What Linux Distro do the Linux users of GH use?

[rowdy]

People still talk about things being "intuitive" but now, 3+ decades into "the computer age" it seems that "intuitive" would be better described as whatever you (personally) are accustomed to.

If Ubuntu wants to lure Windows users, they might have tried to mimic Windows' "look and feel" but Microsoft has made that a moving target with drastic changes every other time, at least.

Going for an Apple-esque appearance is a waste of time, Apple is a religion and they are accustomed to paying a top-dollar tithe, so "free" means little to them.

I seem to sound like I'm a rabid Apple fan these days )

But since the start of OS X, the look and feel of OS X has not changed much at all.  The biggest change was reversing the vertical scroll direction, done to make touch pads seem more intuitive, but ended up making mouse wheel scrolling backwards.  This is easily corrected in Preferences.

Apps running under OS X always have a menu at the top of the screen.  And the Apple menu is always there to access System Preferences, About This Mac, restart/shutdown and so on.

This is a consistent user interface that is not difficult to learn.

I agree that Microsoft are losing the plot, with wild sweeping changes that make each new iteration of their operating system radically different to try to use, and involves a learning curve for even technical people.

Being perhaps a little cynical, I sometimes wonder if they keep altering the UI to hide the fact that under the hood 99% of Windows is the same as it has been for about 20 years.

[xtrafrood]

I dread the day ms decides to remove it completely and force people to use the new "settings" panel.

I found the settings panel but it did not include whatever it was that I needed to do (such as find the control panel).

All the usual headings such as "Appearance" and "User Accounts" seem to have been stripped of 80% of their contents.

I gave up trying to find everything through the new settings hierarchy. I remember most of the settings I need by name so I tap that windows key and search for it

I can totally see Windows 10 as a turning point for people that were on the fence with Linux or Apple

[smknjoe]

KDE has been bad for a long time. It's the worst part of Slackware (by default). Plasma is pretty cool looking when it's not "bugging" out on you.

I don't have a problem with Gnome or Gnome "fallback" in Debian.

[iri]

Please stop discussing ****ing Windows in the thread about Linux.

[rowdy]

KDE has been bad for a long time. It's the worst part of Slackware (by default). Plasma is pretty cool looking when it's not "bugging" out on you.

I don't have a problem with Gnome or Gnome "fallback" in Debian.

https://www.trinitydesktop.org/

[iLLucionist]

KDE has been bad for a long time. It's the worst part of Slackware (by default). Plasma is pretty cool looking when it's not "bugging" out on you.

I don't have a problem with Gnome or Gnome "fallback" in Debian.

https://www.trinitydesktop.org/

KDE has been a mixed love story for me. In the time of gnome 2 and KDE 3, I liked KDE 3 more for a while. But it was so buggy and unstable, that I eventually switched to gnome 2. Then they f**ked up gnome and I went to xfce.

The thing is, I think both GTK AND QT are horrible widget sets. GTK is a nightmare to develop for and QT is just ugly when it is rendered IMHO.

[Findecanor]

My next build will run Ubuntu Mate with Btrs and WindowMaker.

I chose to use Linux because it gives me control and it gives me choice. Gnome 3, Unity, Cinnamon - they are all crap. Even the Mate-flavour of Linux Mint is crippled in that regard.

The thing is, I think both GTK AND QT are horrible widget sets. GTK is a nightmare to develop for and QT is just ugly when it is rendered IMHO.

I would be interested in hearing what widget sets you think are better.

Granted... GTK is object-oriented C and your code has to be very verbose because all those things that are implicit in an OO language has to be implicit in GTK (or rather, glib).
It has been a while since I wrote code for it, but other than that I found it to have a sound architecture and the code and interfaces to be of high quality. Maybe things have changed since then ...

[algernon]

The thing is, I think both GTK AND QT are horrible widget sets. GTK is a nightmare to develop for and QT is just ugly when it is rendered IMHO.

While I am a GNOME user (but I do not develop for it), I believe QT can look amazing. Have a look at what Papyros are doing with it: https://plus.google.com/photos/photo/113262712329378697012/6234567346563234850

[Marizen]

I was a big fan of old GNOME before Ubuntu switched to Unity.

Now for whatever reason I just can't find one that I really like. I've tried MATE a couple times and it was buggy. I love the workspace management in new GNOME, but I don't like how thick the tops of the windows are (takes up more space than they really need to and just looks bad in my opinion). Cinnamon and KDE feel slow because of the animations.

I don't like to have to do a whole buncha customization to get stuff to look and feel how I want it to. I know that's one of the big advantages to Linux, but personally I just want to be able to set it up and go.

[vivalarevolución]

Papyros looks like it is heavily inspired by Chrome OS, which brings me to my next point.  Using Chrome OS and some other distros with minimal, modern interfaces (GalliumOS, Cub Linux, Solus) has modified what I think works best as a UI.  Chrome OS provides you with the basics, then gets out of the way and let's you work, as opposed to being clunky and obtrusive and too robust.  It mostly works (so far) with minimal hangups, notifications, updates, and bloat.  It looks pretty smooth and slick, too.

Obviously, Chrome OS has shortcomings and limitations, which leads me to try out other Linux distros/DEs with similar interfaces but more customization that can function as a full Linux operating system.  I know my eventual Linux resting place is a tiling windows manager, but I have to finally settle upon a distro before I get there.

When I step back and think about, what do you actually need in a basic home desktop setup that works for most of us?  You want it to work well, be familiar, and easy to use, but at least offer some customizations for the more discerning user.  You want easy access to your apps, files, settings/utilities, open windows, and additional software.  And you want all your media to frickin work out of the box.  That's pretty much it.

Most of us would be perfectly fine with a Chrome OS type of system with a tad more software choices, rather than jacking around with Windows or paying out-the-ass for a Mac.  The main impediment to this scenario is our familiarity with what we've used all our lives, and lack of willingness to just take a week or two to adjust to a slightly different user interface.  But whatever, we're human.

[algernon]

Most of us would be perfectly fine with a Chrome OS type of system with a tad more software choices, rather than jacking around with Windows or paying out-the-ass for a Mac.  The main impediment to this scenario is our familiarity with what we've used all our lives, and lack of willingness to just take a week or two to adjust to a slightly different user interface.  But whatever, we're human.

That is how I work: I live in a full-screen emacs. That is my IDE, my shell, my email client, my slack client, my browser (with a bit of WebKit help), my spreadsheet, my word processor, my music player, and so on. The odd other program I may need gets their own workspace, and runs at full screen. Things get out of the way. I have no menu bars, no taskbar, no nothing. Windows with no decorations, borders or buttons.

Incredibly productive system

[iLLucionist]

Most of us would be perfectly fine with a Chrome OS type of system with a tad more software choices, rather than jacking around with Windows or paying out-the-ass for a Mac.  The main impediment to this scenario is our familiarity with what we've used all our lives, and lack of willingness to just take a week or two to adjust to a slightly different user interface.  But whatever, we're human.

That is how I work: I live in a full-screen emacs. That is my IDE, my shell, my email client, my slack client, my browser (with a bit of WebKit help), my spreadsheet, my word processor, my music player, and so on. The odd other program I may need gets their own workspace, and runs at full screen. Things get out of the way. I have no menu bars, no taskbar, no nothing. Windows with no decorations, borders or buttons.

Incredibly productive system

How do you do spreadsheets in emacs? Please tell me. I've been trying to get rid of excel for at least 2 years.

[xtrafrood]

Please stop discussing ****ing Windows in the thread about Linux.

Relax pls, I was explaining why I think people will migrate to Linux.. in a Linux thread. I will stick to the topic from now on

[cryptokey]

Please stop discussing ****ing Windows in the thread about Linux.

Relax pls, I was explaining why I think people will migrate to Linux.. in a Linux thread. I will stick to the topic from now on

So what distro do you use, csmertx? 

[LiquidEvilGaming]

Papyrus looks like it is heavily inspired by Chrome OS, which brings me to my next point.  Using Chrome OS and some other distros with minimal, modern interfaces (GalliumOS, Cub Linux, Solus) has modified what I think works best as a UI.  Chrome OS provides you with the basics, then gets out of the way and let's you work, as opposed to being clunky and obtrusive and too robust.  It mostly works (so far) with minimal hangups, notifications, updates, and bloat.  It looks pretty smooth and slick, too.

Obviously, Chrome OS has shortcomings and limitations, which leads me to try out other Linux distros/DEs with similar interfaces but more customization that can function as a full Linux operating system.  I know my eventual Linux resting place is a tiling windows manager, but I have to finally settle upon a distro before I get there.

When I step back and think about, what do you actually need in a basic home desktop setup that works for most of us?  You want it to work well, be familiar, and easy to use, but at least offer some customizations for the more discerning user.  You want easy access to your apps, files, settings/utilities, open windows, and additional software.  And you want all your media to frickin work out of the box.  That's pretty much it.

Most of us would be perfectly fine with a Chrome OS type of system with a tad more software choices, rather than jacking around with Windows or paying out-the-ass for a Mac.  The main impediment to this scenario is our familiarity with what we've used all our lives, and lack of willingness to just take a week or two to adjust to a slightly different user interface.  But whatever, we're human.

Honestly outside of PC gaming even Chrome OS would suit most of my needs just fine.  If it were not for PC gaming i don't think i'd have a use for windows anymore

[cryptokey]

The problem that I have with Chrome OS is that Google controls it, the company that makes ~96% of their revenue from advertisements and is in the business of selling your personal information.  Most of the data with Chrome OS is stored in the cloud which is not only insecure, but gives Google both control and rights over all of your data.  I think I'll stick with my trusty Linux distro.

[LiquidEvilGaming]

The problem that I have with Chrome OS is that Google controls it, the company that makes ~96% of their revenue from advertisements and is in the business of selling your personal information.  Most of the data with Chrome OS is stored in the cloud which is not only insecure, but gives Google both control and rights over all of your data.  I think I'll stick with my trusty Linux distro.

As i said earlier i do use Linux Mint on my laptop i was just stating for most things Chrome Os is fine (granted outside of things you wish to keep secure i'll grant you that)

Rest assured though for certain other things i use Mint + a VPN

[xtrafrood]

Please stop discussing ****ing Windows in the thread about Linux.

Relax pls, I was explaining why I think people will migrate to Linux.. in a Linux thread. I will stick to the topic from now on

Show Image

So what distro do you use, csmertx?  ;)

I said it earlier in this thread I think. Linux Lite is what I settled down with. I'll probably try Gentoo when I have a spare SSD though :D

[vivalarevolución]

The problem that I have with Chrome OS is that Google controls it, the company that makes ~96% of their revenue from advertisements and is in the business of selling your personal information.  Most of the data with Chrome OS is stored in the cloud which is not only insecure, but gives Google both control and rights over all of your data.  I think I'll stick with my trusty Linux distro.

Yea, I totally understand that sentiment.  I am activity seeking out and using alternatives, but I still use Chrome OS for convenience, mostly.  One of the main reasons I got a Chromebook was to put Linux on a laptop for a lower cost than a Macbook Air/Pro.  From what I have gleaned, Linux choices for Chromebooks are somewhat limited right now, but I slapped GalliumOS on there so I could access Linux packages and software, and utilize the limited Chromebook keyboard (which lacks a lot of keys and requires some key remapping in a standard Linux distro to use standards keys like Delete or all the F-keys).  I was using Crouton, but GalliumOS truly is optimized for Chromebooks and has some useful features.

I know that I sound like a Chrome OS fanboy, but I will say that it has swayed my preferences towards wanting/needing very little from an OS, way less than I thought that I previously needed.  My preferred traditional Linux DEs probably will go the wayside for me.

All that said, I will be shopping for tiling windows managers soon enough.

[algernon]

How do you do spreadsheets in emacs? Please tell me. I've been trying to get rid of excel for at least 2 years.

http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/org-spreadsheet-intro.html

With org-mode & calc.

[yasuo]

Using linux after often got crash in windows it was smooth though
 

[iLLucionist]

Does anybody here still use gentoo? Is manual compiling still hawt here?

[iri]

Does anybody here still use gentoo? Is manual compiling still hawt here?

Yes.

[iLLucionist]

Does anybody here still use gentoo? Is manual compiling still hawt here?

Yes.

How long does it take these days to compile a whole system including the desktop? Back in the day when I had an Athlon XP it took me like 7-8 hours to get everything compiled and up and running.

[xtrafrood]

Does anybody here still use gentoo? Is manual compiling still hawt here?

Yes.

How long does it take these days to compile a whole system including the desktop? Back in the day when I had an Athlon XP it took me like 7-8 hours to get everything compiled and up and running.

That sounds much better than tweaking a pre-built distro. I would often spend more than 24 hrs dealing with various compatibility problems or downloading packages that other packages need

[iLLucionist]

Does anybody here still use gentoo? Is manual compiling still hawt here?

Yes.

How long does it take these days to compile a whole system including the desktop? Back in the day when I had an Athlon XP it took me like 7-8 hours to get everything compiled and up and running.

That sounds much better than tweaking a pre-built distro. I would often spend more than 24 hrs dealing with various compatibility problems or downloading packages that other packages need

Never thought of it that way... Indeed compiling from scratch you make package dependencies yourself which may be better indeed.

[iri]

Does anybody here still use gentoo? Is manual compiling still hawt here?

Yes.

How long does it take these days to compile a whole system including the desktop? Back in the day when I had an Athlon XP it took me like 7-8 hours to get everything compiled and up and running.

The first thing my colleague did upon moving to the UK was compiling a Gentoo system the way he likes. Took him three days, one of which was solely spent on compiling Firefox.

[iLLucionist]

Does anybody here still use gentoo? Is manual compiling still hawt here?

Yes.

How long does it take these days to compile a whole system including the desktop? Back in the day when I had an Athlon XP it took me like 7-8 hours to get everything compiled and up and running.

The first thing my colleague did upon moving to the UK was compiling a Gentoo system the way he likes. Took him three days, one of which was solely spent on compiling Firefox.

Is Firefox so bloated?

[iri]

Oh yes.

[iLLucionist]

Btw. How's font rendering these days on linux? And how is hardware acceleration? Are both NVIDIA and AMD camps finally providing the good stuff?

[iri]

It's not 2000 any more.

[iLLucionist]

It's not 2000 any more.

No it's an honest question: is font rendering good nowadays? Is subpixel hinting proper now? Since 2006, I've only done terminal linux. The rest has been Mac up until now.

[iri]

Fonts look good on my cinnamon desktop.

[Leslieann]

Does anybody here still use gentoo? Is manual compiling still hawt here?

Yes.

How long does it take these days to compile a whole system including the desktop? Back in the day when I had an Athlon XP it took me like 7-8 hours to get everything compiled and up and running.

The first thing my colleague did upon moving to the UK was compiling a Gentoo system the way he likes. Took him three days, one of which was solely spent on compiling Firefox.

It shouldn't take an entire day to compile Firefox, that's three to four times longer than average (or more). The same applies to Gentoo.

[davkol]

It's not 2000 any more.

No it's an honest question: is font rendering good nowadays? Is subpixel hinting proper now? Since 2006, I've only done terminal linux. The rest has been Mac up until now.

Different distros apply different patches; some are supposedly excellent, others not so much. Personally, I don't care.

[iLLucionist]

It's not 2000 any more.

No it's an honest question: is font rendering good nowadays? Is subpixel hinting proper now? Since 2006, I've only done terminal linux. The rest has been Mac up until now.

Different distros apply different patches; some are supposedly excellent, others not so much. Personally, I don't care.

Thanks for the info!

[iri]

Does anybody here still use gentoo? Is manual compiling still hawt here?

Yes.

How long does it take these days to compile a whole system including the desktop? Back in the day when I had an Athlon XP it took me like 7-8 hours to get everything compiled and up and running.

The first thing my colleague did upon moving to the UK was compiling a Gentoo system the way he likes. Took him three days, one of which was solely spent on compiling Firefox.

It shouldn't take an entire day to compile Firefox, that's three to four times longer than average (or more). The same applies to Gentoo.

That depends on the build parameters though.

[iLLucionist]

Gentoo makes me think about manual kernel config.. Is it still worth it these days to manual configure a kernel? Are stock kernels from distros better? Are there too many options in the kernel nowadays? Last time I did it was 2005 or so.

[iri]

Gentoo makes me think about manual kernel config.. Is it still worth it these days to manual configure a kernel?

No, not at all. I didn't do it on my Macbook.

[davkol]

It's not necessary, unless you have very specific demands. The process is much more straightforward than a decade ago, but still generally considered annoying (even by many kernel developers).

Although, it might be worth trying, for instance, the alternative I/O scheduler (BFQ).

[sth]

Does anybody here still use gentoo? Is manual compiling still hawt here?

are these separate, unrelated questions? emerge is not manual...

[iLLucionist]

Does anybody here still use gentoo? Is manual compiling still hawt here?

are these separate, unrelated questions? emerge is not manual...

Gentoo is typically chosen for manually compiling (as in not using stock binaries) kernel and packages. So that is my question: who is still doing this?

[vivalarevolución]

I think that I need a Linux counselor.  I settle on a distro and/or OS for awhile, but the urge to try more creeps in and I lose hours of my life jacking around with a different distro or trying to setup a windows manager.  I have the feeling that I will never be satisfied until I've tried them all.  I know that this is not an effective or efficient way of approaching this matter.  I literally lose too much sleep and brainpower over generally trivial Linux-related matters.  I'm at the point that I get nothing done except messing around with Linux.

I'm considering just going with stock Ubuntu to prevent myself from continuously jacking around with things.

[fohat.digs]

I hear you. I am no code jockey and just need something that I can use, although I am fine with moderate tinkering.

Ubuntu was where I started, 6-8 years ago, and although I dislike most of their "philosophy" they do offer a stable environment. When Unity came along I was unhappy, but it is really not too hard to get used to.

I really wanted to make OpenSUSE/KDE happen about a year ago, but hardware problems (eg I was never able to get one of my computers, a completely normal, ordinary desktop a few years old but completely serviceable, to connect to the internet, neither through ethernet nor wirelessly) and a monumentally rude and unhelpful forum that finally drove me away. There were some things about it like Yost that were really good, once you figured out how to navigate your way through them.

In my latest build, I am dual-booting Windows 10 and Mint 17.3/Cinnamon and so far it is working out very well. Mint has effortlessly handled everything that I have thrown at it, including an old scanner that 10 wouldn't touch. There is a "Linux Mint Community" which I joined but I can't seem to find a forum where you can ask questions. Fortunately, Google has found anything I needed and I have had very smooth sailing for a month or so.
Also, Cinnamon makes an old-school Windows user feel comfortable.

[dante]

I use LPS or Lightweight Portable Security which has been my main desktop Linux OS.

It's a no BS OS that looks like Win 95/98 (call me old fashioned - I like that interface the best), runs entirely in RAM, and leaves no trace of activity.  I use this on PC's without HD/DVD storage - or any kind of writable - storage.

If I need more than this I SSH out to SDF or some other Unix server.

I don't think of myself as a Geek or Hacker for using it; I just find the idea of RAM based Operating Systems extremely cool.

[vivalarevolución]

I use LPS or Lightweight Portable Security which has been my main desktop Linux OS.

It's a no BS OS that looks like Win 95/98 (call me old fashioned - I like that interface the best), runs entirely in RAM, and leaves no trace of activity.  I use this on PC's without HD/DVD storage - or any kind of writable - storage.

If I need more than this I SSH out to SDF or some other Unix server.

I don't think of myself as a Geek or Hacker for using it; I just find the idea of RAM based Operating Systems extremely cool.

Operating entirely from RAM is cool.

I switched my Windows 7 computer at work to the Windows Classic theme (mid to late 90s look).  After a few weeks, I actually prefer it.  it's a minimal distraction environment.  But I should stop discussing this matter in the Linux thread.

Then again, a part of me cannot resist a well functioning bit of eye candy.

[fohat.digs]

Windows Classic theme (mid to late 90s look).  it's a minimal distraction environment.  But I should stop discussing this matter in the Linux thread.

Then again, a part of me cannot resist a well functioning bit of eye candy.

I would love to find the 98 "science fiction" screen saver again!

[iri]

I think that I need a Linux counselor.  I settle on a distro and/or OS for awhile, but the urge to try more creeps in and I lose hours of my life jacking around with a different distro or trying to setup a windows manager.  I have the feeling that I will never be satisfied until I've tried them all.  I know that this is not an effective or efficient way of approaching this matter.  I literally lose too much sleep and brainpower over generally trivial Linux-related matters.  I'm at the point that I get nothing done except messing around with Linux.

Don't worry, many people come through this stage.

[Leslieann]

Don't worry, many people come through this stage.

Some never leave that stage.

[iri]

That's perfectly fine as well.