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The Joy of Linux Desktop Environments

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Re: The Joy of Linux Desktop Environments

#61

Post by mverwijs »

bengalister wrote: post #52

I recently tried to use Linux (Ubuntu 16.10) as my primary desktop and failed again. I tried yearly since year 2000. But again in late 2016 I switched back to Windows (10) and MacOs. Driver support is getting better but so are my expectations and Linux (well Ubuntu) doesn't seem to catch up fast enough. For instance I failed having my dual graphic cards be used in extended mode with the my native laptop screen and an…

Today I found out that my brand new Macbook Pro (company provided) does not actually go to sleep when I close the lid. Every 30 minutes or so, it wakes up, builds up a wifi connection and starts doing something. Even though the 'powernap' feature is turned off.

I find that sort of behaviour far more worrisome than a bluetooth headset not working.

Re: The Joy of Linux Desktop Environments

#63

Post by willtim »

digi_owl wrote: post #42
awalGarg wrote: post #13

One not-so-unrelated thing I really love about linux is that the "configuration" for just about every application is stored in plain-text files, mostly in the user's home directory. Which means we can use git to version control them (like many many people do - the dotfiles trend). You can have a log of configuration changes for your system, you can have various profiles with branches, etc. Want to switch to a differe…

For every person loving those plain texts, there are one that want to see them purged from existence. Observe how Gnome has basically recreated the registry, complete with hidden magic switches...

The Gnome stack is horrible. I long ago started questioning the sanity of the devs when they tried to build an entire office suite in C. Start any Gnome/GTK app and it will continously spew assertion failed log messages at you. Gnome has also forced certain standards, e.g. Network Manager when superior alternatives exist (the excellent Connman).

Re: The Joy of Linux Desktop Environments

#64

Post by TeMPOraL »

digi_owl wrote: post #40
anondon wrote: post #25

One thing I noticed about installing multiple desktop environment on Ubuntu: they all have different default apps that are always installed. So when you have two desktop environments, you end up with 2 different terminals, 2 different file browsers, 2 different archive managers etc. You could uninstall apps that have the exact same purpose, but it would be nice if there was a formal way for DEs to recognize and ackno…

> ugly politics with nice explanations And why in the long run OSS will be subverted because it exists to strip free software of politics...

It seems like the endless iteration of OSS stripping some politics, then someone taking it and adding different politics, which makes someone else do an OSS version without that politics, etc.

Re: The Joy of Linux Desktop Environments

#65

Post by willtim »

lima wrote: post #55
digi_owl wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For every person loving those plain texts, there are one that want to see them purged from existence. Observe how Gnome has basically recreated the registry, complete with hidden magic switches...

Gnome re-created the registry because they needed features that plain text files don't have. I simply have a hook for my dotfile repo which calls "dconf dump / > .dconf". This dumps the entire tree and it's nicely versioned in the repo.

The issue for me is more that they recreated the windows registry with all its flaws. For example, when uninstalling an app, can every entry associated with that app be easily removed?

Re: The Joy of Linux Desktop Environments

#66

Post by fapjacks »

bengalister wrote: post #52

I recently tried to use Linux (Ubuntu 16.10) as my primary desktop and failed again. I tried yearly since year 2000. But again in late 2016 I switched back to Windows (10) and MacOs. Driver support is getting better but so are my expectations and Linux (well Ubuntu) doesn't seem to catch up fast enough. For instance I failed having my dual graphic cards be used in extended mode with the my native laptop screen and an…

Now this is strange, because I've had exactly the opposite experience with the same hardware. I've gotten both a (Thinkpad) W530 and a P50 working fully (with four monitors!) with their dual-GPU hardware out of the box with Linux Mint 18 (Cinnamon), which is based on Ubuntu 16.04. Incidentally, Windows 10 shit itself with a simple ATI 7990 and the onboard NIC on an Asus motherboard when I tried to install it a couple of months ago.

Re: The Joy of Linux Desktop Environments

#67

Post by madamelic »

bengalister wrote: post #52

I recently tried to use Linux (Ubuntu 16.10) as my primary desktop and failed again. I tried yearly since year 2000. But again in late 2016 I switched back to Windows (10) and MacOs. Driver support is getting better but so are my expectations and Linux (well Ubuntu) doesn't seem to catch up fast enough. For instance I failed having my dual graphic cards be used in extended mode with the my native laptop screen and an…

I actually have the opposite problem.

Everything I own and do is terrible on Windows and works fine on Ubuntu.

There is some weird finnicky things with Bluetooth headphones (especially headsets) but it is honestly such an easy fix (plug them in) that I don't even think about it.

Windows on the other refuses to connect at all to my Bluetooth headphones (Sony), my graphics card has broken drivers (and continues to) and that is even before I mention all of my gripes with Windows as a developer (compiling on Windows is basically a no-go)

The only thing I use Windows for is gaming, because unfortunately games are basically never released for Linux.

Re: The Joy of Linux Desktop Environments

#68

Post by sandGorgon »

Ubuntu has turned into this franken-beast that is simply not cutting it for me anymore.

Right from the installer (that doesn't work well on XPS 13 with name) to Unity to Mir.

Fedora 24 has been brilliant and works awesome out of the box. I am constantly recommending F24 to people and have never had a bad experience.

Re: The Joy of Linux Desktop Environments

#69

Post by cgdub »

awalGarg wrote: post #13

One not-so-unrelated thing I really love about linux is that the "configuration" for just about every application is stored in plain-text files, mostly in the user's home directory. Which means we can use git to version control them (like many many people do - the dotfiles trend). You can have a log of configuration changes for your system, you can have various profiles with branches, etc. Want to switch to a differe…

You can also go one step further and have the configuration for the entire OS in text files with something like NixOS. https://nixos.org/nixos/about.html

Want to see what your PC was really like 2 months ago, including rolling back updates and removing new applications you installed and vice-versa? You can do that. Even if you switched desktop environments.

Re: The Joy of Linux Desktop Environments

#70

Post by madamelic »

rifung wrote: post #57
bengalister wrote: post #52

I recently tried to use Linux (Ubuntu 16.10) as my primary desktop and failed again. I tried yearly since year 2000. But again in late 2016 I switched back to Windows (10) and MacOs. Driver support is getting better but so are my expectations and Linux (well Ubuntu) doesn't seem to catch up fast enough. For instance I failed having my dual graphic cards be used in extended mode with the my native laptop screen and an…

> Linux desktop is getting better but is still a painful experience when used with non common setup. Indeed every time I think of getting a new laptop or desktop, I try to do research into how well Linux will run on the hardware. Thankfully there seem to be a decent number of laptops that have Linux preinstalled now. As much as I enjoy tinkering, even after using Linux for a while I still don't have a strong understa…

I had the same opinion of Linux as you. I didn't want to tinker with it and get everything working well.

Just install Ubuntu. Ignore everyone saying Ubuntu is a kiddy OS ("All you need is X, Y, Z-ix"). Ubuntu is Linux Windows (not really, but it is pretty hard to mess up).

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