I need some advice regarding which distro to choose. I tried installing fedora workstation on my laptop as test and it seemed quite annoying to get the user interface right.

I dont mind the technical differences, in fact i’m looking forward to them as linux is more secure and better designed.

The problem i’m having is that i want the good things from windows desktop. for example; tray icons, being able to control filesystem easily with gui, shortcuts on desktop.

Every distro i have tried or seen has been really basic regarding this out of the box with very little customization options. I prefer not having to download million extensions for every little feature that might stop working at every major update or if developer doesnt feel like continuing.

I also would like to be able to easily backup customization settings so i dont have to do everything again if i need to reinstall. I like being able to easily customize everything so having a lot of settings is good thing for me.

I read somewhere about kde plasma and screenshots seemed promising and downloaded kde fedora. Haven’t installed it yet but am I on the right track for what i’m looking for? Are there other even better choices? I’d like to nail this from the start so I dont have to reinstall later. I really dont want to wade through every possible distro.

Thank you all, you have been big help

  • mox@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    5·
    12 hours ago

    The reasons vary from person to person. Some of the complaints I’ve seen:

    • Its repository (app store) is controlled exclusively by Canonical.
    • It was released in a premature state, with problems like bad performance and polluting the user’s home directory with a mandatory “snap” folder.
    • It was forced upon existing Ubuntu users, not only through installing Snap by default, but also by replacing important and well-established native packages with fake ones that quietly installed a Snap of that software when upgraded. Firefox was a notable example.
    • It’s an unnecessary extra packaging system in a distro that already has a native one.
    • For people who actually want a container-based cross-distro packaging system in addition to native packages, Flatpak has done a better job of meeting peoples needs/desires, and is a more open system.

    In Snap’s defense, its design looked potentially better than Flatpak at sandboxing when I investigated them both a couple years ago. Unfortunately, it was pushed out with too many rough edges to feel like a better choice for most users, and the closed app store is a deal-breaker for many of us.

    • reksas@sopuli.xyzOPEnglish
      2·
      15 hours ago

      That sounds quite bad, I dont want to switch from one oppressor to another. Do you think they will try locking things down at some point so people cant work around their bullshit? I think i might be able to live with it if i have option of using something else too but I dont want to have to move again if things become unbearable, like with windows now.

      • mox@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
        3·
        12 hours ago

        Both Canonical (Ubuntu) and Red Hat (Fedora/CentOS) have a history of pushing their own stuff on people and locking it in when they have the opportunity to do so. This is no surprise, since both are trying to walk the fine line of being profitable business system/service providers using open-source software. I expect they will do more of this in the future.

        They can only do it so much, though, since they don’t have unlimited resources and don’t want to alienate too many users. Some people find one or both of them tolerable. Some don’t even notice the changes, since most of that stuff is just behind-the-scenes plumbing to a typical desktop user.

        If you want to reduce the chances of having your setup disrupted by some future obligatory change, I think Linux Mint would put you in a good place. The regular edition is based on Ubuntu, but Mint insulates its users from nonsense like the Firefox Snap (providing a native package instead), and the maintainers have a Debian edition as an exit strategy in case Canonical ever goes off the rails. Ubuntu is based on Debian, so migrating Linux Mint from an Ubuntu base to a Debian base would be fairly painless.

        Tip for installation time: Consider putting the /home directory on its own partition. This will allow swapping distros in the future without having to mess with backup/restore cycles to preserve your files and user settings.