I switched to Linux 30 days ago... How did it go?

Grab yourself a Pint Glass at craftcomputing.store
I've ran Linux on my laptop for well over a year, and have showed Linux on Gaming PCs too many times to count... but what about installing Linux on my workstation? I spent the last 30 days with ZorinOS 17, and did 100% of my Video Editing, 3D Modeling, Live Streaming and day to day business operations from it. How did it go? What challenges did I face, and would I recommend it for you?
But first... What am I drinking???
Iron Horse Brewery (Ellensberg, WA) Tiramisu Death (7.0%)
I did this 30 challenge on ZorinOS: zorin.com/os/
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[@CraftComputing]

Other issues I didn't mention... Resolve - Waveforms aren't visible at all in audio clips, making cuts incredibly difficult. Resolve - This video has a rendering glitch at 7:16. Rendered in x265, so that didn't fix it. Chrome - Cannot drag and drop files into Chrome to upload (email attachments, YT/Floatplane uploads). It just doesn't work. ZOOM - Doesn't work with Tiling. When using tiling, Zoom is always on top and not auto-arranged. File Manager - A network interruption kills my network file share access. Must either reboot, or access console and "mount -a" to restore. Discord - Cannot access DeckLink HDMI capture (flatpack version) Nothing that prevents anything from working, but each of them are also a time sink vs Windows/MacOS, where these issues aren't present.

[@Clobercow1]

I dropped Chrome a long time ago. Brave has everything it has and is just better all around. The file manager doesn't manage your network mounts. Autofs will fix your mount issue. Discord, Zoom, and Resolve are not Linux issues. Those are Linux is a second class to windows / mac issue.

[@Splarkszter]

"Ideal is not something you start with, but something you work towards." "If you never start, you never improve, so start with what you have and improve it over time" Even if Linux "Isn't ideal yet" we NEED to start using it to make it better. If nobody uses it nobody can improve it. Since it's OpenSource, anyone MUST contribute by donating, by placing Bounties, specially people that make money off it should place bounties to fix the bugs they have an issue with, because it's a Moral responsibility we need to have in this culture if we ever want it to finally work better than the apps of the lazy megacorps. I wish you a lot of luck and thank you for making thw jump :)

[@pasan.]

Chrome and other window tiling issues seem to be distro related. Go with Fedora or Debian with KDE or XFCE next time.

[@Splarkszter]

​@@Clobercow1 Discord and Zoon are both web-apps so it's just better to use them directly on the Browser. And that's what i do, saves me from the always running process eating ram and cpu, and from potential telemetry spyware.

[@CraftComputing]

@Clobercow1 Discord, Zoom, Resolve issues that exist on Linux are still issues. The blame in the situation doesn't matter to me when they're slowing down my work.

[@andreaszuber4341]

I hear Adobe is currently fixing that compatibility issue, not by providing a Linux port, but by pissing everyone off and make them switch software.

[@Charusel]

Yea, I'm hoping this is the push a FOSS alternative needs to get increased support.

[@esra_erimez]

This comment is brilliant 🤣

[@Hebdomad7]

The sooner you stop using Adobe and use one of the many alternatives, the sooner you can be rid of that abusive relationship. Do it now. Not just your wallet, but your sanity.

[@christianmontagx8461]

@@Hebdomad7 For low-end Linux Desktop Users that might be an option. :) But not for professionals.

[@terranscope]

Hehe...

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

We don't choose Linux because it's easy, we choose it because we thought it would be easy!

[@YoStu242]

"We choose to go to the Linux in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard"

[@1slotmech]

I thought it was because we are geeks and we like distracting ourselves with geeky things instead of getting work done. 😂

[@CalvinB_]

Linux is infinity easier for me to program on then windows or mac, so I did choose it because it's easy.

[@immanuelkantholz9033]

I'm using Linux because it just works without any hustle, no annoying driver installation like in GamingOS(Windows). It's more logical and more intuitive and thus easier to use than GamingOS. It's safer than GamingOS. It's cheaper than GamingOS. I use my PC for work, so I can't afford a gaming console with a keyboard aka Windows pc.

[@tonysolar284]

Wrong, I chose it back in 2000 because it was the underdog and the internet ran off it, So it made sense for me to install and use it, setup servers, etc. So I fully know how the internet works. My first step into Linux was setting up my own router with iptables in 2000. I still use windows for select games but as soon as GTA6 or GTA5 works with FiveM/SixM on Linux, then I'll fully ditch Windows without looking back. Also, I'll stick with Win10 until EOS. Been a SysAdmin/NetAdmin/DevOps since (2004)

[@Komatik_]

"It doesn't even have maximize, close and minimize icons". Craft got GNOMEd.

[@Samu2010lolcats]

Yep, that definitely sounds like the GNOME with Wayland experience.

[@dorklol2969]

isnt it just a checkbox in the settings?

[@AlucardNoir]

@@dorklol2969 a checkbox you need to know about...

[@Komatik_]

@@dorklol2969 Nope. The issue here is that GNOME doesn't do server-side window decorations. Basically, the app can say "I don't want to design and draw my own titlebar etc., give me a standard issue titlebar, please", and other Linux desktops' display servers / compositors will draw them one that's nicely integrated to the rest of the desktop. A window can also say that it wants to draw its own window controls (called Client Side Decorations or CSD for short on Linux), which lets it eg. put buttons and so on in the titlebar. It's a design style that's really common in GNOME and MacOS and increasingly common in eg. Windows, every browser does it etc. GNOME are firmly convinced that these sorts of active window decorations are the way to go, and don't like the idea of server-side standard issue titlebars at all. They've also architected their compositor, Mutter, such that making it able to draw server side decorations is really hard. As a result, GNOME just doesn't provide server side window decorations at all, and if an app assumes it can just get a titlebar from the compositor, the window will end up having none in GNOME, which is what happened with DaVinci Resolve here. The Factorio devs also had this issue and wrote a blog about it a while back.

[@blubbspinat9363]

I can confirm that all the Window management he mentioned in this video aren't Linux issues at all. In fact, all of those are a total non-issue in both XFCE and Plasma/KDE.

[@PWingert1966]

I worked at a social enterprise that refurbished computers for low-income businesses and other social enterprises. I wrote a step-by-step guide to install Linux Mint on all the old PCs we had to refurbish where we could not recover a Windows licence (To stay compliant with the Microsoft refurbished requirements). It had to be written so that unskilled community volunteers could follow the process and complete a hardware evaluation of the machine (check porters, verify Bluetooth and wi-fi, and determine if a recoverable Windows license existed) and recover Windows or install Linux. with this standardized guidebook, I have now used it to install Linux on over 100 computers personally and the guide is still being used at the social enterprise. There are some minor issues with older IBM proprietary Wi-Fi and Bluetooth that are accounted for in the guide.

[@advena996]

That's super cool! I really appreciate that Linux can be used to breathe life into old PCs. It makes so much sense from a cost/reducing e-waste perspective!

[@PWingert1966]

@@advena996 I have one more Windows 10 machine to convert. I'm just waiting till the last day of support!

[@PWingert1966]

@@advena996 I do this for every Windows 10 Machine I get now. I'm no longer with the social enterprise but still do a few computers every year. The result looks like Windows; once you add skype and a media player, you're good.

[@espertalhao041]

The lack of minimize, maximize and close buttons is because of Gnome. The program assumes that window decorations are handled by the display server, which almost all other Wayland desktop managers support. Except Gnome ... Which is what Zorin OS uses.

[@haydenc2742]

I like Ubuntu MATE...XFCE is also nice for lighter weight machines

[@soooslaaal8204]

Gnome devs are such a fucking cancer, devs need to close bug reports relating to this saying it is a "feature" brought to you by Gnome devs massively, perhaps Gnome devs will finally get their heads out of their asses

[@remoteholepunch6739]

I'm not certain that's right, at least for Resolve specifically. I'm on KDE Plasma 6, and don't see minimize/maximize either. I CAN snap the window to zones and use shortcuts to maximize/minimize, but there's nothing for that the Resolve window.

[@roysigurdkarlsbakk3842]

@@remoteholepunch6739 Wasn't Resolve a flatpak? I avoid those like if it were a plague

[@espertalhao041]

​@@remoteholepunch6739 Gnome is known for not having windows decorations if the app assumes that the server takes care of it. Maybe you need to enable some configuration? Or try a non-flatpack version? There's some people talking about removing the top menu on the window decoration settings in "Kde Settings > Colors and themes > Window decorations". I see some other things online. Maybe some work for you.

[@creeper6530]

Your window problems are almost 100% caused by Zorin, that uses Gnome, so you might as well look into other distros and DEs, such as KDE Plasma. The beauty of Linux is that you can use something completely different with the same kernel and sometimes same apps and repos. Heck, I use Debian on two laptops, same apps, same setup, but completely different desktop environments (KDE because pretty and Xfce because lightweight)

[@edstar83]

Also Ubuntu Unity is back MOFOs.

[@necrisro]

Then you use another distro and there's another issue specific to that distro and your reply will be "just use gnome / zorin / etc" :) That's exactly the type of answer just as annoying as like "just use gimp" for a windows user

[@creeper6530]

@@necrisro but you can trade these problems to have one that doesn't concern you personally. Debian's biggest problem are outdated repos, but that's not a problem for server applications, where you want stability over everything. When you run XFCE, it's hideous and not intuitive for novices, but it's much lighter on system requirements. It's all about tradeoffs that work for you personally.

[@griffin1366]

"Just use another Distro" So what if the one he switches to has other issues? Then people just say the same thing... Setting up your system constantly is not enjoyable and can be time consuming in some cases.

[@creeper6530]

@@griffin1366 no distro is the silver bullet, you choose the one whose problems don't concern you.

[@KCKingcollin]

I've been using linux for over 10 years, and i have no idea wtf they are smoking when they say gimp is a Photoshop replacement

[@ark_knight]

I dont think anyone says PS is photoshop replacement (besides the unreasonable ones). But GIMP is what we have for Linux. So everyone points to it. What else do you want linux people to say? Should they just lament along with the person who is asking for PS replacement and not provide a certain alternative?

[@KCKingcollin]

@@ark_knight There are actually other open source alternatives much closer to PS but are more focused on specific tasks. They should be asking the right questions and pointing to that instead of the worst possible solution

[@ark_knight]

@@KCKingcollin I guess Community need to inform the noobs with right question.

[@KCKingcollin]

@@ark_knight no, I just ment that they could ask what they use PS for and advise based on that, there currently is no PS replacement, but there are individual programs that do similar things for different types of content

[@abunk8691]

I'd use the browser based PS clone PhotoPea if I needed to do PS type stuff since it has most of what I need though advanced users may find it inadequate for their work.

[@czarnicholas2k698]

RE: Windows random reboots on Ryzen. I ran into the exact issue you're describing, originally thinking it was Windows Update and later realizing it was too much, on both my work and home PC, a 7600X and 5600X3D respectively. The solution ended up being that I changed the default power profiles, a few times, one back in the early Zen days and a couple more with some forum community stuff. I remembered seeing in those forums about a "USB voltage dropout" thing causing random reboots though they claimed it was fixed. Reverting to the plain Windows 11-included power plans on both solved the issues immediately.

[@ionrael]

I see the problem, you used Zorin OS

[@pcallycat9043]

And expected window management in Gnome to not suck

[@ionrael]

who can help this man and explain the list of commands to change the window manager. Or even install some KDE distro that works better. And for Photoshop how to configure PlayonLinux with wine and should do it the most

[@chriss3404]

Gnome definitely hindered his experience in a lot of ways, but to be fair, consumer education about desktop Linux is like... 1/10 generously lmao, almost by nature. Donations, investment on the server side, and some very recent investment into desktop Linux all work to improve experience of desktop Linux. Funding for educating consumers is going to be sparse to none. None of these groups of people would be too excited about a big ad campaign when there's real software issues to be worked on.

[@abunk8691]

Had a laugh when he mentioned Zorin and I always had problems with Zorin even back in 2016 and specifically GNOME was the main culprit (GNOME Shell crashes, window management weirdness, themeing issues, crashing extensions, etc.), but their 'Lite' Xfce version also has issues with how they configure the Window Manager for their desired UI aside from being bloated and using close to the same amount of ram as their GNOME version.

[@klingoncowboy4]

​@@pcallycat9043I like GnomeShell but I am not using my workstation in the way he is... definitely NOT the ideal DE for this use case.

[@motmontheinternet]

The Davinci issue where the window won't show a top bar is a Gnome issue. Davinci, when asked what the top bar should look like, says "use whatever is appropriate". This way the window matches the theme and look of the rest of your computer, your OS just provides that. Gnome responds with "okay I'll put none there". There's no solution to this because Gnome devs insist. FYI KDE seems more like the interface for you, you seem to need very specific features and KDE is the features interface. It also puts a proper bar on Davinci like it should.

[@motmontheinternet]

Also DO NOT download the drivers from Nvidia. Use the Nvidia drivers your distro supplies, through the "additional drivers" program or something similar. If your distro doesn't, then you need to switch distros, this is your distro's fault for not providing drivers. You can't be sure encoding and sound will work without using the supported drivers.

[@slaapliedje]

​@motmontheinternet hopefully this won't even be much of a problem once the open source driver is up to par, now that nvidia is slowly 'getting it'.

[@DJDocsVideos]

@@motmontheinternet nah it's his fault for using hardware with bad open source support and nvidia has been antagonistic for decades.

[@schubajo]

​@@DJDocsVideosPeople like you are one of the problems with the Linux community.

[@DJDocsVideos]

@@slaapliedje seeing is believing

[@KevinFarleyWV]

When you mention "average users", that really isn't the target audience for most Adobe software tools which are far too expensive for "average users" to do the simple things they want to do. For professionals, sure, they want what they trained on and are used to which is typically Adobe.

[@jamesschmames6416]

This seems a common pattern with users transitioning from Windows to Linux. They are used to downloading installers from the web to install software. The closest equivalent on Linux is Snap, Flatpack or appimage. Package managers are the Linux norm and IMO is the better way to install most software. Less hiccups that are caused by sandboxing.

[@howardjones543]

ish. I have a couple dozen PPAs on my Ubuntu desktop currently, which usually makes things a bit messy for OS upgrades. It does mean automatic updates of all those apps though, which Windows has never done without something like PatchMyPC.

[@faeranne]

Ok, finished the video, and I do have a few responses to your direct questions: Window Management - Gnome is kinda the go-to because it's "functional" without any configuration surprises, but it's also opinionated and bad for someone needing repeatable environments. KDE has builtin tools for remembering window positions (and also will 100% fix your Resolve not having borders. So I recommend it heartily). You can right click a title bar and the settings -> Special Window Settings -> Add property -> position, will let you have certain apps snap to those positions by default. I will have to do some more digging to see how to make that togglable (since it will snap every time the window opens, so normal use needs it off), but I also believe there are KDE plugins that help with that too. Just know that as per my other comment, Discord limiting how small the window can be will not be fixed by this. That one is because Discord actively fights against going beyond a minimum size due to the Discord rendering backend being fundamentally broken at certain sizes. Config file changes can work around this active choice, but parts of discord will look weird if done. Image editing - You're 100% right that Gimp is not equal to Photoshop, and the options are limited. Best answer I can give is to see if Gimp + Inkscape + Krita fill enough gaps to get you everything you need, and if not, I think there's a webapp that gets pretty close to PS, managing to even import most Photoshop formats. It's all gonna require changing the workflow, just as with Resolve, but if those can somehow together cover everything you specifically do, it might be an option. But yeah, beyond those suggestions, there aren't any real good options right now, might need a small Windows system or dual-boot for this. Sucks, but you seem to already be aware of that situation. Can't comment further than that since I don't do image editing myself. Decklink access (and other flatpak weirdness) - Look into FlatSeal. This allows you to modify the amount of containerization Flatpak applies. There should be an option to allow certain devices to be access (as well as other folders, if needed). Since things like DeckLink don't use the general video input pipeline of Linux (v4l2) and instead roll their own, you will need to learn a bit of how `/dev` works, as well as where decklink puts those file. Linux has a standard for this, BlackMagic just chose to be extra proprietary here, but it is possible to make them behave. AV1 - Close but not quite. Linux has support for AV1, but the Linux drivers issued by Nvidia themselves don't support AV1 (EDIT: since someone want's to be pedantic, this was specific to NVENC, which is the only *stable* way to do encoding, according to Nvidia. That has since changed, but is a very new change that hasn't made it to most stable software yet. Technically there are other options that work, but these are not stable or supported). Since that's a black box that Nvidia has sued to keep dark, that's just a ~~"wait till they feel like opening that box"~~ problem. ~~Nothing you, I, or any Linux Dev can do about it sadly. If this is a deal breaker, then I can respect moving back to Windows for the time being~~ EDIT2: the absolute latest version of NVENC now supports AV1, but is new enough that not much really supports it as Stable. OBS has it on testing, and should be releasing it with 30.2. AAC - Similar but more long-term issue here. AAC is a "per user" license, so there's no real hope for Linux builds of software to supply it without resorting to compiling it locally per user. FFMPEG does something like this to get the re-encode you probably have seen working, but the MPEG group doesn't like this, and Resolve would absolutely be targeted if they pulled this move. Fortunately the patent drops in 2028, so even if it becomes a deal-breaker for now, it should be usable in 4 years. Now whether things change and make AAC obsolete by then is another story... I'm gonna include my own issues and notes in a reply.

[@faeranne]

So I should preface this with two notes. First, I've been Linux exclusive on my own machines for nearly a decade now. Picked up Ubuntu 12.04 while in highschool, and ditched windows entirely in 2014. Second, I did recently make the decision to try a distro-hop in January, and while I love the distro I'm on (NixOS), it is 100% an "expert distro", so many issues are of my own making. As of right now, I've been suffering with 3 issues in my day-to-day process: Most recently, I've been having an issue with fullscreen games not accepting mouse input. I have learned that that issue is likely a combination of my choice of monitor setup (4 in a + pattern), Wayland (because it's still not quite ready), and some input libraries. Steam has come to the rescue here by providing gamescope as a way to kinda "containerize" the rendering of the game, making it playable, but it is still a significant issue. I've also been long-term dealing with Discord not handling screen-sharing audio correctly. Basically, Discord doesn't implement the required element to grab desktop audio on linux *at all*, so without client modifications, it's a no-go. Recently though, with Wayland, the whole thing got a little more broken, as Wayland requires apps to get authorization from the user to do screen capture, and Discord simply doesn't implement that. It's a good move for Wayland, since that can be a major security flaw, but for a platform that regularly ignores linux anyways, it's a bit of a rub. Technically all fixable with a client mod, but those *are* technically against ToS (even if Discord generally doesn't care). Finally, Bluetooth. Bluetooth, the bane of my existence. I've had issues with Bluetooth since long before Linux, and the issues don't stop here. I've yet to get *anything* to pair right on Linux long term, and audio is just right out. But I also can't get Bluetooth to stay connected on my phone or my significant other's Windows computer. So yeah, it's worst on Linux, but I wrote off bluetooth a while ago, so it has minimal impact. As a bonus, I use a relatively high-end wireless headset (Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro). I had the previous generation (which just gave out entirely for no reason) which supported a "dual output" option for mixing game and chat audio, which worked great on Linux. But the new Nova Pro has apparently decided to move that feature into software, and so on Linux, it never shows the mixer option, and only provides one audio output. It's far from a deal breaker, but it's still been kinda missed. I have since learned exactly how the software enables and handles this "virtual mixer" feature, but it's enough of a headache, and so little gain, that I haven't bothered at all. On the positive side, Nix has been one of my new favorite toys, and has actually saved me once already. Nix uses config files to define *everything* about a system, which while a headache to learn, has the nice side-effect of making rollbacks a breeze. It also has the benefit of making copying a system's layout and configuration as simple as copying a single folder (or storing it on Github). So story time. About 2 weeks ago, I was scheduled for a job interview. Kinda a big deal for me, since it's with a potentially major company, and a massive pay bump. So imagine my horror when I learn that my primary boot drive just gave up the ghost about 2 hours before the call? Rebuilding a normal system, Linux *or* Windows was enough of a headache that I probably would have had to reschedule, since it was unlikely I would finish that before the call time. And rescheduling would likely be an instant failure, since preparedness is something they explicitly listed on their "what we want in applicants" section. However! I have been using Nix, and my config files live on a public Github. The key for decrypting my secrets? that's on a Yubikey. So what would have been a few hours of rebuild, combine with weeks of finding that "one more thing" I missed, all turned into about 5 minutes hunting for a replacement boot drive, 4 command lines in the nix installer, and 15 minutes waiting for zfs drivers to build. After that, it was like nothing had happened. Since my personal data lives on a separate drive, I didn't even lose any of my files. Linux, for all the issue around it, can sometimes be absolutely amazing to watch. Nix is still confusing a heck though. Don't use it unless you have a grasp on Set Theory and about 2 months of downtime to do nothing but learn it.

[@TheChadXperience909]

I second a lot of what he said. While Gnome is great for some workflows, like coding, KDE Plasma is my recommendation for content creators of all stripes. Whether you're editing photos, video or audio KDE is going to offer a better experience for those workflows. That's one reason why Ubuntu Studio uses it by default. Also, I'd recommend trying the realtime kernel. It can solve alot of jank and performance issues. I can't transcode audio without it. Also, people never mention a little utility called "tuned" to tune the system to their use-case. Process scheduler shaping is another strategy people don't know about. There are other more advanced topics which I won't mention. However, if you understood all those little backend processes and how to tame them, you'd realize that there can be no one size fits all solution. We must all accept the fact that there's no such thing as a GOOD general purpose OS. At best, you'll end up with a jack of all trades and master of none that's only going to leave you feeling lacking. Everything out there needs to be tuned and customized to a given use-case if you hope to have a decent experience (even Windows). I have mutiple installs of a certain distro, because I have them set up for different purposes. I can't expect to have both a decent dev environment and good gaming experience on the same install. I have to tune and customize each to optimize it for a given workload. That's the reality, and so please lower your expectations and accept that it's just the nature of the beast. This is one reason why Mr. GE created Nobara Linux, because there's so much work needed to customize Fedora to that use-case that most would never bother with it. So, he does that work for you to make it a more turn-key experience. Even the misnamed Turn-Key Linux distro comes in a multitude of different flavors which are all customized to a specific use-case, because there's no such thing as a turn-key Linux distro. So, quit chasing the golden dragon of the perfect Linux distro. There's never going to be a "Year of Linux" distro, because they all must be tailored to a specific use. Windows just has really good partnership and includes a lot of licensed software, and graphical utilities. Other than that, it's no better than Linux. For those of us who are able to manage without those things being included by default, it's not even an issue. People just have the wrong idea about the way a computer is supposed to work. Part of that is Microsoft's fault for making Windows so feature complete out of the box. However, that requires a lot of money and influence to achieve. Linux is a community project, and so doesn't have that kind of clout to throw around. It's just something we must all accept, and be prepared to have to deal with.

[@1pcfred]

So that's why I don't have an issue with AAC? I always build ffmpeg. I didn't know WTF he was carrying on about. All I could think was AAC works here. Yeah for what he wants to do he's got to learn how to compile. If you want video editing hotness there's no two ways around it. Cutting edge is the domain of the dev branches.

[@luisortega8085]

@@faeranne > Finally, Bluetooth. Bluetooth, the bane of my existence. I've had issues with Bluetooth since long before Linux, and the issues don't stop here. I've yet to get anything to pair right on Linux long term, and audio is just right out. But I also can't get Bluetooth to stay connected on my phone or my significant other's Windows computer. So yeah, it's worst on Linux, but I wrote off bluetooth a while ago, so it has minimal impact. I had near flawless (99% fine) experiences with my bluetooth on my laptop when I had a laptop with an intel wifi+bt combo, but now I have a laptop with a mediatek wifi+bt combo and well... it's not good, both at wifi or bt.

[@luisortega8085]

@@TheChadXperience909 Gnome requires adapting, and then you get fast and powerful, but yeah, not for everyone.

[@liveyourdreammedia]

Linux is not the untamable beast anymore. Hell, i was able to teach my mom to use linux mint. She uses it for browsing and email and it prevented her from buying a new laptop.

[@ivonakis]

I bought my mom new windows laptop because the old one broke. The new one had sleep issues with win 10 and 11. No issues with mint and she likes it more because it has functional start menu.

[@tuber2kh]

Relatives with little or no tech instincts are the best Linux candidates. Grandparents and in-laws never seem to understand which emails they can open, which sites are dangerous, etc. Moving them to Linux resulted in weekly tech support calls dropping to twice a year -- ie, when they accidentally close their folder tree and think they deleted their Inbox = 30 second fixes. Thinking an OS change is too confusing for them is incorrect thinking -- they just know the icons to double-click on the desktop. As long as they have a desktop with an email icon and a browser icon and a pictures folder to browse through, they are unaware of any differences going on under the covers.

[@chrismcpherson7582]

​@@tuber2khhonestly yeah this is the best take. People who are steadfast and refuse to change are not the same as people who literally don't even know enough to have an opinion.

[@andershoff6378]

@@tuber2kh This is so true. It's the windows/mac power users that have the most trouble switching. The person who isn't tech savvy will have a more hassle free experience with a noob friendly distro like mint or ubuntu than on windows.

[@BastetFurry]

My parents use Linux since around 2007 when i was sick of repairing their Windows installation for the umpteen time, just threw Ubuntu on there and they where and still are happy with it. It simply works and if it acts up i can SSH into their machine and fix it.

[@Trezker]

I'm nearly 20 years in Linux... Been in the Ubuntu comfort zone the whole time. Tested some different distros in the early years but nothing stood out as an upgrade and I've been too lazy to explore options for over a decade. I'm just a casual gamer. In the early years there wasn't much gaming to do, I spent a lot of time trying to make games work with wine and playing flash games when they didn't. Then Steam gave us their client and eventually Proton picked up steam as well. It's gotten so much better. When I adopted Linux I accepted living without the games that don't work even though it was a big loss in the beginning. Now I hardly even try to tinker to get games working, I just get a refund on Steam if I happen to buy one that I can't easily get to run.

[@ChrisRoxby]

It's probably nothing like Gimp, let alone Photoshop, but Krita is also free Linux software. Just in case anyone in the comments is feeling adventurous.

[@faeranne]

Krita is more "painting" while Gimp is more "modifying", but they do have some overlap. Between the two of them they hit quite a few notes that Photoshop covers, but it's still not 100%, and is between two programs. for some that's a deal breaker.

[@EricLefebvrePhotography]

I love Krita for drawing and painting but not for editing or photobashing.

[@xeridea]

Krita is a fork of GIMP (forked many years ago), that is focused more on painting/drawing.

[@Dave102693]

@@xerideaand it’s so much better

[@arnabbiswasalsodeep]

​@@faerannewell, i use krita exclusively for photoshop. Just installing some tool brushes makes it even powerful and consistent experience around my windows, linux, Android tablet.

[@APie357]

me doing the linux challenge for the past 3 years

[@89Sawik]

Me approx 12 ;) never looked back.

[@Infifty]

Me 7 years after my best friend brutally challenged me to run gentoo as my primary distro when I started.

[@89Sawik]

@@Infifty uh-oh, hard ball :D

[@Benkaboi]

​@@Infifty haha! From driving around in a Volvo to someone saying you can't pilot a space rocket! Hold my beer..!

[@gg-gn3re]

same but 24 years

[@EposVox]

NVENC definitely works on Linux and AV1 support is added in the 30.2 beta currently having ongoing testing :)

[@Cortage]

Can confirm NVENC works, been using it for at least a couple years now

[@lesscommonsense1804]

av1 already works at least on AMD. Nvidia is usually a hit and miss on Linux.

[@t0uchme343]

​​@@lesscommonsense1804 I use AV1 for sunshine streaming. Somehow it didn't work on x11 but it did on wayland. 4070 super on 550 driver and plasma for reference.

[@superpieton]

Absolutely. I use NVENC on my GTX1050 under Xubuntu 22.04. No issues at all.

[@howardjones543]

@@lesscommonsense1804 the fun for nvidia drivers usually comes at upgrade time for me

[@Alobster1]

I have been using linux for all my office for for nearly 10 years. I have found that it is a much more reliable and stable environment for office work. No random updates at critical moments. All software updated with one click.

[@cmyk8964]

The great (and potentially life-ruining) thing about Linux is that you can also change your window manager without moving to another distro. Your problems with Resolve not fullscreening, or file drag-and-drop not working, could possibly fix themselves on another window manager.

[@amtam05]

I agree a 1000% on the "GIMP is not the same as Photoshop!" statement.

[@kristopherleslie8343]

What features are you using

[@Fellintr]

Krita is also not the same as Photoshop, but a way better replacement than GIMP.

[@arcadeportal32]

The problem is too is file compatibility, bringing Photoshop files into most programs GIMP or even Krita is not perfect. Mostly due to missing features they just don't have over Adobe CC

[@hawk_7000]

Well, it obviously isn't, and one shouldn't try to suggest it is literally the same thing. But the argument laid out in the video falls apart very quickly about any such suggestion (whether it be GIMP, Krita or something else) as a replacement being offensive, because if you literally can only accept Photoshop, then the question is a waste of everyone's time and borderline offensive in itself.

[@galacticzombie1942]

I wanted to like GIMP, but it is so non-intuitive. I use a combination of Krita and Inkscape for my pixel/vector needs.

[@fineman1064]

KDE has basically recreated fancy zones, so you may want to try. I'd recommend fedore kde spin.

[@aroun.olorin]

Tuxedo OS is a good KDE Plasma distribution, if one prefers to stay on a Ubuntu base like Zorin OS has

[@hagenzwosta]

That is what I use on my notebooks too. Fedora with KDE is great.

[@potatoe4221]

@@aroun.olorin Why would you not just use kubuntu if you wanted a ubunutu base.

[@fu886]

he can just install kde on the existing machine, i would reccomend some more standardized os like fedora or debian(maybe ubuntu if he is already used to) instead of a spinoff

[@microjet9563]

@@fu886 while yes he could do that, getting windows users to grasp the concept that one OS can have multiple desktop environments or even that they are in fact separate things is hard in my experience. I find its just easier to recommend a different distro than trying to explain how to install another DE.

[@deedlefake]

Another comment about Resolve's missing window decorations: If you hold the windows key in GNOME, you can left-click drag anywhere in a window to move it, middle-click drag to resize it, and right-click to get the window menu.

You should try a distribution that has KDE as default DE (maybe Fedora 40). In the KDE window manager (KWin) you can set window/application rules to put/size windows however you want automatically. Also, on both KDE and GNOME you can hold down the right Alt key and drag with the right mouse button to resize a window and with the left mouse button to move a window without needing to have the titlebar buttons/window decorations.

[@thegametinkerer]

I believe the "gimp" statement is for "normal" users. Those people that need to crop a photo or correct color. Gimp and Photoshop are pretty much the same in tat aspect. But overall, they still aren't the same. I know that phrase has been used for a very long time. Photoshop was very different 20 years ago.

[@blahorgaslisk7763]

a twenty years old version of Adobe would be pretty close to current Gimp as far as abilities goes. I once tried my hand at Gimp and frankly it was a total miss for me. Now the thing is I had worked so much with PS that every change just made me want to scream. Also I used a lot of scripts for mass applications on all images in a folder and such. Learning to do that using Gimp was not something I felt was obvious. I often performed a operation on thousands of files at a time. Gimp didn't want to cooperate with that. Now I am an old UNIX system administrator that has worked on several hundred Unix servers, but that was a long time ago and frankly I don't miss it. Anytime I have to dig into Linux or BSD it feels like I've travelled thirty years back in time. No that is not saying that Linux or Unix (BSD is a UNIX OS) is bad, just that I feel I did my time wrestling with that type of OS and deserve to be a bit lazy.

[@thegametinkerer]

@@blahorgaslisk7763 I feel you on that and agree.

[@chbrules]

Krita

[@dh2032]

@@blahorgaslisk7763 command prompt alive kicking in Linux, the same reason Mac OS is thing, all GUI, not DOS prompt in sight anywhere there is one 99% users would never now there was one?, and the same Windows?, but not so much, it shows up once in a while, even if it's only small bit after boot screen until the Windows OS is fully loaded, it still there? but Linux, everything still command Prompt to do just about everything? if get system auto boot and load GUI of some kind, which one, there not standard, and they all do the basic's but any more than that, there all different, and anything but most basic of tasks, and going to to poke around command prompt for something, and not windows user friendly at all once more its sort of, the same? but signals, switches are different? and if really wanted to poking around command prompt try to get something, you do in Windows already? but that why running windows keeps away command prompt as much as possible? until that changes, where need to read on the problem, the solution to open a command prompt, and start typing meaning lines command codes, on the off chance it will fix something?

[@griffin1366]

Yep. Whenever they say "just use GIMP" "why is everyone a proficient photo editor now?". Just can't accept that people use Photoshop.

[@HPerrin]

It’s funny to see the people doing the Linux challenge describe exactly the pain points I described to my friend when he made me do the Windows challenge. I’ve been using Linux for basically my entire adult life (since 2008), and now Windows is incredibly difficult for me to use and a bunch of things I rely on don’t work on it or are really difficult to get working on it. I think we just get used to what we’re using, and switching will always be difficult, no matter which OS you’re switching from and which you’re switching to.

[@Grunchy005]

It's no problem either way. Whatever operating system you're stuck on, just install some freeware known as "virt-manager" and now you can run any other operating system at any second. Even better, you can easily and safely make restore images, backups, assign resources (including complete control of PCI devices, hard drives, etc). I run Photoshop on my Linux box any second I feel like it, it's not even hard to do.

[@Erianthor]

@@Grunchy005 Seconded! I can run Windows 7 VM with GPU passed through to it due to that software. Only pity is that the games I installed it for are exactly the ones that run with graphical glitches now. Bother!

[@Rairosu]

Windows for me is easy. But using a Steam Deck the first time in desktop mode which is based off Arch linux called SteamOS. Was hard to navigate. I had to learn it a lot to get used to it.

[@Babalas-no9ot]

100%. I've long argued that the biggest problem with Windows users doing the migration to Linux is they expect Linux to behave, and be used, the same as Windows. His rant about GIMP and Photoshop shows this. Adobe hates Linux, and there's nothing the Linux community can do about that, but there are alternatives ways to do things and it's obviously going to take time to find out what those are. As for most of the rest of his complaints (placement, titlebar, etc). Use KDE.

[@watvannou]

@@Babalas-no9ot No you are missing the point, no one is asking for adobe software on Linux. He is saying, Adobe is the industry standard, everyone that goes to school to learn video/image editing learn on adobe. So MAKE GIMP EMULATE THE SAME WORKFLOW STEPS!!!!! Having Gimp out there doing it's own thing to be different and cute is shooting itself in the foot!!! If you want to compete and be accepted by the mainstream you need to adapt your software to provide the same creature comforts OR BETTER, not be actively harder to use for the sake of differentiation or being open and free.

[@seriousshuck3484]

HEY, perfect timing! I switched a few months ago. I LOVE IT!

[@rodedogad]

Daily drove Ubuntu for like 2 years. I learned a lot about how computers think, learned Python. It was a neat learning experience. Had all the same frustrations, overcame them with stack overflow. If AutoCAD worked on Linux, I'd probably ditch windows altogether.

[@postiemania]

Have you tried Freecad?

[@notjustforhackers4252]

@@postiemania Briscad? Siemens NX?

[@cj09beira]

@@postiemania freecad sucks ass, the damn thing is way to slow, can't wait for blender to be a viable alternative

[@nosleep7026]

run a vm

[@petersimmons7833]

I’m on Year 3 of my 30 day challenge. I’ve been clean and sober ever since.

[@Lurch-Bot]

So Windows literally drove you to drink. I get that.

[@bennaambo2716]

The way people fight over operatingsystems is just plain stupid. Let people use what ever they want. My self i use macOS, Windows and Linux

[@KomradeMikhail]

Friends don't let friends drive windows.

[@mannyhoolin4662]

@@bennaambo2716 I totally agree. I think people who use multiple operating systems have a different view than those who just use a single phone or laptop or desktop. The irony there is that when you use everything, you are really in a position to assess the positives and negatives which can lead to arguing with yourself lol. I often find myself thinking that one OS is better than another for certain things. Windows is still #1 for gaming, for example, but for absolute customizability, Linux wins by a long shot. If you are a power user and you use computing power for lots of different purposes, the worst OS is the one you limit yourself to.

[@knifeyonline]

@@bennaambo2716 I would love it if somebody could tell me a reason to use linux... what can I do on linux that I can't do on windows? Literally never heard a single thing 🙃

[@CGA111]

I can safely say, if Gnome had been the only option when I switched to Linux 3.5 years ago, I would never have switched. Luckily, there's KDE.

[@1pcfred]

If the only choices were Gnome or KDE I might be running Windows today.

[@c99kfm]

I used to like Gnome 2 for new users, but then Gnome 3 came along. Now I push them to Cinnamon.

[@1pcfred]

@@c99kfm I genuinely liked Gnome 2 too. Gnome 2.6 in particular I ran on one machine. I've never been a fan of Gnome before then either. I always thought Gnome was hot garbage. Gnome 1 was so unstable it was laughable. I'd literally run it just for the laughs. That annoying bug buddy would pop up and I just couldn't get enough of it. Of course I'd be completely wasted out of my mind then.

[@christianmontagx8461]

Yeah. Even today Gnome feels more like a Franken-Gui or a bad clone of a Desktop but not as a real Desktop.

[@1pcfred]

@@christianmontagx8461 Gnome is the product of rage so it makes sense that it resembles the monster. There was hubris involved in the creation too. So it is very much a modern Prometheus story.

[@sheodox]

Proud of you for trying it out! To add to the KDE recommendations you're getting here, they added a tiling feature in 5.27 that lets you make a tiling layout that could maybe be what you're looking for. Just hit Meta+T to see the tiling layout and resize or make a new horizontal/vertical split, then you can just hold shift while moving a window and drop it over the region you want and it'll snap to fill that area.

[@geekinasuit8333]

I did a 30-year Linux challenge, it's not a challenge anymore, it "just works". I'm so happy I ditched Windows for good.

[@garyolson2967]

Ya probably using the same apps from 30 years ago too :)

[@geekinasuit8333]

The biggest change for the better, was replacing Gnome with Xfce4, and switching from libvirt virtual machines, to LXC containers (VM's still have use cases of course). A lot of apps remained the same, though there have been a few significant improvements, and a few new additions.

[@dergeneralfluff]

I find it wild that one of your primary issue is window management (that being Gnome). It is one thing for some Linux elitist to complain about gnome attitude and (not) doing x or y, and then spend 2 weeks configuring a dwm/hyprland. But that an "average" user finds gnome broken (in ways all other Desktops Environments just aren't, and that we have been complaining about) is really interesting, and should be a wake up call for the gnome team. The issue is that Gnome is the default, Ubuntu, pop_os (today), Zorin, RedHat, etc ship it, you didn't even know that it was the culprit, and said it was a Linux issue (which it isn't, but with how far it infests the eco system it is a Linux issue). And some of the issues and attitude are: - Fallback for when a window doesn't provide a titlebar? Nah, devs must provide one - DRM leasing for VR headsets under wayland? Nah, we don't like the protocol - Tiling? Nah, this doesn't fit our design philosophy - Our Icon Theme not following the standard and breaking other apps? Your (and devs) problem - Customize? Wallpaper you can

[@AndrewFrink]

The solution to issues with Gnome, has it's been for about a decade or more now, is to simply not use it. Redhat doesn't really have a desktop OS anymore, there is sort of Fedora Stream, but meh and Redhat has been doing dumb things. Ubuntu does a bunch of other strange things that i'd recommend avoiding that too. PopOS is just Ubuntu + some stuff, so that's out. I think Zorin is also a Ubuntu derivative. The solution is to use either Mint Debian Edition + KDE, or just plain old Debian with KDE. Sure it'll be a bit behind the latest new toys, but it'll all work and won't break, and just about everything will have a guide for Debian.

[@user-tw2kr6hg4r]

To be fair extentions are nice in terms of customization before they break every single update. I only use GNOME on my laptops these days since it offers great touch screen support, otherwise I stick to dynamic tiling WMs and sometimes Plasma for gaming.

[@user-tw2kr6hg4r]

@@AndrewFrink you should also avoid zorin in general as the devs haven't really been consistent with updates and the paid version is really odd.

[@speedytruck]

Also, GNOME merged DRM leasing. And the rest of the "issues" you made up. But sure, I'll do you one better. - Discord has bad screen sharing? KDE: "It's their fault. Devs should fix it" ... Yeah they should... just like any other broken app. -_-

[@naterest5033]

@@AndrewFrink PopOS team (System76) is working on their own DE, for quite a while now actually. It's called CosmicDE, it's Rust-based (uses the programming language, I know what Rust is (one of my favorite languages to code in, actually😀)), which is also super promising. They've depended on GNOME for a very long time, so their own DE will be a better option for them. I use it on CachyOS myself (it's in the AUR, so I could just install it with paru). It's in I think pre-Alpha state or Alpha state, still pretty early but a lot of things are already done on their side.

[@Invid72]

For future reference (and for your viewers) don't use the Nvidia driver package from their website. You can install it, and it will work but it's only a matter of time before it breaks. Use your distro's packaged Nvidia drivers instead as they won't break with system upgrades. It's possible to work around the Nvidia driver package breakage but it's pretty manual and a PITA to be honest.

[@FireGames25]

do this for everything tbh

[@florke64]

Before installing ANYTHING on Linux, you need first check - maybe there is dedicated package for your OS in Package Repository (so called, repo). These are tuned-up for your specific version of Penguin© OS.. Downloading from Nvidia's (or other vendor) website is dangerous. I know, we trust them on Windows, but they don't much care about Linux. Their install scripts can often break newer or more niche Linux deploys.

[@ZipplyZane]

Yeah, it's weird. He talks like he has Linux experience, albeit not a lot. He talks like he did a lot of reading. But he missed that you're supposed to use your package manager and not download from websites, which won't be optimized for your version of Linux? And, yeah, I could tell his problem was using Gnome, which is also something he would have known if he tried. Look up "Title bar doesn't show." I don't even use Linux, but I know this stuff. It's the first thing you see on any guide on how to switch. Edit: Heck, apparently the Nvidia website tells you not to install their driver that way.

[@felixbigly]

I really enjoyed this content and am happy I came upon it. With that said, thank you for confirming it's pretty much where it's been for the past 20 years. Sooooooo close but never quite gets there. I'll continue w/your content but check in on Linux in another 10 years.

[@jeremybarber2837]

PREACH IT!!! Love this video. Saving forever.

[@MrFluteboy1980]

Linux Mint has been an absolute saviour on old laptops that are too slow for windows. Recently installed a cheap 500gb SSD into an ancient dual core laptop after watching my brother in law booting windows 10 and watching him double click on a folder on the desktop and wait like 2 minutes for it to render. Switching to Xfce Mint has been a revelation for that computer. He is so happy he can use it again

[@le-jaunemorgan6563]

Yeah Linux Mint is great for old laptops and very user friendly. But for something very ancient go for AntiX... Now something like the menu navigation is a small hurdle, but it is VERY lightweight. On startup it only uses about 230~280MB of RAM. Apps work well out of the box and just like Linux Mint, the response time is quick. I'm using it on a Asus laptop with 2GB RAM (soldered to the motherboard) XD with an Intel CPU that runs at about 2.3 GHz. I'm using it to make T-shirt designs and logos on GIMP and Inkscape. Now it hasn't been all smooth sailing. I got confused with the different file managers because I accidentally switched to a different one without knowing. Haven't tried everything yet but I have been using it for the past 2 months.

[@lazertroll702]

Mint is very newbie friendly, and is a solid debian-based distro. Yet if you're going for lightweight, push through the Linux From Scratch project .. 😉

[@Luke357]

​@@le-jaunemorgan6563 I find that Mint Xfce is light enough for anything still worth using. If something has less than 2GB of RAM and a single core it is not worth saving.

[@1pcfred]

Windows is slow like molasses running uphill in January. Linux is blindingly fast. Windows bad, Linux good.

[@Rairosu]

My primary PC is Windows but my Secondary PC the Steam Deck is based off arch linux, SteamOS. I been gaming and playing desktop mode on the steam deck and gotten used to it.

[@TECHN01200]

I suspect most of your problems are a product of Gnome and not linux. The maintainers of Gnome seem to have this vendetta against "server side decorations" or to actually explain it, have decorations provided by the desktop environment/window manager. Resolve probably doesn't expect to have to provide its own decorations, and thus, being a pain to use on Gnome. KDE on the other hand would've given you your expected title bar, minimize, maximize and close buttons in resolve. KDE also has it's own fancy zone-esque system. It baffles me that when trying to convince windows users, the biggest options we have to show them all use Gnome as the default desktop environment.

[@borismihov9523]

That's the "problem" with "Linux", generally speaking you cant expect a new user migrating from Windows to even begin to understand that aside from the Linux distribution, which is confusing enough, he also needs to choose his desktop environment; When I started using Linux and I was trying to orient myself in I had no idea there were different DE, let alone that you could change it. When someone posts "Just switch to Linux" there should be an asterisk: *There are hundreds of distros, make sure to set aside 1-3 months for distro-hopping **Choose your DE wisely ***Be prepared that some app and/or functionality that you are used to will be missing ****Use AMD GPU to minimize some of the problems you will definitely have *****Prepare to be using the Terminal ****** Most importantly, be ready to be called dumb when you ask obvious questions in forums about trivial things that are simply done different in Linux and you cant possibly know it.

[@TECHN01200]

​@@borismihov9523 fair, I am a software developer who has dailied linux for a few years, yes, I ran into bullshit like this too 9 years ago while I was forst trying linux out and yes, linux is by no means broadly consumer friendly yet. Thank goodness for companies like Valve and System76 making this piece of art written in C actually usable by a broader audience.

[@nathanbanks2354]

I was using fluxbox/xorg for decades, but finally switched to labwc/wayland because I was tired of screen tearing. I like being able to edit my keyboard shortcuts, and really like the alt-right click for resizing windows/alt-left click for dragging. But I think kde & Gnome both support wayland too now and probably support dragging/resizing.

[@DrDipsh1t]

KDE has been amazing in terms of switching over. I briefly used gnome on a debian install and frankly I wasn't a fan. It was ok, but didn't offer the experience I wanted however I didn't mind nautilus as the file browser.

[@mrcrackerist]

@@borismihov9523 I would say its more a problem with the gnome team then with Linux as most DEs don't follow there example.

[@gallienus172]

I'm surprised all the hardware worked with so few headaches. Your window management headaches were surprising, I use kde and I've always thought one of linux's greatest strengths was it's windows management. Of course I'm not using the number of programs you're using. This was a very enlightening video.

[@dkosmari]

Here's a few suggestions when giving Linux a try: 1. Always choose a distro that has multiple desktop environment options. It should have at least GNOME, KDE/Plasma, XFCE. 2. Avoid flatpaks and snaps. I still don't understand why some people are pushing so hard for "containerized packages", they never work perfectly, and they always waste memory. 3. Don't expect it to be an effortless transition.

[@tormaid42]

The app flatseal gives you a gui to control flatpack app permissions and should let you work around some of your hardware interface issues.

[@JoeSchmoe-lq1uo]

I switched to Linux 30 YEARS ago (literally), how did it go? seriously, will this topic ever get old? Jesus, I sure have!

[@mcash2189]

Good video, and I agree with you. The Linux community can be very irritating at times. What I suggest is to dual boot: have Windows on one hard drive and Linux on the other. Use Linux for your day-to-day stuff, and then switch over to Windows only to use those Windows-specific programs and, of course, to play games that can't run on Linux.

[@djazz0]

This guy installed NVIDIA drivers from the nvidia website and survived? Wow!! (Never do that btw, install from your distro!)

[@1pcfred]

I haven't used the bin file for a long time myself so it may have changed? But for the longest time it never did so I have my doubts. My doubts include him having successfully installed the driver off Nvidia's website. The first time I ever used the bin file no distro had the binary driver for Nvidia. So the bin file was the only game in town. Nvidia devs personally walked me through how to do it. You couldn't even Google how to do it then. Google didn't even exist yet. Jeeves had no clue either.

[@f0x4nn3]

It actually even says it on the NVidia website it self they recommend to use the distro provided driver.

[@Salamekleikum]

Right? I never seen that work in my life lol... usually ends up in X11 failing to start...

[@1pcfred]

@@Salamekleikum I've installed the bin driver off Nvidia's site many times. But Nvidia techs taught me how to do it. They did that for us when they first released the driver and absolutely no one knew how to do it. The procedure may have changed since then. I haven't installed the bin driver in quite some time now myself. So I really don't know what's going on with it today. Nope just read the install instructions. It's the same deal. Although they're not telling you to make the file executable. You used to have to chmod +x it. But other than that it's all the same. You still need your kernel sources and X cannot be running. The installer has to be run from the console with X completely shut down. Which in most distros is a bit is a task to accomplish itself. If you DM boot then shutting X down is a chore. You could change your run level to single mode or maybe use systemd? I don't know I console boot. When I exit X it shuts down. Just to avoid all of that BS. I don't need no stinking DM.

[@cap_eath]

11:00 When I hear a user mention Adobe, I point them to Mac. Adobe doesn't do Linux. I don't do anything Adobe, that is why I can use Linux. If you use Adobe, stay on Windows. That's my rant

[@PaulaXism]

I have managed to set up (hookey pirate) adobe apple software painlessly on proper unix.. it's no harder than getting a nice working desktop on one of the BSD's...

[@13fox89]

@@PaulaXismcan you elaborate further on how you got it set up? Any links etc?

[@xanderplayz3446]

@@PaulaXismLet me guess… WINE?

[@1pcfred]

Adobe used to do Linux a little. I remember using their Acrobat reader for Linux. At one time it was a must have app.

[@samshort365]

I enjoyed your review. I have been using Linux for 24 years and I agree with you on most of your points. Although I started my computing on a Vax mainframe running Unix in 1981, I faced similar issues when I moved to Linux from Windows and Mac. I needed specific elements of certain software applications that Linux just didn't provide. I did eventually find ways around these issues. In particular, I use LaTex for very technical word-processing and typesetting, where previously I used Word. I also hopped distros, display managers etc until I found the one that best suited my needs. Where I think most Linux reviews falter is in the familiarity bias inherent in new users. That is not to say that your observations are not correct. They indeed are! However, your needs are highly specific and your professional world has revolved around the use of very specific tools, tools which I posit 90% of users will never need. In your case I would agree that Linux may not be the best tool, and that really is OK. I'm not a gamer at all, and Linux is getting better at this, but gamers would probably agree with you. Again, Linux may not be the right tool for the job, just like anything else in life, but I would rather pay a small inconvenience than have a large corporation control my actions and monetise me in the process, but that is just my humble opinion.

[@ozoak]

What I would *really* like to see is every content creator who's done the 30 day challenge on Linux do the same challenge on Windows. Cold boot, install and clean start. True comparison :)

[@minifig404]

Gnome does not like Wayland. Your issues with Resolve are because Gnome refuses to implement server-side window decorations. And yes, there's several layers to why that's a problem. I just wanted you to have the info. Feel free to ignore it.

[@zerotwo_.002]

Gnome does like Wayland they were the earliest one to switch to it. But gnome being gnome is a snowflake and wants to do stuff their own way, I love gnome but their refusal to be interoperable at times is frustrating.

[@FlightdeckJohnny]

Tell that to mom that struggles to open chrome

[@yigitorhan7654]

@@FlightdeckJohnny Mom uses Resolve? Plus, said mom is not installing an operating system. Therefore, that's the fault of the person that chose to give her GNOME.

[@minifig404]

@@FlightdeckJohnny I didn't and wouldn't. I believe you have to choose Linux for yourself, not have it shoved down your throat.

[@Christobanistan]

@@yigitorhan7654 If Resolve has that issue, other programs do.

[@mcerny04]

KDE Plasma has a fancy zones like feature and most of your issues are caused by Zorin OS.

[@Christobanistan]

As a near blind guy, I just want to say Plasma 6.1 is freaking amazing. The accessibility improvements bring it right up to the level of Windows. Amazing. I tried out via Fedora KDE Desktop.

[@tomtravers7127]

Plasma also has the ability to do what the OP wants. It can launch apps with specific window sizes in specific places. Then the OP can one up windows by creating a bash script that launches all his apps with a single mouse click. Place the script on the desktop and make it executable. :)

[@Christobanistan]

@@tomtravers7127 You can open apps in a certain place in Windows, too, have been able to for 20 years. And you can make a powershell script to do it. I forget the API, but one of the Windows PowerToys uses it to position windows to the same place as where they were when they closed, or reopen programs at startup.

[@derlynhernandez2727]

Before you said it, I yelled, "YOU DO'NT NEED PHOTOSHOP"

[@PocketBrain]

Now I want a Guinness. I like how you don't see him drink, but you see the level in the glass go down by ~1cm between certain cuts.

[@PunkTiger]

As a Linux user, I agree with you that GIMP isn't the Photoshop Killer the rest of the Linux community thinks it is. The only thing I can suggest as a Photoshop replacement is Photopea. The downside is that it's an online app, but, once you load it in, it does everything locally (you can even disconnect your internet connection and it'll still work).

[@brentbourgoine5893]

Part of it, I think, is that the language around it needs to change. It's not "just like Photoshop", or a "Photoshop killer". It's a capable image editing program that *may* fit your needs, and is worth looking at. The acknowledgement being that it simply may *not* fit those needs, if they depend on features that aren't present, or workflows that aren't efficient under the alternative. Bottom line is that nothing except Photoshop is going to work "just like Photoshop". If you need Photoshop, you're unfortunately tied to the platforms *Adobe* decides they'll support. And, if you want to break ties with Windows/MacOS, pressure needs to be applied to *Adobe* to get Photoshop working and supported under at least one linux distribution. (But then, of course, you'd be tied to that distribution - again, the choice taken out of your hands and put in Adobe's)

[@gg-gn3re]

the answer to his photoshop issue is.. use photoshop. It has worked fine on linux for decades.

[@gamingclan4651]

@@gg-gn3re it hasnt though atleast not a version thats decades old

[@brandishwar]

@@gamingclan4651 I doubt highly that Photoshop 2024 with Creative Cloud works on Linux via any emulation layer. I doubt anything in the Creative Cloud works under Linux.

[@gg-gn3re]

@@gamingclan4651 even vanilla wine runs virtually every version.

[@egomatthisum]

In kde-plasma you can build your own tiling layout and then drop your windows in with holding a hotkey. if i remember correctly, the hotkeys to open the config-gui are meta+t, but i'm not quite sure

[@89Sawik]

Other alternative would be some thypical tiling-window manager, but this may be too hardcore.

[@jorgwunderlich-pfeiffer1985]

Kzones might improve that even more

[@RichardJActon]

There is also kwin window rules, this is currently separate from the new tiling feature, with it you can have windows automatically open at specific positions and sizes and a bunch of other stuff. You can get a window how you like it manually capture it's properties and they have them applied by default in the future.

[@Bureaucromancer]

@@89Sawik Sounds like not the right solution for this use case tbh, but yeah,the KDE one is very much equivelent to Fancy Zones

[@damnhatesyou]

@@Bureaucromancernah fancy zones work a lot better than kzones

[@digiscream]

For your problem with Resolve...the problem is that window decorations aren't being rendered (for some reason - could be that you're running Wayland, but that's not really something you should have to care about), but the minimise/maximise functions should still be there even if you can't click to activate it. There is a solution - just hold Alt and drag the window around, top of the screen should maximise it as usual. EDIT: Oh, and for what it's worth...I've been Linux-only since about 2005, when I needed to activate Windows to get some work done and Microsoft's activation servers (and phone lines) were down for an entire weekend, thus locking me out of my computer. I went to the newsagent, bought a magazine with a SuSE Linux DVD on the front, and I was able to get my work done within a couple of hours. Never looked back.

[@Komatik_]

It's that he's running GNOME. GNOME doesn't like server-side window decorations (ie. the app being able to say "idc, just give me a standard issue titlebar" and the system giving it one) so they try to push all apps to draw their own decorations (in the style of GNOME and macOS apps and eg. modern MS Office and VSCode) without offering a solution for server-side decorations (basically all other Linux desktops let the app draw its own if it wants to, but also give it a standard issue one if it doesn't care). This is partly ideology on GNOME's part, partly how they've architected their compositor (the thing that does window layout) making it hard to implement server-side decorations.

[@Skiddoo42]

I was having the same issue with my pc when the weather improved, got so bad that it was shutting down within seconds of starting up. Got my thermal paper in the mail the next day, cleaned off the old paste and am now enjoying a 20C reduction in temps and NO more random shutdowns.

[@Megalomaniakaal]

LOL, the moment you realize half his problems were Gnome™

[@Megalomaniakaal]

Also I'd recommend Krita or Photoshop(via a VM or CodeWeavers CrossOver. Former is better) before recommending Gimp. WinApps for Linux video by The Linux Experiment: /watch?v=fzzf2QnyPgY

[@CraftComputing]

One problem that persisted through the video, but let's not pretend I didn't mention 20 other issues inside apps, with more pinned in the comments that I didn't fit into the video.

[@Megalomaniakaal]

@@CraftComputing Both the lack of auto tiling and the window decoration issues are Gnome specific here.

[@gg-gn3re]

@@Megalomaniakaal audio probably gnome some how too, and video rendering. I tested both last night and have no issues lmao. Gnome infects and kills it all

[@Megalomaniakaal]

@@gg-gn3re I've definitely had some audio issue, albeit small ones, on KDE too.

[@placebo_name]

I can't believe that the same window problems that made me switch from Gnome to KDE over 5 years ago is still a problem in Gnome. Also, the problem with not being able to move a window is entirely fixable with KDE. You can set window rules. I had an old windows program running through wine that would load a splash screen set to always on top, forced to the center of the screen. The KDE rules could override this to force the window to be tiny, tucked away in the corner, and stacking normally so I could continue to work while waiting for that monster to load.

[@GyulaTube-du4eg]

The problem of all this is the following: The term "fixable" means a lot of google searching, which is not always the best for everybody.

[@nathanbanks2354]

@@GyulaTube-du4eg You can ask GPT-4o/Claude 3.5--it's a little faster at most of this stuff, though it still hallucinates solutions.

[@TheTallPalm]

No one seems to use the help center in kde or the help viewer in gnome. I understand people not finding the detailed help documentation every other desktop releases because they will search Ubuntu not xfce getting started or xfce help. It's a freaking nautical lifesaver on both of them. 🛟@@GyulaTube-du4eg

[@Lurch-Bot]

A lot of people willing to complain; not a lot of people willing to take the time to do something about it. This is why I'm getting back into coding. Fed up with Microshaft and Apple has been dead to me for a long time. Gaming on Linux is making great strides. Anything I want to do with networking is with Linux, though I'm also planning to explore FreeBSD. After 30+ years of Windows, the final straw was turning off taskbar news in Windows 10 Pro, only to have it pop right back 10 minutes later. I tried to add the appropriate registry entry to disable it but it did absolutely nothing. I knew it was a long shot adding it manually after seeing that it no longer exists in the registry. It pops up frequently because I am used to it not being there and blocks half the screen. Then when you try to close it by clicking the X, it just opens Edge. Been complaining about Windows for decades but them completely ignoring the way I have chosen to configure my PC by invalidating my choices is a no-go. In 5 years, the only PCs I will own that run Windows will be vintage PCs. Windows 11 will be the last version for me. It is only going to get worse.

[@fgregerfeaxcwfeffece]

Yeah, Permanently switched to KDE. Gnome was nice for playing around with fancy effects. But nothing more and that gets old fast. And that really is the summary of my journey, no serious problems with KDE. Well, no problems I can really think of right now. Because I struggle to call the lack of said effects as a "problem" because of the mentioned "it getting old fast". As in you turn most of it off anyways because it gets annoying when you want to get things done.

[@zenginellc]

I love your rant and it resonates with me deeply lol

[@Martin42944]

Not the same thing by any means, but recently got a steam deck oled and I’ve been super impressed by how far along wine/proton has gotten. Is app specific emulation an option for some of your mission critical apps?

[@Technerd207]

The Gnome fancy zones equivalent is Tiling Shell. You can predetermine zones and then you set the window in a zone/combination of zones

[@lumarel]

Fortunately Zorin OS is based on GNOME 3, that makes it possible to use GNOME extensions

[@LostinSpacetime]

A view things you could do: - Alt-F10 will toggle the maximize state of any window - Alt-right mouse button will give you a menu for all window actions - Alt-left mouse button will move the window - If you use Flatpaks, you NEED Flatseal which is a Flatpak itself - If you use Gnome, Tiling Assistant is an extension that gives you most likely all the possibilities to configure and save any tiling setup. The lack of a PS alternative sucks. My wife is a photographer and that's why she keeps a Windows installation on her computer. Everything that runs on that installation is PS and the Canon RAW-Editor and this is everything she does in Windows. Even with this simple task, after less than a year, Windows started to do weird stuff.

[@KingKrouch]

At least with OBS, you can get GPU encoding working with the GStreamer plugin for the OBS Flatpak.

[@Christobanistan]

Meta PgUp and PgDown also do maximize/minimize, on KDE.

[@IndubitablyRetro]

Lmao the gimp and photoshop comparison had me cracking up and you are not wrong at all.

[@larsgottlieb]

My 90yo mom has been running Linux with my Very rare remote support for 4+ years now. I have been using it full time since '18. I maintain my web app, handle my 3d printing needs, and game on it, on top of Discord and about a dozen browsers. It's not quite as rock steady as macos, but it's an order of magnitude less insulting than windows.

[@armstronglesabeer9884]

I am an Illustrator that uses Linux. I find that work flow is a better solution rather than depending on one app to cover all your solutions. I depend on tools within the app rather than hoping that the app will do everything. I use Gimp only for photo manipulation hence I only know a few tools within the app. I use Inkscape only for creating vector graphics and use Krita as my final compositing and tweaking ( non destructive workflow, Color spaces including Lab, CMYK, Layer styles and huge amount of additional filters and plugins via G'Mic) if its meant for screens and Scribus if its meant for PDF or Printing. Rely on industry standard workflows rather than software.

[@DJDocsVideos]

Must be the old school way of doing it as the 2 graphics designers that I have in my circles have almost the same workflow and they both learned there traid in the days of QuarkXPress and Aldus FreeHand. Back when Adobe had the inferrior software for ever task. Now after the bought or otherwise got rid of any and all competition people are utterly brainwashed into using there crap to whatever conditions the company feels like enforcing.

[@musicalneptunian]

Do you have to use the pre-flight tools that Adobe has? Is there pre-flight in Scribus?

[@armstronglesabeer9884]

@@musicalneptunian Yes. I would even go as far as saying Scribus has one of the best pre-flight/PDF tools I have seen in Linux.

[@1pcfred]

It sounds to me like you know how to Linux. Horses for courses.

[@armstronglesabeer9884]

@@1pcfred It took me awhile though, luckily all the software that I used as alternatives also has a windows variant. I learned the software first, perfected my workflow than ditched windows and adobe.

[@OtakuGenx]

As a Linux user for 27 years and a Linux admin for 25 I completely understand what you are saying about a FOSS app being/not being the same and your thoughts and requirements are completely valid. What people should do and say is something like the following after reading all your requirements and understanding them. "Here is an alternative to app X for you to try". Then they need to listen to you and if something isn't a feature should mention it or another option. Just saying "Use X" is not taking into account the requestors requirements like you said.

[@questionablecommands9423]

0:31 My mom had a masters degree in mathematics and taught me QBasic so I could qualify for a C++ class in high school. I think she could figure out how to open Chrome.

[@slimysomething]

For a second I thought the title said "30 years ago" and I was going to be impressed.

[@sunk3rn]

Maybe tiling in KDE could replace the fancyzone functionality?

[@lucyinchat]

KDE has many tools that might just work for that.

[@jasonpacker9607]

My first thought as well. Gnome is great but may not be the best choice here

[@terroreek]

There are plenty of tiling WM for Linux, not to mention plenty of extensions for gnome that do tiling.

[@lolxdfi]

KDE shift+drag allows for custom zones so would probably be perfect for this

[@tonytonychopper186]

And you can setup window rules in KDE. He just used the wrong distro for his needs.

[@cyrilthefish]

I'm probably moving to linux soon. The windows recall 'feature' being the final straw. My biggest hurdle has always been gaming, but since owning a launch steamdeck that issue has been fixed. Almost every game i own just works fine in linux now.. Glad i don't do a lot of video capture/editing though, that seems to be the last remaining issues 😋

[@dansanger5340]

You're switching because of a feature that isn't available on your Windows PC or any other?

[@Christobanistan]

Yeah, Recall is scary. I mean, you don't have to enable it, FOR NOW, but that will only last so long.

[@ltBanshiro]

Do you have a Recall capable machine? (40 Tops+ NPU)

[@SnazzyButterfly]

I would highly recommend Nobara Linux. That distro tweaks the kernal and has an ISO that has NVIDIA drivers installed by default. I'm a casual gamer only playing 1-2 games (Heroes of the Storm and Sims 4) but both games have worked flawlessly. It uses KDE as it's desktop environment.

[@Person01234]

@@dansanger5340 What point are you trying to make? Are you saying Recall is a conspiracy theory and not an announced feature by Microsoft themselves?

[@grayduster]

If you're using a GNOME-based desktop, then you could certainly give the Tactile tiling window manager a look. It has zones, such that you can have a window selected, hit Super+T, then type which zones you'd like (each zone is assigned to a letter on the keyboard), so is often faster than mouse manipulation. As for moving windows around, did you try holding down Super while trying to interact with the window for Davinci? Super+drag is usually the shortcut for moving windows around, and lets you resize near edges. You can also use multiple desktops and switch between them, as well as multiple Tactile profiles (to have different zones available in different workflows). Hope it helps :)

[@entelin]

11:30

[@chmnrd]

I use Gimp, but I also recognize that it is NOT a Photoshop replacement. Your 'they're not the same thing' rant may be the best and most hilarious one I've ever heard. Do not give me a Natty Ice if I want an IPA! I did a 30 day Linux switch 3 years ago now and never went back. Like you I have other machines that I can go to in a pinch. I would suggest giving KDE Plasma a try for its window management. I also started on Gnome, but have settled in to KDE because it's just more flexible overall I think. The things that I've found hard to do: Real PDF editing and redacting (see also Adobe sucks there too), and occasional MS Office irregularities (formatting of older documents, VBA, etc). For both of these, I keep a VM with Windows installed just in case. That said, it's gotten significantly better over the last couple of years and I find myself having to start the VM less and less.

[@killingtimeitself]

it's not a replacement, it's an alternative.

[@RichardJActon]

Stirling pdf might be worth a look for you it's a nice suite of open source pdf tools you can run as a web app

[@GyulaTube-du4eg]

Well, the "they are not the same thing rant " is based on the fact that they are not the same thing! So saying that on the Linux fan boys is straight misleading.

[@mrnulll]

It is possible to run Photoshop and other adobe products under wine. The only part that doesn't work is the installer.

[@erk_0483]

For PDF creation and editing and also as a verry good MS office replacement, I recommend ONLYOFFICE (its far better than libre office).

[@blackphidora]

Thank you for sharing your story. As an IT person, I personally find that Linux as a daily driver gives me enough footgun to get stuff I need done in a way that works well with my brain, My work mainly involves terminal, text files, containers, and golang programming. All things that are not as good on Windows, But if I was using excel, photoshop, or something corporate manage, I would probably end up with Windows. Granted, I spent multiple years on my own time using Linux, I know its ins and outs well, I know the ecosystem, and I know myself. If you have only used windows, then switching to anything else for serious work is just a learning curve, no matter it is, which can be hard to justify when it equals lost time/money at the end of the day. At the end, its all about "Did I have a better time using the new tool inefficiently than using the older tool as I knew it?" For me, that was a yes, For you, that is a different story, Hopefully your windows grade is above a B- in that regard.

[@Lurch-Bot]

Since my first OS was Apple DOS, I am not at all intimidated by a CLI. I think that's really the obstacle for most people. The percentage of people alive today who were using a personal computer prior to the launch of Windows 95 are relatively small. And, of the people who were, the percentage who were power users was small. And even if you knew MS-DOS like the back of your hand, Linux is a different language. And, if you didn't study a foreign language to the point of fluency when you were young, it is very difficult to learn a new language later in life. So, if you're over 30 and didn't have any of these experiences in the past, you are going to find it next to impossible to use Linux. Sure, you could install something like Mint and just make do with the apps that are bundled with it but if you can't even install software on a PC, what's the point of using that OS? You will never have parity of usability with Linux that even the most uninformed Windows user has unless you can navigate using the terminal. And, while there are app stores of sorts bundled with some distros, the whole thing about open source is having options and such an approach will either inundate you with choices or limit them. I might spend hours reading forum and blog posts about a particular type of software and look at all the options before I decide. But this is a better way than just randomly picking something from a short and limited list in the dark. For Linux to become widely popular, it will take effort on the part of individuals to earn it for themselves. You have to want it. It doesn't just fall in your lap like Windows or MacOS. When I was a kid they said that future generations would all be PC super users and everyone would be proficient at coding, lol. Well, if that had been true, Windows and MacOS wouldn't exist in 2024. Instead, people would be trying to decide between Linux and FreeBSD. There would be 10x as many distros and 1000x the software.

[@dylan_00]

​@@Lurch-Botyou can install software on basically every distro without touching the command line though, almost every distro supports Flatpak and has an app store. Same for almost any setting you might need to change, it doesn't require the command line as it might have 10 years ago

[@DJDocsVideos]

@@dylan_00 sure scrolling around for an hour in Discover seems to be what you like but apt and dpkg get the job done way faster

[@FreeManFreeThought]

WPS office is the best MS office replacement in my experience: docs made in one just work in the other.

[@massiveagressive2574]

im on the linux 2 year challenge right now, loving it.

[@MyurrDurr]

Linux Tip for you: Move a window: Hold down Super Key and hold LEFT click mouse button Resize a window: Hold down Super Key and hold RIGHT click mouse button when the cursor is near one of the corners of the window These tips remove the need to use the title bar to move a window or hover over the tiny hotboxes in the corners to resize :D

[@kaspersergej]

What all "Challengers" do wrong IMHO however is that they don't switch to Linux, but they move to Linux for 30 days. They move a Windows/Mac based workflow to a Linux one. It gets easier with the time passing and progresses made, but you would almost no issues moving your Linux based workflow to Windows/Mac because the important applications exist on both platforms (ie. Kdenlive, Gimp, Krita, etc). To give linux a proper try one should create a new workflow with a new operating system, not move decade old workflows to a operating system with a different paradigma and concept. If still interested, you might give KDE a try (ideally with Fedora). KDE's window management utilties are even better than fancy zones on windows and it is native (KDE Window Rules). Regarding "Software" - it's also bit of a chicken and egg problem, the user base isn't large enough for Adobe and Microsoft to port all their software to Linux based operating systems.The Gimp vs Photoshop one is a joke, nobody using Photoshop would say Gimp is almost the same.

[@V1CT1MIZED]

What Linux does wrong is make these challengers not want to use it beyond 30 days.

[@ngbizvn1300]

You're absolutely right. Being a windows user for 40+ years (since MS-DOS). I just decided to jump ship to Linux when Windows11 came out with all the data they wanted to get before allowing me even to install and all the telemetry; by default. I only have ONE program without equivalent in Linux and that is Illustrator. I only need it once every year to do edits to my template. Nowadays I have trouble navigating windows after switching to Linux. LoL BTW they should just switch to LINUX not move to linux or 30 days challenge. No pain no gain ! The work flow in windows stays in windows, Linux has a different workflow just like Apple ecosystem. It also like trying to bring windows workflow into Apple ! I, too, have my fair share of learning curve but now i never go back to Windows !

[@knifeyonline]

@@ngbizvn1300 Nobody has ever outlined any objective gain in switching to linux for me... the only thing i hear from people on linux is "oh it doesn't work for me" (not people online, but people who are on linux in my actual life)

[@c99kfm]

@@knifeyonline Your OS doesn't spy on you, your OS vendor doesn't consider you a product to sell, you won't have to buy TPM hardware to upgrade your OS, updates won't slow down your OS forcing you to upgrade, and it's basically immune to viruses and hackers, in part thanks to the pre-screened repositories of software that constitute actual distributions. Just don't try to do things the Windows way, don't download software through your browser but use the distribution's graphical software tool to find Linux equivalents of the Windows programs you want - and don't paste "bypasses" from the internet into terminals unless you understand the code. Oh, and if you ever open a terminal, READ whatever messages you get. But most everything should be accessible through GUIs, no matter what decades-old forum posts tell you.

[@V1CT1MIZED]

@c99kfm Our mobile phone OS tracks us with far more accurate data while trying to lock you into its ecosystem. Using Linux is like buying the most secure door in the world, while the rest of your tech is like having a huge hole in the wall next to the door. By the time Windows 10 goes EoL in 2025, the "newest" hardware that doesn't support TPM (Intel 7th gen) will be 10 years old. I remember people like you crying doom that their P4/AthlonXP was bad on Windows 7, and you all quietly slipped back into the void when the time came and no one swapped to Linux. I guess you are going to have another life lesson about delusions of grandeur again.

[@markjones2349]

I'm on my 16th year of my switch to Linux experiment. Never going back.

[@xanderplayz3446]

For me, close to 1.

[@nathleflutiste]

Same there buddy. I've started when I was only 15. My big bro was so tired to have to fix the computer all the time that he decided that thing should changes. I would never thank him enough to make that choice, it really changed the way I see the world of computers. (and now I can clearly say I just *like* to use it…=

[@BrianRonald]

30 years this autumn. It was magic, and way better than DOS.

[@ArturoAraya]

On my 21st.

[@pacbilly]

The Affinity suite is half price right now and can be installed in Linux through a fork of Wine. Affinity Photo is the nearest thing to Photoshop I've found.

[@pacbilly]

Oh, you just mentioned Affinity. Never mind.

[@mkyral]

One think keep in my mind when I saw video. If you want PS on Linux, push Adobe. Unless there is no Linux version requested, they will not do it. Another option is to pay someone to improve WINE, so win version of PS will run on Linux.

[@SimisearOfficial]

I apologize if other people are gonna mention this, but KDE Plasma has a really useful window snapping feature where you can make custom layouts. It's not gonna be the exact same thing as Fancy Zones. Definitely try something like Kubuntu in the future and see if that works out better for window management

[@CraftComputing]

Comments are full of people saying "You expect it to work like Windows". No, I just wanted it to actually work! I've driven KDE Plasma desktops before, and might need to take another look to see if that fits my needs.

[@SimisearOfficial]

@@CraftComputing Yeah, that sucks and I’m sorry. This feature was added in 5.27. Let me know if it changes anything about your experience or if you like it.

[@GIRGHGH]

@@CraftComputing I only saw like, one comment saying that, 99% of comments about it are just saying don't use Gnome.

[@darukutsu]

i think plasma 6 have fancy zones implemented

[@michaelpalmer2143]

@@CraftComputing Give it another try. KDE offers more and better features, and runs great. Also, AAAC works fine for me on Manjaro.

[@darkace256]

I think the biggest hurdle for most new linux users is unlearning windows. Most people's first experience is with windows. From the public library to schools and even most work places all run windows. So switching to linux after 10+ years of windows is quite stark.

[@GyulaTube-du4eg]

...or, if they play any games, then it is also a BIG problem... In case of games, there is no "unlearn" the issue.

[@nddulac]

Picking up a new piece of software requires discarding all of the time, energy, and effort you put in to learn the one you are replacing. That can be a very significant activation barrier when it comes to sophisticated software like that used for video creation. I mean, you wouldn't just up and replace your kickass $4000 rig that you spent the last year piecing together ... just so you can put in the latest new video card . . (Or maybe some would.)

[@Yotanido]

@@GyulaTube-du4eg What's the problem with games?

[@Lurch-Bot]

My first OS was Apple DOS and I've been dabbling in Linux off and on for 20 years, waiting for it to actually be useful to me and it is just about there. I got an Orange Pi 5+ this year and really didn't have too much trouble setting it up with Ubuntu. Because of a medical issue, I haven't been able to do much with it yet and, while it is totally usable as a general purpose PC right now, I just have too many windows PCs around my house, lol.

[@Johnscompany]

@@Yotanido valve makes a good work with proton actually, but games with anticheat like fornite dont work on linux, now its better but not the best experience.

[@jsmxwll]

i use linux and macos. macos is purely on my M1 MacBook air because i couldn't find a better piece of hardware at the time that would let me work unplugged for 12+hours reliably. i usually use i3 for my window manager. a tiling window manager will give you the ability to configure tiles and assign windows to them. you can have different tiling setups per workspace, etc. if i3 isn't doing it for me, i will use xmonad because i can change anything i want, but it is a lot more configuring and Haskell can be a challenge at times. i primarily write, program and some video editing on my setup. i don't have a good alternative to photoshop for linux. i use affinity photo on my mac when i have that need. i don't generally need much power to do the type of photo editing i usually do, so my little 16gb m1 air is plenty. i used to VPN into a windows machine in the closet when needed a windows app on the odd occasion it was needed.

[@richiereyn]

I have been using Linux since the late 90's, switching over completely by 2002. In those days, you needed a much more intimate knowledge of your computer hardware to get it running, not to mention learning a whole new lot of software and finding software alternatives. Linux provided me with the best education I could ever have had in computing than the point and click world of Windows, and it has been an enjoyable experience that has benefitted me greatly in my working career. I feel your pain. You have to work hard and be ever more ingenious in your approach to solutions, but that is part of the fun. But I will tell you, all the frustrations you have trying to use Linux are felt by Linux users like me when we have to sit down at a Windows computer. We have all the same hassles, having to learn new ways of doing the same things. As ever, having choice is a wonderful thing.

[@luigigrabspam4596]

Krita is actually pretty powerful and allows you to use vector layers. It also has all the layer property stuff that photoshop does. Like stroke, inner outer glow, drop shadow etc. Its an art program first and foremost but it destroys GIMP imo in bridging the gap.

[@Termonia]

And you have the new Krita AI Diffusion Plugin

[@thescotsmav]

I've switched to Linux lately (couple months ago). PopOS has been fantastic. Especially with the tiling turned on. Outside of the OBS issues, don't get me started on the Nvidia SDK not existing on Linux so no magic background removal etc. I find that using workspaces in Pop has been game changing. Ctrl+mod(usually windows key)+arrow key up/down... Amazing. I've tried i3 and Sway for window managing, but keep coming back to Pop's solution. Have davinci open full screen, hit the hotkey, view the file browser/chrome. Hit the opposite hotkey, and you're back on davinci. I also 100% agree, GIMP is not Photoshop. And they are remarkably different and the muscle memory change + feature parity is not there.

[@kanoaika]

One thing to mention, the driver support stuff has actually been pretty good for normal computers/users for a long time actually. If you are not using new or niche stuff it basically always works without you having to do anything. It may have been only simple with enterprise hardware in the past, but I have been using various desktop Linux systems on consumer hardware (every computer in my house including ones for the family) and it has all just worked with no user intervention except one pretty new USB WiFi adapter (and that would have worked automatically probably if I just ran an Ethernet cable over to it so it could download and install them in an update--I had to install it manually because I didn't have a cable long enough and was too lazy to move it closer to the router). Linux (if you pick a reasonable distro and run it with more standard hardware) has been good enough for basically anyone to use for normal person stuff for a while now. It seems like the only areas that it really still has issues (more than Windows or something else would) are with users who are moderately technical (but not yet developer/hacker (traditional sense) level), used to other OS's (and accompanying software), with very new or specialized non-server hardware. It is when you come with just enough knowledge and familiarity of other stuff and high expectations that I feel people are most likely to have problems. This often means that counterintuitively, lots of general tech KZbinrs and such are actually the groups that will have the hardest time with Linux (relatively) all other things being equal--not completely non technical people.

[@MT-tq9zi]

My biggest challenge with Linux in it's current state (which is pretty amazing for so many use cases) is the audio stack and available DAWs and plugins. It is doable, but nowhere near how painless it on the macOS.

[@bluephreakr]

Another consideration for endeavouring Linux users - *use your workspaces!* Windows recently adopted this idea of separate spaces for different tasks as a built-in feature, and the ability to just make window layouts at-will using workspaces will stop a lot of widow sizing hassles from occurring - _so long_ you remember what workspace a window is in. Also, take advantage of your pager's ability to sort through windows _of a specific class._ In many instances you can create an assignment which will let you switch between windows of the same application, if they are exposed to the pager - as in, seeing them in your window list. It's handy! And if you have multiple windows of the _same_ application across _different_ workspaces (i.e. your file manager), you can tab through all windows for that application.

[@KomradeMikhail]

I suppose I just did the 30 Days Of Linux Challenge too. By happenstance... For a completely different reason. Linux has been my primary daily driver since about 1995 (Slackware). But I always kept some sort of secondary Windows install around, usually as a Dual-Boot, sometimes on a backup laptop. Often because of gaming, but now Proton is good enough that it's not necessary. After the news about Recall dropped, and thinking about how Win10 will be dead soon... I decided to take the plunge and delete my last Win10 install. It feels liberating.

[@maxilliumx]

I am also close to deleting win11 partitions on my three main pcs - one OS less to maintain: under win11 I always need to do the "normal" updates, then the apps in ms-apps-store and then the apps and system addons in wingetui. I only do this because I want to have fully functional backup systems under win11 in case arch fails/breaks.

[@Drazil100]

Windows users have Stockholm syndrome. They are convinced they can’t do better and that no other OS will support them while windows constantly abuses it’s users by collecting it’s users data and trying to make it as difficult as possible to not use edge. It’s liberating once you no longer have to fight Microsoft. Once Linux has enough of a user base I’m sure the software compatibility issues will solve themselves as devs actually start building Linux versions of their apps. I just hope it doesn’t take another couple decades for enough people to jump ship that businesses actually care. Luckily between Microsoft recall and adobe’s recent controversy there are a few reasons to give Linux a shot right now.

[@Christobanistan]

Same reason I did. Couldn't get there, but I'll keep trying. Once 10 goes out of support, I'm gonna switch no matter what.

[@gorak9000]

@@Christobanistan Why would you care about win10 support? For the couple of things I still need windows for, I use a Win7 VM, or Win7 on bare metal (in one case on a piece of test equipment that originally ran XP before I upgraded it with a new mobo/ram/cpu internally - you can run the software in 7, but not anything later) - as long as it's not connected directly to the internet, and you're not a bozo that clicks on unknown links, it's fine

[@BladeWDR]

The four seasons reference you slipped in there has me dying

[@Pracedru]

I have switched 100% to Linux for many years now. I use the applications that are available on Linux and i can do what i want with them. When i watch videos like this one I always note all the problems that one experiences with the particular distro that they choose (didn't you say that you installed Zorin? and then you suddently used Gnome?). But this is the major thing with Linux. Its a free platform and all the different distros have different ways that you work with them and none of them are exactly like Windows or MacOS (though some try to be). This is the price for freedom. You are going to experience a diverse palette of different solutions unlike on closed platforms like MacOS and Windows. Today I see this as a major benefit and a feature rather than something that needs to be solved.

[@mrme8521]

Your problem is probably Zorin. There are FAR better supported desktop and window managers. As far as window managers go, there are FAR better options on Linux. You should give a tiling window manager a try.

[@tonytonychopper186]

This. I switched to Kubuntu from Windows and Windows Management is a blast compared to Windows. And I used powertoys too. Being able to set up zones and ALWAYS forcing programs to open at the same spot is awesome and way above what Windows is offering. There you can setup zones but some software will always open where they want. So you are always dragging Windows around like a maniac. With KDE everything always opens where it should and placement is fully customized. His problems are 100% Zorin OS Gnome related. Sad that he didn't test another distro or at least a window manager as you mentioned before posting this experience as a "Linux problem", cause Linuxs window management and tiling is so much better than windows, but some people will now maybe think cause of this video that that's a deal breaker to try Linux. :(

[@AlexHorwatt]

Wow. The Gnome vs KDE debate is still alive and well, just as it was in 2005 when I last tried the Desktop Linux challenge.

[@SchwachsinnProduzent]

For someone coming from Windows something like Cinnamon or KDE would be a great choice.

[@delancre5858]

@@AlexHorwatt it still a debate cause it still relevant. Gnome offers nice and finished environment, while heavily limits user in terms of customizability. KDE offers full control on your DE, while somehow requiring less ram and CPU resources from your PC. Downside of course being, that KDE devs have weird tradition to start developing new major version with shit tons of bugs, each time previous version is good enough to use (tracking this myself since version 4). And I using Hyprland on Arch btw, so it my civil duty to shittalk about both of them.

[@GraveUypo]

i came from windows a little over half a year ago too, and i like how mint remembers the position of the windows in my desktop every time i open a program. i never "needed" this on windows, so i never noticed how goddamn fkn awful it is over there. i dual boot and i broke my mint installation the other day trying to force drivers that aren't meant to be and i just wanted to use my computer, so instead i went to windows. and man it's so frustrating how nothing stays where you leave it. annoying af. even the size, windows keep resizing like idiots for no reason, specially if your desktop changes resolution! (which it did, because i played moto racer, a 90's game that runs at 640x480, and then ALL MY FREAKING WINDOWS were opening in that size on the top left corner of the screen. f*****)

[@jon4715]

The fact that Adobe is claiming ownership of your work…that might be enough to make Linux happen.

[@ElectricityTaster]

Nah, let's be honest, most people will just lube up and take it like the masochists they are.

[@Christobanistan]

If they actually did that, their users would revolt. Violently. With millions of lawsuits.

[@jon4715]

@@Christobanistan Adobe’s new ToS gives Adobe the full right to reproduce and distribute your work (for advertising purposes).

[@Christobanistan]

@@jon4715 Which work?

[@danirde]

Everything you produce in your adobe suite ​@@Christobanistan

[@rolaca11]

Ubuntu user here, one of my biggest pet peeves is that not every solution to problems stick. An automatic package update can, and often will mess something up, leaving you wondering what could've possibly happened. This is often time solved by running a sudo apt upgrade, but come on maan

[@Phate8263]

I haven't used windows in around 16 years (switched with Ubuntu 8.04). Gimp works for what I need it for, and have really have no idea what I might be "missing." That aside, the issue with most of "I tried Linux" videos are: 1) I'm a video content creator with a carefully curated workflow that I've invested many many hours into getting right and it doesn't work exactly the same on Linux, and the very similar 2) I have 20 years of Windows baggage and I know things "work" on computers (nah, Windows), therefore it should translate directly to how it works on Linux. I'm not a content creator, but I pretty much guarantee documenting myself trying to use windows for the first time in 16 years would go just as poorly or more so. Frankly I'm not sure I would even want that pain, so kudos for leaving your comfort zone.

[@wertigon]

Gimp is not quite as bad as everyone says. Gimp does require a different workflow, but since it is made by programmers there are a ton of scripting and plugin options. Doing a 30 day challenge in Gimp could be an option. Or you could just dedicate 4 cores to a windows VM and Photoshop 🙂

[@numberg8238]

GIMP challenge would make a great video

[@gorak9000]

I think the reason all the linux people say "just use gimp" is because they switched 10, 15, or more years ago, and at that time gimp was equivalent, and has been meeting their needs since - I haven't used photoshop in decades, so I have no idea what features it has now that it didn't used to have, nor do I really care - I don't miss what I don't have, nor do I do any serious photo editing, so no biggie for me

[@mkonji8522]

It's my 20 year anniversary of me doing the Linux challenge.

[@slaapliedje]

I have been running it since about '97. Funny enough, the thing that got me into Linux was the Enlightenment Window manager, because I wanted to make my computer pretty! Now all this time later, I have a career making Linux do things.

[@robbylock1741]

Started using Slackware in the 90's, currently I'm a retired Unix/Linux System Administrator and have been using Fedora for the last 15 years as my primary distro.

[@amniote69]

Started with Hardy Heron in 2008, never looked back. Now running Nobara and loving it.

[@slaapliedje]

@amniote69 Nice! I bought a book that came with CDs back in '97 or '98 and tested out all the distros that it came with (except for some reason I never did try Slackware), but have mostly stuck with Debian over the years. I wish Ubuntu would move back to just being Debian with 6 month releases...

[@gerbalblaste]

There are a bunch of tiling window managers built explicitly for your use case. Most of them are pretty config file heavy though.

[@ShR33k]

I think what stops adoption to Linux (a part from the headache of finding alternative software packages), is that there are too many "distros". Its like TV these days, 400 channels and still nothing to watch. If the Linux community decided to pool their resources on a single awesome distro and put all the good stuff into the one distro instead of being scattered about - Linux may actually become a contender with a better uptake by people. Having a "common" distro, would make it more appealing to developers for native apps too. That's my two cents...

[@christianeberhardt5318]

Or use a solution like Distrobox which is like a Linux subsystem for your current distro. You can create several containers of different distributions and run software not available for your host. The applications have full HW access can use audio / video / 3D acceleration and can be pinned to the Desktop of your DE.

[@christianeberhardt5318]

From my perspective it’s okay to have different flavors. GNU Linux is like a toolbox and I am allowed to chose what works best for me. An overarching distro would also be a solitary target for adversaries to take down or would become bloated because it tries to satisfy everyone needs.