Cosmic Desktop on Pop OS - A New Year Review of Alpha 5

[@SavvyNik]

Have you tried Cosmic yet? Or waiting on release?

[@pietraderdetective8953]

System crashes related issue is a deal breaker for me..I would wait a little longer for the devs to crush those nasty bugs.

[@mako_bd7012]

tried it, it's inferior to hyprland.

[@markojovanovic9651]

Tried alpha 1 and it was buggy, since then just following updates.

[@markojovanovic9651]

@@mako_bd7012 hyprland is a window manager, cosmic is a desktop environment

[@mclab33]

As soon as I master how to install the system with subvolumes: @ @home it will install. I don't know why it's not the default option!

[@John-c3u9o]

"Some people have predicted we may get a March beta of Cosmic." Actually, the head of System76 said in an interview that March would be the date of the full release.

[@SavvyNik]

I saw this, but I think that was an aggressive predictions based on the past. We'll see! I hope to see a stable release by then :)

[@CodePolygon]

If alpha 5 was the last alpha build, beta should take at least 3 months and 1 or 2 months for RC, We should wait until summer. Some essential features like Night light have been planned for Cosmic 2, it will take some time for everyday user.

[@mmstick]

​@@CodePolygon Beta releases will be RCs.

[@knolljo]

A very well polished alpha, been daily driving it for a while now. Hopefully cosmic gets rock stable at some point, so a wider adoption can happen.

[@SavvyNik]

can't wait

[@Cavi587]

I am using it on my arch ThinkPad which is mostly a secondary machine, but I use it fairly frequently anyways. Since around Alpha 2 I've had some minor issues but nothing really bad. It's very usable already.

[@codingwithjamal]

When the cosmic is released fully will you have to reinstall the release ios or can you simply update without losing your data?

[@Cavi587]

@ Are you referring to current pre-release ISO's or the old pop_os based on Ubuntu 22.04? If it's the former then it's probably gonna be fairly smooth, if it's the latter I am afraid it's going to be the easiest to do a reinstall. In this case just save your home directory with all your configs and it should be fairly smooth.

[@nellfs]

I ignored the video because it wasn't from Savvy, but it is Savvy! Your new profile picture looks cool :)

[@SavvyNik]

Thanks!!

[@qabsal]

Been waiting all day, i knew you would release a cosmic alpha 5 video, keep up the good job my guy👏

[@SavvyNik]

Appreciate you! Glad you're enjoying it

[@Kiyuja]

This looks really promising. idk if it can beat Cinnamon tho, as I just really like the idea of having a DE specifically made by the maintainers for your distro. I will definitely keep an eye out for it, no wonder it caused so many waves

[@AnEagle]

This alpha has been very stable for me, the only bug i noticed was with lwjgl2 minecraft versions, which can't fullscreen at all without being forced by gamescope

[@Subcor38]

I'm checking it in a few years. There was so much noise about this release for too long that at this point I don't even care. Lot of software I use want be compatible with it. Me personally would be much happier with debian update of Pop

[@JamesColeman]

While I like the idea of a new DE being developed with new ideas, I am very happy with KDE Plasma currently. Cosmic has a few areas which prevents me from using it, including compatibility with some of the flatpaks, and the fact it doesn't group app windows. After its more ironed out, and people make customizations for it, I may move to it.

[@GabrielTobing]

Man I can't wait for cosmic, gonna get a new ssd and put the system on it once Windows is dead

[@tonywalker8030]

They must be expecting something big coming for all the work they're putting into it

[@mattsw104]

With GNOME gone, is there an out of the box stock feature to slideshow desktop backgrounds? Previously I used gnome-tweaks for that functionality.

[@inappropriatejohnson]

Thanks......love me some Pop!

[@DAVIDELLIOTT]

I gave it a try, but it seems like they've just recoded GNOME in Rust. Can someone with more experience and/or insight explain how they differ (other than being in rust)?

[@wammbler]

GNOME is bloated with legacy code being stacked for years, they continue to support a lot of software that nobody's using and they keep making weird design choices which literally nobody likes. A lot of rudimentary stuff is being handled by half assed extensions which tend to bug or break with each minor upgrade. It definitely needs a fresh view, a fresh codebase, and an open approach to customization.

[@CjqNslXUcM]

It has a real, full tiling abilities integrated in the window manager. That's a massive game changer in this space. No extension has ever come close to reliably replicating tiling WMs in KDE or GNOME, because they are fundamentally not built to handle it. The panel can be moved to the bottom and customized to include the task icons, replicating KDE.

[@web3wizard381]

GNOME has been hijacked by political activists who don't listen to users

[@prettysheddy]

Awesome! An area to easily change the host name. Thats something that Plasma doesn't have...... sadly

[@MinaSchloch]

so you want a "recording" indicator in the system tray and the screenshare portal doesn't restore previous configs when reopening the app. can you please report those issues?

[@marin_real_estate_photography]

Thanks for the video. Wondering how well DaVinci Resolve is working in Pop_OS! (I assume we still have to use the make resolve deb script to get it running, right???). I would probably be using it with an NVidia card, as my biggest "need" is for improved performance with GPU effects and lack of VRAM (otherwise, my RTX 2060 Super is still "usable," but far from ideal).

[@formation4]

Would to love seeing more on information on cosmic files(explorer)

[@codedusting]

Can you make obs and video setup videos for those who want to switch to Linux? Like I don't see any vst plugins in Linux which I use in Windows.

[@jamessapp4451]

Changing password to something simpler did not work for me. After reboot I was locked out of both passwords and had to reinstall the OS. Also, there's no option for auto login. I'm currently using this installation on an extra PC that I frequently use to test new operating systems before deciding. Rather I'm going to use them how's my daily.

[@bhutchin1996]

Right now I'm running Pop! OS 22.04 LTS with GNOME in a Qemu/KVM virtual machine on Garuda Linux. I used old-school GNOME way back in the day, 20+ years ago. I like how Pop uses it. I've installed Nala to replace APT. I'd rather use that than the GUI tool Pop uses in 22.04 as Nala will tell you how much time you have left, just as pacman and yay do on Arch-based distros. As for performance, Garuda beats both Pop and even EndeavourOS, but it's mostly a distro for gamers. From the video, it looks like COSMIC works a lot like GNOME, so there shouldn't be a huge learning curve when it comes to transitioning to COSMIC.

[@IAmTheSlink]

I tried out the live version of this alpha, and I liked it well enough that I was going to install it. But then I started seeing reports on multiple Linux channels of memory leaks (which I thought Rust was supposed to prevent) and decided to wait a bit longer. Did you encounter any memory issues on this release?

[@SavvyNik]

No memory leaks, but I’ve seen reports as well. As this is a wip I would expect some issues like this since there are a ton of custom / new apps

[@mbarrio]

Why would rust prevent a perfectly safe memory operation...

[@ettoreatalan8303]

Your assumption is incorrect.

[@mmstick]

It's misinformation by Lunduke. He's grasping for the tiniest straws he can find. Even if he has to completely make it up. His example wasn't even a memory leak. Just a third party applet using an older version of libcosmic that has a bug in a library that was caching every font, even if they were never used. All first and third party applets had the fix merged before he even uploaded his video sensationalizing the bug. Lunduke creates reactionary rage-bait content which amounts to tech illiterate nonsense. He hates System76 on a very personal level because he thinks Rust is woke and System76 developers are woke. He doesn't actually understand what he's talking about these days. Just pandering to a particular type of crowd that hates Rust.

[@ettoreatalan8303]

@@mmstick I like being woke and not an old reactionary.

[@AnnCatsanndra]

I think the suspend issue is a kernel bug as it has affected every device I've installed Fedora 41 on this month.

[@svyatyk6182]

Those who have used Alpha 5, is it possible to switch the input language in this version yet?

[@svyatyk6182]

@@Peeeeeew в тебе все працює? чи міг би я з тобою звʼязатись, щоб ти мені допоміг? Дякую.

[@GenZdev]

Can we now dualboot 24 iso

[@MinaSchloch]

Lol I use the COSMIC media player on Fedora and it is fine. Some bugs and for sure barebones. But works!

[@clot27]

Will they allow to change the default apps?

[@SavvyNik]

Yes they have a screen for this now where you can make the default app selection.

[@ugogatto]

on my pc cosmic take twice the ram amount used on kde am i doing somethin wrong?

[@electronnuclear]

Did you install cosmic with pop os? If yes then it's probably due to pop os ,not cosmic. One of the dev stated that pop os comes with a modified kernel that allows the kernel to use more ram compared to other distros. It's done to improve overall responsiveness of the system as the extra memory is cached. You might see the dev(Michael was his name if I remember correctly)in the comments of COSMIC related videos.

[@whyouread]

+alpha

[@mmstick]

Make sure you're using the latest git versions. There was a fix for cosmic-text's font system caching more fonts than it needed to.

[@Trizzi2931]

night mode!!

[@ScorpionKingTP]

First thing. taskbar spacing is wrong. Due to the rounded corners the side icons look to close to the edges

[@mansourimohamedlamine]

cosmic coming in 2099

[@RuneDShyznit]

User account password change nuked my password. Had to chroot from a livecd environment to repair. Use at your own risk.

[@mattvisaggio]

Can you talk about the memory safety issues in laymen's terms? I was under the impression it wasn't possible with Rust but apparently it's not as hardened as we thought?

[@mmstick]

There haven't been any memory safety issues.

[@pietraderdetective8953]

Check out Brodie Robertson recent livestream where the Cosmic Alpha literally crashed his system due to the memory leak bug. I hope the release got postponed to give the devs time to polish the app. Would absolutely hate it if it crashes my system..I migrated away from Windows to avoid such events!

[@mmstick]

@pietraderdetective8953 That has nothing to do with memory safety. It crashed because the compositor crashed. There is an amdgpu driver bug in the Linux kernel that Arch Linux uses. Not because of a memory leak. The compositor only began using more memory after the crash. Probably some connections not being closed. None of these issues are remotely related to memory safety.

[@mattvisaggio]

@@mmstick I watched that video. I don't care who Lunduke is. If he's technically wrong with his stuff, it ought to be corrected. I'd challenge him but I don't know enough. I'm about 2 years off windows and trying to learn my own tech which is why I ask. He's inflammatory for sure but if he's wrong it needs to be corrected by him certainly in my opinion.

[@mmstick]

@mattvisaggio You can't correct Lunduke because he doesn't care. He's banned in most communities precisely because of his hyperbolic rage-bait reactionary content. He is constantly pandering to a specific right-wing crowd that hates Rust and thinks it and everyone who uses it is "woke". His primary audience is 4chan. He's even had several emotional arguments on Twitter with System76 developers because of his hateful remarks. So of course he's desperate for any issue he can find in the COSMIC alpha to proclaim Rust is a "woke DEI" failure, even if the premise of his argument is bogus libel.

[@prezlamen]

Thnx for scaling up

[@chad_8313]

Felt pretty clunky, slow. Don't the look if it anyway, amateurish. The only other quirky thing I ran into was at the login screen, my two monitors swap location. After login, it's back to normal.

[@SavvyNik]

Yeah I’ve experienced the swapping of monitors for greeter screen as well

[@sher1x165]

Still lots of bugs and glitches, still waiting for at least beta level stability

[@x0vg5hs1]

For me Ram usage is kinda high, it's buggy and crashing. So far in alpha it's slowest and most resource heavy desktop that doesn't theme well. Hope this changes.

[@WildWestDesigns]

I have lost excitement over this. I just look every alpha release to see if very specific functionality as even begun to being implemented (even if it was just roadmap notes). Haven't seen it. Since that drives equipment that I use to make a living that cost a few grand, I have to have it (ironically, support all the way around has sucked with it under Wayland, so there is that as well that's beyond them), but I haven't heard any mention that it will be exposed to the end user and that is something that has to be exposed to the user via the DE as the spec is now(a downgrade from the x11 implementation that allowed scripting as well) I'll keep looking, but until that support comes thru, it will never go beyond a quick boot up in VM just to see. I realize that the demo that I'm apart of might be very small on Linux in general despite there are very good programs targeting that same demo, so in that regard, this distro may be a no go perpetually.

[@Anhar001]

Just feels like a really bad copy of Gnome shell!

[@DavidAlsh]

Can someone just remake the Windows 7 desktop environment lol? I feel like we peaked with Windows 7

[@mto7429]

Isn't that just cinnamon basically?

[@ny_hai]

Bro, your cursor is cooked

[@Melechtna]

If they'd let me put the bar on the bottom, and do away with the dock, I'd be far more interested. I have 0 interest in a mac-alike.

[@lordkordus8139]

You can enable/disable/move any bar/dock anywhere you want, I have it set to windows-like layout

[@michaelplaczek9385]

Apparently, I heard that Alpha 5 has a lot of memory safety issues

[@boxerfencer]

Yeah, that's what Lunduke says, but I just found out he has beef with Jeremy Soller, which probably explains why he removed his interview of him and Redox.

[@mmstick]

There are no memory safety issues. Lunduke is grasping for the tiniest straws, and completely makes things up when he can't find any. He doesn't know the difference between a memory leak and memory safety, and his example of a memory leak wasn't even a memory leak. It was a third party applet that hadn't yet been updated to the latest version of libcosmic, where a bug in a library was causing the font system to cache more fonts than it needed to. Lunduke makes a living with reactionary rage-bait content that is essentially tech illiterate nonsense. He doesn't actually understand what he's talking about. And as above, he hates System76 on a very personal level because he hates the developers, and hates that we use Rust. Claims Rust is woke, and System76 is woke.

[@mattvisaggio]

@@mmstick I couldn't care less about the politics any which way. I think Lunduke and Brodie said there were memory issues. Can you clarify the difference between the memory leak and safety and how Rust was not at issue? Again, I don't care about the politics or relationships, I just want to understand better the technology please as to whether Rust failed or if it wasn't a Rust failure. Or maybe a link on the subject about how Rust could not prevent it or whatever? Thanks. I'm still running PopOS and waiting to upgrade which is why I ask

[@namelessalias0007]

​@@mmstickI see you everywhere lol

[@mmstick]

@@namelessalias0007 Shouldn't be a surprise since this is a COSMIC video. I watch all feedback on COSMIC.

[@babakfp]

It's not shocking that the cosmic team has no skills at UI and UX. Whoever put these people in charge seems to have failed at their job too. They couldn't think of hiring UI/UX designers or even getting free help.