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I switched to Ubuntu on my main machine a few years ago. This is my second attempt. There are still some annoyances I run into, the biggest being that the dock

I switched to Ubuntu on my main machine a few years ago. This is my second attempt. There are still some annoyances I run into, the biggest being that the dock regularly disappears after sleep. How would I ever set my parents up on something where even the most basic features require fixes like this https://leimao.github.io/blog/Ubuntu-Dock-Disappear/ https://leimao.github.io/blog/Ubuntu-Dock-Disappear/?

heavyset_go 6y ago
I've had my parents set up with MATE and Plasma Desktop for about two years now without a problem. Both just work. I haven't used GNOME in years because it was too unstable when I used it myself.
LoSboccacc 6y ago
yeah the first period after switching to Linux is almost always ok-ish, sometimes even pleasant, depending on one's specific use case. then you live trough your first pulse audio upgrade. or maybe you have to bring a laptop in two wireless location with slightly different network configs. or it's just a distro upgrade where the default filesystem changed and they dropped the older fs kernel module. or you have a second monitor, or a multitouch pad, and at every update there's a chance for some package change breaking their config.
- olyjohn 6y ago
  Yeah and consistently there seems to be a bad Windows Update that breaks a whole bunch of stuff... Not sure if people are just used to Windows being a piece of shit, or if we are holding the Linux desktop to a higher standard.
- Smithalicious 6y ago
  All of these were legitimate issues 10-20 years ago. None of them have been since.
readme 6y ago
Problem is Ubuntu’s desktop. Try with a recent Fedora with Gnome, will prob work fine no tweak required.
Timpy 6y ago
I don't want to start a distro ware here but... Ubuntu is really opinionated about the UX and if you want to change or fix anything you have to get kind of hacky. Sometimes when I woke my computer of from sleep it would ignore the keyboard and you had to use the mouse to click and slide the screen upward as if it were a tablet. Multiple workspaces only worked on the main monitor, side monitors would only show Workspace 1. There was a workaround for this, but it was a little bit buggy. When I want to drag a window, exit a window, or minimize, I usually just slam my cursor into the top of the screen. On Ubuntu there's a thin black status bar at the top of the screen, so you have to aim your cursor carefully instead of gesturing your mouse upwards, and it was a huge pain to try to remove that. I started a new job and my boss installed Linux Mint on my work laptop because that's what he was using; after a month I installed Mint on my home desktop. The defaults are sensible, there's tons of customization options, and I don't have to hack my way into really simple and obvious changes.
- dhimes 6y ago
  I second Mint. Have used it for a decade on my main dev machine. Only now have I turned to Win 10 and WSL for my main work and I've got to say: it's not bad. And it pretty much just works.
andrepd 6y ago
I suggest Linux Mint. Stable Ubuntu derivative with a sane, "just-works" desktop environment (Cinnamon).
- pmoriarty 6y ago
  What if I don't want any desktop environment, but just want to run the i3 window manager?
  - sketchyj 6y ago
    Arch if you don't mind or enjoy tinkering, otherwise I believe manjaro has an i3 spin configured and ready to go.
  - bombela 6y ago
    then install ubuntun mint, and follow by apt install i3-wm That's what I have been doing the past 7 years.
    - lproven 6y ago
      I think perhaps you mean install Ubuntu Server or use the netinstall ISO?
  - schwartzworld 6y ago
    I've been using Ubuntu with IceWM and it was as simple as installing the window manager, logging out and then selecting IceWM before logging back in.
olyjohn 6y ago
Lets not pretend that your parents will be able to fix any obscure Windows issues either. I put my dad on Ubuntu about 10 years ago and never looked back. I do 100x less support than I had to do when he was on Windows. Windows was a malware shit show back then, but I have no interest in trying to switch him back to Windows again.
weka 6y ago
I've been using Ubuntu 20.04 since it's release now (a few months?) and my biggest gripe has been bluetooth connectivity and fixing updating issues (gpg keys, no releases, etc.)
Zardoz84 6y ago
Try to use KDE/Kubuntu

heavyset_go 6y ago

I've had my parents set up with MATE and Plasma Desktop for about two years now without a problem. Both just work. I haven't used GNOME in years because it was too unstable when I used it myself.

LoSboccacc 6y ago

yeah the first period after switching to Linux is almost always ok-ish, sometimes even pleasant, depending on one's specific use case. then you live trough your first pulse audio upgrade. or maybe you have to bring a laptop in two wireless location with slightly different network configs. or it's just a distro upgrade where the default filesystem changed and they dropped the older fs kernel module. or you have a second monitor, or a multitouch pad, and at every update there's a chance for some package change breaking their config.

olyjohn 6y ago
Yeah and consistently there seems to be a bad Windows Update that breaks a whole bunch of stuff... Not sure if people are just used to Windows being a piece of shit, or if we are holding the Linux desktop to a higher standard.
Smithalicious 6y ago
All of these were legitimate issues 10-20 years ago. None of them have been since.

readme 6y ago

Problem is Ubuntu’s desktop. Try with a recent Fedora with Gnome, will prob work fine no tweak required.

Timpy 6y ago

I don't want to start a distro ware here but... Ubuntu is really opinionated about the UX and if you want to change or fix anything you have to get kind of hacky. Sometimes when I woke my computer of from sleep it would ignore the keyboard and you had to use the mouse to click and slide the screen upward as if it were a tablet. Multiple workspaces only worked on the main monitor, side monitors would only show Workspace 1. There was a workaround for this, but it was a little bit buggy. When I want to drag a window, exit a window, or minimize, I usually just slam my cursor into the top of the screen. On Ubuntu there's a thin black status bar at the top of the screen, so you have to aim your cursor carefully instead of gesturing your mouse upwards, and it was a huge pain to try to remove that. I started a new job and my boss installed Linux Mint on my work laptop because that's what he was using; after a month I installed Mint on my home desktop. The defaults are sensible, there's tons of customization options, and I don't have to hack my way into really simple and obvious changes.

dhimes 6y ago
I second Mint. Have used it for a decade on my main dev machine. Only now have I turned to Win 10 and WSL for my main work and I've got to say: it's not bad. And it pretty much just works.

andrepd 6y ago

I suggest Linux Mint. Stable Ubuntu derivative with a sane, "just-works" desktop environment (Cinnamon).

pmoriarty 6y ago
What if I don't want any desktop environment, but just want to run the i3 window manager?
- sketchyj 6y ago
  Arch if you don't mind or enjoy tinkering, otherwise I believe manjaro has an i3 spin configured and ready to go.
- bombela 6y ago
  then install ubuntun mint, and follow by apt install i3-wm That's what I have been doing the past 7 years.
  - lproven 6y ago
    I think perhaps you mean install Ubuntu Server or use the netinstall ISO?
- schwartzworld 6y ago
  I've been using Ubuntu with IceWM and it was as simple as installing the window manager, logging out and then selecting IceWM before logging back in.

olyjohn 6y ago

Lets not pretend that your parents will be able to fix any obscure Windows issues either. I put my dad on Ubuntu about 10 years ago and never looked back. I do 100x less support than I had to do when he was on Windows. Windows was a malware shit show back then, but I have no interest in trying to switch him back to Windows again.

weka 6y ago

I've been using Ubuntu 20.04 since it's release now (a few months?) and my biggest gripe has been bluetooth connectivity and fixing updating issues (gpg keys, no releases, etc.)

Zardoz84 6y ago

Try to use KDE/Kubuntu