Linux which Distro ?

[alex cochez]

After CSAM I am thinking of abandoning Apple altogether. I am interested in your experience. Most that worries me is Apps, most Linux apps are half baked open source projects.

The other thing that worries me is the "It just works" which has greatly benefitied me on MacOS. Everything works no need to extra fiddle. Whenever I use Windows I find myself right back in the Control Panel trying to figure how something works or why it stopped working.

Also, does Linux have auto-save? With MacOS I just open a text file , type, quit...it auto saved it no worries. Even on a crash it auto save my opened tabs.

Auto-save works fine.

In my experience plenty of open source software isn't half-baked while some proprietary applications are available cross platform. For instance, to replace Adobe, I started to use rawtherapee, rapid photo downloader, krita, inkscape and davinci (free version), software far beyond what I actually use it for.

When you just start, tinkering is part of it, you got to get through the basics, find your way around. After a while a new installation, customizing your system, will go as wicknix described above.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Thanks to those who recommended Manjaro KDE. What a slick OS. I've been a Linux Mint fanboy since 2009 as well as OpenSUSE since their KDE glass UI back in 2009/10 and I did not realize how much I was missing out. During the Mint boot cycle I would get errors with Mint not finding certain hardware. Manjaro found everything in my 2012 Mac mini when booting from the USB stick I made. As others have commented, Manjaro definitely looks modern but its not disparaging in anyway wrt Mint.

 

[MacBH928]

@wicknix

I am surprised by your findings, I have been researching online and never heard of this distro and surprised that you say it just works compared to other distros that are supposed to just work like Mint or maybe Zorin.

Thanks to those who recommended Manjaro KDE. What a slick OS. I've been a Linux Mint fanboy since 2009 as well as OpenSUSE since their KDE glass UI back in 2009/10 and I did not realize how much I was missing out. During the Mint boot cycle I would get errors with Mint not finding certain hardware. Manjaro found everything in my 2012 Mac mini when booting from the USB stick I made. As others have commented, Manjaro definitely looks modern but its not disparaging in anyway wrt Mint.

* I am confused, Mint is supposed to be the plug-n-play distro. How is Manjaro better at it? Also Manjaro is based on the less popular Arch, so Mint (Debian based) should be the more compatible and supported one. Any linux expert I would like to hear from you.

* How was your OpenSUSE experience? I am eyeing this distro, some say its very solid some say its not for the average desktop user. I am confused. There is also the new Gecko for the Desktop which I am not sure what more does it do. It gets confusing as SUSE(for corporate) , OpenSUSE(For Desktop), Gecko (For even simpler desktop!?)

 

[wicknix]

never heard of this distro

Like many others, it's just a customized version of Debian. Not much different than say Mint and other Debian varients other than the default "look and feel".

Cheers

 

[Heat_Fan89]

@wicknix

I am surprised by your findings, I have been researching online and never heard of this distro and surprised that you say it just works compared to other distros that are supposed to just work like Mint or maybe Zorin.




* I am confused, Mint is supposed to be the plug-n-play distro. How is Manjaro better at it? Also Manjaro is based on the less popular Arch, so Mint (Debian based) should be the more compatible and supported one. Any linux expert I would like to hear from you.

* How was your OpenSUSE experience? I am eyeing this distro, some say its very solid some say its not for the average desktop user. I am confused. There is also the new Gecko for the Desktop which I am not sure what more does it do. It gets confusing as SUSE(for corporate) , OpenSUSE(For Desktop), Gecko (For even simpler desktop!?)

Manjaro IS also plug and play. It's ready to go right out of the box. If you are hooked up to the net, it installs all the necessary apps and even drivers. The only thing it did not install was LibreOffice and Google Chrome (which Mint doesn't install either). It even automatically downloads updates, has a built in notification center similar to OpenSUSE.

OpenSUSE is still nice. They just went with a flat look like everyone else including Windows and MacOS. What I most loved about OpenSUSE was that my devices ran cooler with SUSE vs Ubuntu or Mint. OpenSUSE would not boot on my Mac mini from a USB so I could not install it. It will install on any of my laptops or desktops but has a problem with the Mac mini.

 

[09872738]

OpenSuSE is probably the most professional distro out there. Very well made.

The only issue - not SuSE‘s fault - I stumbled across: some software just isn‘t available coz some companies only provide packages for Ubuntu, Fedora etc.

E.g. if memory serves correctly: no plex server, no FLIRC (IR receiver).

 

[Mendota]

I still cast my vote for KDE Plasma. That is what I am on at this very minute. Today I installed all the applications from Ubuntu Studio. It easily installs onto the KDE desktop since a lot of it is based on that. The applications are wonderful and in no way "half baked". I am really looking forward to trying out all the music and video applications. In addition there are some very nice graphic tools. It may not be Corel Painter and Draw, but they are still quite nice.

 

[09872738]

I agree, KDE Plasma is easily the best DE in Linuxland, an the most visually pleasing

 

[MacBH928]

I still cast my vote for KDE Plasma. That is what I am on at this very minute. Today I installed all the applications from Ubuntu Studio. It easily installs onto the KDE desktop since a lot of it is based on that. The applications are wonderful and in no way "half baked". I am really looking forward to trying out all the music and video applications. In addition there are some very nice graphic tools. It may not be Corel Painter and Draw, but they are still quite nice.

I agree, KDE Plasma is easily the best DE in Linuxland, an the most visually pleasing

How about Budgie?
I am looking for a linux distro that is closest to the Mac experience, not only in looks but even in functionality like a preview app, get word definition by 3 tap on mouse pad, shortcuts etc...

 

[Mendota]

How about Budgie?
I am looking for a linux distro that is closest to the Mac experience, not only in looks but even in functionality like a preview app, get word definition by 3 tap on mouse pad, shortcuts etc...

It is a lot more basic in looks and function than KDE. It is a lot like Older MacOS. I don't think that you are going to find any distro that behaves exactly like MacOS. Budgie does seem to come the closest, and the Studio will install with it as well as KDE. I have not used Budgie, so I can't give any firsthand experience. KDE has quite a few themes that look like MacOS, and they have been around a long time. It is stable and modern and has the feel of something that you can depend on without compromise.

 

[09872738]

I agree. Plus KDE is highly configurable. You can tinker it a lot to your liking. Just keep in mind its not macOS, so there will be some differences.
Some Apps/features are absolutely great, sometimes even superior to what is available on the Mac. E.g. its filebrowser Dolphin is second to none

Manjaro KDE, Kubuntu, OpenSuSE are all great. Have a look. My recommendation is to look at OpenSuSE using KDE Plasma. The Yast tool is great, you can configure services (e.g. Partitioning, Samba, Firewall, you name it) graphically with reasonable defaults. Easiest service config in Linuxland by far

 

[MacBH928]

It is a lot more basic in looks and function than KDE. It is a lot like Older MacOS. I don't think that you are going to find any distro that behaves exactly like MacOS. Budgie does seem to come the closest, and the Studio will install with it as well as KDE. I have not used Budgie, so I can't give any firsthand experience. KDE has quite a few themes that look like MacOS, and they have been around a long time. It is stable and modern and has the feel of something that you can depend on without compromise.

I agree. Plus KDE is highly configurable. You can tinker it a lot to your liking. Just keep in mind its not macOS, so there will be some differences.
Some Apps/features are absolutely great, sometimes even superior to what is available on the Mac. E.g. its filebrowser Dolphin is second to none

Manjaro KDE, Kubuntu, OpenSuSE are all great. Have a look. My recommendation is to look at OpenSuSE using KDE Plasma. The Yast tool is great, you can configure services (e.g. Partitioning, Samba, Firewall, you name it) graphically with reasonable defaults. Easiest service config in Linuxland by far

I am confused by the Gnome KDE GTK and QT. A lot of people throw these terms around but when you look at the screenshot they all look different. Yes I can tell clear difference between basic KDE and GNOME but once they start theming and adjusting its hard to distinguish.


As for Yast if its so awesome and open source, why not other distros implement it?
Also, out of the bajillion linux distros at least one should put the effort to make a "mac-like" distro

 

[Mendota]

Be adventurous. It doesn't have to be just like MacOS to be worthwhile. Try a dual boot with KDE. It is easy to install and then add Ubuntu Studio. This will give a high quality operating system with every category of software included. The reason I make this suggestion is that it is very straight forward, go to the KDE site and everything you need it right there. Then go to Ubuntu Studio and same. The only way to really know, is to try it and see. You might find that you like it better than MacOS.

 

[09872738]

I am confused by the Gnome KDE GTK and QT. A lot of people throw these terms around but when you look at the screenshot they all look different. Yes I can tell clear difference between basic KDE and GNOME but once they start theming and adjusting its hard to distinguish.


As for Yast if its so awesome and open source, why not other distros implement it?
Also, out of the bajillion linux distros at least one should put the effort to make a "mac-like" distro

Again: try it. You‘ll learn to tell the difference btwn KDE and Gnome pretty soon once you start configuring.

As for Yast: dunno. Ask the other distro guys? Maybe you have no usecase for it. However, if you‘d like to use e.g. Samba without having the desire to learn all the nitty-gritty of smb: Yast is in a league of its own.
Same is true for a lot of other packages

Finally: there are distros aiming to look like a Mac. However, they aren‘t macOS. They are themed to somewhat look like a Mac, but under the hood they aren‘t. Totally different window server, so the functionality is different and therefore can mimic the Mac look-and-feel to a limited extent only. And that‘s on purpose. Linux DEs are not clones and do not aim to be.

If you need it to look exactly like a Mac, work exactly like a Mac and quack exactly like a Mac best advice is: get a Mac

 

[Schismz]

Manjaro KDE Plasma has a tremendous amount of configurability and eye candy. It allows you to do pretty much whatever you want, going back to the days when themes were available for OS/X. If adjusting look and feel to be most similar to macOS is primary importance, I would play with Plasma.

If Apple continues on its path to releasing a toxic surveillance environment, if something like 5% of its users notice this and run away somewhere else, and Windows is not their answer, then there may be more "macOS-like" releases forthcoming, specifically targeting people who spent a lot of money on Apple hardware, and now don't want spyOS running on it.

 

[09872738]

Very true. I just like to add: the said above applies to any KDE Plasma distro. Manjaro certainly is a great one

 

[MacBH928]

Be adventurous. It doesn't have to be just like MacOS to be worthwhile. Try a dual boot with KDE. It is easy to install and then add Ubuntu Studio. This will give a high quality operating system with every category of software included. The reason I make this suggestion is that it is very straight forward, go to the KDE site and everything you need it right there. Then go to Ubuntu Studio and same. The only way to really know, is to try it and see. You might find that you like it better than MacOS.

I have been using Mac for near two decades, I really like it and know my way around it and how it behaves and has been reliable for me 100%... the operating system, its apps, and the community around it. But I can't keep on going when its turning into spyware.

There was a time when we advocated for Mac to fight IBM/Microsoft , now Apple has turned into the IBM.

If you need it to look exactly like a Mac, work exactly like a Mac and quack exactly like a Mac best advice is: get a Mac

You are right, but I can not do that any longer because of the spyware. There was a fine hair line of trust using their closed source apps but after CSAM I had enough.

Manjaro KDE Plasma has a tremendous amount of configurability and eye candy. It allows you to do pretty much whatever you want, going back to the days when themes were available for OS/X. If adjusting look and feel to be most similar to macOS is primary importance, I would play with Plasma.

I run live-Manjaro once, looked good. Although I feel safer running a Debian release as I believe being with the majority means better support and compatibility.

A confusing thing for me is that they say being on a Debian release will make you on the safe side of apps and support, meanwhile Manjaro, OpenSUSE, Fedora and others seems to have no problem as everything works for them just the same.

If Apple continues on its path to releasing a toxic surveillance environment, if something like 5% of its users notice this and run away somewhere else, and Windows is not their answer, then there may be more "macOS-like" releases forthcoming, specifically targeting people who spent a lot of money on Apple hardware, and now don't want spyOS running on it.

This is exactly what I am hoping for, I am willing to pay for this. Another great thing I would like to see is that Mac apps releasing a Linux version like CarbonCopyCloner, FindAnyFile, Alfred...etc.

 

[amgff84]

What with Apple now fetching out a new OS every year and my Mac Pro being long in the tooth I am thinking of installing
Linux on my 2009 Mac Pro, is it worth it and which distro should I use ? Also can this be installed externally so I can see
how it runs and what it can do ?

I have a late 2008 MacBook Aluminum Unibody with a C2D and 4GB of RAM running the latest Fedora on an SSD. You wouldn't know the age of this computer. I did have to mess around for an hour to get the wifi working, but it was time well spent.

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

Forgive me, but I don't understand the problem that people are having with this CSAM thing.
It only comes in to play when you put your photo collection up on iCloud.

I don't because I have too many photos to fit on my free iCloud account, and I won't pay for extra storage because what happens if I miss some payments? I lose access. Same for my MEGA account.
If Apple or MEGA.nz fail as organisations (unlikely for MEGA as they are owned/controlled by the NZ government) then I lose access, but I have physical on-site backups to backup my cloud off-site storage.

If you back your photos up on a local drive, then it doesn't affect you.
It's not as though Apple is sneaking into your computer and looking at everything you have stored there.
The NSA might be, the Russians might be, the Chinese and the Illuminati certainly are, but not Apple.

I use macOS, Linux and Windows on my iMac. I select whichever is most appropriate for the task at hand.

 

[09872738]

Forgive me, but I don't understand the problem that people are having with this CSAM thing.
It only comes in to play when you put your photo collection up on iCloud.

Its still accessing and assessing private data. None of Apple‘s business. Plus: all you say can be attributed with: for now. Researchers of this very technology warn for reasons

Some are also legally bound to not allow this, for example because they have customer data or something similar on their machines.

Anyway, its off-topic. Notice that some people are not comfortable with third party accessing their data. And for a good reason, that is

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

I guess I get more concerned that some software downloads and updates itself without even bothering to let me know. Prime examples are Microsoft Edge, Firefox and Brave browsers and WPS Office. If the home servers got compromised, how easy would it be to compromise my computer, whether it be Mac, Windows or Linux.

I don't think security is a good reason to change OS, as I feel that all systems are currently vulnerable, both governments and criminals.

The only way to keep data on your computer secure is to have a physical air gap between it and the Internet. No Wi-Fi, no Ethernet, no Bluetooth.

Choose your OS on ease of use, reliability and functionality.

Oh, and don't discuss security on open bulletin boards. That only brings you to the attention of the authorities.
Oh, bugger....

 

[millerj123]

If you want to use a distro, use it, but expecting macOS in Linux is a no win situation. They all do different things for different reasons.

 

[09872738]

I guess I get more concerned that some software downloads and updates itself without even bothering to let me know. Prime examples are Microsoft Edge, Firefox and Brave browsers and WPS Office. If the home servers got compromised, how easy would it be to compromise my computer, whether it be Mac, Windows or Linux.

I don't think security is a good reason to change OS, as I feel that all systems are currently vulnerable, both governments and criminals.

The only way to keep data on your computer secure is to have a physical air gap between it and the Internet. No Wi-Fi, no Ethernet, no Bluetooth.

Choose your OS on ease of use, reliability and functionality.

Oh, and don't discuss security on open bulletin boards. That only brings you to the attention of the authorities.
Oh, bugger....

I disagree. However, that‘s a topic for a different thread. Suggest to go back to topic…

 

[MacBH928]

Forgive me, but I don't understand the problem that people are having with this CSAM thing.
It only comes in to play when you put your photo collection up on iCloud.

I don't because I have too many photos to fit on my free iCloud account, and I won't pay for extra storage because what happens if I miss some payments? I lose access. Same for my MEGA account.
If Apple or MEGA.nz fail as organisations (unlikely for MEGA as they are owned/controlled by the NZ government) then I lose access, but I have physical on-site backups to backup my cloud off-site storage.

If you back your photos up on a local drive, then it doesn't affect you.
It's not as though Apple is sneaking into your computer and looking at everything you have stored there.
The NSA might be, the Russians might be, the Chinese and the Illuminati certainly are, but not Apple.

I use macOS, Linux and Windows on my iMac. I select whichever is most appropriate for the task at hand.

The trust is broken, thats why. We no longer can trust their software.

I guess I get more concerned that some software downloads and updates itself without even bothering to let me know. Prime examples are Microsoft Edge, Firefox and Brave browsers and WPS Office. If the home servers got compromised, how easy would it be to compromise my computer, whether it be Mac, Windows or Linux.

I don't think security is a good reason to change OS, as I feel that all systems are currently vulnerable, both governments and criminals.

The only way to keep data on your computer secure is to have a physical air gap between it and the Internet. No Wi-Fi, no Ethernet, no Bluetooth.

Choose your OS on ease of use, reliability and functionality.

Oh, and don't discuss security on open bulletin boards. That only brings you to the attention of the authorities.
Oh, bugger....

if you airgap a computer, how can you get software and latest updates? Apple and iOS update exclusively via internet afaik.

If you want to use a distro, use it, but expecting macOS in Linux is a no win situation. They all do different things for different reasons.

You can make it close

 

[Mendota]

Here is a look at what you can have with KDE: