9 ms·

I’m curious to know where your productivity boosts came from, as those are always a good motivating factor for me to try something new.

binkHN 3y ago
I feel my productivity boost comes from KDE/Plasma, a surprisingly good desktop environment (DE) that's almost too configurable. The ability to tweak almost every element of the DE, especially as it relates to shortcuts, has already allowed me to move around the environment faster and more readily. Also, *nix has always had the ability to do "Focus follows mouse," and I used something similar in Windows, but it just works better in not Windows. Combine this with a superior file manager in Dolphin and an extremely configurable launcher in KRunner and I'm flying around the desktop in ways that Windows just can't. There's more too, but these are probably the biggest.
- moffkalast 3y ago
  Watching this "fall of Gnome" with KDE's recent popularity makes me feel strangely vindicated about liking a configurable OS.
- PcChip 3y ago
  I've been using kubuntu for ~2 years now at work and I feel like I need to watch some KDE tutorial videos so that I can learn these tips and tricks too, because I love KDE and what you describe sounds wonderful
samstave 3y ago
EDIT: (For being downvoted about steam and now the ease of install games on linux - read my whole post. Also, I dont put steam on my linux machines specifically to have my own walled mental garden from my distraction proclivity ADHD game mind - Games are what built my career - and as much as I have loved them - as I get older, I can only play less and less) - For me; Its harder to fall into the "Oh - Ill just intall a bunch of these old games" distractions... or "what new games can this bitch run (slaps laptop's lid)" -- Also, since Linux has evolved to effectively run an F-ton % of the internet - thousands and thousands of devs, techs, ops, indies, etc have just made the experience so much better. When I first started with Linux in the mid-90s - I had to hire four promising consultants to help me transition a ETF process by FTP from SUN Microsystems to my company where I was head of IT, to build scripts to create manifests from SUN to us, via FTP - watch the directory, and parse the new-fangled XML that SUN was trying to establish. Ill never forget the first call with SUN and our execs (we physically manufactured all Software Box Sets of SUN's software, manuals etc - then packaged them and shipped it - so if you bought SUNos/Checkpoint or any Intuit or certain games' companies physical products - we manufactured and shipped it) So we were using flat files for the transfer or order information for SUN and had some wonky scripts on these four linux FTP servers. I was not to familiar with Linux at this time - but hired Dave Sifry, Chris DiBona and some others to re-do our FTP flat file ETF process to access SUNs new XML requirement. We didnt know what XML was at the time - and I infamously said on a call with SUN "OK let me understand. You have your current crappy etl process and you want us to rebuild our pipeline to support your new XML standard. (The sales people were jumping up and down at me on the call because I called SUNs current practice "crappy" while I was on the phone with a bunch of execs...) Anyway - I went to our Linux Consultants and I talked to Sifry and I said "If I were you, I'd take your team and start a Linux Support Company." A few weeks later Sifry and I have a sit-down, and he told me that him and team had created a new company - called "LinuxCare" to offer some of the first enterprise support.... We talked about me joining, but we never came to an agreement, and I believe Dave was one of the first 100-millionaires in the linux space on paper after LinuxCare took off a bit.... (they used to be in the Macromedia building's basement level in SF after that...). So back then, productivity came from the server side for workflows... Now - you can achieve exceptional productivity because you're not at the Childs Table when it comes to the UI-first (windows) vs UX-first (linux) utility platform that became a desktop. But that took decades and millions of people contributing to how Linux can be empowering. --- But if you just look at the productivity in technological evolution Linux has contributed to computing, I personally feel its a Tier-1 level contribution, and now you can just rely on FN awesome tools, for free, written by millions of smarter people than an induvidual, to make speed to deployment of anything (even if its to gaming) faster, easier and you arent spinning mental cycles on "what the fuck is /usr/sbin?" "Where the heck do I grab these dependencies from? What the FUCK is a make file? --- Neither of the people replying to me read my whole post.
- thesuitonym 3y ago
  > For me; Its harder to fall into the "Oh - Ill just intall a bunch of these old games" distractions... or "what new games can this bitch run (slaps laptop's lid)" Not to ruin your productivity but it's actually insanely easy to install a bunch of old games on Linux these days. And plenty of new games run just fine thanks to the advances Valve has been making with Proton.
  - samstave 3y ago
    I know - but its just another step of effort... top 100 games on some torrent sites tell the story of where games are landing https://i.imgur.com/1rT2wCL.png https://i.imgur.com/1rT2wCL.png EDIT: YOU REPLIERS ARE KILLING MY PREMISE! MAKING HARD TO NOT INSTALL GAMES ON MY LINUX DISTRO! So by making it "insanely easy" you are promoting why I dont want to install them!!! xo :-) Thanks for keeping the DNA of my comment alive!!!
    - blibble 3y ago
      if you've bought it on steam it's exactly the same effort as windows double click to install, wait a few minutes for the download, press play and it launches as someone who grew up compiling different forks of wine with various patches to try to play half-life in the 2000s the improvement is quite incredible
    - realusername 3y ago
      You can just open it straight into steam with proton and that's it, there's no effort nowadays. And being old games, the compatibility might even be better than Windows 11...
- b112 3y ago
  But that took decades and millions of people contributing to how Linux can be empowering. But then someone created systemd, the end.
snailmailman 3y ago
For me, i3wm makes me a lot more productive. Instead of mashing alt tab, I have dedicated hotkeys for every virtual desktop, which is dedicated to specific apps/workflows. With one hotkey I always go to the program I’m looking for. In windows I have to just mash alt+tab. But also if the window was in split screen it gets separated from whatever it was paired with, so I have to scramble to bring both windows into focus briefly so they are in front. It’s such a mess of window management. In Linux. If I had something setup on desktop 3, win+3 takes me to it every time. No matter if that’s one window or multiple. It’s always one hot key away. And then one to get back. I never get lost in a sea of applications that look identical in the alt+tab thumbnail. I haven’t found a way to replicate this in windows. The closest is “never group things on taskbar” so I can at least click specific firefox windows directly. But that no longer exists in windows 11, so I guess I won’t use 11.
- angrysaki 3y ago
  I tried virtual desktops for a while and I'm pretty sure I was using this app for hotkeys to each desktop. https://github.com/hwtnb/SylphyHornPlusWin11 https://github.com/hwtnb/SylphyHornPlusWin11 (I don't use virtual desktops anymore so I don't remember that well)
- deadbunny 3y ago
  I've always described i3 as like being efficient in vim. Once you've learned the hotkeys and settled on where things live it just gets out the way and muscle memory takes over.

binkHN 3y ago

I feel my productivity boost comes from KDE/Plasma, a surprisingly good desktop environment (DE) that's almost too configurable. The ability to tweak almost every element of the DE, especially as it relates to shortcuts, has already allowed me to move around the environment faster and more readily. Also, *nix has always had the ability to do "Focus follows mouse," and I used something similar in Windows, but it just works better in not Windows. Combine this with a superior file manager in Dolphin and an extremely configurable launcher in KRunner and I'm flying around the desktop in ways that Windows just can't. There's more too, but these are probably the biggest.

moffkalast 3y ago
Watching this "fall of Gnome" with KDE's recent popularity makes me feel strangely vindicated about liking a configurable OS.
PcChip 3y ago
I've been using kubuntu for ~2 years now at work and I feel like I need to watch some KDE tutorial videos so that I can learn these tips and tricks too, because I love KDE and what you describe sounds wonderful

samstave 3y ago

EDIT: (For being downvoted about steam and now the ease of install games on linux - read my whole post. Also, I dont put steam on my linux machines specifically to have my own walled mental garden from my distraction proclivity ADHD game mind - Games are what built my career - and as much as I have loved them - as I get older, I can only play less and less) - For me; Its harder to fall into the "Oh - Ill just intall a bunch of these old games" distractions... or "what new games can this bitch run (slaps laptop's lid)" -- Also, since Linux has evolved to effectively run an F-ton % of the internet - thousands and thousands of devs, techs, ops, indies, etc have just made the experience so much better. When I first started with Linux in the mid-90s - I had to hire four promising consultants to help me transition a ETF process by FTP from SUN Microsystems to my company where I was head of IT, to build scripts to create manifests from SUN to us, via FTP - watch the directory, and parse the new-fangled XML that SUN was trying to establish. Ill never forget the first call with SUN and our execs (we physically manufactured all Software Box Sets of SUN's software, manuals etc - then packaged them and shipped it - so if you bought SUNos/Checkpoint or any Intuit or certain games' companies physical products - we manufactured and shipped it) So we were using flat files for the transfer or order information for SUN and had some wonky scripts on these four linux FTP servers. I was not to familiar with Linux at this time - but hired Dave Sifry, Chris DiBona and some others to re-do our FTP flat file ETF process to access SUNs new XML requirement. We didnt know what XML was at the time - and I infamously said on a call with SUN "OK let me understand. You have your current crappy etl process and you want us to rebuild our pipeline to support your new XML standard. (The sales people were jumping up and down at me on the call because I called SUNs current practice "crappy" while I was on the phone with a bunch of execs...) Anyway - I went to our Linux Consultants and I talked to Sifry and I said "If I were you, I'd take your team and start a Linux Support Company." A few weeks later Sifry and I have a sit-down, and he told me that him and team had created a new company - called "LinuxCare" to offer some of the first enterprise support.... We talked about me joining, but we never came to an agreement, and I believe Dave was one of the first 100-millionaires in the linux space on paper after LinuxCare took off a bit.... (they used to be in the Macromedia building's basement level in SF after that...). So back then, productivity came from the server side for workflows... Now - you can achieve exceptional productivity because you're not at the Childs Table when it comes to the UI-first (windows) vs UX-first (linux) utility platform that became a desktop. But that took decades and millions of people contributing to how Linux can be empowering. --- But if you just look at the productivity in technological evolution Linux has contributed to computing, I personally feel its a Tier-1 level contribution, and now you can just rely on FN awesome tools, for free, written by millions of smarter people than an induvidual, to make speed to deployment of anything (even if its to gaming) faster, easier and you arent spinning mental cycles on "what the fuck is /usr/sbin?" "Where the heck do I grab these dependencies from? What the FUCK is a make file? --- Neither of the people replying to me read my whole post.

thesuitonym 3y ago
> For me; Its harder to fall into the "Oh - Ill just intall a bunch of these old games" distractions... or "what new games can this bitch run (slaps laptop's lid)" Not to ruin your productivity but it's actually insanely easy to install a bunch of old games on Linux these days. And plenty of new games run just fine thanks to the advances Valve has been making with Proton.
- samstave 3y ago
  I know - but its just another step of effort... top 100 games on some torrent sites tell the story of where games are landing https://i.imgur.com/1rT2wCL.png https://i.imgur.com/1rT2wCL.png EDIT: YOU REPLIERS ARE KILLING MY PREMISE! MAKING HARD TO NOT INSTALL GAMES ON MY LINUX DISTRO! So by making it "insanely easy" you are promoting why I dont want to install them!!! xo :-) Thanks for keeping the DNA of my comment alive!!!
  - blibble 3y ago
    if you've bought it on steam it's exactly the same effort as windows double click to install, wait a few minutes for the download, press play and it launches as someone who grew up compiling different forks of wine with various patches to try to play half-life in the 2000s the improvement is quite incredible
  - realusername 3y ago
    You can just open it straight into steam with proton and that's it, there's no effort nowadays. And being old games, the compatibility might even be better than Windows 11...
b112 3y ago
But that took decades and millions of people contributing to how Linux can be empowering. But then someone created systemd, the end.

snailmailman 3y ago

For me, i3wm makes me a lot more productive. Instead of mashing alt tab, I have dedicated hotkeys for every virtual desktop, which is dedicated to specific apps/workflows. With one hotkey I always go to the program I’m looking for. In windows I have to just mash alt+tab. But also if the window was in split screen it gets separated from whatever it was paired with, so I have to scramble to bring both windows into focus briefly so they are in front. It’s such a mess of window management. In Linux. If I had something setup on desktop 3, win+3 takes me to it every time. No matter if that’s one window or multiple. It’s always one hot key away. And then one to get back. I never get lost in a sea of applications that look identical in the alt+tab thumbnail. I haven’t found a way to replicate this in windows. The closest is “never group things on taskbar” so I can at least click specific firefox windows directly. But that no longer exists in windows 11, so I guess I won’t use 11.

angrysaki 3y ago
I tried virtual desktops for a while and I'm pretty sure I was using this app for hotkeys to each desktop. https://github.com/hwtnb/SylphyHornPlusWin11 https://github.com/hwtnb/SylphyHornPlusWin11 (I don't use virtual desktops anymore so I don't remember that well)
deadbunny 3y ago
I've always described i3 as like being efficient in vim. Once you've learned the hotkeys and settled on where things live it just gets out the way and muscle memory takes over.