Ask me anything: I switched from Mac to Linux because of Apple's surveillance

[WriteNow]

I've looked online at lists and videos for the best distros and they all seem like cheap macOS or Windows clones

It seems like that's often been the case...

Years back, I was probably the one person in the world who had some respect for Ubuntu, when they were developing the Unity desktop. A lot of people hated Unity--and I'm not sure how much I liked it. (I used it so little--it worked OK when I tried it, but other distros were a better match overall for my needs.) But I had to give Ubuntu credit for doing something that wasn't a Windows knock off.

 

[WriteNow]

I wish I could use chromeOS (as I believe that's really close to Linux) but that doesn't seem like an option for most devices (and even then it doesn't seem perfect)

You might look at NeverWare CloudReady. It brings a Chrome OS like OS to regular hardware. I'm not sure, but I suspect it's based off Chromium OS, the open source version of Chrome OS

Upgrade Your PC: Faster and More Secure with ChromeOS Flex

Install ChromeOS Flex, a secure, cloud-based OS for PCs and Macs. Easy to install and manage, bringing the benefits of ChromeOS to your organization.

www.neverware.com

They have a "Home" version, which is free. I have no experience, but it might be worth looking at this.

 

[SoN1NjA]

It seems like that's often been the case...

Years back, I was probably the one person in the world who had some respect for Ubuntu, when they were developing the Unity desktop. A lot of people hated Unity--and I'm not sure how much I liked it. (I used it so little--it worked OK when I tried it, but other distros were a better match overall for my needs.) But I had to give Ubuntu credit for doing something that wasn't a Windows knock off.

Is that project or distro no longer a thing then? Just from the way you've worded your message

You might look at NeverWare CloudReady. It brings a Chrome OS like OS to regular hardware. I'm not sure, but I suspect it's based off Chromium OS, the open source version of Chrome OS

Upgrade Your PC: Faster and More Secure with ChromeOS Flex

Install ChromeOS Flex, a secure, cloud-based OS for PCs and Macs. Easy to install and manage, bringing the benefits of ChromeOS to your organization.

www.neverware.com

They have a "Home" version, which is free. I have no experience, but it might be worth looking at this.

Yeah that's it. Unfortunately that's really only been designed for a select handful of (extremely old) devices and new devices are either just "ymmv probably won't run" or there's either limited / no drivers for said device, be it a MacBook or a Surface device (I think I also looked into the XPS 9310). Wish device manufactures would just allow dual boot chromeOS! Obviously Apple and Microsoft have their own goals as they literally own its' competing platforms, but 3rd parties like Dell should at least consider it! Although tbf, I think MSFT and OEMs have contracts

 

[WriteNow]

Is that project or distro no longer a thing then? Just from the way you've worded your message

Ubuntu still exists, but they went to GNOME a few years ago. Or actually went back--they used GNOME before Unity.

I did some checking, and it looks like Unity still exists, developed by others.

 

[WriteNow]

Yeah that's it. Unfortunately that's really only been designed for a select handful of (extremely old) devices and new devices are either just "ymmv probably won't run" or there's either limited / no drivers for said device, be it a MacBook or a Surface device

Too bad.

Although tbf, I think MSFT and OEMs have contracts

I suspect there might be something like that.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Isn't Unity based off of GNOME 3? While I often love what everyone else hates (I actually adore TouchWiz--perhaps I'm Samsung's target demographic?) I can't say I actually was fond of Unity. Just something as innocous as moving the window controls to the left bugged me. But that was just one problem I had with it.

 

[WriteNow]

Isn't Unity based off of GNOME 3?

I'm not entirely sure, but I somehow recall that Unity was based off GNOME. But I assume that there must have been some real work involved--it wasn't just a matter of a simple "theme."

I can't say I actually was fond of Unity. Just something as innocous as moving the window controls to the left bugged me. But that was just one problem I had with it.

It's been a long time, but my recollection was that my big complaint is that it was too much for the older hardware I've tended to have. I recall Ubuntu struggling on one computer, but the roughly equivalent Linux Mint (with Cinnamon, I"m thinking) was fine. And one Ubuntu installation was sluggish, until XFCE (Xubuntu desktop) was installed.

But...I'd probably have been OK with Unity if the hardware had been better. I've been able to change desktops any number of times, and adapt each time.

 

[WriteNow]

I just did some checking. I remember seeing commentary about Ubuntu on Dedoimedo that was less than favorable after Ubuntu went back to GNOME. One article made this comment:

Several weeks ago, Ubuntu 18.04 was released, and to me it felt like I was watching an episode of an old TV show, and all the grainy VHS quality didn't quite look as exciting as a bunch of decades ago. But whatever year you want to choose as your reference point for the larger regression, 2011, 2007, whatever, Ubuntu Bionic does not feel like a modern, slick, sleek operating system. The reason: it comes with Gnome 3.​

Ubuntu 18.04 + Unity - the desktop you always needed

Enthusiastic review of Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver with the Unity desktop environment, covering relevance, look & feel, ease of use, responsiveness, resource utilization, significant ergonomic advantages over Gnome 3, long-term production usage considerations, and more

www.dedoimedo.com

This article included discussion of installing Unity on Ubuntu 18.04, which was possible, since Unity was still in repos, and presumably still supported to some degree back then.

In any case, at least one person (besides me) didn't positively hate Unity!

 

[maflynn]

I was never a fan of unity, so I was happy to see Gnome back

 

[nickdalzell1]

I'm just set in my ways. iOS 7 ruined the experience of Apple for me, and Android 5.0, Lollipop also did the same. Even just moving the controls to the left in Unity bugged me as it was just another change for change's sake. Not to mention I've always found Unity quite ugly, and flat. I was dead set against smartphones and hung onto my Nokia 5185i well into 2009, but when I was handed a 3GS and I experienced that skeuomorphic UI for the first time, which made the Nokia feel dated afterwards, I discovered a future where we might see holographic UX in a few years (didn't help I watched the Iron Man movies during that time). It was fun to interact with, and turned a cold, lifeless slab into a literal radio, calculator, camera, or notepad. Flat UI doesn't give me the same adoration, it's cold, lifeless, hard to look at (too white!) and every app looks the same, and it's sometimes hard to find out what's a button or just text. I will never understand flat UI design, and mostly because that's what my obsolete Nokia used, what many 80s computers used and that's one part of that decade I don't miss. They could have picked any part of the '80s to go back to; music, movies, TV shows, but no, they picked the graphics of the Hercules and CGA/EGA era. Makes absolutely no sense. /rant

 

[mrochester]

How well does League of Legends and Steam and your games work on Linux?

 

[nickdalzell1]

I don't play League of Legends but every game except one works fine in Linux (thanks to Proton in part, terminal hacks in others). Fallout 4 took some effort to make run, as it'd just CTD, then after getting it to finally run (downgrading Proton) it had no sound, and that required some hacks in certain configuration files using nano. The only game that's completely non-functional is Flight Simulator 2020. It opens the menu, downloads updates, but hard freezes the system just before the main launcher displays where you can create a flight. I haven't yet pinpointed where it's failing yet.

 

[Kung gu]

I don't play League of Legends but every game except one works fine in Linux (thanks to Proton in part, terminal hacks in others). Fallout 4 took some effort to make run, as it'd just CTD, then after getting it to finally run (downgrading Proton) it had no sound, and that required some hacks in certain configuration files using nano. The only game that's completely non-functional is Flight Simulator 2020. It opens the menu, downloads updates, but hard freezes the system just before the main launcher displays where you can create a flight. I haven't yet pinpointed where it's failing yet.

For e-sports unless Valorant and League support Linux. The e-sports industry will never use Linux.

 

[Kung gu]

I am looking at the Surface Laptop Studio.

Looks very unique.

 

[nickdalzell1]

The EA-sports industry will never use Linux.

Fixed it for ya

 

[azpekt]

Okay... which video editing software do you use on Linux or which would you recommend?

DaVinci Resolve 19 | Blackmagic Design

Professional video editing, color correction, visual effects and audio post production all in a single application. Free and paid versions for Mac, Windows and Linux.

www.blackmagicdesign.com

FCPX is nowhere near.

 

[nickdalzell1]

I used VirtualDub ages ago, back in 2010 when I did a short-lived video-podcast. It crashed often (but but! Linux never crashes they say!) but it did work for what it was worth. Of course, I'm sure it's well out of date today. Back then even YouTube was full of crazy effects.

 

[crymimefireworks]

How's other people's switching going? I've been pretty content on my new Lemur Pro running Pop OS. MacBook Pro 16" has a nice layer of dust forming from not being used.

Even dove in and purchased a PinePhone Beta. Not expecting it to replace my iPhone but figured I would support the cause.

No plans for an iPad replacement, but open to it.

Airpods have been gathering dust for a month.

 

[WriteNow]

How's other people's switching going? I've been pretty content on my new Lemur Pro running Pop OS. MacBook Pro 16" has a nice layer of dust forming from not being used.

Well, actually nothing to support...it's still been several years since I started using my Linux computer for pretty much everything! But I suppose the switch might get undone at any moment. Linux is so terrible for normal people. LOL

 

[WriteNow]

Even dove in and purchased a PinePhone Beta. Not expecting it to replace my iPhone but figured I would support the cause.

I doubt it would replace an iPhone or standard Android phone--at least for most people. From what I've heard, the Linux phones are pretty severely limited. But one hopes that will change.

I'm personally using a feature phone. But I've thought that when my phone must be replaced that maybe the Pine Phone will semi-viable.

No plans for an iPad replacement, but open to it.

I think this is a tough one... I don't have a tablet, but have been thinking recently that one could be useful. But I don't want to buy anything Apple--although I suppose it can be argued that a single low end iPad is really meaningless in their total sales figures.

I've thought, for myself, that perhaps long term maybe I may have to buy devices that I wouldn't want ideally. But I'd aim them to be firmly secondary devices. In this case, an iPad to do a few things that benefit from a tablet.

One suggestion I've heard has been Microsoft Surface. I'm not sure I'd want to go Microsoft, myself--but it might be a workable choice for some.

 

[nickdalzell1]

I don't care what 'normal' or 'mainstream' people use. I think their kind of tech is far too dumbed down or idiot-proofed. I am still doing just fine on Deepin Linux (themed to look like Windows Vista and running many apps from 2010-11 from Windows via Wine--including the version of SeaMonkey I'm using to post this!) and have gone back to the good old days of 2011 and 2012 with a Samsung Galaxy SII and Samsung Galaxy Note II (work and home phones) and my Amazon Fire TV Stick, though taking about as much effort as getting Linux the way I wanted it to be, is now running as reliably as my old Apple TV did, only unlike the latter, doesn't force updates down my throat. I'm doing quite well in skeuo land again, and can't imagine anything better. Everything works as it should. Kindle, Spotify, etc all work fine on the 'ancient' versions.

 

[vir]

Linux can't do color.

 

[maflynn]

Interesting timing

Looks like some folks at LTT are going to do a Linux challenge, where they'll be using Linux as their main OS for an extended period of time.

 

[crymimefireworks]

I doubt it would replace an iPhone or standard Android phone--at least for most people. From what I've heard, the Linux phones are pretty severely limited. But one hopes that will change.

I'm personally using a feature phone. But I've thought that when my phone must be replaced that maybe the Pine Phone will semi-viable.

The Pinephone isn't viable right now. The only way it will get there is with your support, my support, and others.

The most likely outcome is Pinephone fails. Be part of the change you want to happen!

 

[crymimefireworks]

I'm making the switch until Linux get its act together with color. I hear whispers of next year perhaps.

To accelerate progress you can donate money to the projects and developers who are building these features. GitHub Sponsors has a way to pay a monthly susbscriptions to projects you support, I've added 4 in my first month of using Linux. After all, Free software is free as in speech, not as in beer.