4 ms·

What's their strategy here? Do they hope that their window manager will drive hardware sales?

O_H_E 6y ago
Well, their additions to Gnome in PopOS have been very well received. So..maybe. The "power user" space (especially the non-cli oriented one) is really lacking out-of-the-box solutions rn. It wouldn't be the first time tailored software drove hardware sales.
- dagenleg 6y ago
  I am genuinely wondering how big is the intersection between "non-cli users" and "power users" on Linux
  - erinnh 6y ago
    Considering this is a tiling window manager, rather high Id say. Im a power user, so to say, and Ive been using pop shell for about 6-9 months now. I love not having to write my own scripts to do the most basic tasks in sway anymore. Things like my calendar works throughout the desktop without me having to wrangle various things.
    - type0 6y ago
      > I love not having to write my own scripts to do the most basic tasks in sway anymore. Speaking of it there's now Sway edition of Manjaro and it looks very good
mulmen 6y ago
Yes? The lack of a workable window manager is one of the biggest things that prevents me from using a Linux laptop as a daily driver. It makes sense that System76 would work toward a serviceable Linux desktop OS. For the same reason it makes sense that Apple develops MacOS but charges no license fees.
- noir_lord 6y ago
  Cinnamon is brilliant, it’s been my main choice since I moved from XFCE, it’s a modern version of the classic desktop. For me it’s more serviceable than anything else but as always ymmv but as a developer desktop that I do all my computing on Fedora Cinnamon is damn close to perfect, there is little I can think of to improve it.
  - bigger_cheese 6y ago
    I Use Cinnamon on Fedora as well. I agree with you serviceable is a good way to describe it. It is no frills and does what I want.
    - noir_lord 6y ago
      Yep - they've nailed the "Just give me a classic desktop but make it feel modern" the workspace switcher, alt tab behaviour, expose stuff, it's all modern but it also just works and stays out the way. It's really excellent if you want your desktop to be..a desktop.
- mixedCase 6y ago
  "a workable window manager" sounds to me like you just mean "I want a macOS clone and I don't want to learn anything else even if it's more efficient". If I got it wrong, I'd recommend sway or any other tiling wm that adapts perfectly to laptop limitations of 1 screen and no mouse included.
  - kitsunesoba 6y ago
    Desktop workflow is a highly personal thing. I've tried to make tiling WMs work numerous times but it never sticks, I always go back to a more traditional floating-first setup with titlebars and the like.
  - zepto 6y ago
    Right but to be fair to the parent - tiling window managers are the only kind that are superior to the Mac, and they are simply not to everyone’s preference.
qbasic_forever 6y ago
I've been using Pop OS for a bit over a year now and it's perfect. I could totally see whole teams of developers being sold on switching to Linux as primary dev environments. There's zero futzing around with configs and such to get things just right--it's great right out of the box. I haven't had that kind of experience since MacOS X but this is even better since it's just real Linux and stuff like docker containers, etc. run natively without VM overhead.

Well, their additions to Gnome in PopOS have been very well received. So..maybe. The "power user" space (especially the non-cli oriented one) is really lacking out-of-the-box solutions rn. It wouldn't be the first time tailored software drove hardware sales.

dagenleg 6y ago
I am genuinely wondering how big is the intersection between "non-cli users" and "power users" on Linux
- erinnh 6y ago
  Considering this is a tiling window manager, rather high Id say. Im a power user, so to say, and Ive been using pop shell for about 6-9 months now. I love not having to write my own scripts to do the most basic tasks in sway anymore. Things like my calendar works throughout the desktop without me having to wrangle various things.
  - type0 6y ago
    > I love not having to write my own scripts to do the most basic tasks in sway anymore. Speaking of it there's now Sway edition of Manjaro and it looks very good

mulmen 6y ago

Yes? The lack of a workable window manager is one of the biggest things that prevents me from using a Linux laptop as a daily driver. It makes sense that System76 would work toward a serviceable Linux desktop OS. For the same reason it makes sense that Apple develops MacOS but charges no license fees.

noir_lord 6y ago
Cinnamon is brilliant, it’s been my main choice since I moved from XFCE, it’s a modern version of the classic desktop. For me it’s more serviceable than anything else but as always ymmv but as a developer desktop that I do all my computing on Fedora Cinnamon is damn close to perfect, there is little I can think of to improve it.
- bigger_cheese 6y ago
  I Use Cinnamon on Fedora as well. I agree with you serviceable is a good way to describe it. It is no frills and does what I want.
  - noir_lord 6y ago
    Yep - they've nailed the "Just give me a classic desktop but make it feel modern" the workspace switcher, alt tab behaviour, expose stuff, it's all modern but it also just works and stays out the way. It's really excellent if you want your desktop to be..a desktop.
mixedCase 6y ago
"a workable window manager" sounds to me like you just mean "I want a macOS clone and I don't want to learn anything else even if it's more efficient". If I got it wrong, I'd recommend sway or any other tiling wm that adapts perfectly to laptop limitations of 1 screen and no mouse included.
- kitsunesoba 6y ago
  Desktop workflow is a highly personal thing. I've tried to make tiling WMs work numerous times but it never sticks, I always go back to a more traditional floating-first setup with titlebars and the like.
- zepto 6y ago
  Right but to be fair to the parent - tiling window managers are the only kind that are superior to the Mac, and they are simply not to everyone’s preference.

qbasic_forever 6y ago

I've been using Pop OS for a bit over a year now and it's perfect. I could totally see whole teams of developers being sold on switching to Linux as primary dev environments. There's zero futzing around with configs and such to get things just right--it's great right out of the box. I haven't had that kind of experience since MacOS X but this is even better since it's just real Linux and stuff like docker containers, etc. run natively without VM overhead.