8 ms·

I got sick of waiting for Apple to fix their keyboards and built myself a custom Ryzen-based desktop. I chose to install PopOS 19.10 on it and it has been great

I got sick of waiting for Apple to fix their keyboards and built myself a custom Ryzen-based desktop. I chose to install PopOS 19.10 on it and it has been great. I plan on waiting a few weeks to upgrade to 20.04 and will then probably stay on that version until the next LTS release. I never used Ubuntu as my daily driver so it is hard to say what is better, but PopOS has been great and has good defaults. It was not hard to adjust despite having used OSX for the previous 12 years. I work from home 95% of the time so working on a desktop was an option and I still have my old 15" Macbook from work around when I need to travel to the office. I will probably just get it upgraded when Apple refreshes the 13" Pro. Anyway, +1 for PopOS and you do not have to run System76 hardware to use it.

derethanhausen 6y ago
Did the graphics you chose have quality, easy to install drivers? Been thinking of doing something similar.
- bgorman 6y ago
  If you have Intel or AMD graphics work perfectly under Linux. You don't even need to install drivers because they are shipped in the Kernel.
  - est31 6y ago
    There are kernel components of drivers as well as userspace components. But they are all available via package managers, so no need to install them.
  - blackfawn 6y ago
    Out of curiosity, do people have issues with Nvidia in Linux? I've seen similar sentiment in the past but I've never really noticed any issues with the nouveau (open source) driver. Due to CUDA work, I primarily use the proprietary drivers which work well too (other than an annoying suspend bug introduced in 18.04 and seemingly unfixed in 20.04)
    - i_am_proteus 6y ago
      Nvidia runs very well under Arch and Manjaro. Install the proprietary drivers and let Conda handle CUDA. It's as close to anything Just Working with Nvidia drivers for neural nets that I've found.
    - thdrdt 6y ago
      I think it depends on the card model but overall the Nvidia drivers and CUDA software work great. Nvidia even provide Linux support for the latest RTX cards. The biggest problem I had was installing the latest proprietary drivers because the ones Ubuntu provide are lagging behind. Sometimes you need to do this via the console.
    - mcv 6y ago
      Nvidia is supposed the be the big advantage of PopOS: you can download the Nvidia version of PopOS and it takes care of everything for you.
    - deadbunny 6y ago
      I've been using 1080ti (desktop) for gaming on Ubuntu 18.04 with no problems for a year or so using the closed source drivers from the Ubuntu Drivers PPA.
    - bgorman 6y ago
      Yes, because Nvidia drivers are not part of the kernel they need to be updated manually and Nvidia does not distribute the source code, so you need to wait on Nvidia. Nvidia also doesn't support some of the APIs that AMD and Intel do, which causes fragmentation in Linux desktop environments.
  - tracker1 6y ago
    That's less than perfect there... I bought an RX 5700 XT in October when I built my desktop. I had lots of issues over the months until around February where it finally seemed stable (on updated Kernel releases, and having to sometimes download the binary driver modules). Even then, I had trouble with even trying VMs as nothing supported the ahead of mainline kernel I needed for my video card. Now, 20.04 may be miles better and much more stable overall, still well behind the kernel I'd been running. Just saying it isn't a panacea at all. NOTE: Since early march, I've been mostly on Windows in support of a couple legacy projects.
    - stepbeek 6y ago
      I moved my 5700xt into a purely for fun gaming pc and replaced it with a 1050 in my dev machine. I had the exact same experience, but in December gave up on having linux play nicely with Navi for the time being. I will readily admit to being an AMD fanboy, but Nvidia is really besting them at the software game. My 3700x CPU has been dreamy from day one.
      - waheoo 6y ago
        This has more to do with market dominance and standards compliance of nvidia than anything else. Nvidia does its own thing game devs compensate, amd gets a shafted experience and looks like its their fault.
        stepbeek 6y ago
        Could you elaborate? I would have thought that AMD would be invested in offering comparably good drivers. I'm not taking issue with a game not performing optimally. I'm taking issue with a reasonably common desktop environment (Ubuntu 18.04) proving unstable.
        waheoo 6y ago
        They create better drivers. Nvidia dont adhere to specs. Amd does. Developers develop for nvidia. Problems ensue for amd users.
  - pjmlp 6y ago
    AMD, only if one has a recent card. APU owners aren't so lucky.
    - bwat49 6y ago
      what do you mean? AMD integrated graphics are supported by the same open source driver... IIRC, anything that's GCN 1.2 or newer is supported (APU or dedicated)
      - pjmlp 6y ago
        Supported doesn't mean they are at the same feature level as fxgl used to be. I am still waiting for OpenGL 4.1, the extensions listed here, and hardware video decoding, because from where I sitting glxinfo still reports OpenGL 3.0 https://www.geeks3d.com/20110609/asus-eee-pc-1215b-netbook-review-test-amd-fusion-brazos-apu-radeon-hd-6250/5/ https://www.geeks3d.com/20110609/asus-eee-pc-1215b-netbook-r... So yeah, thanks very much for 2D and less than optimal 3D support.
        bgorman 6y ago
        You are correct - older hardware has suboptimal support. However - that laptop is at least eight years old. All the AMD graphics cards since Polaris have good support.
        pjmlp 6y ago
        Nah, I rather bet on NVidia nowadays, it was a mistake to try to support AMD FOSS efforts and get this reward.
- jerednel 6y ago
  I recently switched to POP!_OS and the base install recognized my nvidia RTX 2070 which is very refreshing. no figuring out which drivers to install.
- tndl 6y ago
  I have an nvidia graphics card, and the pop_os installer walked me through the driver installation and made everything pretty painless.
- Mikeb85 6y ago
  He said AMD Ryzen which works great with open source drivers that are part of the kernel. I've got a Ryzen 2 laptop and everything works perfectly under Ubuntu out of the box.
  - ciupicri 6y ago
    Not all Ryzen CPUs come with integrated graphics.
    - tracker1 6y ago
      PopOS supports nvidia, intel and amd graphics pretty well out of the box (nvidia was a separate download, unsure if it still is). I had trouble with the 5700 XT for the first few months though... Other than running out and buying a new graphics card series when it comes out, most people should be fine.
- markphip 6y ago
  I do not game so I saved money by just going with a Radeon 570. It works great. I have multiple monitors, including my Apple Thunderbolt display. I was able to find an AIC for the desktop that added Thunderbolt and it "just worked" in PopOS .. at least for the video and audio. I never tried to get the webcam to work.
woah 6y ago
wait... If you wanted a desktop, wouldn't getting a non-apple keyboard be a total nonissue?
- papermachete 6y ago
  It's also irrelevant it was a AMD-shilled CPU.
- teekert 6y ago
  It could have been the drop that made the bucket overflow (or however you say this in your language) and it is probably also an emotional thing of feeling poorly treated.
  - tdeck 6y ago
    Love learning a new expression! In English we usually say "the straw that broke the camel's back" or just "the last straw".
  - bjoli 6y ago
    I don't know where you are from, but we say something very similar in Swedish.
  - Lex-2008 6y ago
    in Russian we say just "the last drop".
  - unicornfinder 6y ago
    Indeed, I had been feeling frustrated with Apple for a long time before finally giving in and building a Ryzen-based desktop. Honestly, I won't say the transition has been entirely painless - it does take time to adjust to a new operating system, but I have to say, my biggest regret is that I didn't ditch Apple's computers sooner. I love my iPhone but honestly it does feel like Apple just isn't all that interested in their desktop / laptop computers recently.
  - sakisv 6y ago
    Where are you from? In Greek we use "glass" instead of "bucket", it's really interesting to see how close these expressions are.
camjohnson26 6y ago
Switched from Mac to a system76 laptop last year. The build quality is a lot worse but the software just gets out of my way and does its job. So nice not to have to worry about Apple or Microsoft overlords anymore. Makes me want to get a puri.sm phone to completely leave big tech behind.
- Fredd-Green 6y ago
  Or a PinePhone
mcv 6y ago
> "+1 for PopOS and you do not have to run System76 hardware to use it." In the Thinkpad community, PopOS is often recommended for the Thinkpad X1 Extreme, because it has hybrid graphics that can switch between integrated and GPU based on your need, and PopOS is apparently the only Linux that supports that.
- stuaxo 6y ago
  It automatically swaps, if so, that's pretty good. If not, being able to choose between these has been around for quite a long time.
Fredd-Green 6y ago
Try installing Pop!_OS on the old MacBook, it may run alot faster

derethanhausen 6y ago

Did the graphics you chose have quality, easy to install drivers? Been thinking of doing something similar.

bgorman 6y ago
If you have Intel or AMD graphics work perfectly under Linux. You don't even need to install drivers because they are shipped in the Kernel.
- est31 6y ago
  There are kernel components of drivers as well as userspace components. But they are all available via package managers, so no need to install them.
- blackfawn 6y ago
  Out of curiosity, do people have issues with Nvidia in Linux? I've seen similar sentiment in the past but I've never really noticed any issues with the nouveau (open source) driver. Due to CUDA work, I primarily use the proprietary drivers which work well too (other than an annoying suspend bug introduced in 18.04 and seemingly unfixed in 20.04)
  - i_am_proteus 6y ago
    Nvidia runs very well under Arch and Manjaro. Install the proprietary drivers and let Conda handle CUDA. It's as close to anything Just Working with Nvidia drivers for neural nets that I've found.
  - thdrdt 6y ago
    I think it depends on the card model but overall the Nvidia drivers and CUDA software work great. Nvidia even provide Linux support for the latest RTX cards. The biggest problem I had was installing the latest proprietary drivers because the ones Ubuntu provide are lagging behind. Sometimes you need to do this via the console.
  - mcv 6y ago
    Nvidia is supposed the be the big advantage of PopOS: you can download the Nvidia version of PopOS and it takes care of everything for you.
  - deadbunny 6y ago
    I've been using 1080ti (desktop) for gaming on Ubuntu 18.04 with no problems for a year or so using the closed source drivers from the Ubuntu Drivers PPA.
  - bgorman 6y ago
    Yes, because Nvidia drivers are not part of the kernel they need to be updated manually and Nvidia does not distribute the source code, so you need to wait on Nvidia. Nvidia also doesn't support some of the APIs that AMD and Intel do, which causes fragmentation in Linux desktop environments.
- tracker1 6y ago
  That's less than perfect there... I bought an RX 5700 XT in October when I built my desktop. I had lots of issues over the months until around February where it finally seemed stable (on updated Kernel releases, and having to sometimes download the binary driver modules). Even then, I had trouble with even trying VMs as nothing supported the ahead of mainline kernel I needed for my video card. Now, 20.04 may be miles better and much more stable overall, still well behind the kernel I'd been running. Just saying it isn't a panacea at all. NOTE: Since early march, I've been mostly on Windows in support of a couple legacy projects.
  - stepbeek 6y ago
    I moved my 5700xt into a purely for fun gaming pc and replaced it with a 1050 in my dev machine. I had the exact same experience, but in December gave up on having linux play nicely with Navi for the time being. I will readily admit to being an AMD fanboy, but Nvidia is really besting them at the software game. My 3700x CPU has been dreamy from day one.
    - waheoo 6y ago
      This has more to do with market dominance and standards compliance of nvidia than anything else. Nvidia does its own thing game devs compensate, amd gets a shafted experience and looks like its their fault.
      - stepbeek 6y ago
        Could you elaborate? I would have thought that AMD would be invested in offering comparably good drivers. I'm not taking issue with a game not performing optimally. I'm taking issue with a reasonably common desktop environment (Ubuntu 18.04) proving unstable.
        waheoo 6y ago
        They create better drivers. Nvidia dont adhere to specs. Amd does. Developers develop for nvidia. Problems ensue for amd users.
- pjmlp 6y ago
  AMD, only if one has a recent card. APU owners aren't so lucky.
  - bwat49 6y ago
    what do you mean? AMD integrated graphics are supported by the same open source driver... IIRC, anything that's GCN 1.2 or newer is supported (APU or dedicated)
    - pjmlp 6y ago
      Supported doesn't mean they are at the same feature level as fxgl used to be. I am still waiting for OpenGL 4.1, the extensions listed here, and hardware video decoding, because from where I sitting glxinfo still reports OpenGL 3.0 https://www.geeks3d.com/20110609/asus-eee-pc-1215b-netbook-review-test-amd-fusion-brazos-apu-radeon-hd-6250/5/ https://www.geeks3d.com/20110609/asus-eee-pc-1215b-netbook-r... So yeah, thanks very much for 2D and less than optimal 3D support.
      - bgorman 6y ago
        You are correct - older hardware has suboptimal support. However - that laptop is at least eight years old. All the AMD graphics cards since Polaris have good support.
        pjmlp 6y ago
        Nah, I rather bet on NVidia nowadays, it was a mistake to try to support AMD FOSS efforts and get this reward.
jerednel 6y ago
I recently switched to POP!_OS and the base install recognized my nvidia RTX 2070 which is very refreshing. no figuring out which drivers to install.
tndl 6y ago
I have an nvidia graphics card, and the pop_os installer walked me through the driver installation and made everything pretty painless.
Mikeb85 6y ago
He said AMD Ryzen which works great with open source drivers that are part of the kernel. I've got a Ryzen 2 laptop and everything works perfectly under Ubuntu out of the box.
- ciupicri 6y ago
  Not all Ryzen CPUs come with integrated graphics.
  - tracker1 6y ago
    PopOS supports nvidia, intel and amd graphics pretty well out of the box (nvidia was a separate download, unsure if it still is). I had trouble with the 5700 XT for the first few months though... Other than running out and buying a new graphics card series when it comes out, most people should be fine.
markphip 6y ago
I do not game so I saved money by just going with a Radeon 570. It works great. I have multiple monitors, including my Apple Thunderbolt display. I was able to find an AIC for the desktop that added Thunderbolt and it "just worked" in PopOS .. at least for the video and audio. I never tried to get the webcam to work.

woah 6y ago

wait... If you wanted a desktop, wouldn't getting a non-apple keyboard be a total nonissue?

papermachete 6y ago
It's also irrelevant it was a AMD-shilled CPU.
teekert 6y ago
It could have been the drop that made the bucket overflow (or however you say this in your language) and it is probably also an emotional thing of feeling poorly treated.
- tdeck 6y ago
  Love learning a new expression! In English we usually say "the straw that broke the camel's back" or just "the last straw".
- bjoli 6y ago
  I don't know where you are from, but we say something very similar in Swedish.
- Lex-2008 6y ago
  in Russian we say just "the last drop".
- unicornfinder 6y ago
  Indeed, I had been feeling frustrated with Apple for a long time before finally giving in and building a Ryzen-based desktop. Honestly, I won't say the transition has been entirely painless - it does take time to adjust to a new operating system, but I have to say, my biggest regret is that I didn't ditch Apple's computers sooner. I love my iPhone but honestly it does feel like Apple just isn't all that interested in their desktop / laptop computers recently.
- sakisv 6y ago
  Where are you from? In Greek we use "glass" instead of "bucket", it's really interesting to see how close these expressions are.

camjohnson26 6y ago

Switched from Mac to a system76 laptop last year. The build quality is a lot worse but the software just gets out of my way and does its job. So nice not to have to worry about Apple or Microsoft overlords anymore. Makes me want to get a puri.sm phone to completely leave big tech behind.

Fredd-Green 6y ago
Or a PinePhone

mcv 6y ago

> "+1 for PopOS and you do not have to run System76 hardware to use it." In the Thinkpad community, PopOS is often recommended for the Thinkpad X1 Extreme, because it has hybrid graphics that can switch between integrated and GPU based on your need, and PopOS is apparently the only Linux that supports that.

stuaxo 6y ago
It automatically swaps, if so, that's pretty good. If not, being able to choose between these has been around for quite a long time.

Fredd-Green 6y ago

Try installing Pop!_OS on the old MacBook, it may run alot faster