I came back to KDE after a long absence because I never liked it back in the day (I found it ugly and bloated). I was really surprised by how good it has become. It’s now my favourite desktop environment on Linux, and I’m looking forward to version 6. So to any other oldies still avoiding KDE because of how it used to be, it’s worth another look.
Here I am thinking there’s some obscure Linux project using a name that’s somehow a sequel to Windows, like a Windows 2, but also a play on the 2__4me meme.
Oh, this is good news for me. I remember trying KDE years ago and feeling that it was just way too heavy. My goto is usually Cinnamon, but the lack of Wayland support has made me hesitant to go all in with out on my gaming PC. Def gonna give KDE a try, thanks!
Cinnamon was where I had ended up too. So now I have a couple of Linux Mint/Cinnamon machines and a Tumbleweed/KDE machine. It surprised me that I like KDE more.
In the newest windows, it is even possible to hover the volume icon and change it with the mouse wheel!!!
Still not going back to Windows!
LOL!
Wait, they didn’t have that before? Heck, even my sway install with Waybar has this.
Does clicking on it open the mixer, or still the useless menu which should be accessible with a right click instead?
KDE had that pretty much since the invention of the mouse wheel.
I have the same functionality on my waybar
I used to use Linux exclusively, but I eventually gave in to the appeal of Windows. I’m just too into gaming, even with all the advancements Steam and Proton are bringing into Linux. The main difference I’ve had is which OS type hosts which OS type.
I managed to get it to work for me with a bit of tinkering
Which specific game do you play that made you switch?
It’s not a specific one, it’s about not having to worry about which one are in the ProtonDB list and how it actually performs and can be configured. I just lose less out of having Linux in a VM for what I use it for, and have less surprises running the games on the system they are marketing and testing for.
“But can Linux install things via a single .exe file? HAHAH EAT IT NERD!”
- 10’ish years ago past me, before discovering the magical wonders of the package manager
I think it’s still important to explain the key difference between an “app store” and a package repository: the latter isn’t a “store” because everything is free.
Thst might change with Flathub’s ambitions to become an actual app store though
Did I just heard that right? Flathub wants to charge for software?
Yes. Flathub wants to become a platform where people and companies can sell their software
Well hey, as long as these participating devs maintain that their software remains FOSS, I’d pay up. They do a lot of good work, can’t do it all for free.
But Windows does have an app store, and has for ages now.
It’s not that good. It’s ok (especially now that it’s been unshackled from the hell of UWP), but it’s not as good as most Linux options.
For someone like OPs mom it would be more than good enough is my point. She’s saying she wished something existed that does indeed exist.
Of course, and much of it is on the app store now (which I rarely use myself), but for someone like OPs mom who just wants an easy app store, well there is one.
When is the last time you’ve used it? Microsoft opened it up and now you can find all types of non UWP apps in it.
Still ass though.
Just install/update App Installer and use winget.
Sure, but pretty much every common application most people use is available, which is fine for the majority of people such as OPs mom.
I can’t even get the fuckin’ thing to open half the time. There’s no way in hell I’m using that buggy piece of shit to install important software.
What crap machine are you running? I can open the store on my Surface 3 I’ve had for nearly a decade.
I don’t think getting instagram, or photoshop off the microsoft store is giving anyone a virus. And I’ve never gotten a virus from it in the few times I’ve used it.
Most of them are, but there are non UWP apps on there too.
I still am intimidated by the terminal as I’ve only had slight experience with CMD
Honestly, if all you’ve ever experienced in regards to terminals is windows CMD, then you really haven’t seen much. I mean that possitively. Actually, it will give you a far worse impression on what using a Linux / Unix terminal can be like (speaking as someone who spent what feel’s like years in terminals, of which the least amount in windows CMD).
I suggest to simply play around with a Linux terminal (e.g. install VirtualBox,.then use it to install e.g. Ubuntu, then follow some simple random “Linux terminal beginner tutorial” you can find online).
The Windows Terminal is absolute Garbage. I tried to use it for some very simple stuff and it was such a trash experience. It just feels wrong.
Not to mention Flatpaks.
With app images it’s easier than installing. Although the chmod step will deter the typical windows user
What chmod step?
When I clicked on new app image, the OS told me, that program /name of app/ will be launched, I clicked “Continue” and it runs! No meddling with “chmod” or anything like that.
ELF and .sh files need to be set executable,
chmod +x file, before they can be run, unless your DE does that for youDunno about appimages
KDE does exactly like that
(I am using MX Linux)At least for Ubuntu, you do need to set the permissions of the AppImage before it’ll launch.
I still haven’t figured out how to make .desktop files work yet.
Same, I love AppImages for that. I just wish they also had way to contain configurations instead of putting it on the system. That would make it even more portable.
I installed Linux a few weeks ago and it was on Tuesday I wanted to add some programs I had installed (it was mGBA and melonDS) to my steam launcher, I went through the hassle of making a . desktop file for both of them (I was dumb and used a Ubuntu based distro, so it installed as a snap, which sucks hard on a hdd) and then it wouldn’t launch, I searched up again (I was using chatGPT for all of this, I asked it a lot how to do stuff, it’s like this was it’s purpose beacuse it always worked first try), did the chmod x+ command and then I was done
Just to see it not launch :/
With file managers, for example in thunar, you can select Properties -> Permissions -> Allow this file to run as a program
also for non-KDE, non-Gnome systems, there’s appimaged – requires a little more setup, but handles the set executable, automates the AppImage integration (
.desktopfiles and menus), keeps a watch on specific folders for new AppImages, and provides a way to check for updatesI’m saving this. I don’t use any appimages (except a cracked Minecraft bedrock launcher but we dont talk about that one), but I’m still going to save this.
How do you actually install an AppImage? I figured out how to use them, but not how to install them.
There is no install needed, you can just edit permissions and make the file executable and then when you open it or click it the app runs.
What won’t be created by default is an application menu to run it from whatever desktop environment you use. You can create those if you wish. You can create a launcher in the menu manually, or you can use a tool called AppImageLauncher to create these for you.
There’s a pretty good explanation here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1311600/add-an-appimage-application-to-the-top-menu-bar
You don’t install them. You just give them the permission to run and then run them.
Microsoft will probably never truly catch up with KDE
Plasma 6 is approaching fast
So is Windows 12… /s
Is this sarcasm? I’m out of the loop.
Rumors that win12 would be a subscription rather than a one time buy
KDE is the best desktop environment.
Currently, dual booting Fedora and Windows 11 on my Asus gaming laptop, and I love Fedora, but it’s still not full sailing. Every other boot the wifi card doesn’t register and I have to reboot, others the OS freezes even though Grub doesn’t but nothing actually opens or closes, and lastly if the laptop is on battery and goes into hibernation, waking it up takes around 5-10 minutes. To add that gaming is still not as smooth as it is with windows, and I still have a use for Windows pOS.
I’ve tried Fedora 3 times years apart in my life and never had a good experience. The longest time I used a distro was with Elementary OS and Zorin OS, the latter of which I’m currently on.
Been running Linux as primary is for 10-15 years now, used to distro hop a lot, often just because. Life is too busy for that now but I last installed fedora (KDE, I always run KDE out of preference) about 5 years ago and I’m really impressed. The system is very current but its always remained stable for me and upgrading from version to version is smoother than normal security patches on win 10 which I still run for CAD.
Are you all up to date? Tbh I do agree with the other post, ASUS have terrible QA and don’t care.
That isn’t a problem with Linux, as much as I hate it. It’s a problem with Asus, which I hate more. Asus is known for having many unfixable bugs on everything they have similar to these but even this isn’t as severe as most people get where their audio will go out for days on end.
Have you tried another distro like Pop OS?
I’m using Pop OS on a couple devices and I like it, but it also gets temporary hung up frequently. It’s irritating when I’m only doing one thing.
Yeah it depends a lot on the hardware. I have one laptop with Linux that is wonky sometimes because it has Nvidia graphics. But my stationary with amd is awesome, always works 100%.
Unfortunately, the drivers aren’t available as easily with other distros. The main issue is that my laptop is an ASUS laptop, awesome laptop most of the time, but it’s not easily supported by Linux
there seems to be a problem either with your specific install or with the compatibility of fedora and your hardware. None of what you listed is expected normal behavior. Maybe try reinstalling fedora or another distro, best of luck :)
offensive spam account, please ban forever
So basically ever since I first tried Windows 7 I held it as the “Gold standard” for desktop OS’s. Half my tweaks to Windows 10 were trying to get it as close to Win7 as I possibly could.
When I finally start experimenting with Linux early this year KDE quickly got me to reconsider my “Gold standard” and finally switch my main machine fully to Linux.
No regrets and certainly ain’t switching back even if Microsoft gave me updated Windows 7 with every extra feature I wanted back then.
Almost all my desktop gets used for anymore is gaming. The windows only anti cheat shit leaves me not messing with splitting what I boot up for.
I’ve been on Linux for ages and ages… back when I had to order CDs for new copies of Ubuntu.
Kde is the first desktop experience that I feel is the gold standard.
Every iteration of Linux I’ve used, solus, fedora, Ubuntu, Manjaro the DE I use is KDE.
I’m not sure why… but it makes sense to me and is my gold standard experience.
Haha, I remember buying Mandrake Linux CDs… I’m a FreeBSD user these days (for the past 20-odd years) but still run KDE. Plus they’re still trying to remain fairly *nix agnostic which is nice.
You can make KDE do pretty much whatever you want
I set my KDE up to look as much like Windows 7 as possible.
I think that was peak desktop design before designers started changing shit just to stay relevant.
I’ve been a Linux user for a decade and a half now, but still use Windows on my corporate laptops. Honestly, it’s baffling how Microsoft seem to consistently manage to miss the mark with the UI design. There’s lots to be said about the underlying internals of Windows vs Linux, performance, kernel design etc., but even at the shallow, end user, “is this thing pleasant to use” stakes, they just never manage to get it right.
Windows 7 was…fine. It was largely inoffensive from a shell point of view, although things about how config and settings were handled were still pretty screwy. But Windows 8 was an absolutely insane approach to UI design, Windows 10 spent an awful lot of energy just trying to de-awful it without throwing the whole thing out, and Windows 11 is missing basic UI features that even Windows 7 had.
When you look at their main commercial competition (Mac and Chromebook) or the big names in Linux (GNOME, KDE, plenty of others besides), they stand out as a company that simply can’t get it right, despite having more resources to throw at it than the rest of them put together.
I’ve noticed a trend in modern design where designers will put out garbage to ‘keep people on their seats’ waiting for it to be fixed.
The fact that Windows 11 has removed the ability to move the taskbar and has no intention of adding it back is just baffling to me. It’s a small thing but so jarring every time I try to use it that I’ve barely used my desktop in the last few months.
To me it’s absurd how Microsoft gets beaten by a free desktop environment when windows is like their main product. They have billions of dollars. How do they manage to not do better?
windows is like their main product
TBF it isn’t really - only about 12% of their revenue. It’s more of a means to lock people into their other products.
Well, that’s the thing, it’s the core part of their entire business. The glue that sticks everything together. Or at least used to be until Azure.
What drives me crazy is how they can’t update all their configuration interface to the same standard, if you go deep enough you still fine things that are unchanged since Windows 98
Yep. Drill down one level in a few control panel items and you’re back in win xp.
that the modern Settings still falls back on Control Panel most of the time
I can understand wanting to replace Control Panel but all they ended up doing was creating a Windows Shell frontend
Needs more system settings, there’s only three.
It seems like a big company’s problem. They have a well-paid design\marketing department that can do whatever they want to create the best-selling interface for the new version of Windows, but before it’s released, no one tested it yet for anything but bugs, and who’d argue with a flock of top designers anyway? Add here the board of directors who are here to sell them ideas and who won’t use it either – I’m sure they applauded to the idea of unifying mobile and desktop experience with WinPhone&Win8, but especially Tablet-Laptop transformers they saw as the future. It sounds great on the paper, right? At that time it could’ve even sounded obvious for their business. And so it happened like it did.
Linux counters it by constant feedback and competition between easily switchable DEs, users being prepared even to jump distros; Apple has a fetish for style and experience (that’s a half of their pricetag), they build their business model about looking and feel nice, so you’d build an ecosystem of their products, you can’t even see error windows here and their garden is gated af; and ChromeOS\Android aren’t shy of looking what others do (like iPhone’s design findings) and conservatively taking what works, also having tons of vendor-created restyles\forks on their own platform as a testing ground for new ideas to make them then a standard. MS lack all of it, and their creative process is guided by external interests and ideals, it’s just an afterthought. And as they have their stable market share, they probably won’t even care. It took whole internet’s screams to return their traditional start menu in win8.1, then w10.
That’d probably stay the same until their new CEO would happen to be an art college graduate - like the current one pushed for accessebility and building special controllers because she has a child with a disability. A top-down signal. I won’t bet on it anytime soon.
I hate to say this, because I know how cringe it is, but… Windows 7 actually removed a lot of features that made Windows fun. And yeah, I’m talking about ricing and I’m unironically saying ricing is valid.
The mid 2000s was an awesome time to be in the ricing community - between litestep, blackbox, foobar2k, rainlendar/rainmeter etc, you could actually make your experience look however you wanted.
And, litestep in particular, for me, was a gateway drug to openbox and therefore Linux - when you finally hit The Windows Wall, where, to go any further, you had to step into Linux, Ubuntu was there, and then Mint, and then…idr what.
I still have my 2007 Ubuntu installation cd that they mailed to me for free. Sure, you could just make your own installation cd rom, but, if you couldn’t, they would happily mail you one - or, as in my case, you felt motivated to evangelize, they’d send you a bunch that you could give out to people. I gave mine to friends and left some others at the local anarchist bookstore (I don’t remember the name of it but this was Washington DC just north of Chinatown).
Windows 7 was a big step backwards. You could still do a lot of ricing, but less - and it was very clear from the direction that Windows 7 went, that whatever came next would be worse.
Oh shit, I remember LiteStep and spending hours and hours to just fiddle with how my desktop looked. I personally felt Windows 2000 was the pinnacle of MS OSs (except so many games etc. wouldn’t run because rightly the OS reported it was Windows NT and a lot of games shat themselves at that)
What is “ricing”? Sounds like you might be talking about theming?
Ricing is usually used for extreme, often gaudy theming and personalization, with emphasis on looks rather than real usability
Oh uh yeah my grandpa uses that word in a very similar context, not sure I’d repeat it though myself
Idk if I would say it’s looks > usability, and it’s certainly not gaudy… There are theming styles that are much more unusable and gaudy than the “riced” look.
It’s an aesthetic that idealizes a kind of barebones utility, and while it often will lean towards the look over the usability, the look itself is like a “beautiful utilitarian” - minimalistic, uncluttered, etc.
Fwiw rice is a backronym, it originally comes from just “rice burners” which were the kind of cars & motorcycles that got “cosmetically enhanced”
it originally comes from just “rice burners”
The term is often defined as offensive or racist stereotyping.
Yikes, I think I’ll just stick to “themeing”
I like QubesOS better.
Because I need Windows to run old C&C games. Get Generals world builder working on Linux and I’ll delete my dual boot
Imagine keeping an entire system set aside for one application. You do you, bud.
I don’t think you understand how zealous C&C fans are. Some of us have entire XP machines with CRT monitors just to play the game in its purest form. We’re about as culty as Linux.
But it’s also not just one program, it’s all the c&c games, their map editors, mod loaders, and any modding tools. World builder is just an example.
Does it not run in a virtual machine very well or at all?
It can but it’s already a headache to get the tools running, and adding in the VM layer can add more headaches.
Usually the compatibility patches make the games work in the VM, but the map editors and modding tools had a lot of issues last time I tried.
The tooling around those games was incredibly barbones so there are probably a lot of hacks going on that the VM wasn’t properly stimulating.
Fair enough.
The simple solution here is to just move on and play a game that isn’t old enough to drink, lol.
I’d like to introduce you to Qubes OS then :P
You can already get it working under Linux, running a Windows VM. I remember doing that for Homeworld, it’s basically the emulator approach. A VM is ok if it isn’t too demanding graphically.
Yeah the issue is the tools. They’re what I have a hard time with in the VMs. I have no idea why
Kinda weird that they’re calling it an OS, but ig they’re just trying to cater to the windows audience
I’d just like to interject for a moment. What you’re referring to as Linux is in fact KDE/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, KDE plus Linux.
I’d just like to interject for a moment. What you’re refering to as Windows, is in fact, Adware/NT, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, Adware plus NT.
Adware + New Technology (from the 1990s)
I finally get this reference! I think this could mean im ready to try Linux again
It’s time to write free software and defend rapists, and I’m all out of programming talent
Haha (but in all seriousness, his lack of understanding of the issue was embarrassing, even if he did apologise afterwards; it’s like Ballmer: everyone remembers him saying “Linux is a cancer”, yet nobody remembers him apologising, when he saw Satya Nadella found a way to make money off Linux, rather than look for ways to tear it down as competition). In both cases these men saw that a change in their stance would allow them to achieve their goals (of promoting free software, and making money, respectively) much more easily).
So here you can see me behaving like the average Linux user, hating on Microsoft and being elitist about my distro, and I’m done ranting about M$.
I use Arch BTW.
I feel like they intended to mention KDE neon (which is the official KDE distro).
KDE neon is what they’re selling
Neon is more of a testbed than a proper distro (they don’t actually even use that word).
Is this “the KDE distro”?
Nope. KDE believes it is important to work with many distributions, as each brings unique value and expertise for their respective users. This is one project out of hundreds from KDE.
It’s a proper distro, that’s just saying it’s not THE official one
Uhm
Is it a distro?
Not quite, it’s a package archive with the latest KDE software on top of a stable base. While we have installable images, unlike full Linux distributions we’re only interested in KDE software.
Oh ok
Which is…still not an OS. It’s a distribution. Specifically, it’s a fork of Ubuntu. To reiterate what the OP was saying, they’re catering to the Windows audience, who understand the concept of a “new Windows version,” but who wouldn’t understand the concept of a distribution.
What exactly is an OS to you? All distros are operating systems because they ship all the tools and utilities need for the system to function (on top of a package manager).
The fact that the KDE devs didn’t write that code themselves doesn’t disqualify it from being an OS.
An OS is the interface layer between hardware and software. It’s the first code that runs after the boot loader, and it exposes an API for syscalls that allow user processes to allocate typically restricted resources, while also tracking and maintaining those allocated resources, doing process scheduling, and a bunch of other critical tasks.
All distros are operating systems because they ship all the tools and utilities need for the system to function
All distros contain operating systems (or, more accurately, kernels), or, rather, are built on top of them. A distribution is a collection of curated software, along with an init system and, for linux, package manager, and, frequently, a particular desktop environment. These pieces of software are, on some level, superfluous. You can have an OS without them. They don’t comprise the OS as a distinct conceptual layer of a computer system, of which there is the hardware, operating system, application, and user layers. The operating system is just Linux - because that is the interface layer between the hardware and software.
Saying “all distros are operating systems” is like saying “all cars are engines.” It’s just wrong. And I don’t care what wikipedia has to say about it.
It’s actually not even a distro, according to their own description at least
Is it a distro?
Not quite, it’s a package archive with the latest KDE software on top of a stable base. While we have installable images, unlike full Linux distributions we’re only interested in KDE software.
Sounds like a distribution that they don’t want to call a linux distribution.
They probably feel like the name distribution means more than just slapping a DE on it and basically a PPA. Then again, haven’t stopped loads of distros from doing that hah.
Could be another way to discourage people using it as a beginner distro or something.
I mean, there’s over a thousand linux distributions already and it feels like they just don’t want it to be another drop of water in the ocean.
Do Android next!
Try LineageOS
I’d prefer a solution out of the box. I am well aware of alternative OSes.
https://murena.com/ (no affiliation, do not own one)
Just skimming through the website, I noticed they use their own Drive solution. Quickly glancing at the images, and it seemed oddly familiar.
And holy shit it they use the exact same setup I set up at work - NextCloud with OnlyOffice integration.
This seems nice.
Who in the world celebrated that?
Like, I get the self-reinforcing bubble that Linux communities exist in and all, but… nobody did that.
The vast majority of Windows users are random people that never touch anything beyond the Start menu in their entire computing lives. What segment of the Windows userbase is out there celebrating any features, let alone command line anything? This is not a thing. At least not in numbers large enough to matter.
Sorry, I try not to get involved in these arguments. Frankly, grown adults taking sides on operating systems of all things like it’s Sega vs Nintendo in a 90s playground seems very strange but I don’t begrudge people finding communities wherever. It’s just… you know, come on.
Sysadmins very commonly make a lot of use out of automating things with Powershell and various utilities that work with it.
Given that a pretty decent sized portion (I’d assume at least, no numbers to back that up sadly) of the Linux user base tends to be “cut from the same cloth” in terms of having the passion to automate (and heavily customize) their system - I would think this is why you see this sentiment repeated often.
As someone who needs to do initial installs on computers with 10-20, I celebrated. It is much easier to type names of the programs and the manager do anything instead of manually downloading installers. But turned out WinGet is really badly done.
As for preferences, for some this is actually Nintendo vs Sega unfortunetly. But don’t underestimate moral decitions too.
People who do not use the dominant system/program/etc. often feel the need to tear down everyone else in order to validate their decision instead of just letting the results and their daily happiness with the decision speak for itself.
This is me, just getting shit done. If you are constantly thinking about what OS you’re using, you’re doing it wrong.
Because I am too lazy to make an actual thread on mastodon I’m going to corner you and ask you a quick question if you don’t mind! Feel free to ignore haha.
I’ve recently dipped my toes in Linux and it’s been really fun learning about all of it, but I still haven’t really settled on an OS. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel or trying to predict everything, I decided to use what I have right in front of me: my steamdeck! I figured playing around on SteamOS in desktop mode is a great way to acclimate myself to Linux a little bit and figure out what I really like and such.
What are some essential programs and QOL things you would recommend? I am interested in trying to host my Plex server off of it, maybe even fiddle around with video editing since that’s what I do professionally (resolve runs on Linux so not worried there), maybe some audio tools. I just want to kind of see what it would look like as a daily driver, though I am very aware that Steam OS has limitations as one.
I’m coming from Mac and I am pretty comfortable doing terminal commands, troubleshooting tech issues, and I’m pretty privacy concerned. Hence why I’m trying to migrate a little bit away for macOS potentially haha. Any and all suggestions are welcome! Even just good website or resources for learning more would be very welcome.
You don’t even need to quality it. Some people just feel the need to tear down others to make themselves feel good. It’s low self-esteem, misplaced onto whatever happens to be near them.
I think we’re all vulnerable to it, too. Part of being a good neighbor is checking yourself to see if you’re being a dick about your preferences, and just letting people enjoy what they enjoy (unless that thing is harming others; you know, common sense).
Oh yeah, let me be clear: I’m sure I engage in it myself. I like to think though that I’ve mostly gotten away from it, as I did plenty of that snobbery when I was younger with music and by the time I got to college realized that was just a really tool-ish way of acting that kept people away from what I thought was awesome art
sheeple
c’mon man
Do you known kde has discover to install and update applications with a gui right?
