My week with Linux: I'm dumping Windows for Ubuntu to see how it goes

[Admin]

Here's what it's like to live with Linux as my desktop OS.

My week with Linux: I'm dumping Windows for Ubuntu to see how it goes : Read more

 

[ex_bubblehead]

In my opinion KUbuntu would be a more windowslike experience. The KDE desktop was designed to hide much less of the details from the user, unlike Gnome and others. However this is coming from a longtime KDE user (back to 1.0)

 

[COLGeek]

Any of the modern, full featured distros will do the trick. Mint is an easy choice, as are the Ubuntu variants.

I would recommend against a lesser supported/well known distro, in case you get more adventurous, until you get more familiar with the new OS.

Aside from games and specific apps, I would be surprised if you see any real difference in actual usage between Windows and Linux. Things just work.

 

[bit_user]

In my opinion KUbuntu would be a more windowslike experience. The KDE desktop was designed to hide much less of the details from the user, unlike Gnome and others.

100% agree. I also stayed with KDE, once I'd tried it, largely due to the amount of configurability. Before that, FVWM2 was my preferred window manager.

My understanding of Kubuntu is that it's basically just regular desktop Ubuntu, but with the default desktop environment and apps set to the KDE ones. Other than that, it's using all the same repos as regular Ubuntu and therefore has no real downsides (if KDE is what you want). Even when using regular Ubuntu, you can still install a KDE window manager + apps, but you have to explicitly do so.

However this is coming from a longtime KDE user (back to 1.0)

I forget what version I jumped onto, but it's been about 20 years, for me.

 

[erazog]

Coming from Windows I'd suggest Kubuntu (KDE desktop) or Cinnamon Ubuntu (UI from Mint), both of those give a familiar experience though no Linux UI actually matches Windows to even 90% of the way and I've tried all of the Linux GUI's and some very obscure distros.

LXQT (WinXP) Cinnamon (Win 7/10) and KDE (Win10/11) are the closest to Windows at least depending on which version Win UI you like the most.

The one very confusing thing about Linux that its basically a command line/text based OS and not a GUI platform like Windows or MacOS which define how software is graphically installed or how you troubleshoot a problem with the system, this is a major downside vs windows. if something goes wrong the difficulty curve ramps up and your expected to know very complicated CLI commands.

I would much rather there be a Gnome Linux or KDE Linux platform that defines the system from top to bottom graphically but sadly its not like that and some in the Linux scene want it to stay "swappable".

Also the package manager (think app store) is its own library so one distro wont have the same software library as another, the app install system for Ubuntu is called Snap and does define how software is installed graphically on ubuntu systems. But Snaps are rarely ever seen in the wild outside the ubuntu software centre.

A competitor to Snap is Flatpaks via Flathub, this can be enabled in Ubuntu and I recommend doing it but you might get duplicate listings in your Ubuntu software centre as some of the same stuff is across both but Flathub has one big difference in that it forbids CLI apps so everything on that must have a GUI which is much more comfortable to windows users (also SteamOS uses Flathub for its desktop).

There are also appimages which are kind of like standalone windows exe's that you will find on some software sites.

 

[bit_user]

Aside from games and specific apps, I would be surprised if you see any real difference in actual usage between Windows and Linux. Things just work.

There are a few things about Linux that could surprise Windows users.

For instance, I find Linux to be less paternalistic about things like deleting a file while you still have it open. Windows tends not to let you do such things. With Linux, the way it uses reference-counting avoids the seeming paradox of such an action, because what you're actually doing is deleting the directory metadata associated with the file, but the file data is still there until the last reference to it goes away.

 

[bit_user]

Also the package manager (think app store) is its own library so one distro wont have the same software library as another, the app install system for Ubuntu is called Snap and does define how software is installed graphically on ubuntu systems. But Snaps are rarely ever seen in the wild outside the ubuntu software centre.

Yeah, but some packages are available as either a regular OS package (.deb file, on Debian-derived distros, like Ubuntu) or a snap. So, you sometimes have a choice, even within a distro.

I guess, for a beginner, it's probably safe to stick with snaps for everything. Installing native OS packages should have some benefits for performance and memory, though. There are security benefits, as well, since any vulnerabilities only need to be fixed in the OS for all other OS-level apps to benefit. With snaps, each would need to get rebuilt with the updated library and someone using them would have to download and install the patched versions.

Snaps are more like the Windows way of doing things, where apps tend to have their own private copies of all the .DLLs they need. If one of those .DLLs has a bug, you have to get a patch for it from the app developer.

 

[HAZERD2]

I'm using Xubuntu 24.04 at the moment. I think you should try that aswell
It's just installing the xubuntu desktop into normal Ubuntu and then selecting the Xfce session

 

[stuff and nonesense]

I’ve been using Kubuntu on my second PC for a while now, the only annoyances I’ve found..
1, installing non repository programs: it’s a pain, decompress the tar ball, find the install script, run it.
Solution, package the thing so all you do is click on the delivery file, oops, that’s too like windows, that said there must be a way, a method to simplify the installation (I gave up trying to install the latest GIMP version at release, it wasn’t available in the repository and refused to install.. I have patience I can wait).

2, I introduced a hard drive, it displaced a drive from its mount breaking a share to my windows pc. The solution was to edit a file to force the existing and new drives to specific mount points. Not difficult but finding the information was an hour wasted.

An aside, games under Wine:
I ran Guild Wars 2 under Wine, I was seeing upto 80fps, running the Steam install and using Proton as the translation layer I saw 160+ fps and ran close to native Windows averages.

 

[bit_user]

1, installing non repository programs: it’s a pain, decompress the tar ball, find the install script, run it.

Some of the more popular software maintains their own repository. You just add that and then you can install their packages & updates the same way as packages directly from the distro. And when they don't do that, popular apps tend to provide an app image that you can just download and run.

I can't remember the last time I've had to build a regular app from the sources, but then my needs are a lot more basic than some.

there must be a way, a method to simplify the installation (I gave up trying to install the latest GIMP version at release, it wasn’t available in the repository and refused to install.. I have patience I can wait).

I'd look for a snap or an app image of it.

Edit: you might want to look here:

GIMP 3.0 is Out! How to Install it in Ubuntu 24.04 | 22.04 | 20.04 | UbuntuHandbook

Full disclosure: I haven't installed it, so I can't personally endorse any of these instructions.

 

[das_stig]

Coming from Windows I'd suggest Kubuntu (KDE desktop) or Cinnamon Ubuntu (UI from Mint), both of those give a familiar experience though no Linux UI actually matches Windows to even 90% of the way and I've tried all of the Linux GUI's and some very obscure distros.

LXQT (WinXP) Cinnamon (Win 7/10) and KDE (Win10/11) are the closest to Windows at least depending on which version Win UI you like the most.

The one very confusing thing about Linux that its basically a command line/text based OS and not a GUI platform like Windows or MacOS which define how software is graphically installed or how you troubleshoot a problem with the system, this is a major downside vs windows. if something goes wrong the difficulty curve ramps up and your expected to know very complicated CLI commands.

I would much rather there be a Gnome Linux or KDE Linux platform that defines the system from top to bottom graphically but sadly its not like that and some in the Linux scene want it to stay "swappable".

Also the package manager (think app store) is its own library so one distro wont have the same software library as another, the app install system for Ubuntu is called Snap and does define how software is installed graphically on ubuntu systems. But Snaps are rarely ever seen in the wild outside the ubuntu software centre.

A competitor to Snap is Flatpaks via Flathub, this can be enabled in Ubuntu and I recommend doing it but you might get duplicate listings in your Ubuntu software centre as some of the same stuff is across both but Flathub has one big difference in that it forbids CLI apps so everything on that must have a GUI which is much more comfortable to windows users (also SteamOS uses Flathub for its desktop).

There are also appimages which are kind of like standalone windows exe's that you will find on some software sites.

I agree, a distro that focuses on one desktop, one package format etc and has a look and feel to Windows, can support a lot of WinApps out of the box without the user getting hands dirty with CLI, will win many over.

Example is Windows 11 itself, Windows 10 was a mismash of various WinX gui's that just didn't feel right, Microsoft has take it's time to migrate them to a common look and feel, that even stuff like network configuring can be done without a CLI.

If only these smaller and unique Linux projects just get together to pool knowledge and create a defacto distro for the masses, the year of Linux could be a reality !

 

[stuff and nonesense]

I'd look for a snap or an app image of it.

I checked the repository, not in there, I went to the GIMP website and followed the instructions.. no joy. Not a big problem, I can wait.

The repository simplifies things greatly. The off repository programs may be covered by flat packs and similar but there has been little to no improvement in the install methods that I used in the late 90s with Mandrake and RPM files. Arguably the RPM install into Mandrake was better or it may be that it was a simpler time.

 

[bit_user]

The off repository programs may be covered by flat packs and similar but there has been little to no improvement in the install methods that I used in the late 90s with Mandrake and RPM files. Arguably the RPM install into Mandrake was better or it may be that it was a simpler time.

If there's a flat pack, snap, app image, etc. then you don't build anything or have to mess with package version dependencies. I updated my reply, in case you didn't see.

It's really just random niche packages off github, where you need to worry about downloading and building stuff. And that goes equally for Linux or Windows.

 

[usertests]

If only these smaller and unique Linux projects just get together to pool knowledge and create a defacto distro for the masses, the year of Linux could be a reality !

Gaben will save us.

 

[stuff and nonesense]

If there's a flat pack, snap, app image, etc. then you don't build anything or have to mess with package version dependencies. I updated my reply, in case you didn't see.

It's really just random niche packages off github, where you need to worry about downloading and building stuff. And that goes equally for Linux or Windows.

I’ll wait till it hits the repository..

 

[Kindaian]

My only issue is not the Linux itself, but the support for Linux on the current crop of games. Granted it's getting better, but still lacking.

 

[bit_user]

I’ll wait till it hits the repository..

Once a newer distro version gets released, it's pretty uncommon for them to add major new versions of stuff to older ones that are still supported. Those get security fixes, but most new stuff goes into the current & upcoming distro repos.

So, if you want to get GIMP 3.0 only through Ubuntu official repos, then you'll probably have to upgrade to Ubuntu 25.04.

BTW, they do make a special exception for "Hardware Enablement", which is described here:

https://www.baeldung.com/linux/hardware-enablement-hwe
​

 

[-Fran-]

I'm a Gentoo masochist, so my opinion here is most definitely in the minority, but since you actually went throught the pain of watching that drive get decrypted, you can spend a weekend compiling everything, right? RIGHT?

Joking aside, try Bazzite (Fedora-clone) or whatever SteamOS (game-tuned) distro you can find that revolves around copying SteamOS and focusing on Proton, since that will definitely be a more closely-related experience to most enthusiasts that read Tom's. I could be incredibly wrong, but there's an idea as well.

KDE or Gnome for me is just preference. If you ask me, I'm still an Enlightenment troglodite; a proud one. I can do that, because Gentoo.

Regards.

 

[bit_user]

If you ask me, I'm still an Enlightenment troglodite; a proud one. I can do that, because Gentoo.

Well, until you switch to Wayland?

Building stuff from sources only works for about as long as those sources are maintained. Once a package is abandoned, it tends to involve increasing amounts of work to get it building and running properly. If there are enough people still using it, there will probably be forks, but when considering something like X11 -> Wayland, this is probably not an undertaking anyone is willing to do.

The situation on Windows isn't too different, from my limited knowledge. New Windows versions add new APIs and deprecate some old ones.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I have tried many Linux distros and I have found that Ubuntu is the most polished and stable out of the bunch. You can also give the dock an MacOS look.

 

[fball922]

Some of the more popular software maintains their own repository. You just add that and then you can install their packages & updates the same way as packages directly from the distro. And when they don't do that, popular apps tend to provide an app image that you can just download and run.

This is an example of the major hurdles from Linux becoming remotely mainstream... Adding a repository? I can only imagine my poor parents trying to figure out what the heck that even is or why they would need it, let alone how to do it. There are other things like that that you kind of get used to when you adopt Linux as an advanced user, but for your average user they would be non-starters.

 

[bit_user]

I have tried many Linux distros and I have found that Ubuntu is the most polished and stable out of the bunch.

I've run Ubuntu at home for more than 10 years. Mostly, because I'd never run a Debian-based distro and thought it would be a good idea to get some experience on one. Since then, momentum/inertia has kept me on it. Raspberry Pi OS is also Debian-based.

At work, we've used SuSE (both Enterprise and Leap). I've found Leap to be a decent choice, among RPM-based distros.

 

[TheSecondPower]

I use Popos which includes Gnome for probably about 25% of my computer usage. I also tied Chimera OS on my ROG Ally for a while, but stopped partly because I can't turn the analog stick LEDs off in Linux.

I strongly prefer flatpaks and snaps over .deb files and the Apt package manager. Linux is a great deal more user-friendly thanks them.

I've found most games work perfectly in Steam, although I sometimes have to choose the beta version of Proton. Age of Empires II: DE works but might crash during multiplayer.

In my opinion, you should never need to open CLI to use your computer. Windows and MacOS unfortunately do make it necessary sometimes, but Linux distros and Linux app makers make the CLI necessary frequently. It's a major failing.

Lastly there's the chicken and egg problem. So much software targets Windows and not Linux. I've been considering this for years and trying to be more choosy. I'm trying to migrate from Paint.NET to GIMP. I have a Zowie gaming mouse which has all its customization options in hardware buttons so it has no software (which is also great for booting Windows faster). And I don't buy Steam games with DRM that might not work in Linux.

 

[TheSecondPower]

This is an example of the major hurdles from Linux becoming remotely mainstream... Adding a repository? I can only imagine my poor parents trying to figure out what the heck that even is or why they would need it, let alone how to do it. There are other things like that that you kind of get used to when you adopt Linux as an advanced user, but for your average user they would be non-starters.

The good news is for a lot of people a typical Linux distro ships with a lot of the apps they will need and for some others an included software center provides a 1-click way to install additional needed software.

But it could be better. I use Popos and I did have to add support for flatpaks to get more software to appear in the software center. And now snap and flatpak sources both appear sometimes for just one app so I have to go to the maker's site and see which one is officially supported. It'd be nice if the OS maker did all of this for me.

 

[JohnyFin]

Linux is niche system for fanatics.....