Switching to Linux for everyday computing...
Switching to Linux for everyday computing...
Hi, first of all, this is not a regular thread like the others. This is more like a night-late thread for discussing and to reflect about. I'm really sad about what I'm going to say. You have probably seen me helping people, especially on this sub forum, I'm not a Linux newbie, neither a fanboy, I'm not a fanboy of anything honestly, I personally just hate Windows 10 for it's behavior and the other things, but I look at things as they are. I'm a system adminstrator and network enthusiast, and that's why I really like *Nix-like os'es, but I reached my limit for using it as a Desktop OS. I use Linux since I was 14 years old, now I'm 21, every PC I owned had always Linux on it in dual boot. It is just insanely fast, lighter and feels more responsive. I will explain why I'm uninstalling it briefly. Please first of all don't take that as a complain, I'm not really mad at linux users, linux or something, this is just a personal decision. I recently got a brand new Thinkpad x60 (really old, but I installed a modern hard disk, boot are fast even on SATA 1) and it works just perfectly for my purposes. It has a better battery life than most of brand-new 500€ windows laptops, browsing and youtube are decent, and I though about using it as a Linux-only OS. I need that notebook for university projects, its keyboard, size and portability, I/O are perfect for me. (Honestly better than modern laptops) But I had to stick it with Windows 7, getting over it about future security updates and thanks to microsoft for dropping support for your best Windows OS ever. Windows 10 is just too I/O heavy for updates, etc.. So whats happened you might think to make me "ragequit"? Well, not exactly a ragequit but a thoughtful decision. I'm late with my exams and I really need to speed up my productivity, so I really needed for me Eclipse Java IDE to work perfectly as I also need to work with other people using it as well. I use Xubuntu 16.04 LTS on it, and it is supposed to be a stable LTS distribution. Whats the matter then? Eclipse does not work in any way. I've also tried setting up a virtual machine for testing, both snap package and distro packages are totally broken. In the first snap package Eclipse opens but it does not open the internal editor. Not a JRE issue since I tried every version possible. Also the package version just does not open lol for no reason. So I could use a workaround by downloading Eclipse manually, but if I do that, why I'm using linux? Not for having to download manually programs from websites and dirty-installing it like on Windows of course, that wouldn't make sense. Or I could use Netbeans IDE but that is not compatible for what I need to do (remember that Eclipse does not use the Java compiler, but its own one!) This only happens on the 32 bit version though, I personally don't like about supporting 32-bit only machines too but I got unlucky because it has a Core duo processor instead of Core 2 Duo, but for office and programming use today it is just perfect, it is a solid processor. Ubuntu has dropped 32-bit support, xubuntu does not, I agree with that, oh and btw in the 64 bits version of Xubuntu only the snap package does work lol, the distro package is still broken as well. So what? I could just tell that to Ubuntu developers like I always did for every bug I've found, like I have also did in Windows, but I'm honestly tired, especially at Ubuntu developers, I've always used Manjaro Linux honestly for years and never had a problem with it for broken packages, they don't even have a company like ubuntu behind it, but they offer a better hardware support, their OS supports Optimus laptops out the box for example, and it is very user friendly. Except when you needed to install AUR packages you are not always sure if they are updated or working. Even though it happened rarely, but that happened. So that is why I decided months ago to use Ubuntu, because of the .debs and direct software support for programs like VMWare and others. I though that years later it could have been improved I was wrong, they seem just to care about auto-building packages without even testing them for every version that comes out. Not even a single improvement, except for wallpapers. Why should people use it instead of Debian or Mint? Where did mir go? Rolling release? Decades ago I've also told them to fix bumblebee packages for laptops optimus support because they don't still work today, you have to workaround that manually lol, I've also told them how it could be done. Bumblebee packages are better to install and configure on Arch Linux which is supposed to be an expert-oriented distro than Ubuntu itself, can you believe it? So that is not honestly a Linux issue since it is a kernel rather than an entire OS, in fact it is perfect, I've never seen it crashing in 7 years unlike Windows. But... Ubuntu should be the reference distro for newbies (like Linus does) but their support is ridiculous, manjaro is a ten times better. So what I could say? Everyone for some reason will always use Ubuntu so there is no way people would stop using it, it is really mediocre in my opinion today. If you see the recent distrowatch stats, you will see that manjaro has twice the votes than ubuntu, I repeat, Ubuntu has a company behind them! I'm not complaining for two packages that are not working, instead I'm pointing out the fact they don't really seem to care about desktop users at all, that is just their choice. This would be not a single package issue, there will surely be problems in the future on other packages. I just don't want that. Linux desktop have a great potential imho, especially after project like Steam Proton, and using a linux desktop it is just better experience than the usual windows XP like experience on Windows 10, at least after 8 years they got the dark mode in their explorer lol. Linux and also Mac users had a better file manager for everything. Just imagine if Linux had a decent support from Ubuntu how things today would have been changed, more people, more developers, (especially bug reporters for ubuntu devs ??) better support. So maybe that is a temporary solution, maybe they would add .deb support? I don't know, I just hope for a big ubuntu improvement or for Manjaro to be the reference distro. Honestly I don't even talk about linux mint honestly. After that tl;dr, Iike the title says, I "finally" and sadly decided to uninstall Linux on every PC I use for desktop use, it was my daily driver since today, I will obviously use it with Windows WSL on my workstations and servers, even though WSL is not my favorite solution when I need to use linux software, but whatever. Not to blaming Ubuntu devs at all, they just have not interest. That's it, they want it to be on that way, they don't even seem to care about the wiki anymore like arch or manjaro does. Funfact, while I was trying to install Eclipse 32bit on Windows 10 and the wifi just stopped working until I reinstalled the driver, no problems since then lol. Oh I forgot to say eclipse worked well on it. Anyway, I'm not telling you to do the same, if you don't have problems with any software you use on Ubuntu or any distro you like, stick with. It is still a reasonable alternative to debian, their desktops are preconfigured, kernel support is decent and ppa's are better to install than manually adding software sources. I've always used Windows 10 just for games since today, I'm probably not going to be happy, I will probably yell when Windows will decide for me when I should do updates especially when I will need to show my project to professors or also when they will datamine every click I do on a 3G network slowing everything down. I would like to be payed at least, since I have a legal license, it costs money. Being payed for data mining would be really cool though. Oh and anyway, I would still help people on this subforum for any issues or requests they have! Edited October 6, 2018 by Guest
I’d say Ubuntu and its versions are mainly helpful for practicing commands. I’ve had a poor experience with standard Ubuntu releases, and only switched to Lubuntu when I finally got through.
I've always been interested in trying different operating systems, but honestly, my storage isn't enough for that :^(
FreeBSD is running smoothly as expected. It's designed as a server distribution and performs better than many beginner-friendly systems like Ubuntu. The issue isn't with Linux itself, but rather with the limited software support available for other distros. The Linux reference version doesn't meet expectations, and beginners might find Ubuntu more suitable. Packaging alternatives would be challenging compared to Ubuntu's ease. Additionally, the Windows setup is experiencing problems; the start menu isn't functioning properly and I had to restart it.
If a distribution isn't meeting your needs, pick the one that fits you best. Given your seven years of experience, you should recognize Ubuntu has changed significantly over the past few years—it's not what it was four to seven years ago. At the moment, Manjaro Linux stands out as a great option for beginners. I've tried it with many users, installed it on dozens of computers, and everyone seems satisfied. XFCE feels lighter than Ubuntu for many users. Since you mentioned having a dual-boot setup with Linux on most devices, you could continue using Windows for tasks like Eclipse until you figure out how to adapt it to Linux, or switch distros altogether. I'm confident there are user-friendly Manjaro or Arch-based distributions that support 32-bit CPUs. Just be sure you won't regret choosing Windows—it's restrictive and prone to more issues than Linux. The difference is control: on Linux you're in charge, and I believe Eclipse can run smoothly there. You won't regret it once you understand how to make it work. I felt the same way when I first started using Linux; I often dismissed it as useless, but it actually performed better then. Trust me—your frustration is understandable, and you'll likely return to Linux eventually.
Don't fret about that, because I mentioned I'm not upset with Linux—I'm just a bit frustrated with Ubuntu (though it's open by design) and the incorrect standards some people set about it. The software on Linux functions well when properly packaged and configured (ignoring bugs), and honestly, there isn't a distro today that fits a beginner perfectly. Manjaro still sometimes requires terminal use, and if another distro existed with that support, it would definitely outperform Windows in every area. Of course, I won't compare software that isn't available on Linux, but I think you captured the essence right. Ultimately, my main issue with Manjaro right now is the lack of .deb support, and the AUR experience isn't satisfying. Even a Debian-based distro wouldn't be a good fit for me. I'm only using Windows for a day now, which is already annoying. Another problem is my ThinkPad is 32-bit only, so I can't install Arch-based distros on it. Plus, the space on my SSDs is also an issue—dual booting just adds more complications. I guess it's hopeless, and I'll just hope for better Manjaro updates in the future.
Did you even search the internet? I did not know for sure but i searched and found many arch based distros for 32-bit. There is even arch linux for 32 bit. Of course it will be comunity made but still it's arch https://archlinux32.org/download/ here is manjaro for 32 bit http://manjaro32.org/ here is parabola for 32 bit https://wiki.parabola.nu/Get_Parabola If you will search you will find many arch based and debian based distros for 32 bit architecture.
I tried it, though it's not a complete fix for the .deb support. Eclipse isn't included with Debian, so I'll probably go with Arch instead, allocating some room on the ThinkPad.
the thinkpad still works well enough. core duo cpus can handle tasks. the main issue is the absence of 64-bit support. lubuntu offers a 32-bit version you might want to explore... sorry if you've already checked that out, I'm not really in the mood right now... it's 1AM for me.