDrive, pen support combined wi…

Got a Dell Latitude at work, installed Ubuntu onto it. Worked without any setup. Connect it up to the Dell Thunderbolt dock and I have a pair of monitors hooked up to it, providing three screens.

Works without any issues for me.

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