this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2024
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Linux Mint isn't perfect, but at least it's not constantly trying to steal my shit or force something on me that I don't want.
I honestly wish I liked mint because there’s such a robust community for it, but I really can’t stand it. My first Linux experience a decade back or so was Ubuntu and it felt -right- like android. I liked it very much because it did all the things I needed, and it felt good to use, like something I was familiar with (android!). The power file management was an absolute bonus and I just love it so much. But it’s based on iOS allegedly? I fucking hate iOS on mobile but maybe it’s the macOS? Idk. It’s not at all like iPhone iOS at least.
And I haven’t found the same experience on any other distro despite trying several, so here’s me back to Ubuntu every time.. because it feels good to use.
And “Ubuntu bad because reasons” and I get that for not me, but I don’t have the energy to figure out how to make Debian do what Ubuntu just already does. And the really niche distros I’ve tried idk how to make work for my needs, as noob.
At least it isn’t windows..
This is a perfectly valid reason to like Ubuntu, and it mirrors my own reason for preferring Mint: familiarity with an OS UI. In my case, Mint Cinnamon is the closest I could find to the Win98 user interface. Back in the old days I also had Ubuntu, but then they switched to the Unity UI and I changed to Lubuntu. That went to the pits a few years ago, so I moved on to Mint. Just like you, I also have a preference for the UI, and I suspect that very many people choose a distro based on their UI preferences. That's the beauty of Linux: plenty of options for everyone.
I'm not trying to bash here, but sometimes I wonder what people actually do with their OSs.
I fire up software that I use, it would be quite consistent across any compatible OS, and we're ahead of the days when multi screens didn't work etc.
I'm on mint but any easy to install linux or even windows would give me the same workflow (after dealing with their bullshit ofc) except the terminal, and some other crap effectively. But on Linux? Smooth as a mirror, or what am I missing?
I doubt they do mich different than you do with their OS.
People are more motivated by feelings than actual logic. The person you are responding to even states that Ubuntu "feels good to use". That is some car advertisement level of feeling based reasoning.
Another thing is that people really hate it when things change. Especially a UI change. Every change in the Windows UI has been met with disgust. And if there is one thing different between linux distros, it's where they place all the buttons, menus, etc. So people prefer to stay with the distro they know.
I used Ubuntu until bad because reasons. Tried multiple distros but no other DE felt quite as good until I tried pop_OS!. It is supposed to be some gaming oriented OS based on Ubuntu but I love it because of the great window management they have.
how does pop handle touchscreen devices, do you know? The only machine I have left that I’d install something different on is my laptop, and its touchscreen but fully discretionary. The others are a server which I’m not touching because PITA, and a shitty ram-deficient thing I use for watching Plex in my bedroom, but it doesn’t run anything well at all for whatever reason - I tried antixlinux, mint, and a few other lightweight distros, and they all ran like shit. Probably failing hardware, idk.
Ubuntu handles touchscreen and hdmi output ok, it seems, but that laptop is still windows for now because idk if I need it to be windows for my next job.. I guess I can reinstall it, since keys are hardware encoded now.. for that device I don’t -really- need good file management, just compatibility.
I’ve thought about pop, but never really looked into it because nobody ever, like, recommends it for anything I guess? Like I never hear about it..
pop_OS is downstream Ubuntu so it should be the same experience, but I have never tried it on a touchscreen device. System76 are working on a major update (currently in alpha last I checked) and I do not know if they will remain downstream Ubuntu or do their own.
If you're concerned about reinstalling, grab another drive and swap it. You'll be able to play to your heart's content and still swap back at a moments notice if you need your windows install again.
Pop is not gaming oriented, where did you get that?
Perhaps because everyone always says gaming ≈ pop_OS and because of the extra Nvidia GPU drivers. ETA: I think someone in some video said it?
Games is still what keeps me on the absolute shit show that is Windows. Proton has come a long way in solving this problem but there are still enough issues especially with new games that I have to have a Windows partition.
I ripped the bandaid off last month, there's definitely fiddling and hdr is still in early days (works in gamescope, but found that can have issues with my nvidia card), I've been playing veilguard on proton ge for the last week, and proton experimental supports dlss frame gen now which is huge for me.
It's definitely in the good enough state imo, and it seems to rapidly be getting better.
Alright, I don't have anything capable of HDR so that is no worries. No (intrusive) anticheat, no game pass. I'm sure a few random games have issues. Doesn't sound like it should be a big deal though. Thank you
No problem, most games I've tried run without much fuss just with proton enabled. For others, protondb is great (pointed in the right direction to get Jade Empire running) or fiddling with settings yourself, gamescope helps a lot even if I've found it has some issues with nvidia cards (had games freeze with hdr for example), more of my issues are probably related to having an ultrawide tbh.
I'm mentally preparing for the switch. Would you mind naming some of the games keeping you on Windows?
Besides games that actively block linux for their anti-cheat, there aren't many games that don't work ootb on linux.
You can always check for specific games on protondb.
Thanks! I didn't even think to look for a compatibility list. I'm quick to check them for emulators, but it didn't even cross my mind
I'm not the original commenter.
However any game with invasive anticheat tends to be allergic to Linux.
Microsoft game pass has really good value that isn't supported on Linux. (I'm told the streaming stuff did work but I haven't personally confirmed)
I have family that likes to play fortnite with me and that didn't work last time I looked into it.
Thanks for the help. I'm not fond of invasive a anticheat as it is, played like 10 minutes of Fortnite when it was a survival game, and I'm sure I can use the high seas to get around game pass. I'll have to check a couple of specific games, but I think I might be pretty good to go
This may be a silly question, but as far as online games that work, it shouldn't matter if my friends are on Windows, right?
For the most part it's fine like the other comment mentioned.
However there are a few edge cases like Borderlands 2 that is like pulling teeth to make work.
It shouldn't matter, Linux and Windows and Mac are all compatible 'PC' platforms. As long as the game is supported/runs, you should be good.
That's what I was thinking but I just wanted to make sure. I really appreciate all the help