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this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2024
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I wish there were more focus on the desktop and app gui side of things on Linux
sure using the terminal to install things is very efficient but some people just want an install button and a gui that they don't have to use more than 2 braincells to figure out why package not found or some obscure error with an app for the next 2 hours with forum pages full of condescending non answers
I don’t think that’s been an issue for several years now. At least for distros focused on user friendliness.
I'm tired of pandering to people that can't take the time to learn how to operate a computer. I hate the trend of the last 25 years of making everything "idiot proof", because it's not helping people, it's making them dumber. I remember a time when normal users were expected to set DIP switches on their motherboards and edit autoexec.bat files.
A lot of gen-z doesn't even know what a hierarchial filesystem is anymore. They just shove all their media into "galleries", but can't actually tell you where that file is actually located.
This is the unfortunate reality. My kids (11 and 9) have only ever used Linux distros, and they are keyboard warriors to boot. They say that the only reason to use the mouse is to aim in video games 🤣
Flatpak?
I'm a fan of the Flatpak trend. The latest version of Linux Mint has some interesting additions to how things are presented, as far as "verified" and "not verified". Basically their app installer program lets you know if a particular Flatpak should be treated with caution, sort of like downloading a random .exe with Windows.
I recently installed Manjaro with KDE Plasma, and I'd like an easier way of getting Flatpaks out of the box with it. Their solution is to install Discover alongside their own app installer. So now I have two different GUI programs to open if I want to research something to install.
I actually disagree with a couple of changes Mint made regarding Flatpaks. Not showing reviews for unverified Flatpaks especially.
I get it, they want to punish unverified Flatpaks to give them a kick up the arse to get verified. But it also means that if something nefarious is going on with the unverified Flatpak, and Mint hasn't taken it down yet, users can't see reviews that might alert them to the app being dodgy.
I know of a number of times I've went to download an app on android that I've heard of only to see recent 1 star reviews saying stuff like "this has been bought by an ad company and filled with data harvesting and ads", or "this has been bought by a Chinese government-linked company, beware". I want to see shit like that, verified app or not.
It's a similar issue to YouTube hiding dislikes making it difficult to quickly see whether a video guide is helpful/legit or not.
There's also them disabling unverified Flatpaks by default. I can see why, but at the same time it's perhaps hypocritical considering any software they package also isn't packaged by the original software creator, and yet not only is that available by default, but it's also never marked as unverified.
That said, I'm not that fussed about this one considering that if you're using Mint in the first place, you probably trust Mint/Canonical and their repositories.
Good point about the reviews. I forgot about that part.
Yeah I definitely don't want to sound negative on Flatpaks or on Mint, though.
Flatpaks are my preferred way of packaging apps, and while I've moved on from Mint for my own usecase (I like Gnome so Fedora made more sense to me), I always install Mint on other people's old machines because it just works, is similar to Windows UX, doesn't require you to be on top of updates very much, and has pretty sane defaults.
The idea with flatpaks are flawed by design as everything can't be there. I want to install the latest version of these there: kde Plasma, wayland, Nvidia drivers, and the Linux kernel. It will never be available there. Better to go back to the drawing board on how to fix this in a good way.
A kernel flatpak? That'd be interesting.
I would be less against flatpaks if you could do everything with it. But it seems to try to slow multiple problems at the same time and failing.
I think it is time to actually come up with a better design solution.
I can't vouch for every Linux distro that claims to be user-friendly, but I've fully switched to Linux Mint a couple of months ago, and I've had no issues. The only times I've used the console are when I want to use it.
My biggest worry before fully switching was playing pirated games, or games that I bought outside of Steam, but using Lutris it has been pretty straight forward.
Try Aurora.
Everything I've tried to install has all been point and click using flatpaks.
If you're into gaming, use Bazzite instead, which comes with all the gaming stuff pre installed.
thank you for the recommendations!
Those are somewhat niche distros, id personally recommend mint, zorin, pop_os! or what have you.
It really depends on what your usecase and tastes are though.
Haven't you just recommended 3 stale Ubuntu variants there?
Miny and pop are often updated, zorin does admittedly have a slow update cycle
Niche is relative - they are variants of Fedora, and have been getting very popular very quickly.