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

[USAFRet]

Lemmings will stay with Microsoft but those with any computing ability will move on.

While you may call us "lemmings", some of us that still use Windows were around for DOS 2.0, Windows286, etc, etc.

Many of us are mutidisciplinary.
Windows/Linux/Android when and where applicable.

 

[66T100C]

read carefully ... lemmings are the ones reading mail and shopping.

I too have XP for the Oxford Dictionary and a simple Architect program
W7 off line to run recorded TV programs (Z87) ... probably could be replaced but the W7 version of Free Cell is the only version worth playing.
DOS PC XT machine died of natural causes long ago as did the DOS then W3 386sx/486 , and finally a W98.

Given a bit of analysis, setting aside the need to run otherwise incompatible software, the strengths and weakness of various OS should make it clear to an experienced user that the progressive "<Mod Edit>" of windows makes it less than the best choice.
Of course following the various software paths can be both a hobby and a profession.

 

[ezst036]

Which is de facto given by having chosen a distro, otherwise you would be using all of them equally, you only use one because you think that that one is the best, automatically you are prejudice against any other distro.

SMH.......

(Note, see the given Tribalism definition at post 197)

Linux users are famous for distro hopping. So much that distro hopping is a well known phrase: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/distro-hopping

Distro hopping is not a tribal attitude, meaning that "being tribal" is not de facto a "given" just by having chosen a distro. Distro hoppers have some semblance of using them equally and will choose another later, exactly what you are requesting. "Tribalism" is actually an offshoot of monopoly, an offshoot of a lack of choice, and also in particular it stems from cultures involving mass propaganda (especially over long periods of time) promoting superiority such as (I apologize in advance for this dead-horse flogging moment I only mean to use an example) what Apple has developed among its base for years, decades even.

At the end of the day the Linuxes have very little difference between them with little room for marking contrasting differences - compared to the tribalism of Linux vs MS/MS vs Mac/Mac vs Linux. There can be about as much tribalism via Linux vs Linux as there is among people who live in the same gated community where all of the houses were built by the same contractor, are virtually the same minus a swimming pool, two extra sliding-glass windows along the back deck, a few have sunroofs, garage door faces sideways instead of forward, etc etc etc. Super minor differences. All the grass is still green, you're only allowed to choose from 4 house colors. Etc.

Maybe I should say it to you like this: There are three tribes. MS Mac and Linux. (I suppose BSD makes tribe 4?)

Distro-hopping is the kind of phenomena that can only happen in an open environment that fosters competition such as the *BSD and *Linux do.

 

[bit_user]

Which is de facto given by having chosen a distro, otherwise you would be using all of them equally, you only use one because you think that that one is the best, automatically you are prejudice against any other distro.

Actually, no. My example of specialization was to point out that one might choose a distro based on specific needs and constraints. Also, having background in a certain flavor (e.g. RPM vs. Debian) is another factor, where "best for me" might include "uses technology I'm familiar with".

Plenty of examples where selection criteria needn't involve any sense of superiority or presumptuousness. Not that it doesn't exist, but it doesn't follow that, just because there are lots of options, it's simply a consequence of tribalism.

The way you seem to be using "tribal" is simply equating it to having a choice, and therefore making a choice places one in a tribe. That's not what most people mean by the term.

 

[Grobe]

We need a super linux with all options.

Or all options available on install...

And we already have this. Have a look at Arc or OpenBSD, you're almost perfectly describing the purpose of the choices those gives upon install.

 

[Lamarr the Strelok]

Avram is reminding me how difficult it could be for a general office worker go to linux.Printers, streaming docks,Compatible programs to communicate with co workers and others with possibly a different program.,etc.Go Avram!
As noted, apple,windows and linux have their tribal members.Inside linux there's nothing like that. I chose mint because I was starting out in linux and needed a good forum for help.5 years later and it's still my fave. But I've tried 5 other flavo(u)rs of linux and they're all fun. I liken(?) it to guitar companies.Just because I like one model of Jackson doesn't mean I hate the other models.
Now ,there is a deep tribal component among the companies themselves (Fender vs Gibson for example), but within each company there's no tribalism.Same thing with linux for me.

 

[blppt]

Avram is reminding me how difficult it could be for a general office worker go to linux.Printers, streaming docks,Compatible programs to communicate with co workers and others with possibly a different program.,etc.Go Avram!
As noted, apple,windows and linux have their tribal members.Inside linux there's nothing like that. I chose mint because I was starting out in linux and needed a good forum for help.5 years later and it's still my fave. But I've tried 5 other flavo(u)rs of linux and they're all fun. I liken(?) it to guitar companies.Just because I like one model of Jackson doesn't mean I hate the other models.
Now ,there is a deep tribal component among the companies themselves (Fender vs Gibson for example), but within each company there's no tribalism.Same thing with linux for me.

Ehhh, theres a bit of tribalism going on, Arch users have an annoying habit of lording it over the rest of us. Strangely, even though Gentoo makes Arch look like Mint in difficulty, I never really hear high and mighty boasting from that community.

Maybe because they're too busy recompiling everything for the 30th time this week to make fun of others, lol.

 

[blppt]

Not sure what you mean by 'dumped'. Upgraded to Fedora 42 and still using X11, don't remember having to do anything special. Haven't tried Wayland for a long time.

If you had X11 installed from a previous version, it will still be there, but I can confirm that by default, even 41 didn't install X11 at all. Not much work to install it, mind you, but they are obviously heading towards phasing it out completely.

 

[blppt]

8. No spying on you, almost no viruses.

One caveat---at least one company (Ubuntu/Canonical) was caught sending using data to Amazon for ad purposes. Caused a big stink back in the day.

 

[Deleted member 2839125]

Linux is just a big mess. really it is anyone who has tried to meaningfully use it will am sure agree UNLESS they are well versed in the command line side of the OS.
The truth is most folks dont want to have to spend hours compiling stuff that frankly should just work for most folks lifes too busy or they have other stuff to do like kids, work etc, take an example i have personally, i run a laptop on linux and every other update something break, a repository has moved or is no longer where it needs to be, leading me to then go on a hunt for it, if i was just an average user with little knowledge of how to do this then my laptop would eventually stop doing anything or even become vulnerable due to a lack of updates, its very strength in being open source is its weakness as it becomes fragmented and only those with the time to sit down and study CLIs are able to use it, for that reason away from commercial areas its pretty much dead in the water especially compared to Windows which while it has its own issues 99% of the time just works

 

[_D_D]

If you had X11 installed from a previous version, it will still be there, but I can confirm that by default, even 41 didn't install X11 at all. Not much work to install it, mind you, but they are obviously heading towards phasing it out completely.

Shame, I've gotten quite use to it. Maybe they will change their minds as they often do.

 

[Ignacio Maxwell]

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

Ive heard Linux uses a ton less system resources and doesn't have infinite bloatware like windows. I’m excited to see how it goes

 

[RemmRun]

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

I was forced to as my older PC finally gave it up and my old spare MB would not recognize Windows for whatever reason. I managed to get Ubuntu on a thumbdrive, and it worked. I love it, I don't think I'll go back to full time Windows from now, even games in Steam work

 

[Grobe]

One caveat---at least one company (Ubuntu/Canonical) was caught sending using data to Amazon for ad purposes. Caused a big stink back in the day.

How does one company mistake make a whole OS bad? Also, isn't that very old news - like 13 years ago this case? You have any grounds to claim this is a valid point in 2025?

Linux is just a big mess. really it is anyone who has tried to meaningfully use it will am sure agree UNLESS they are well versed in the command line side of the OS.
The truth is most folks dont want to have to spend hours compiling stuff that frankly should just work for most folks lifes too busy or they have other stuff to do like kids, work etc, take an example i have personally, i run a laptop on linux and every other update something break, a repository has moved or is no longer where it needs to be, leading me to then go on a hunt for it, if i was just an average user with little knowledge of how to do this then my laptop would eventually stop doing anything or even become vulnerable due to a lack of updates, its very strength in being open source is its weakness as it becomes fragmented and only those with the time to sit down and study CLIs are able to use it, for that reason away from commercial areas its pretty much dead in the water especially compared to Windows which while it has its own issues 99% of the time just works

This was LOT of messy regurgitation from the 90's. If using a somewhat popular distro (like Mint) and choose one that have a long service life, there is nothing in this rant that I can say I recognize.

If this is only remotely true experience, I'd guess it's the typical user error of either choosing a Interim releases that is not being maintained very long OR have booted up on live desktop and of course any updates won't work properly OR managed to download a very obscure distro that almost nobody actually use (like the Hanna Montana themed one).

 

[blppt]

"How does one company mistake make a whole OS bad? Also, isn't that very old news - like 13 years ago this case? You have any grounds to claim this is a valid point in 2025?"

I didn't. I said that it IS possible and that it already HAS been done before. You made it sound like you don't have to worry about things like this simply because you use Linux.

 

[TerryLaze]

I want to try switching to Linux, please tell me which one is better to install

Most distros can be used live, meaning that they will run from a usb stick without having to be installed, that is a perfect way to try it out, having in mind that it will run a bit worse from usb, but it will give you a feel for it and you can see what is included and so on.
Which one is better would be like telling you what food you like the most...only your opinion counts.

 

[salgado18]

I want to try switching to Linux, please tell me which one is better to install

Start with Ubuntu. It is the most widely used, so support is plenty. It is stable and fully-featured. And it doesn't look like Windows, so you get a more genuine Linux experience (meaning that, if it looks too much like Windows, you expect it to run like Windows, which it won't).

 

[Grobe]

didn't. I said that it IS possible and that it already HAS been done before.

But failed to mention that news article dates like 13 years back in time. The statement therefore only seems to be designed to scare people for trying Linux.

You made it sound like you don't have to worry about things like this simply because you use Linux.

I simply asked for source of the claim.

 

[KraakBal]

Try cachyOS? Heard good things and has NTSYNC enabled for its proton apparently

 

[blppt]

But failed to mention that news article dates like 13 years back in time. The statement therefore only seems to be designed to scare people for trying Linux.


I simply asked for source of the claim.

Wha? Where did I try to scare people away from using Linux? I just pointed out that Linux is not immune to adware/spyware/data mining issues.

If it has been done before, it can be again. That is all i'm saying.

 

[hag1976]

I have recently switched full time to Kubuntu 25.04, although I have been trying linux for 20+ years. I am a humanitarian, and cannot write code, as most of the people using a PC, and I like controlling my OS with a mouse only when possible.

I do not like entering a password constantly in linux as well, and a password for a personal one person computer is useless in my humble opinion.

The reason for the late switch to Linux - you can choose no password on the stage of installation of kubuntu 25.04 (leave the password space empty) and everything works from that point on - you need only to click with a mouse when a password is requested. 25.05 is stable enough on AMD hardware as well, and wine works reasonably when no equivalent linux software is available.

I believe the need for constantly entering a password has been one of the main reasons to scare common folk away from linux distributions for PC (as well as the need to use a command line for configuration - which has improved as well lately)

I am happy Linux distributions are becoming more and more "human" and easy to use, which cannot be said about the current iteration of windows (which is becoming more difficult to use - I wonder how many programmers are still writing code for windows and how much they can read the old code still employed in the OS, which looks like composed of band-aids)

 

[JamesJones44]

Code editing:
There are a lot of code editors. I still haven't found one I like as much as Notepad++ which I use in Windows

Both JetBrains community products and VS Code work natively on Linux. They also have key maps that emulate Notepad++ key mapping. Might be worth a shot if you haven't already tried those alternatives.

 

[JamesJones44]

My condolences for this action. How long recover after this?

As soon as they realize they should have done it sooner the recovery is over

 

[Mindstab Thrull]

Quick now about Notepad++
As far as I remember, the common browser shortcut for zooming (CTRL+ or CTRL-) works there too. Give that a try?

 

[Amdlova]

Some one need to make a guide how to install SteamOS The steam page is very confuse and the lastest guides are from 2022 :S