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

[nickdalzell1]

Making Linux Mint look like Win 7 is just as easy. The commands on the CLI were simply to download the theme and icon packs. A person could use their web browser to download them into the appropriate folders and not use the terminal commands.

Can you give me the commands perhaps? I'm pretty adept at the terminal and it's no problem. I just wanted to avoid months of debugging like my last attempt! If it's like sudo apt-get install this or that I'm fine. I'm willing to do anything for skeuo, even XP's version.

 

[vir]

Fedora is nice looking.

 

[nickdalzell1]

meh, macOS has been garbage since Yosemite came along. I want nothing more to do with flat UIs. It's been 8 years. They said it's a cycle, and we'd be back to skeuo soon after flat gets old. The thing is, Flat is still trendy. I don't know what's wrong with people. That's like using DeskMate, VisiON or BatMenu today. It's regression to the worst part of the 80s--computer graphics being limited. Here we are with amazing display tech only to draw something more fitting to a CRT in 1986.

Linux can be anything you want and interest more people sure, but try duckduckgo'g 'skeuo linux distro' you get nothing. People asking about it just get laughed at and get comments such as 'why you stuck in 2010?'

 

[vir]

Flat isn't the trend.

 

[The_Interloper]

This thread is getting completely derailed with discussions about Flat UI design and skeuomorphic preferences. This is supposed to be about CSAM surveillance instigating a platform move, people!

 

[joevt]

can Linux Unbuntu physically boot on a macbook air, 2010 with a ssd drive that is High Sierra formatted?
i say no-
getting Mojave on that was tedious, but worked.
and during the Unbuntu install those drivers kept appearing for over an hour without any progress.
do i need the ssd drive formatted differently?
my Unbuntu install source was from their thread and i followed the instructions to the T

It should be possible. I got 20.04 LTS installed on a Mac Pro 2008. I'll get around to trying 21.04 someday.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ubuntu-20-04-lts-on-mac-pro-2008-doesnt-boot-solved.2244437/
You just need to know the current setup of your computer (partition tables, boot variables, EFI contents), and be able to understand how Ubuntu can mess those up, and how to fix those and Ubuntu if it does mess those up.

The MacBook Air 2010 has NVIDIA GeForce 320M which might complicate things?

Here's a post about installing Ubuntu.
https://desertbot.io/blog/ubuntu-desktop-macbook-air-setup
I would try dual boot. Create the partitions using macOS Disk Utility (one for root and, optionally, one for swap). Then use the Ubuntu installer and select the partitions you created.

 

[MBAir2010]

It should be possible. I got 20.04 LTS installed on a Mac Pro 2008. I'll get around to trying 21.04 someday.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ubuntu-20-04-lts-on-mac-pro-2008-doesnt-boot-solved.2244437/
You just need to know the current setup of your computer (partition tables, boot variables, EFI contents), and be able to understand how Ubuntu can mess those up, and how to fix those and Ubuntu if it does mess those up.

The MacBook Air 2010 has NVIDIA GeForce 320M which might complicate things?

Here's a post about installing Ubuntu.
https://desertbot.io/blog/ubuntu-desktop-macbook-air-setup
I would try dual boot. Create the partitions using macOS Disk Utility (one for root and, optionally, one for swap). Then use the Ubuntu installer and select the partitions you created.

thank you!
i will report on the progress soon enough
been trying this since 2017!

 

[nickdalzell1]

Well I tried installing both Cinnamon and Mate and no luck getting ANY XP theme to look nowhere near that screenshot. I get it half ass but that's about it. none of my icon themes downloaded show up under themes, and trying Git stalled with wanting a username or password. I was following this:

How To Make Linux Look Like Windows Vista

How To Make Linux Look Like Windows Vista

www.addictivetips.com

But once I get to git clone command it wants a user name and password. I don't have one for github. It doesn't mention needing one in the article. What am I doing wrong?

Neuomorphism isn't anything but Material Design. I want skeuomorphic linux is all. Somewhere there has to be a distro for it. Doing it by sideloading ain't working.

 

[sracer]

Well I tried installing both Cinnamon and Mate and no luck getting ANY XP theme to look nowhere near that screenshot. I get it half ass but that's about it. none of my icon themes downloaded show up under themes, and trying Git stalled with wanting a username or password. I was following this:

How To Make Linux Look Like Windows Vista

How To Make Linux Look Like Windows Vista

www.addictivetips.com

But once I get to git clone command it wants a user name and password. I don't have one for github. It doesn't mention needing one in the article. What am I doing wrong?

Neuomorphism isn't anything but Material Design. I want skeuomorphic linux is all. Somewhere there has to be a distro for it. Doing it by sideloading ain't working.

Here's the Win 7 theme for Linux Mint (would work with other distros too) It's just a matter of downloading the theme and icon set and then going to appearance and desktop settings to set the theme and icon set.



You can download the theme and icon set here:
How to Make Linux Mint Look Like Windows 7 - OMG! Ubuntu! (omgubuntu.co.uk)

terminal commands to download the XP theme:

sudo apt install wget git
wget https://archive.org/download/bliss-600dpi/bliss-600dpi.png -P ~/Pictures
git clone https://github.com/B00merang-Project/Windows-XP.git Windows-XP-Themes
git clone https://github.com/B00merang-Artwork/Windows-XP.git Windows-XP-Icons
cp -r 'Windows-XP-Themes/Windows XP Luna' ~/.themes
cp -r 'Windows-XP-Icons' ~/.icons

Then you need to change the background wallpaper, appearance, and icon in the respective settings dialogs

 

[nickdalzell1]

EDIT: I got it figured out. It's still a hot mess but I got 80% the theme working.

Nothing I'd use would help make the panel scale or look correctly so I replaced it with cairo-dock

 

[dukebound85]

Everyone (except Linux devs) are catering to the lowest common denominator these days. Easier to lead along the ignorant. We smart folks are obsolete. I know, it makes zero sense to me as well. When things started getting idiot proof (GFCI outlets, lowering the standards for getting a driver's license, laws to protect everyone from themselves, etc) Darwin couldn't keep the gene pool strong. We got a ton of idiots breeding and now they're the mainstream audience.

The writing on the wall was getting clearer when people stopped reading manuals for their new PC, or stove, television or when they stopped teaching their children basic repair/maintenance skills. We got a lot of folks who make signs who can't even spell (my neighborhood is called 'Thorobred Crossing' they spelled "Thoroughbred" wrong)

Sorry, but what in the world?

 

[sracer]

Every time I try git clone command it wants a user name and password. Tried my Linux credentials and it just gives authentication failed error and gives up. that was the command I tried earlier. Here's my terminal output:

nick@nick-PC:~$ git clone https://github.com/B00erang-Project/Redmond-Themes.git
Cloning into 'Redmond-Themes'...
Username for 'https://github.com':

here's what I get regardless of the credentials I try or with none:

nick@nick-PC:~$ git clone https://github.com/B00erang-Project/Redmond-Themes.git
Cloning into 'Redmond-Themes'...
Username for 'https://github.com':
Password for 'https://github.com':
remote: Repository not found.
fatal: Authentication failed for 'https://github.com/B00erang-Project/Redmond-Themes.git/'
nick@nick-PC:~$

I get the same with Windows-XP themes or the other one. It wants a user name. I don't think I should create an account, give my info just for a darned theme.

What Linux distro are you using? I never get prompted for a password or username.

 

[nickdalzell1]

What Linux distro are you using? I never get prompted for a password or username.

Deepin. The issue was some type of autocorrect was correcting 'B00merang' as 'Boomerang' and it defaulted to some sort of login. then said repo not found.

I also replaced my DE with Mate. Tried Cinnamon but it wouldn't let me do crap with themes.

EDIT: Strike that, I reloaded cinnamon and it seems to work a bit better than Mate. Just wish I could get the text off the panel where it says 'menu' or 'firefox' as it seems to clip into the icons

 

[WriteNow]

It took well over 60 years for the Soviet Union to fall. God help us if it takes that long for this mess to ultimately go away.

At the risk of being a Debbie Downer...I have sometimes wondered if we aren't heading into new Dark Ages...

I wish there was just one distro with that UI out the gate, only I'd rather have Vista or 7, as I was never that fond of Windows XP or its Luna interface. During XP's heyday I stuck with 98SE. I was not impressed until Vista came out.

I actually liked XP's look better than any version of Windows before or after. Odd, given that it looked like a toy. But then I guess I viewed XP as a toy OS...

 

[WriteNow]

PC Linux OS, if still available, was pretty close to Windows, from a visual standpoint.

Apparently still available:

The Boomer Distribution » PCLinuxOS

www.pclinuxos.com

 

[Lee_Bo]

Apparently still available:

The Boomer Distribution » PCLinuxOS

www.pclinuxos.com

Excellent.

 

[nickdalzell1]

I wish screenshots still worked. I must have broke it as the prt sc doesn't do anything now! I have a very nice setup and I can't even share it!

Nevermind:

 

[jseymour]

What are you doing for watch and mobile?

Haven't found a suitable replacement. I may just go back to a traditional wrist watch.

This is the Linux issue. Needing CLI to get a mouse working and to install a browser is just crazy.

I've installed and used a variety of Linux distros on a variety of desktops and laptops over the years. I've never had to resort to the command line to get a mouse working. Or install a browser. Ok, the browser... maybe. Maybe in the early days I had to use command-line package managers to install and update apps and so-on. Wasn't particularly tricky.

My "desktop" (which is really just a desktop on the home LAN server), which I'm using now, has a Logitech wireless mouse on it. It just worked. My laptop has some-or-another no-name wireless mouse that some-or-another vendor gave me before I retired. I plugged-in the USB dongle and the mouse just worked. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I've also used a variety of USB and other hardware interface rodents over the years.

Thoughts on Telegram vs Signal? My understanding is Telegram is closed source, Signal is open source.

Can't say, as I've never used, or even looked into, Telegram. I do use Signal and it suits my needs.

 

[crymimefireworks]

can Linux Unbuntu physically boot on a macbook air, 2010 with a ssd drive that is High Sierra formatted?
i say no-
getting Mojave on that was tedious, but worked.
and during the Unbuntu install those drivers kept appearing for over an hour without any progress.
do i need the ssd drive formatted differently?
my Unbuntu install source was from their thread and i followed the instructions to the T

I'm a Linux beginner. To get Linux working properly, it may mean that you buy hardware customized for Linux such as from System76.

 

[crymimefireworks]

Can you give me the commands perhaps? I'm pretty adept at the terminal and it's no problem. I just wanted to avoid months of debugging like my last attempt! If it's like sudo apt-get install this or that I'm fine. I'm willing to do anything for skeuo, even XP's version.

Curious about this for myself. What I've noticed about themes so far is they don't seem to apply to all applications. So I just stick with the defaults.

 

[crymimefireworks]

Haven't found a suitable replacement. I may just go back to a traditional wrist watch.


I've installed and used a variety of Linux distros on a variety of desktops and laptops over the years. I've never had to resort to the command line to get a mouse working. Or install a browser. Ok, the browser... maybe. Maybe in the early days I had to use command-line package managers to install and update apps and so-on. Wasn't particularly tricky.

My "desktop" (which is really just a desktop on the home LAN server), which I'm using now, has a Logitech wireless mouse on it. It just worked. My laptop has some-or-another no-name wireless mouse that some-or-another vendor gave me before I retired. I plugged-in the USB dongle and the mouse just worked. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I've also used a variety of USB and other hardware interface rodents over the years.


Can't say, as I've never used, or even looked into, Telegram. I do use Signal and it suits my needs.

BROWSER
If you have a way to install Brave without CLI I'm all ears. Even Brave themselves gives a bunch of CLI commands:

Installing Brave on Linux | Brave

The Brave browser is a fast, private and secure web browser for PC, Mac and mobile. Download now to enjoy a faster ad-free browsing experience that saves data and battery life by blocking tracking software.

brave.com

I don't mean this to be an attack on Linux. But it has a long way to grow before it's ready for regular people. But it has to get there.

I'm here to support it. It took me 2 hours to get dd/Blaetcher/whatever working to be able to make a bootable SD drive. It's that type of stuff that is a non-starter for millions of people.

MOUSE
And not needing to run CLI to get your mouse working -- I'm envious! The only way to get a Magic Mouse to scroll on Ubuntu is through CLI using this package built by a wonderful dev: https://github.com/RicardoEPRodrigues/magicmouse-hid

Even still, it's stuttery and not good enough. I spent $50 on a new Logitech mouse instead.

Linux isn't where it needs to be. It needs our support, money, and bug reports to get there.

 

[nickdalzell1]

I couldn't get Brave to install on Deepin, despite it showing in the app store, it says 'download failed' each time

Terminal output:

nick@nick-PC:~$ sudo apt-get install brave
[sudo] password for nick:
Verification successful
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree      
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package brave

Couldn't locate a *.Deb of it either, but will keep trying.

EDIT: followed this guide and it seems to be working now

Unable to locate package brave-browser on Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS (lubuntu)

Trying to install the Brave web browser, I ultimately arrive at the error, "Unable to locate package brave-browser". How should I proceed? Here is my LXTerminal output: username@username-Latitude...

askubuntu.com

 

[MBAir2010]

I'm trying to get brave working (non safe mode) on a MacBook air.
just a whiteish screen with those (shrug) 3 dots

 

[nickdalzell1]

Curious about this for myself. What I've noticed about themes so far is they don't seem to apply to all applications. So I just stick with the defaults.

Oh I got it to apply to most apps such as Clementine and the file browser, terminal UI and all, but after 4-5 hours of fist-slamming frustration. Just part and parcel of linux system admin.

For the record, despite the articles saying to just extract the themes to ~./home/.icons, or ~./home/.themes, they never showed up selectable in any DE theme manager. I actually had to copy them to /usr/share/icons and /usr/share/themes for them to show up. Then they complained about not being fully installed, forcing me to manually do everything.

 

[drumcat]

Linux. If you have Apple hardware without T1 chip and Intel every major distribution is supported.

For the beginners I recommend Pop!_OS which is Ubuntu based desktop with easy installation. You have to connect to internet to update for wifi drivers (thunderbolt- Ethernet adapter) restart and you are ready to go. Writing this on a MacBook Air 2013 with this setup.

Pop!_OS by System76

Imagine an OS for the software developer, maker and computer science professional who uses their computer as a tool to discover and create. Welcome to Pop!_OS.

pop.system76.com

Even Manjaro works out of the box:

Aside from very specific Adobe workflows or Affinity Design (which you can run on more powerful hardware under VM), this are the apps that you can enjoy under Linux:

VIdeo, Compositing, Mixing, Color Correction: DaVinci Resolve - free.

DaVinci Resolve Linux edition: How to Download and Install on Ubuntu

Tutorial on how to install DaVinci Resolve Linux 16 Or 15 free on Ubuntu 19.04, Linux Mint, Debian or CentOS using command line terminal tool...

www.how2shout.com

For Studio version recommended Linux is CentOS 7.3*
For audio production: https://www.bitwig.com/download/
For vector design: Inkscape (you can load Illustrator short-keys).
For digital painting and mixed raster/vector workflow: Krita.
For professional photography raw processing: RawTherapee https://rawtherapee.com/ and Darktable https://www.darktable.org/.
For software development there are plenty of IDE and editors that run on Linux.
For 3d modeling, compositing and animation: Blender https://www.blender.org/.

There are many more apps in Linux ecosystem for every imaginable scenario.

This is EXACTLY the linux dilemma. Of all the things I do not want, it's a different operating system per task.