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I was a big Windows user both at home and work, doing mainly .NET stuff. I didn't really like the way Windows 11 was looking (the numerous privacy and control

I was a big Windows user both at home and work, doing mainly .NET stuff. I didn't really like the way Windows 11 was looking (the numerous privacy and control issues discussed many times over), so I told myself if MS ever forced the upgrade from 10 I'd look at Linux again. I then got a new job that did everything on Linux, so I got some Linux experience and liked it, and switched over my home machines to PopOS. So far it's been pleasant.

gumballindie 3y ago
Linux is absolutely awesome as a desktop os. It looks and works better than windows, not to mention it’s garbage free and privacy friendly. There must be a way to monetise it so that more developers spend time building quality apps. The desktop world as a whole is ripe for disruption and linux is just sitting there waiting to be leveraged - a bit like apple leveraged freebsd for macos.
- atoav 3y ago
  And it is customizable as heck! What surprised me the most was the really good usability of something like the KDE Plasma desktop, even in comparison to MacOS.
  - gumballindie 3y ago
    The only thing that KDE plasma needs is a way for people to monetize the discover store, and slightly better qa to iron out outstanding issues here and there. Then it can fully take on either macos and windows. It is quite slick.
    - NayamAmarshe 3y ago
      KDE just needs some investment on the UI/UX side. It's fantastic but needs more coherence. A modern KDE spin could change the game. I remember using KDE for the first time, coming from Windows 10 and I was blown away. I thought to myself, "How are they making better software than a trillion dollar corporation!?"
      - gumballindie 3y ago
        > coming from Windows 10 and I was blown away. I am macos rehab and I was blown away.
- comfypotato 3y ago
  I’ll insert a complaint here in a bid to have you convince me to give it another shot. I gave an install of Ubuntu a try as a daily driver, and I went in super sensitive to anything not Just Working. In the first few weeks: I formatted a usb drive (using the explorer GUI), took my pdfs somewhere to be printed, and they couldn’t access the files on the drive. I did everything right as a user. Hell, I’m a nerdy software developer. And a simple application I do often in Windows significantly inconvenienced me in my daily life. I’m not super sensitive to the ads or privacy issues with Windows. I’ve never had basic functionality I expect my computer to do not work for me. It was a poor first experience with Linux as a desktop. That being said, I daily drive WSL and Docker containers of Linux on my Windows machine. I’m terminal-native, and 90% of my productive activity is spent in Linux. I leave the basic life-stuff to Windows though. For example: using a browser as an interface to the web is a Windows task for me.
  - gumballindie 3y ago
    Ubuntu and I never managed to establish a working relationship. I don't know why but I just don't like it. I use Linux Mint and i am rather happy with it - it just works (steam gaming, browsing, netflix, ides, ai tooling and so on). I install it, install my favorite packages, git backup my configs and that's it. The hardware is quite powerful and up to date and haven't had issues with drivers - except with obscure amazon dongles but those are a waste of money anyway. I have the same expectation as you that a desktop OS should just work, particularly for basic tasks. I don't have time to hack around. I mean I used to be a mac os user - i didn't even have to install the os or chose the hardware it ran on. But linux gives you options and alternatives to almost everything and _that_ can be overwhelming. Heck linux is not even an os, it's a kernel, and ubuntu is just _one_ of the many OS' built upon it. That wide range of choice is probably what you experienced with the usb stick (ie are you sure you chose a file system compatible with windows?). Once you get comfortable with this freedom you start liking it. It's not like back in the day when you had to compile things or hack thousands of config files to make things work. Last time i used KDE was many moons ago when i had the time to compile it on freebsd just for giggles, today i just apt get install it and change my wallpaper. It just works. If a distro doesn't behave to your liking on a live usb stick you can ditch it and try another. I don't want to convince you to switch to linux, I am neither religious about it nor do i think it's the right os for everything under the sun. I'd probably need to know more about your workflow but i suspect everything you do on the WSL console can be significantly sped up and beautified with the right setup in linux. Would likely take a few commands to do so. > a browser as an interface to the web is a Windows task for me. Boy would i install openbox and firefox defaulting to full screen upon login for that use case :-)
NayamAmarshe 3y ago
Same. Earlier I used to dual boot Windows 10 and KDE Neon but after I tried Windows 11, I just swore to never install Windows ever again and ZorinOS has been serving me well. The reasoning behind it was to not support the anti-consumer practices of Microsoft. What good am I as a tech enthusiast if I support a company with dystopian practices? Windows 11 spits in the face of its users and I did not like that, so I dropped it altogether and I've been happier without it than with it. For the first time in decades, I haven't had to reinstall the OS again just because it was slow or had software issues. ZorinOS just works™!

gumballindie 3y ago

Linux is absolutely awesome as a desktop os. It looks and works better than windows, not to mention it’s garbage free and privacy friendly. There must be a way to monetise it so that more developers spend time building quality apps. The desktop world as a whole is ripe for disruption and linux is just sitting there waiting to be leveraged - a bit like apple leveraged freebsd for macos.

atoav 3y ago
And it is customizable as heck! What surprised me the most was the really good usability of something like the KDE Plasma desktop, even in comparison to MacOS.
- gumballindie 3y ago
  The only thing that KDE plasma needs is a way for people to monetize the discover store, and slightly better qa to iron out outstanding issues here and there. Then it can fully take on either macos and windows. It is quite slick.
  - NayamAmarshe 3y ago
    KDE just needs some investment on the UI/UX side. It's fantastic but needs more coherence. A modern KDE spin could change the game. I remember using KDE for the first time, coming from Windows 10 and I was blown away. I thought to myself, "How are they making better software than a trillion dollar corporation!?"
    - gumballindie 3y ago
      > coming from Windows 10 and I was blown away. I am macos rehab and I was blown away.
comfypotato 3y ago
I’ll insert a complaint here in a bid to have you convince me to give it another shot. I gave an install of Ubuntu a try as a daily driver, and I went in super sensitive to anything not Just Working. In the first few weeks: I formatted a usb drive (using the explorer GUI), took my pdfs somewhere to be printed, and they couldn’t access the files on the drive. I did everything right as a user. Hell, I’m a nerdy software developer. And a simple application I do often in Windows significantly inconvenienced me in my daily life. I’m not super sensitive to the ads or privacy issues with Windows. I’ve never had basic functionality I expect my computer to do not work for me. It was a poor first experience with Linux as a desktop. That being said, I daily drive WSL and Docker containers of Linux on my Windows machine. I’m terminal-native, and 90% of my productive activity is spent in Linux. I leave the basic life-stuff to Windows though. For example: using a browser as an interface to the web is a Windows task for me.
- gumballindie 3y ago
  Ubuntu and I never managed to establish a working relationship. I don't know why but I just don't like it. I use Linux Mint and i am rather happy with it - it just works (steam gaming, browsing, netflix, ides, ai tooling and so on). I install it, install my favorite packages, git backup my configs and that's it. The hardware is quite powerful and up to date and haven't had issues with drivers - except with obscure amazon dongles but those are a waste of money anyway. I have the same expectation as you that a desktop OS should just work, particularly for basic tasks. I don't have time to hack around. I mean I used to be a mac os user - i didn't even have to install the os or chose the hardware it ran on. But linux gives you options and alternatives to almost everything and _that_ can be overwhelming. Heck linux is not even an os, it's a kernel, and ubuntu is just _one_ of the many OS' built upon it. That wide range of choice is probably what you experienced with the usb stick (ie are you sure you chose a file system compatible with windows?). Once you get comfortable with this freedom you start liking it. It's not like back in the day when you had to compile things or hack thousands of config files to make things work. Last time i used KDE was many moons ago when i had the time to compile it on freebsd just for giggles, today i just apt get install it and change my wallpaper. It just works. If a distro doesn't behave to your liking on a live usb stick you can ditch it and try another. I don't want to convince you to switch to linux, I am neither religious about it nor do i think it's the right os for everything under the sun. I'd probably need to know more about your workflow but i suspect everything you do on the WSL console can be significantly sped up and beautified with the right setup in linux. Would likely take a few commands to do so. > a browser as an interface to the web is a Windows task for me. Boy would i install openbox and firefox defaulting to full screen upon login for that use case :-)

NayamAmarshe 3y ago

Same. Earlier I used to dual boot Windows 10 and KDE Neon but after I tried Windows 11, I just swore to never install Windows ever again and ZorinOS has been serving me well. The reasoning behind it was to not support the anti-consumer practices of Microsoft. What good am I as a tech enthusiast if I support a company with dystopian practices? Windows 11 spits in the face of its users and I did not like that, so I dropped it altogether and I've been happier without it than with it. For the first time in decades, I haven't had to reinstall the OS again just because it was slow or had software issues. ZorinOS just works™!