A.K.A u/hucifer
Nice list.
Depending on your package manager, there are very handy snapper plugins that do automated pre/post snapshots for package installation/removal.
For Arch-based systems it’s snap-pac, and Fedora has one too (although I can’t remember the name).
OnlyOffice is the main alternative to Libre these days.
I personally prefer it because offers better compatibility with the Microsoft 365 documents I need for work.
Tela icons.
(if you look at the night theme shot, there are other details of the setup in the terminal output)
If anyone is wondering, you can download the .jxl files from here:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-backgrounds/-/tree/main/backgrounds?ref_type=heads
Yeah, the customization might not be as extensive as Plasma, but you can certainly add a ton of extra functionality with extensions.
Yeah, so Gnome has an extension called Night Theme Switcher which automatically changes your background, icons, theme, cursor etc. based on a user-defined day/night schedule. It works great.
Arc Menu is another extension which gives Gnome a standard start menu (since it doesn’t come with one by default) in the top lefthand corner. It also comes with a KRunner-like app launcher that pops up in the middle of the screen instead of using the default Gnome Overview UI.
Both these extensions make Gnome feel a little more natural for desktop use, IMO.
Gnome + Dash to Dock + Arc Menu. Nothing too crazy.
Ah, ok.
As far as DE-hopping, it does come with some problems. At the very least, you will have a ton of different apps installed, as each DE will want its own file manager, terminal, etc. At worst, you will get conflicts and it can end up a right mess.
I would personally keep a separate virtual machine or Ventoy USB separate from your main machine, as it will give you the freedom to mess around with different desktops to your heart’s content. If that isn’t an option for whatever reason, then at the very least make sure you create a separate user account for each separate WM/DE you install so that removed doesn’t break.
Go for it. Switching to Linux has never been easier than it is today. I still keep a Windows virtual machine for when I need to use specific Windows applications, but aside from that I have been running Linux on my work and gaming machines for two years now with zero issues.
I’m surprised to hear you had problems with Proton - in my experience it has been seamless, although there are still some titles that don’t work so well with it. I don’t play any games that require anti-cheat, though, so there is that.
It’s never easy to say which distro is best, because every user and every machine is different. I personally recommend Nobara instead of Fedora, as a lot of the post-install tweaking is already done for you and it should even install the latest Nvidia drivers for you as well.
I use the Night Theme Switcher app to automatically control the light/dark mode . Might also work for you.
Also, it’s generally advisable to use the adw-gtk3 theme rather than Adwaita if you want GTK3 and GTK4 apps to look consistent.
Are there any gtk.css files in ~/.config/gtk-4.0/?
If so, delete them.
There is vast ocean of difference between collecting non-personalized, aggregate data internally to inform UI design decisions or improve system performance on the one hand and secretly logging personal information in order to pass on or sell to third parties on the other.
I don’t think the “some apps don’t work with Wayland” argument is particularly valid any more. The vast majority do, and most of those that don’t are outdated anyway. Gnome ships with it by default and KDE is really close to that point as well.
There really shouldn’t need to be any debate whether to implement it or not at this point- clinging on to X11 is just delaying the inevitable.
I’m not familiar with your last point - what analytics does it skew and how?
This might not be the most popular take, but IMO the fuss about Fedora’s (proposed) telemetry is way overblown. By all accounts, it seems intended to help the dev team improve OS performance and will still preserve user privacy.
People tend to lump all telemetry together but Fedora’s implementation would be significantly less concerning than that which users of Android, Windows and Apple OSs currently put up with on a daily basis.
Agreed. I actually think Pop OS and Nobara are the best beginner distros right now. Mint is falling a bit behind the times.
According to a recent announcement by one of the devs:
We also want to spend time on studying the pros and cons of Wayland and to assess the work needed in its potential adoption.
In other words, they haven’t even started yet.
Thunars split view. I get tired by the Gnome developers, who removed this feature from Nautilus, explain that two Nautilus windows side by side are equivalent to a split view. It is not
I think the intended usage in Nautilus is to use tabs, not to have two windows side-by-side.
Personally, I find tabs preferable to a split-view.
It is definitely better since Bookworm, but it’s still not great.
The default installation .iso is a netinstall that uses Debian’s creaky old installer that looks like a text-based RPG from the 1980s when compared to a modern GUI Linux installer.
The live images, which are the best for new users because they do use a modern and user-friendly installer (Calamares) and allow pre-selection of the desktop environment, are still hidden away by needing to click through two more web pages to get to the list of isos, without any explanation of the different DEs or recommendations for new users.
It’s like they thought to themselves “we need to make it easier for new users, but we don’t want to make it too easy”.
Interesting. Do you know if it works with an existing LUKS-encrypted installation?