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Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

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Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#81

Post by leppr »

pg_1234 wrote: post #75
leppr wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I care because as supply chain issues get worse, it's becoming harder and harder to get the good Linux-ready laptops within a reasonable delay. I recently switched to an Asus after a decade of Thinkpads (because a custom maxed-out Thinkpad would've taken 2 months+ to get delivered). What I forgot to check was Linux compatibility. With out-of-the-box Ubuntu, wifi didn't work. I was forced to switch from my usual distr…

What distro did you use in the end? I had to fall back from Mint to Kubuntu due to issues with both wifi and the touchpad on an acer swift.

Arch. It's possible to update to a new kernel on Ubuntu that has the new drivers required, but I couldn't get the installation to succeed, and the Arch repos being so up-to-date helps a lot with those compatibility issues. Overall the switch was quite painless and my setup now is way less buggy than on Ubuntu. It can't be recommended to begineers though, as you do have to use the terminal a lot and the defaults are too bare.

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#82

Post by Darmody »

kaladin-jasnah wrote: post #35
Darmody wrote: post #2

Doesn't load on Firefox on Android. The year of the Linux desktop was 2016, when Ubuntu 16.04 was released. It went downhill ever since.

Did Proton exist in 2016?

I can play more games now but my overall experience is worse.

I am not happy with the desktop environments we have now. I have to use a custom Gnome Shell to make my experience acceptable.

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#83

Post by BrightGlow »

arepublicadoceu wrote: post #65
quantumsolace wrote: post #8

This "year of the Linux Desktop" joke is getting a bit tiresome. What is missing exactly? Sure the desktop is a bit ugly. But pretty much everything works out of the box. If MS released a native Office for Linux I could get rid of my Mac.

> But pretty much everything works out of the box. Things that didn't work out of the box "for me": - Using multiple displays with mixed DPIs without wayland. - Using wayland with nvidia (Even with the latest driver that supposed to give a half-baked support for it) - On my HP laptop when I close the laptop lid, instead of suspend, it will turn airplane mode on. The only fix is to remap the key that send airplane mod…

For the first one, you should probably be using Wayland. X11 is considered an obsolete legacy window system, it's simply not going to stay relevant for modern uses.

For the second one, I don't have any tips for you, nobody can fix that but nvidia.

For the third and fourth one, you might be able to get someone to fix that if you search around for long enough, but it will take work.

Next time you buy hardware you may want to make sure it's supported with your OS first. Sadly that's still necessary in this day and age.

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#84

Post by BrightGlow »

Darmody wrote: post #82
kaladin-jasnah wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did Proton exist in 2016?

I can play more games now but my overall experience is worse. I am not happy with the desktop environments we have now. I have to use a custom Gnome Shell to make my experience acceptable.

I used to feel that way but now I'm less picky and am comfortable using the stock version of any desktop environment, as long as it's stable and supports basic functions. There comes a point when you'll realize you're swimming against the tide for very little gain, and it's easier to just learn to be flexible.

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#85

Post by Darmody »

BrightGlow wrote: post #84
Darmody wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can play more games now but my overall experience is worse. I am not happy with the desktop environments we have now. I have to use a custom Gnome Shell to make my experience acceptable.

I used to feel that way but now I'm less picky and am comfortable using the stock version of any desktop environment, as long as it's stable and supports basic functions. There comes a point when you'll realize you're swimming against the tide for very little gain, and it's easier to just learn to be flexible.

I'm not picky, st least I don't think so. I just want the DE not to get in my way.

Unwanted popups, slow and "fancy" effects that makes your workflow slower, weird default behavior (like alt-tab with gnome), multiple clicks to do what you used to do with 1, etc.

I don't think that's being picky, it's just wanting something that works and doesn't infuriate you with every new update.

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#86

Post by quantumsolace »

ogogmad wrote: post #21
quantumsolace wrote: post #8

This "year of the Linux Desktop" joke is getting a bit tiresome. What is missing exactly? Sure the desktop is a bit ugly. But pretty much everything works out of the box. If MS released a native Office for Linux I could get rid of my Mac.

Have you tried running Office over Wine? Have you tried LibreOffice? Admittedly, I don't have to share complicated MS Office documents with other people, but I do like using LO. [edit] Actually, there are some things about LO I'm not sure about: For instance, I don't know how to use their formula editor, and when I tried using it, I got confused and found another way of inserting mathematical symbols into my document…

I appreciate all the effort put into LO, or any complicated and sophisticated free (as in libre) project. I despise LO. I use gnumeric when I need a spreadsheet. Or grab my Mac.

I haven't tried running office in wine in over a decade, although I've realized they've achieved great things (by the games they support). I don't game, and all I need the Mac is MS Office, so I never tried again.

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#87

Post by BrightGlow »

Darmody wrote: post #85
BrightGlow wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to feel that way but now I'm less picky and am comfortable using the stock version of any desktop environment, as long as it's stable and supports basic functions. There comes a point when you'll realize you're swimming against the tide for very little gain, and it's easier to just learn to be flexible.

I'm not picky, st least I don't think so. I just want the DE not to get in my way. Unwanted popups, slow and "fancy" effects that makes your workflow slower, weird default behavior (like alt-tab with gnome), multiple clicks to do what you used to do with 1, etc. I don't think that's being picky, it's just wanting something that works and doesn't infuriate you with every new update.

I know the feeling of the DE getting in the way, part of resolving that for me was just learning to work with the DE rather than working against it and resisting changes. If an old workflow is slowed with a new update, it might be time to adjust that workflow and look at it in a different way.

Re: Is 2021 the Year of the Linux Desktop?

#88

Post by BrightGlow »

type0 wrote: post #32
ogogmad wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried running Office over Wine? Have you tried LibreOffice? Admittedly, I don't have to share complicated MS Office documents with other people, but I do like using LO. [edit] Actually, there are some things about LO I'm not sure about: For instance, I don't know how to use their formula editor, and when I tried using it, I got confused and found another way of inserting mathematical symbols into my document…

> I don't have to share complicated MS Office documents with other people, but I do like using LO. If you do share documents, Excel files especially, you'll quickly find that people using MS Office wouldn't like you using LibreOffice.

The best solution there is to not send an Excel file. The most portable way is to export the data to CSV and send that.
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