4 ms·

I've been using Ubuntu 20.04 for several weeks, almost since beta came out. The snap thing is a pain in the ass. I understand the need for something like snap

I've been using Ubuntu 20.04 for several weeks, almost since beta came out. The snap thing is a pain in the ass. I understand the need for something like snap or flatpak. I had software too new or too old that wouldn't work because some dependencies were not updated or were too new. Snaps can solve that by allowing the developers to provide everything you need (or everything you need that is not on your system). But why would I want a snap calculator or a snap system monitor? On 19.04 it would take a couple seconds to open the calculator...thank god they reverted those apps as normal packages. Now I feel like I felt on Windows when I had to be extra careful installing software in case somethign weird came in the installer. What kind of package is this? Is it a snap? Can I install the normal package? Is the snap provided by someone trustworthy? I also had to install Unity. Gnome lacks support for multiple monitors. Some stuff like the dash working only on the main monitor breaks completely my workflow. Almost for every action I want to make I have to change my focus to the main monitor.

beart 7y ago
multiple monitor support in Linux is high on my list of reasons I keep switching back to my Windows partition.
- redblacktree15 7y ago
  I suggest trying Kubuntu. I've been running 3 4K monitors for years, all works fine, including HiDPI support.
  - beart 7y ago
    If my primary monitor is to the right of my secondary monitor, do applications open on the primary monitor or the 'left' monitor? Also, do applications remember which monitor they were last opened on?
    - kbknapp 7y ago
      Not the parent, but I've also been using KDE in a multi-monitor setup for years (I have a 1440p primary monitor, and two vertical 1080p monitors to the sides). In my experience, applications open on the primary monitor, or on the monitor that is "active" (i.e. if you run Alt+F2 to bring up a run prompt on your secondary monitor and launch an application from there, the application opens on the secondary monitor where you launched it.). Yes, applications remember which monitor and even location on the monitor they were last at.
- Darmody 7y ago
  It worked very, very well on Unity. It also works with other DE like Plasma but I personally find it horrendous on other aspects. I'll probably give Budgie a go.
  - mixmastamyk 7y ago
    Two 4k monitors with Ubuntu Mate, works well.
  - beart 7y ago
    If my primary monitor is to the right of my secondary monitor, do applications open on the primary monitor or the 'left' monitor? Also, do applications remember which monitor they were last opened on?
    - Darmody 7y ago
      That depends on the DE. On Unity it opens on the monitor you're focusing. Sometimes it's a bit tricky. Let's say you're focusing on a Window on your main monitor but your mouse cursor is in the secondary monitor. If you hit the meta key, the menu will show on the secondary monitor. Now, if you open an application without using your mouse it'll open on your main monitor, where you had the focused window but if you click on the app it'll open on the secondary monitor because the click changes the focus. Some stuff is not as polished as it should be but if we take in consideration that Unity has been abandoned for 4 years and before that it wasn't developed at all as all the effort was put into Unity8, I'd say it's a pretty damn good DE. I hated it when it came out but now I can't live without it.
- isatty 7y ago
  Is multi monitor support in Linux broken? I've been going strong for ages with proprietary nvidia drivers and i3/dwm.
  - Darmody 7y ago
    I wouldn't say it's broken. But Gnome Shell is made for a single monitor so working with more than one makes it a pain in the ass.
    - alexhutcheson 7y ago
      Cinnamon is pretty good.
      - physicles 7y ago
        After trying out a bunch of environments about a year ago, I settled on cinnamon because it had the best multi-monitor support.
  - lucb1e 7y ago
    Same here with open source drivers and Cinnamon/lightdm.
- lucb1e 7y ago
  You're talking about connecting an external screen to a laptop or two monitors on a desktop and using it in only-display/only-laptop/mirror/separate screens mode right? To be fair, my Thinkpad from work is the first laptop that has issues with when (dis)connecting a screen. When disconnecting I need to turn on the laptop screen before disconnecting; for connecting I can usually log in without screen and use Super+P to switch modes and that fixes it. But other than this first instance, I never heard of this being an issue and people here talk about it as if it's commonplace. I must have used or seen Linux used on at least 30 laptops with 2 (or more) screens without issue in the last ~10 years, counting the ones at my previous employer as one because they were all the same hardware even if people ran different distributions.
fock 7y ago
actually dash-to-dock is working just fine for multiple monitors (and given the strange UI paradigm of Gnome basically a must have). The ubuntu-dock is just a none-configurable version of that. AND in 20.04 the full dash-to-dock just vanished...
- Raphael 7y ago
  Yeah, I had to reinstall one from source. https://github.com/home-sweet-gnome/dash-to-panel https://github.com/home-sweet-gnome/dash-to-panel
sandov 7y ago
On 18.04 it takes like a full second, sometimes two, to open the calculator anyway.
- Darmody 7y ago
  They changed those apps to normal packages in 19.04 or 19.10.
  - sandov 7y ago
    Oh, I get it now.

beart 7y ago

multiple monitor support in Linux is high on my list of reasons I keep switching back to my Windows partition.

redblacktree15 7y ago
I suggest trying Kubuntu. I've been running 3 4K monitors for years, all works fine, including HiDPI support.
- beart 7y ago
  If my primary monitor is to the right of my secondary monitor, do applications open on the primary monitor or the 'left' monitor? Also, do applications remember which monitor they were last opened on?
  - kbknapp 7y ago
    Not the parent, but I've also been using KDE in a multi-monitor setup for years (I have a 1440p primary monitor, and two vertical 1080p monitors to the sides). In my experience, applications open on the primary monitor, or on the monitor that is "active" (i.e. if you run Alt+F2 to bring up a run prompt on your secondary monitor and launch an application from there, the application opens on the secondary monitor where you launched it.). Yes, applications remember which monitor and even location on the monitor they were last at.
Darmody 7y ago
It worked very, very well on Unity. It also works with other DE like Plasma but I personally find it horrendous on other aspects. I'll probably give Budgie a go.
- mixmastamyk 7y ago
  Two 4k monitors with Ubuntu Mate, works well.
- beart 7y ago
  If my primary monitor is to the right of my secondary monitor, do applications open on the primary monitor or the 'left' monitor? Also, do applications remember which monitor they were last opened on?
  - Darmody 7y ago
    That depends on the DE. On Unity it opens on the monitor you're focusing. Sometimes it's a bit tricky. Let's say you're focusing on a Window on your main monitor but your mouse cursor is in the secondary monitor. If you hit the meta key, the menu will show on the secondary monitor. Now, if you open an application without using your mouse it'll open on your main monitor, where you had the focused window but if you click on the app it'll open on the secondary monitor because the click changes the focus. Some stuff is not as polished as it should be but if we take in consideration that Unity has been abandoned for 4 years and before that it wasn't developed at all as all the effort was put into Unity8, I'd say it's a pretty damn good DE. I hated it when it came out but now I can't live without it.
isatty 7y ago
Is multi monitor support in Linux broken? I've been going strong for ages with proprietary nvidia drivers and i3/dwm.
- Darmody 7y ago
  I wouldn't say it's broken. But Gnome Shell is made for a single monitor so working with more than one makes it a pain in the ass.
  - alexhutcheson 7y ago
    Cinnamon is pretty good.
    - physicles 7y ago
      After trying out a bunch of environments about a year ago, I settled on cinnamon because it had the best multi-monitor support.
- lucb1e 7y ago
  Same here with open source drivers and Cinnamon/lightdm.
lucb1e 7y ago
You're talking about connecting an external screen to a laptop or two monitors on a desktop and using it in only-display/only-laptop/mirror/separate screens mode right? To be fair, my Thinkpad from work is the first laptop that has issues with when (dis)connecting a screen. When disconnecting I need to turn on the laptop screen before disconnecting; for connecting I can usually log in without screen and use Super+P to switch modes and that fixes it. But other than this first instance, I never heard of this being an issue and people here talk about it as if it's commonplace. I must have used or seen Linux used on at least 30 laptops with 2 (or more) screens without issue in the last ~10 years, counting the ones at my previous employer as one because they were all the same hardware even if people ran different distributions.

fock 7y ago

actually dash-to-dock is working just fine for multiple monitors (and given the strange UI paradigm of Gnome basically a must have). The ubuntu-dock is just a none-configurable version of that. AND in 20.04 the full dash-to-dock just vanished...

Raphael 7y ago
Yeah, I had to reinstall one from source. https://github.com/home-sweet-gnome/dash-to-panel https://github.com/home-sweet-gnome/dash-to-panel

sandov 7y ago

On 18.04 it takes like a full second, sometimes two, to open the calculator anyway.

Darmody 7y ago
They changed those apps to normal packages in 19.04 or 19.10.
- sandov 7y ago
  Oh, I get it now.