The formula for the perfect Linux desktop

Discussion in 'all things UNIX' started by Mrkvonic, Nov 4, 2016.

  1. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    Got a spare moment? Here's an article outlying the critical components required for the perfect Linux desktop, focusing on hardware and software lifecycle and support, cost, ownership, applications, desktop integration, the future, and more. Might be interesting.

    http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/linux-perfect-desktop-formula.html


    Cheers,
    Mrk
     
  2. pandlouk

    pandlouk Registered Member

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    Hi Mrk,

    I agree with everything that you wrote in that article. The only other problem that I think about 2 years and 5 years releases is that the software is frozen, you get the version that was included in the release and that's it. With the exception of the browsers nothing else gets updated... ever. And this is a big problem with productivity apps like office suites. And adding different repositories like backports is a big no no since they are not "officially supported", at least for production systems.

    Panagiotis
     
  3. NormanF

    NormanF Registered Member

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    Apple is the most successful company in the UNIX world. Their derivative of BSD, Mac OSX, is polished, integrated into their hardware, is easy to use, with high quality applications and is reliable.

    That's what Linux should be and isn't.
     
  4. NormanF

    NormanF Registered Member

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    OpenSUSE now offers two platforms: there is LEAP, an LTS based on SUSE Enterprise with a stable set of packages and receives only security fixes. Every two years or so it gets updated when a new version of SUSE Enterprise comes out. Then Tumbleweed, their rolling branch is available to those who like to be on the cutting edge with the latest software. Every one has a choice and is happy.
     
  5. Amanda

    Amanda Registered Member

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    You're kidding, right? Apple software is one of the most restrictive out there. There's a reason people say "Jail Braking" when they're a bit more free in Apple world.
     
  6. Amanda

    Amanda Registered Member

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    What Linux needs the most is STANDARDS. Aside from that, there's no such thing as a "perfect distro", we're free to chose whatever we want and that's one of the beauties of it.
     
  7. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    I think the point was that the Apple product is very "polished" as compared to most linux variants... the "polish" is what linux desperately needs, as well as quite a bit more quality control, etc....
     
  8. pandlouk

    pandlouk Registered Member

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    Not exactly.LEAP is a 18 months release (hardly an LTS) and Tumbleweed is a rolling cutting edge release that can brake with every update.Neither make much sense to me. Suse enterprise desktop is another beast that is even more confusing... they release service packs and some are maintained for 2 years, some for 3 and some for 1 year.
    For me the only distribution that makes sense for working enviroment is RedHat. They update the apps and drivers for 5 years and after that they provide updates for security and important fixes for another 5 years.
    If the other distros followed that example (e.g. provide updates for 1-2 years and security patches for another year) Linux would have already be a viable replacement of windows and OSX. But instead all the other distros go to either 6 months, 1-2 year or 5 year cycles, that only get security and important fixes but no application updates (with only exception the browsers....) = either you have an unstable system or you get a stable one that has already old outdated applications when it is released.

    Panagiotis
     
  9. pandlouk

    pandlouk Registered Member

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    Let's hope that either Snapd or Appimage get widely adapted from distros and developers. Time will tell.

    Panagiotis
     
  10. guest

    guest Guest

    the day Linux will give me drivers properly made that allows full use of the hardware without glitches , then i will come back to it.
     
  11. wat0114

    wat0114 Registered Member

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    That's for darn sure. They're all broken and buggy in some way or another.
     
  12. Nebulus

    Nebulus Registered Member

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    The last thing I'd want is a Canonical (read: corporate) model for everything Linux...
     
  13. Amanda

    Amanda Registered Member

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    That's not what I meant. "Perfect" is completely subjective, my views should not be imposed onto your world. As long as we have a solid base (Kernel + one package format + one sound server + one good display engine + awesome drivers + etc) I don't really care about what you put on your distro.

    I haven't looked into snap yet, but I assume it doesn't have that stupid Canonical License Agreement?

    Exactly.

    In that regard, I can agree :) MacOS works, though it only has one variant and one hardware to comply to.
     
  14. Amanda

    Amanda Registered Member

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    Go pressue the hardware manufacturer, it's their responsibility if they even want to support Linux.
    Or buy better hardware from companies that are Linux-friendly.
     
  15. Amanda

    Amanda Registered Member

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    Google is doing a fine job with Linux. ChromeOS is a very nice (but rather limited) OS, their hardware is cheap but very capable, and their software is pretty good in general. They're even going to implement an OpenSource TPM module possibly backed by OpenSource Hardware :)
    https://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Google-Building-OSS-TPM2

    AMD is becoming one of the most Linux-friendly companies ATM too.
     
  16. new2security

    new2security Registered Member

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    YES.
    Linux is too fragmented.
    Torvalds must stall developers that have a too strong voice and lobby and push out system wide changes that are unnecessary.
    Devs love to break things that have worked fine for decades and replace it with something else and that is the biggest problem.
    Canonical, Poettering et al should ask what the users want not what they want.

    And too many distros. One could say it's a great freedom to sift through 500+ distros and pick one to use but I don't think it's anything to be proud of.
    No wonder why Linux for the most of the time confuses people.

    But at the same time I like Linux because it's stable (when Poettering doesn't touch it), free, has a great history and takes privacy seriously unlike Microsoft.
     
  17. Amanda

    Amanda Registered Member

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    You mean systemd? Almost all developers wanted it, it makes their lives easier. Torvalds allowed it go with the Kernel, and distro developers made the swtich if they wanted to.

    Not really. Canonical is a company looking for profit (although it never made a dime since it's foundation), and Poettering works for RedHat. They work on their own interests, and nobody is forced to comply with them.

    Yes. Not only too many distros, but too many of everything except the Kernel. Developers have huge egoes, unfortunately.
     
  18. new2security

    new2security Registered Member

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    The bold text - Yes, you pin-pointed the problem. The devs should think more about Joe and Jane, what will make their computing lives easier.
    But I see it's not going to happen. Hence the perpetual 1-2% slice of the desktop market.
     
  19. Amanda

    Amanda Registered Member

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    The average user (which is the vast majority) doesn't care about systemd or alternatives.
     
  20. summerheat

    summerheat Registered Member

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    I'm surprised that you have such a negative attitude towards Linux for some time past. What happened?
     
  21. new2security

    new2security Registered Member

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    They don't? I cared. Is there a nice gui for configuring system services in systemd by the way? Before systemd, you could use a gui where you could choose which services to start.
    If you didn't want a gui you could configure services quite easily since you had a consolidated view over the services you had on your system. Tick on or off options.
    If Jane Doe wants to start an openvpn service, and she now has too look up for a specific file, among other services config files scattered over the system, and enable the service by typing heroic commands.

    Systemd does not make life easier for Linux users. Systemd is not elegant, it's convoluted.
     
  22. new2security

    new2security Registered Member

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    The post wasn't directed towards me but...
    In many ways I actually like Linux but in my book it's ok to offer criticism.

    Former Fedora, CentOS, Arch, Mint, OpenBSD etc etc user. ^^
     
  23. summerheat

    summerheat Registered Member

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    Of course it is! I didn't deny that. It was only a question as wat0114 has been a Linux user for a long time.
     
  24. new2security

    new2security Registered Member

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    That's cool.
    Not easy to catch all nuances over written media.
     
  25. Amanda

    Amanda Registered Member

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    Not systemd's fault.

    And I'm sure this GUI is easily portable to systemd. Go blame distro or DE developers for not creating one. In Ubuntu I'm 99% sure you can still select services through a GUI, and here in KDE I can do that too.

    And how's that is different for systemd? managing services is easy on systemd.

    And if she wanted to do the same on non-systemd systems without prior knowledge of the service, how would she do it?

    That's your opinion. And quite franquily, it's the developers who have chose if THEIR lives are going to be easier, because THEY are the ones who put a distro together so you can use it.

    Once you create your own distro, you can chose whatever management model you want.

    It works, regardless of your views.
     
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