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Any fellow Linux users on here?

tkcartoonist said:
I've been using Linux since 2022, so I'm used to the terminal at this point.
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Do you feel like the terminal is the biggest sticking point when it comes to people switching to Linux? I think its a major failing that really needs to be fixed. I have the ability to hop into the terminal in MacOS and take full control of whatever I want when I want to, but when I install new software it just takes a couple of clicks and its in the application folder. I dont need to open an archaic CLI to start an app, at least in the first instance.

It just makes Linux feel half baked. I know that
most people I know would kick and scream the moment I showed them an OS that looks at first like Windows or MacOS but then I show them the terminal and say "this is his you download apps and update the OS..."

I think MacOS gets it right. If Linux was more like MacOS in that you dont need concern yourself with the Terminal unless you want to, then Linux would easily overtake Windows.

I know there are some auto update features appearing, but I've never actually witnessed them work properly and I find myself having to clean up the mess in Terminal anyway. I dont welcome having to do it, but I know I have a better tolerance for that kind of thing than say my dad would.
 
tkcartoonist said:
I've been using Linux since 2022, so I'm used to the terminal at this point.
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I got accustomed to using the terminal early into my venture into Linux. I still have very few commands I know by heart, but I have no problem inputting commands if I know their source and function.

I also know how intimidating the terminal can be for new users. Though I think it would be a mistake to say one can get by without having to use it on occasion. But if you can cut and paste, you can in fact effectively make use of the Linux terminal with any distribution.
 
MildredHubble said:
Cinnamon Ubuntu seems like a nice option, its pretty speedy on my Chromebook. It only has a dual core Celeron and it doesn't seem to have any issues that aren't caused specifically by the quirks of my Chromebook, eg. No sound through speakers and no touchscreen. I've also tried Pop-OS and that seems to run well too, but I think its a little more setup for gaming and multi media. So I'm weighing up which one I like more.
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My only real complaint with Cinnamon is a minor one. That on the surface it's far less versatile compared to other desktop protocols like Gnome or KDE.

I know with Linux Mint, their developers kind of discourage using alternative customization beyond their basic product. Yet I also recognize that their conservative approach and control is a deliberate large part of their quality control. In my own case though I have tried Mint using both KDE and Gnome, but they didn't strike me as being entirely stable. And where Mint developers make no promises. That their developers take critics' accusations of being old-fashioned as a virtue.

One other complaint now comes to mind. Where Mint documents the potential of third-party applets to cause freezes or other problems, yet they don't remove them from being downloaded. I spent an insane number of hours trying to troubleshoot these strange and erratic freezes only to see such comments which were likely at the heart of why my Linux Mint 21 was occasionally freezing and causing me to reboot.

That's where Pop!OS22.04 comes into play. Using Gnome I can far better customize their GUI well beyond what is offered out-of-the-box. A lot of fun for me personally, though I don't do much with it any more simply because I know the next version of Pop!OS will be in Rust, and not Gnome. That the ability to customize it is anyone's guess right now. And Pop!'s front end is far more simplistic compared to Mint. But yes, it seems well known that their distro is more ideal for gamers.

If anything, for me the issue of system administration is far more comprehensive with Linux Mint than with Pop!OS22.04. A major reason that I retain Mint as my daily OS.
 
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Judge said:
I got accustomed to using the terminal early into my venture into Linux. I still have very few commands I know by heart, but I have no problem inputting commands if I know their source and function.
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I use the terminal for very little, pretty much only for installing programs that I know the name of because in that instance it's quicker and easier than opening a graphical interface.

I can use the terminal to a large degree, I learned computers in the days of Dos so that side of things never bothered me but in a lot of cases a graphical interface is a damn sight easier to use.

Synaptic Package Manager is a good case in point. See every program available in the repositories in a comprehensive and searchable list. Installing by command line is all well and good when you already know the names of the programs you want to install but if you want to browse and see what's available that's simply not an option.

@MildredHubble Synaptic Package Manager gives you text based lists instead of a screen full of applets like Apple Play. Personally I find that a lot easier to use than the playstore type thing as much as because it doesn't keep throwing AI generated suggestions at me as for any other reason.

sudo apt-get install synaptic
 
Judge said:
No discussion, no warning. Just gone. Hope someone can get the lowdown beyond speculation as to why.....
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I think there's a bit of a hint in that story - they're cutting 5,000 jobs. To maintain an operating system and keep it up to date and relevant takes a pretty big team of dedicated people, none of whom would be on minimum wage.

That and the fact that they only created it to show off the speed of their new hardware, which is a bit of a cheat in a way because as we know Linux is considerably quicker than Windows in just about everything.

So they got their marketing value out of it but now it's just throwing money away.
 
Outdated said:
Installing by command line is all well and good when you already know the names of the programs you want to install but if you want to browse and see what's available that's simply not an option.
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Absolutely, when you know the name of the application, installing is generally quicker, though there can be some moments where you have to figure out how on earth you launch the thing.

But yeah, it absolutely falls apart when you don't know the name and there's no installation instructions to be found anywhere. The thing that annoyed me recently was trying to install Python. Apt install Python didn't work. I got an error saying it may have changed and a new version was available. I looked everywhere and eventually figured out it had been changed to something I'd never have guessed. Something like Python3BubbleBobble or something equally as silly.

The thing that is infuriating is that things can change so quickly without warning. You can be following a guide for something written a week ago but none of the commands work anymore. This is why I get very annoyed when people are so nasty on Linux forums when somebody can't figure something out, the advice they are given is basically "figure it out for yourself and stop asking for help."
 
I finally got a Mac-like dock to work properly in Linux Mint 22.1. Not the "Plank" application you can download in the Mint Repository, but a revised version called "Plank-Reloaded" that appears to function with the latest version of Linux Mint without any issues that I have seen so far. Took a bit of searching to find this more simplistic way of installing a dock in Mint 22.1 that actually works.

I installed it into the repository before installing it, using some simple steps with the terminal:

Use the terminal to add the link to Linux Mint's Repository:

1) curl -fsSL https://zquestz.github.io/ppa/ubuntu/KEY.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/zquestz-archive-keyring.gpg echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/zquestz-archive-keyring.gpg] https://zquestz.github.io/ppa/ubuntu ./" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zquestz.list sudo apt update

# Install Plank Reloaded
sudo apt install plank-reloaded

* Might be best to refer to the source page to cut and paste these commands to avoid any syntax errors: GitHub - zquestz/plank-reloaded: Still stupidly simple.

Using the terminal to Installing the app into the Repository:

2) sudo apt install plank-reloaded

3) Now access the repository to locate Plank-Reloaded and click on the button to install it as you would most any other program found there..

4) Before actually using the program, go into your "startup applications" and locate Plank-Reloaded and list it as a program to immediately start. Now reboot your computer. Just make sure you delete the bottom panel in Mint before you install the dock there.

Plank-Reloaded.webp
 
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That actually looks pretty nice! Does it have magnification like in MacOS? It seems like a trivial feature but I really like that I can scroll through quickly like a Rolodex to narrow in on my apps. It means I can shrink the dock down to a tiny size and just kinda "grab" it when I need it without the irritating autohide dock preference switched on.

EDIT: Not sure how I managed to spell "dock" two different ways, probably dyslexia or autocorrect (?). 😸
 
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MildredHubble said:
That actually looks pretty nice! Does it have magnification like in MacOS? It seems like a trivial feature but I really like that I can scroll through quickly like a Rolodex to narrow in on my apps. It means I can shrink the doc down to a tiny size and just kinda "grab" it when I need it without the irritating autohide doc preference switched on.
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Yep, it's got a bit of functionality and control in terms of animation and size with a couple of simple dock styles. Nothing fancy, but it works. I especially like being able to shrink the dock and its respective icons to something smaller than a Mac actually defaults to.

Agreed, I liked being able to switch off the autohide function altogether. Waited some time for this, as the original "Plank" program still in the repository seems too buggy to use with the latest Mint versions.

Plus I use a Compiz extension (Magic Lamp Effect) to make the apps minimize like a genie in a bottle...lol.
 
Judge said:
Yep, it's got a bit of functionality and control in terms of animation and a couple of simple styles. Nothing fancy, but it works.
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Neat! 😸 I will have to give it a try on my Chomebook Linux machine. I like the MacOS dock and I can tolerate the dock like look and function of Ubuntu etc, but I really miss the magnification and animations.
 
MildredHubble said:
Neat! 😸 I will have to give it a try on my Chomebook Linux machine. I like the MacOS dock and I can tolerate the dock like look and function of Ubuntu etc, but I really miss the magnification and animations.
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Keep in mind using the link I provided, what I posted was strictly for Linux Mint 22.1. Can't vouch for any other Ubuntu-based distros.

Have you tried Cairo-Dock? Far more elaborate in comparison, but it's very picky about what distro you need to make it work. No longer works for Linux Mint 22.....

I made this post mainly because there doesn't seem to be any alternative I know of for Mint users since they went to version 22.1. Hope it works on 22.2....which is coming up soon.
 
Judge said:
Went to "Pling" to find some 78 different styles of docks...
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Mine still sort of looks like WinXP. I haven't played with spicing it up in over 20 years, I spend all day every day on the computer but pretty much the only time I ever see the desktop is when I start up and shut down.
 
MildredHubble said:
I think MacOS gets it right. If Linux was more like MacOS in that you dont need concern yourself with the Terminal unless you want to, then Linux would easily overtake Windows.
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Sorry to backtrack so far - I’ve not been checking this thread often enough.
For years I ran Linux on a Dell laptop as my “work machine.” I used ELM and then PINE until I was directed by my boss to use Lotus Notes like everybody else (and look like I enjoyed it.)

When Apple switched the Mac to BSD Unix under the covers, skinned with a very effective UI, I entered the walled garden and have not looked back. I currently run a mid-2014 MacBook Pro, but only when I have to. Day-to-day it’s an iPad, on which I am typing this, and an iPhone, which I use mainly as a phone. I like the integration of devices - iCloud data sharing (all my 307 usernames/passwords available from my password vault on any device), Airdrop data sharing, I can even answer phone calls from my laptop.

Do I still have Linux machines? Yes. Do I use them often? No. (I don’t fire up the SGI workstations often either. Or the AIX workstation. Or the IBM Aptiva, the Apple II, the Fat Mac, or the DEC Rainbow 100 [which ran CP/M or DOS, depending on which floppy you booted.] Yes, they’re all still downstairs.)
 
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