Current efforts focus on enhancing Linux for everyday use through improved performance and broader accessibility.
Current efforts focus on enhancing Linux for everyday use through improved performance and broader accessibility.
I'm referring to programs that work across various desktop environments developed by different groups.
Microsoft has designed this process to be as challenging as possible for Linux users. They only provide their Windows encryption keys, which reside within the UEFI "bios" firmware—something Linux or the UEFI system itself demands. This secure boot mechanism is confirming you’re using a system formatted in UEFI mode, but it doesn’t have the correct UEFI key to pass approval from the secure boot software. This approach clearly aims to hinder Linux adoption. Users will encounter a unique UEFI interface that has never appeared before for Linux, macOS, or Windows systems, leaving many confused and unsure how to proceed. To access it, you must navigate through menus, press Enter in various directories, and locate the specific file. Each Linux installation contains this file, and once found, you’re instructed to trust the operating system using that key. They refer to these keys as MOK files, though the exact name isn’t clear. The main barrier for Windows users is software compatibility, which they are aware of. Wine can assist significantly, and if more people used VirtualBox for Windows-only applications and turned off networking in virtual machines, Linux could gain a much broader user base. We should never be compelled to upgrade our hardware with TPM chips just to secure our operating system. If the software is so vulnerable and risky that developers are forced to rely on hardware solutions, perhaps we shouldn’t use it at all. Microsoft is clearly intimidating the computer industry, acting entirely against consumer interests.
im not against TPM or Secure Boot per se, im against how it was implemented as a windows only thing and how it works or doesnt work. some linux distro's do have the ability to make use of Secure Boot, not sure on the TPM part though. i feel like TPM and Secure Boot were server / data center security protocols dumped on home users, without proper thought given to the difference in use cases and now they want to try and play catch up.
Secure boot needs to be turned off. In the UEFI configuration, ensure both legacy and modern options are enabled, then assign top priority to USB connections during startup. Those are the essential steps you must follow. Based on my background as someone relying on Linux daily for more than a decade and FreeBSD for over five years:
- It's often mentioned that GIMP suits 'photo editing' but isn't as strong for 'drawing' compared to Krita or Photoshop. My view: GIMP performs well in drawing too, with professional creators using it to produce high-quality artwork similar to those in Krita or Photoshop.
Here are artists who rely entirely on GIMP:
- https://www.deviantart.com/dctb/art/Anni...-579680748
- https://www.deviantart.com/dctb/art/Infi...-447333717
- https://www.deviantart.com/eleathyra/art/Dead-729575856
- https://www.deviantart.com/wolfenborg/ar...-584063232
- https://www.deviantart.com/rapsag/art/Ha...-402580648
GIMP can rival the best digital art tools available today. It's popular among photographers for editing images, making it equally suitable for drawing.
You can view examples of top digital artwork created with GIMP here:
- https://krita-artists.org/c/artwork/5/l/top
- https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3913863
- https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4488162
- https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/39475179
Comparisons with Lightroom show strong performance in various tools:
- Krita leads in many artist rankings.
- Lightroom vs RawTherapee, Lightroom vs digiKam, and others are frequently discussed.
For optimal software speed, Excel is generally the least efficient:
- https://www.larrygowdy.com/gnumericreview.html
- https://www.codecademy.com/resources/blo...hy-switch/
- https://erik-engheim.medium.com/working-...674417dc86
Excel also has the lowest accuracy and most outdated features among popular apps, plus it's prone to malware. It remains widely used despite its shortcomings.
A selection of alternative tools to MS Word and Excel:
1. MS Excel alternatives:
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...2011.09076
- https://www.libreoffice.org
- https://blogs.harvard.edu/pamphlet/files...amsart.pdf
2. MS Word alternatives:
- https://www.latex-project.org/
- https://www.onlyoffice.com
- https://www.wps.com/
3. Other options:
- https://www.postgresql.org
- https://julialang.org/
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsof...or-the-web
These resources highlight various platforms and tools that serve different needs, offering a broader perspective on digital creation.