• Skyline969@lemmy.caEnglish
    2181·
    2 months ago

    Linux Mint. Cinnamon. With a Windows Vista theme. It confuses and/or irritates everyone who sees it.

    • TheTechnician27@lemmy.worldEnglish
      17·
      2 months ago

      So going off the chalice in the movie, the distro that will save you from judgment is the plainest one – the one with the least bloat? That tracks.

        • barsquid@lemmy.world
          6·
          2 months ago

          More like Alpine or something else without systemd. I mean no shade (well, a bit of shade) since I’ve got Fedora myself. Alpine doesn’t even have glibc IIRC.

            • barsquid@lemmy.world
              61·
              2 months ago

              I think it is breaking the Unix philosophy, it is an enormous piece of code that does so many different things. My ideal is smaller components with smaller dependencies. When distros or software becomes inextricably dependent on systemd they are then beholden to whichever direction the maintainers take it.

              My take on it is somewhat based on “what if.” Other people have some pragmatic discussions on security aspects if you search around.

              • Zaemz@lemmy.worldEnglish
                2·
                2 months ago

                I’m not a systemd guru, but I do find it relatively easy to work with.

                I’ve noticed that a lot of it is actually made up of separate binaries and daemons. Is it wrong or misleading to think of systemd as a collection of utilities that share a common DSL as opposed to a strict monolith?

          • pimeys@lemmy.nauk.io
            1·
            2 months ago

            Musl can be a bit annoying compilation target sometimes. Usually it works but I’ve debugged bugs a few times that were due to musl target.

            I prefer my distro with glibc…

      • Communist@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyzEnglish
        11·
        2 months ago

        I highly recommend avoiding manjaro like the plague, their team is incredibly incompetent (see: https://manjarno.pages.dev/ ), I say this as someone who has given people manjaro for years and regretted it, I was also their it person, manjaro regularly broke every few months and gave people a very bad taste of linux

        for example, why are kernels given version numbers in packages? This caused 3 separate peoples computers to break multiple times. Everything good about manjaro comes from arch, everything bad about manjaro comes from the manjaro team.

        Y’know how it’s not rolling release because they delay packages by 2 weeks? They actually do no testing in this time. How do I know this? They pushed an update that caused steam to uninstall your desktop environment. Famously covered by linus tech tips… this is something that should have easily been caught, and yet the two week window did absolutely nothing.

        the truth is for manjaro there is no real usecase, there’s no set of desires that align with manjaro being the best choice for you. I am not asking you to switch away from manjaro, but I do not think we should ever recommend it to anyone, and on your next machine, I recommend trying the arch installer.

        But if what you’re looking for is an easy pre-setup arch, use endeavoros

        If you want something simple and up to date, use fedora kinoite

        If you’re a power user and want to configure every little thing about their system, use arch or nixos

        If you don’t care at all about updates and want the most rock solid system possible, debian.

        • JackbyDev@programming.devEnglish
          5·
          2 months ago

          If openSUSE Slowroll wasn’t experimental I’d recommend it in place of Manjaro. It’s a rolling release with monthly releases.

          • Dojan@lemmy.world
            1·
            2 months ago

            I really like Tumbleweed. Sure it updates a lot, but it doesn’t force updates so you can take it at your own pace.

            • Zaemz@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              2 months ago

              SUSE’s Open Build Service absolutely rules, too. I use Fedora personally, but would switch to Tumbleweed any day. I’ve gone back and forth, eventually settling on Fedora only because of familiarity with Red Hat.

              There are things I miss, big one being Zypper. It’s slow as balls but it’s usability and ability to dig through packages is unmatched, in my opinion.

        • Crismus@lemmy.world
          1·
          2 months ago

          I hear you. I was looking more for Arch with less of a hassle. Something similar to my Steamdeck. I guess I should just wipe this weekend for something else. I really want something for playing my steam and GOG games that works with my Nvidia 3080.

          Luckily for me I keep every game installed on different Steam Libraries so wiping my install drive to put something else in isn’t difficult.

          • Communist@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyzEnglish
            2·
            2 months ago

            What about arch is it that you want?

            I do a ton of distro research because I try to convert people to linux a lot so I might be able to help you with that.

            https://bazzite.gg/ this is probably what you want, make sure to install the nvidia version.

    • TheRedSpade@lemmy.world
      7·
      2 months ago

      Steam Deck is weird. I mean, I love it, but coming from vanilla Arch it can be frustrating at times. Discover is terrible. Luckily, Distrobox is a thing.

      • Zaemz@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 months ago

        I putz with Discover sometimes. Though I have no idea how it resolves package updates under the hood, as it often will produce a different manifest than running dnf itself.

        What would you like to see improved?

        • TheRedSpade@lemmy.world
          3·
          2 months ago

          I usually can’t find what I’m looking for, so a larger catalogue would go a long way. I also had problems with some software versions. The one that comes to mind is that Firefox had behavior with the save dialogue that I don’t like. It’s a minor issue, but one that I don’t have with the build in the Arch repo. I have a vague memory of something just not working, but I couldn’t tell you what at this point.

          • Zaemz@lemmy.worldEnglish
            3·
            2 months ago

            Ah, I see! Yeah, a bigger catalog would be nice. You can add more repositories to it, enable Flathub, which provide more options, but something about it does feel hamstrung.

            The Firefox thing is something I know about! You can set a config option in the about:config page to tell Firefox to use your desktop’s standard dialogue. It has to do with XDG Desktop specifications, I think

            • TheRedSpade@lemmy.world
              2·
              2 months ago

              It uses the system dialogue, but it starts from the same directory each time. If I’m saving files it’s usually multiple files in succession, so I want the dialogue to start off pointed at the last directory I saved to. The Arch build does that.

              • Zaemz@lemmy.worldEnglish
                2·
                2 months ago

                Ooohh! Interesting. You’ve got me curious about that now. I’ll have to look into it.

  • atmur@lemmy.worldEnglish
    66·
    2 months ago

    For as much as Linux nerds (myself absolutely included) complain about distros like Ubuntu and Manjaro, I’d still take either one over Windows or MacOS any day.

    • OpenStars@discuss.onlineEnglish
      282·
      2 months ago

      Mac OSX isn’t bad… so long as you sell it your soul, and don’t want freedom in return, it’s great 👍.

      I kid… mostly - it’s iOS that is horrifying, but Mac OSX is still Unix (tho not GNU), so not anywhere within leagues of Microdick.

      And - possibly dumb question - couldn’t you always just run a Linux VM at near-native speed, and get the benefits of both?

        • OpenStars@discuss.onlineEnglish
          16·
          2 months ago

          Other than all that, yeah:-)

          img

          Still not comparable to Windows though, imho.

          Its sins are just of a different sort - e.g. you don’t need to repair or upgrade those machines so often, bc they work so well for so long as it is, plus other than for gaming, who even upgrades machines these days to begin with?

          For non-gaming, Macs are great machines. So too are Linux. While Windows sux ass no matter what. Thus that’s the dividing line, imho.

            • OpenStars@discuss.onlineEnglish
              41·
              2 months ago

              I mean… a Mac machine will run non-Mac OSX software. Pretty much everything can run linux, with a little effort put into it:-) (unless somehow these M chips have prevented that? even if so, surely it’s only a matter of time before someone cracks that barrier)

              But yeah, it’s definitely a choice. e.g., Apple does not even sell cheap Macs, whereas machines intended to run Windows can be bought all up and down the scale - though I recall at various points in time, comparing equivalently-equipped machines, Apple ones were pound-for-pound actually cheaper than their Windows equivalents. This is ofc b/c of the monopolistic practices: when you rigidly control the hardware, you are able to order in bulk, and when you order in bulk, you are able to get large discounts from the supplier!

              Though surely nobody was arguing to purchase a Mac, not knowing who or what Apple is or is about? Installing Arch Linux is also known to be somewhat ah… “tricky”, so if we are comparing things like ease-of-use, the question gets back to OP’s “which distro?” And it’s all a matter of choice - what you want to get out of it, and which constraints you want to live underneath.

              But anyway, we were talking about “Mac OSX”, which yeah, very much is limited to specific sets of hardware, and cannot be installed willy-nilly on any old machine, this is very much a true statement, to be paid very much attention to by anyone wanting to learn more, or use that in their purchasing / installation decisions:-). I was just saying that while Apple (& iOS) may be evil these days, Mac OSX itself kinda is great, caveat: if you can live with its restrictions, and moreover, those are MUCH less than Microsoft’s set of restrictions these days (whereas Linux has its own set of difficulties).

                • OpenStars@discuss.onlineEnglish
                  2·
                  2 months ago

                  I was only illustrating how Mac hardware is not identically the same as Mac software. They are tied together, yet distinct entities.

                  Your lack of recollection neither proves nor disproves anything at all. If you doubt me, look it up? (since surely if I did so for you, you would distrust that as well? 🤪)

                  I did not downvote you btw.

      • JackbyDev@programming.devEnglish
        5·
        2 months ago

        The company that laid me off let me keep my Mac which was a nice parting gift. I don’t think I’d ever buy one myself. They’re just way to expensive.

        • OpenStars@discuss.onlineEnglish
          2·
          2 months ago

          I hoped for that at my previous job, and they said it could happen… but it was never going to, and it was a false hope offered. Why do that to me man…? 😭

          Then I come to my current job, and they have a super old Mac laptop that was barely holding on that nobody else wanted, and I’m like “yes please”!

          Bc if its Windows vs. Mac, and especially if “nothing” isn’t even an option, then a million times out of a million I will choose super old, barely holding on Mac that nobody else wants.:-)

          It’s a single SSH command away from my work Linux, and it has MacVim, tons of other open source software available, plus a bunch of stuff that only Mac OSX has, like Preview and other fairly nice tools, which have open source equivalents like ImageMagick and gimp, but aren’t nearly as easy to use.

          I don’t need a nice car, and I went without one entirely until I moved to the Midwest where it becomes absolutely necessary, but it’s essential to have a good computer for me:-).

        • Farid@startrek.website
          10·
          2 months ago

          Privacy and data collection-wise MacOS is fine. It’s their main selling point. Doesn’t even force updates on you. I know it’s a low bar, but damn Windows bar is at the floor at this point.

        • OpenStars@discuss.onlineEnglish
          31·
          2 months ago

          I had to look it up (e.g. https://www.extremetech.com/internet/317371-evaluating-apples-data-collection-in-macos-big-sur) and damn, I didn’t know that they collected and sent THAT detailed of info!? (and perhaps they didn’t, until Big Sur)

          Even so, as the other reply mentioned, it’s still leagues away from Windows at this point. But yeah, fair then that both Windows and Mac OSX are doing it, while Linux is not.

          Still, if you had to pick a machine for your grandma to use, or like either Windows or Mac at work (but not Linux, though lets say that there is a terminal SSH option to Linux available from either), I would pick Mac OSX. It’s fine if others would pick Linux for the former, but I don’t think Mac OSX is a bad choice there.

          While Windows… urg, is basically synonymous with being a cuss word nowadays. Witch: “a pox be upon thee - nay, moresooth, may you be cursed to only use Windows for the rest of your days!” (Onlookers: “gasp! what could anyone have done to be cursed with that bad of a punishment!? I would not wish that upon even my worst enemy!?”) hehe:-P

            • OpenStars@discuss.onlineEnglish
              31·
              2 months ago

              That Apple blocks you from running every program you put onto it until/unless it can be properly certified, and that “Big Sur can bypass any firewall restrictions the end-user attempts to create”? It’s true that it’s not nearly as bad as it may sound at first, and they even released a statement that:

              We do not use data from these checks to learn what individual users are launching or running on their devices.

              Notarization checks if the app contains known malware using an encrypted connection that is resilient to server failures.

              These security checks have never included the user’s Apple ID or the identity of their device. To further protect privacy, we have stopped logging IP addresses associated with Developer ID certificate checks, and we will ensure that any collected IP addresses are removed from logs.

              Though I also understand that if someone wants the ultimate in privacy, it’s difficult to trust such a corporate promise, especially one like Apple known to hide or lie about such things. (Edit: also… “developer ID certificate checks”, so if you don’t register with Apple as a known developer then…?)

              I still use Mac OSX myself, but if someone wants to avoid that and use Linux for this reason, I’m not going to argue with them - whereas I would push back a little bit if a friend were to tell me they planned to put Windows (as the primary OS) onto a machine.

      • GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip
        2·
        2 months ago

        “always” in this case is when you have two or more gpus in your system, which limits the ability to “just” run a vm considerably.

        • OpenStars@discuss.onlineEnglish
          4·
          2 months ago

          Ah, for gaming, yes Macs are not fantastic gaming machines that’s for sure.

          Then again, Linux has long been known to have issues with gaming as well, especially with an Nvidia card…

          Unless you use Steam, and then both work, kinda?

          Still it seems like it’s Linux and Mac OSX on one side, and Microsoft left behind thousands of years in the past, except maybe for gaming where literally an old Windows running on a VM may run the widest selection of games?

          But I still don’t see the logic of grouping Macs together with Windows, even for gaming.

          For VMs, I expected more someone to bring up the switch to the M1 chipset, a huge setback for VMs definitely even if temporary, though I’m old enough to remember that Linux and Macs both running Intel were often easier to get things running on than Linux on Intel vs. Linux on AMD. But things definitely change over time, as to what is easiest at any given moment.

          Microsoft sucks tho - now THAT’S universal. Can’t we all just get together, united in our hate for it?! (/s, or, well, actually… not!)

          Edit: hey, anyone want to start like an anti-Windows or I-fucking-hate-fucking-Windows community? I’ll join it today if you do!? :-)

      • tatterdemalion@programming.dev
        1·
        2 months ago

        couldn’t you always just run a Linux VM at near-native speed, and get the benefits of both?

        The obvious downside is that Linux is no longer the host OS. MacOS or Windows would be closed source code managing your hardware. And any VM could only be as fast as the host OS allows it to be.

        • OpenStars@discuss.onlineEnglish
          1·
          2 months ago

          The host OS is likewise limited, but more by hardware, so it might be a small performance tradeoff, depending on whether, as you brought up, you need Linux to be ultimately in control rather than to simply run some software.

          So that would not always work, ofc… but it sometimes would!:-)

    • puppycat@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      4·
      2 months ago

      new to Linux, my first distro was and is Manjaro. what do people complain about? i love it and am glad i left windows for it :)

    • Farid@startrek.website
      1·
      2 months ago

      Ubuntu has Snap and ads and stuff, but I thought Manjaro was considered good. What’s wrong with it? It’s supposed to be Arch based.

  • octopus_ink@lemmy.mlEnglish
    656·
    2 months ago

    That’s all well and good, but can we talk about proper use of this meme template?

    • Lettuce eat lettuce@lemmy.ml
      4·
      2 months ago

      I’ve been rolling Debian more and more this year. If you’ve got solid Linux chops, it’s really great.

      I also really like LMDE, it’s what I run on my Business laptop.

  • TheKracken@lemmy.world
    351·
    2 months ago

    Just setup Mint last night and have been troubleshooting how to get everything to work. So far I’m liking it. Last thing I setup was Lutris for gaming so that’s nice.

        • baguettefish@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
          7·
          2 months ago

          I’m pretty sure the question was more about linux mint (ubuntu/default) vs. linux mint debian edition, as those can confidently be called different distros. Don’t worry about it though, the issues with ubuntu are actually very small, they’re just infinitely magnified on the internet by people who care a lot about the smallest things. There are also many advantages to using ubuntu or an ubuntu derivative. Also this question can be interpreted very humorously, so maybe do that if you like.

          • TheKracken@lemmy.world
            7·
            2 months ago

            Ah I assume Ubuntu based since I just downloaded the latest from the mint website. Still learning about Linux so not 100% sure.

            • baguettefish@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
              6·
              2 months ago

              If you just went with the most prominent and easily accessible download button it’ll probably be ubuntu, but as i said, despite what some might say that’s not necessarily a bad thing

              • Zink@programming.dev
                5·
                2 months ago

                If he got the cinnamon version, that is indeed the default Ubuntu based one. I use the same thing.

                One of the biggest draws of regular Mint IMO is that it leverages the advantages and resources of Ubuntu but it removes the parts that many people don’t like.

  • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
    27·
    2 months ago

    Mint, judge me

    PS anyone have any favorite resources for absolute tech illiterate noobs? I’m trying, but without a baseline understanding of the subject, it’s hard to find the right guides

    • Sanctus@lemmy.worldEnglish
      10·
      2 months ago

      There is nothing wrong with Mint EZ mode. I got a computer illiterate buddy with a 8 year old shittop running it like its new.

    • Lettuce eat lettuce@lemmy.ml
      4·
      2 months ago

      I love Mint, it has become my workhorse distro. I use LMDE on my personal business laptop. I switched my parents from Windows 10 to Mint earlier this year, and it’s been great on their very old and low power desktop.

      Cinnamon is not the prettiest or slickest DE, but damn if it ain’t the most stable DE I’ve used.

      I’m a KDE fanboi myself, but when I spin up a machine that I need to just work in a super dependable way and is no muss, no fuss, I usually choose Mint with Cinnamon.