LastOS slaps neon paint on Linux Mint and dares you to run Photoshop LastOS is a tricked-out version of Linux Mint 22.1 with the Cinnamon desktop and some additional tools to make life easier for Windows folks. As Windows 10 nears its demise, The Reg FOSS desk has noticed increasing amounts of discussion of relatively little-known distros that aspire to be the new replacement OS for Windows 10 …
"Flatpak, WINE 9, Chrome, Transmission BitTorrent client, a download manager, an image viewer, optical-disk burning tools (!) and multiple different media players"
If Samsung pre-installed all that there would be cries of "Bloatware!" from every commenter. If Microsoft did it there would be antitrust trials in multiple juristictions.
Linux is "free" if you don't count the manhours the Average Joe will spend trying to get it up and running. Sure, as the article's opening paragraph states, you are free to choose your distro...but then, you are also free to deal with the problems yourself when you realize that your somewhat off-the-beaten-path distro choice doesn't have a lot of user support to hold your hand on the help forums when you can't figure things out.
> Linux is "free" if you don't count the manhours the Average Joe will spend trying to get it up and running.
Jeez, man, if you're going to post Trumpian disinformation, can you at least get off your bum and go and find some fresh new lies, and not the tired old drivel from 1999?
Most distros come with all the main apps you'll need built in. Windows doesn't. That's why I wrote about Ninite. Instead Windows serves you ads and bundles spyware so you need to spend another half an hour finding how to turn that off.
Or, use ChromeOS Flex. It just works, it gets you online, and you do all your normal stuff in browser windows. Messenger, Teams, Zoom, whatever, it's all there these days. Maybe not the most efficient way but it just works and there's no hassle with installing anything.
Really???!!
You want to tell the 20-year old desk worker at my gym who was asking for help from me on his new Mint installation and trying to figure things out? JUST. LAST. WEEK?!!!
tl;dr
You people live in DENIAL. It doesn't matter what you tech-bros arrogantly believe are "facts", what matters are what real, average users that try to switch to Linux actually experience. "Oh, install is SOOOooo easy now!!" Yeah, and what about doing everything else?? Do you even bother to go to forums and YT and listen to average user experiences - note "average", not "gamer" or "power user", Joe Average.
Install is "easy"...on DESKTOPS. Do you even bother to keep up with Linux user feedback on laptops - you know, the devices a lot of younger people use to both maintain portability as well as fit into their small living spaces??
No? I figured.
Linux on laptops still, after 20+ years, can offer headaches. And what does the Linux community do? Lambast them for using the 'wrong' hardware o_O I mean, shouldn't you be buying [all] your hardware under some future expectation, maybe years from now, that you might switch OS's and the new OS doesn't support your hardware...but, hey, it's just "So good!" that it doesn't matter if your device isn't supported? Just go out and buy a new one!
*IF* you install Linux...on supported hardware, mind you...and IF you stick to the install profile and packages available to that distro's package manager...and IF you don't want or need to step out of these 'predestined' ownership paradigms...you may have a good Linux experience.
But what about the REST of the world? And the rest of the users who may want to try things that Linux programmers themselves don't use? You'll get "the Linux community will help!". Sometimes they will, sometimes they won't, or can't. And what happens then?
I'm going to rant: Linux is a SERVER OS. Fans have been 'converting' a server OS into a 'desktop OS' by creating window managers, UI interfaces, package managers, et al, in an attempt to make this system user friendly.
It. Never. Will. Be.
There is a "perfect", *nix desktop OS out there, one actually designed for desktop use in the late 20th Century paradigm - no window manager on top of a CLI-interface OS. It's called "macOS". I'm *not* a Mac user (some of their choices infuriate me) but it is everything in a *nix desktop OS that Linux ISN'T, AND NEVER WILL BE. Yes, it is limited to their hardware but, with the same hardware effort / compatibility issues as Linux, you can Hackintosh it. And, unlike Linux, it actually has professional and polished desktop apps that people are using worldwide. So, use the damn thing and stop pretending that a patched-together collection of utilities and applications, which they euphemistically call a "distro", will *ever* be as integrated an experience and a modern, monolithic desktop OS . It *never* can be - every package, every utility, was programmed by a different developer group with their own ideas of UIX and requirements, creating a "universal hodgepodge" of disjointed experiences. Windows is bad enough now with this, macOS tries to minimize this problem, Linux...sees it as a benefit! Yes! You too can experience radical differences...in experience...by simply changing to a different distro! Don't you *want* to join us here in Linux-land?? Just study the 30+ distros, see if you [can] figure out which one will actually work the way you want, the way you need it on your hardware, with the packages you need, and download it today!! If it doesn't work just download a new distro!! Of course, you'll have to use a friend's computer to do that, because your computer is now a PITA or bricked with a distro you hate or can't even use, but that's not a problem, right? You've got another computer hanging out nearby just in case, after all, you're a Linux user now and "serious" about tech!
Grrr. Linux has FOUR PERCENT of the desktop market after *twenty years* of attempting for more. And WHY? Instead of asking "What are we doing *wrong* that more people won't try us?", I get from the rabid Linux community "You're all a bunch of losers for not going to Linux, the superior OS!" You blame the USERS instead of standing in front of a mirror to ask "Why don't they like us more??!"
STOP forking distros. STOP repeating work, all with limited manpower, and focus on only a few distros, a few packages, a few apps, and *finally* polish the rough edges off the damn things! STOP thinking that keeping CLI-centric usage on a 21st Century desktop experience is "expert" and wanted by the very mainstream that you people are attempting to court. Make 1 or 2 distros that WORK, EVERYWHERE. All the time, on as much hardware as possible and as easy as possible whilst doing it. GUI interfaces on *everything*, (almost) nothing 'hidden' requiring CLI reconfigurations.
Users will *not* come to you, you must go to the users with an experience that has quality *and* is at least equal to the status quo. That's the known theory of customer relations: they will willingly trade for better; only trade for equal if they really must; and if at all possible never trade for worse. Linux just doesn't understand this! You *know* that the user experience, overall, isn't up to the ease-of-use or universality of Windows - never mind Mac! - but you expect users to suffer through their discomforts "because".
Keep waiting.
Steve Ballmer called, he wants his FUD back.
Just in case you weren't aware macOS has been at the Desktop game since 2001 - and it's market share is in the same ballpark as Linux - despite wrapping it's developers and users in straitjackets and having many $bns of development budget lavished on it.
Besides which mobile phones are where the action is these days, and Android (aka Linux) is in a lot more people's hands than iOS or whatever they want to call it.
I honestly don't see why you bother FUDding something that has such a small piece of the market you care about. Let the kids have their fun producing software they like using, they aren't in the way of you enjoying a random collection of 90s vintage UIs known as Windows or the different random collection of 90s vintage UIs running on macOS (not to be confused with the 80s vintage UI stuff that ran on Mac OS).
"Steve Ballmer called, he wants his FUD back."
Riiiight....
https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxsucks/comments/13g8qga/can_someone_explain_why_linux_is_bad/
(note: I just love the comment from VirginSlayerfromHell...that he should "just" recompile to solve his problems with Wayland! Yeah, way to prove Linux ease-of-use to a newbie!!)
https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxquestions/comments/11zc533/why_is_linux_so_bad_in_2023/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=590tpV3zmBY
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=linux+ltt
_____________________________________
Should I go on?? I'll fill the entire page with search results of dissatisfied attempted Linux converts in only a few moments.
Four. Per. Cent.
Why do you Linux fools ALWAYS, and I pretty much mean *always*, believe you are right, the rest of the entire world's experiences are wrong?
Four. Per. Cent.
Why do you think that Linux has such poor overall desktop adoption rates if *you* are right??
Four. Per. Cent.
I'll repeat it again, louder this time:
FOUR. PER. CENT.
Enjoy *constantly* losing this argument. All I need to do is quote actual Linux desktop satisfaction rates...
Four. Per. Cent.
and I've already won. I mean, you people are so blinded that even when Linux Torvalds HIMSELF says that Linux desktop just doesn't work as a general-purpose daily driver
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzl1B7nB9Kc
you STILL stay within your personal Reality Bubble. You'll NEVER admit the Linux problems with Average Joe users because you believe that complexity is a 'bonus' - "We have many ways to do things! You should learn your computer so you can administer it from the CLI!"
But no, no, you're right: the entire WORLD is FUD'ing against the inevitable greatness of Linux desktop. Nobody but the tech bros of the world know the reality! Linux desktop forever!! It's everything for everyone!! If it doesn't work...you're simply doing it wrong. It's your fault.
That 4% know something you don't. It Just Works.
Your echo chamber may tell you otherwise based on somebody repeating something they read online posted by someone who'd never tried it based on something they read online posted by... eventually somebody who'd seen somebody managing a server farm from the command line or possibly running s minimal set of utilities on a pre-v1.0 kernel in the '90s. Probably a few repeats of some of your own rants are in that sequence.
But those of us using it as a daily driver know it Just Works. That's as oppose to Only Just Works - don't confuse the two.
It Just Wordk. Remember that. It's why we use it.
"It Just Works..."
For you. That's the important caveat.
And you know what, that's fine! But it's not true for everyone. Any time you have to reach for the command line – it's not "just works" for most people. Any time you have to do any kind of config in a text file - not "just works" for most people.
Part of the problem is that Linux users are perpetually stuck in the 1990s. Consider the sheer volume of comments on any article here which strays into Windows claiming that the peak of user interface design was Windows 97. And Linux "just works" to the same degree, largely, that Windows 97 "just worked". Mostly, it's fine. Run into something which requires tweaking - which you will do every now and then - and you're going to have to get a knowledgeable friend in. Or try and Google it, which will lead you down a rabbit hole of bad advice and waste a lot of time, if you're not careful.
None of this is *bad*. And for a couple of non-technical friends of mine, Linux works fine. But for a few months they needed hand-holding through it, and I would welcome any effort to make that handholding less.
Most modern operating systems – macOS, Windows 11, ChromeOS -- are fairly forgiving. Users can fumble around and find workarounds for doing things, even if they're not the optimal way of doing it. Linux is not forgiving, not at all. Try the same approach and it's still remarkably easy to break things in a way which will cost you a long time (I know, I've done it).
All of which is to say: I agree with a lot of the points that are being made here. If all the effort that's spread across a bazillion distros went into two or three of them, Linux as a whole would be in a better place. There are HUGE blind spots (accessibility being the biggest). The response you get when you point out Linux's failings tends to be a thousand different variants of "well it works for me, why you can't be more like me I don't know, you must be stupid".
Linux is *remarkable*. But it's not the one true operating system, and it won't be until we stop thinking that the peak of operating systems was nearly thirty years ago.
Out of interest, when did you last try a clean install of Windows on a laptop1? What, you say you never had to because it was already installed? Hmmm...
> Linux has FOUR PERCENT of the desktop market after *twenty years* of attempting for more. And WHY?
Easy: because (generally - and I'm not including Cromebooks here), unlike Windows and MacOS, it does not come pre-installed on your PC/laptop. For the average non-tech user, there is zero motivation to change OS, even if they knew that was an option (which they most likely don't); they know what they're getting and it's at least familiar2, if annoying.
This has absolutely zilch to do with the quality and capabilities of Linux. History tells us that no OS - on any device - will ever gain mass take-up unless it is routinely pre-installed on that device.
FWIW, I've been running Mint on desktops and laptops for years and have honestly not had any major issues - some minor niggles were generally sorted quickly via a cursory google. For the most part, it Just Works.
FWIW, I am also deeply uninterested whether Linux "makes it" or not in the desktop market - it works just fine for me. I am, though, more than a little irritated by zealots such as yourself ranting ignorant shit about Linux.
1Hint: it's (a) expensive, and (b) a world of pain.
2Modulo MS gratuitously screwing with the UI on a periodic basis.
Of COURSE the fact that Linux doesn't run seamlessly on all hardware is a statement of Linux's problems and quality!!! Are you on planet Mars?!
Nobody CARES for excuses "Oh, it didn't come on your computer so it might not work". You people are standing here telling the world to switch - that is, KNOWING that the users are expected to come from something else in order to install Linux - and then, on the exact opposite hand, telling them "But it might not work...and that's your problem".
Your cognitive dissonance is astounding.
You want them to switch? Then things have to WORK. They will not, and I repeat NOT, come to a product with a overall poorer user experience. Get a grip. The world doesn't work that way and never has. People expect benefits when they trade from one to another - each benefit or penalty is weighed by each individual person and given a score, which each person uses to judge the worth of the effort of switching. If Linux had enough benefits...beyond simply being "free"...then it would already have a larger market percentage.
Isn't that a simple concept to understand??
Telling people that they can switch to Linux to move to FOSS...but then, on the exact opposite hand, also tell them that hardware issues are a known occurrence, software compatibility is a work in progress, replacements for frequently-used commercial software applications generally aren't as polished or capable, legacy software from the switch can be run on a compatibility layer but sometimes has problems, and that all these issues and more need to be tackled by the user spending time and learning about (previously) arcane systems in their computers that they never had to concern themselves with before...
and they should consider the change. Quite happily, in fact!
Ugh. It turns out the Reality Distortion Field isn't just in Cuppertino or [the current] White House.
> Of COURSE the fact that Linux doesn't run seamlessly on all hardware is a statement of Linux's problems and quality!!!
Seems like my post wooshed straight over your head.
There is no problem running Linux (or Windows, for that matter) on any hardware, that cannot be addressed with the appropriate drivers, configuration, etc. In fact in the real world Linux already runs on a way more, and more diverse devices than Windows. Of course when you buy, say, a laptop with Windows installed, the vendor has made sure that the OS is configured to work with the hardware. Exactly the same goes for Linux. You can, if you like, buy a laptop with Linux pre-installed; everything will work, because the vendor will have made sure of that. Like they did with your Windows laptop.
> You people are standing here telling the world to switch ...
Actually I am not - I said explicitly in my comment that I am personally happy with Linux, and don't really care whether someone else chooses to use it or not.
I can only assume you couldn't be arsed to read, let alone understand my post and chose to shout at me instead. As they used to say back in the day...
.
.
<plonk>
I last did a clean install of Windows (Win 10 Pro) on a laptop last week. The main problem was convincing the firmware to let it install; that problem would also have applied to Linux… except that there are no Linux drivers available for much of the hardware on that laptop. I checked with the vendor (Lenovo; I was directed to the ‘community’ wherein some said that Fedora might work but certain hardware, including but not limited to the fingerprint reader and the built in camera, would never work under Linux because there are no Linux drivers and never will be. Fedora doesn’t work. I tried. Twice. Win10 works, including all hardware. Don’t ask me why there aren’t Linux drivers for the frigging _camera_.) and I checked the wider Internet. No drivers for Linux. (If someone doubts, contact me directly and I will supply the specs.)
I put Win10 Pro on it precisely because I want to avoid MS screwing with the UI on a periodic basis; Win10 dies soon, and MS will LEAVE IT ALONE, something to be greatly desired. And no frigging Microsoft Account bullshit. Ever. I wanted to put Ubuntu on it, but… no drivers. And I can’t Hackingtosh it, because… no drivers. Win10 Pro is the best way forward. I just have to keep it well away from Ye Internet, and make sure that everything is backed up. Twice.
Having dabbled with using Linux as the base of my computing on some spare machines over several years I am, courtesy of Windows 11, trying to make a determined effort to switch to Mint as the everyday workhorse for my new laptop. It is not going as smoothly as I would like.
The basic install and set up was quite straight-forward and had most of the applications I needed. There were some underlying differences in Linux vs Windows that took a little time to sort through, but not a big deal to me and easily resolved with online research. (I would rate this as not necessarily a barrier for a 'non tech' user as they might be unfamiliar with achieving the same thing on Windows anyway and so would need to search online for a solution).
Then there are the frustratingly stubborn problems. Getting the Printer/Scanner connected - thanks for nothing Canon (MX340). Not really Linux's fault, but it is a consequence of trying to switch to Linux. Having still got Windows machines around I switch to them when printing is needed and will get the new laptop sorted over time, but I can see that an 'average' user facing the problem would be heading back to Windows.
My current PITA is setting default icons for file types - an application I am using does not set it up during its 'installation'. Using the file browser (Nemo) I can set the icon for a particular file, but not all files with that extension. So far no amount of playing around with mime.types and such has proved successful and it is getting annoying. I am interested in learning how to get Linux working** - but that is just a side interest, there are things I want to be doing on the computer.
** that might also be part of my problem - rather than simply trying various apps that claim to do the task I am trying to establish what goes on under the hood [to some extent].
Linux distro's out-of-the-box achieve a great deal and, in my experience, are very capable but problems can arise and can be tricky to resolve. The same can be said of Windows - but in many cases the path to sorting out problems is well trodden (though sometimes a bit extreme - reinstall Windows) so solutions can be found. At the moment I am finding myself spending too much of my time relying on old machines. YMMV
Your post makes no sense because:
1. Flatpak is an installer format, similar to Microsoft's MSI, and is widely used when running Windows programs on Linux
2. Chrome is the browser most Windows users actually use, so including it here makes sense. In contrast Microsoft installs Edge and opens links in it - even if you have explicitly set Chrome as your browser in Group Policy.
3. Wine - it is what actually runs Windows programs on Linux so it is also needed here.
4. Image viewers and media players - every O/S comes with these.
Which just leaves BitTorrent and the CD burner tools. I wouldn't call these "bloatware", but they aren't really needed by most Windows users.
The nice thing about Linux is you can just uninstall things you don't need and they are actually gone. Another nice thing about Linux is if you don't like the tools supplied with a distro, just use a different one that doesn't have those tools.
> it's part of Windows since XP.
XP couldn't burn CDs. That's why the once dominant freebie burner was called CD Burner XP.
https://cdburnerxp.se/en/download
I found out the other day that the German for Rome is "Rom" which makes the pun in the title of "Nero Burning ROM" even better.
https://www.nero.com/eng/products/nero-burning-rom/?vlang=gb
And as for why I was complaining: how many people burn optical disks in 2025?
I mean, I do, very occasionally, but I review weird OSes that won't boot off USB. Like, you know, Windows XP.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/24/dangerous_pleasures_win_xp_in_23/
But my last CD and DVD spindles are shrinking at ever slower rates, and like Zeno's paradox, I'm not sure I will ever get to the bottom...
"The nice thing about Linux is you can just uninstall things you don't need and they are actually gone"
I recently switched over to Linux Mint xfce 21. Really love it. However, I had installed Opera and then realized it is now owned by a Chinese company, so wanted to uninstall it. Process of uninstalling and cleaning all its residual files was really cumbersome.
Was it? How so?
Assuming the package in question was installed from a .deb, on Mint I generally use Synaptic and the "Complete Removal" option does what it says1. It is, IIRC, equivalent to "sudo apt remove --purge ...". If you want to remove dependencies installed alongside the package that are no longer required, you can use "sudo apt autoremove".
1It will not, though, remove configuration files in your home directory - this you will have to do manually (there's a reason for that!) Not sure about Opera, but if it's a well-designed application/package, local configs should be in their own folder in the .config/ directory in your home directory.
… riffing on a very good distro which itself uses ubuntu as a base, what could possibly go wrong?
Probably not much unless you introduce your own software installer.
Each to their own, but aside from the software manager you can replicate the software choices and setup in Linux mint very easily.
Sounds like a fun project for the team so kudos to them. Who knows, it may go from strength to strength.
Stan Kelly Bootle - quite the polymath. I fondly remember reading one of his books when I transitioned from proprietary Unix to Linux. Did an Internet search about him some years ago and was both saddened to hear of his passing but seriously impressed with his achievements in quite disparate areas.
There was a golden age of publishing before the introduction of broadcast radio. Then the bronze age before the introduction of broadcast TV.
But at least in Aus, there was an inter-glacial period after the ban on TV advertising of smoking, when all that cigarette advertising budget went into magazines.
"Since we mentioned the UK's Linux Format magazine, sadly, it looks like issue 329 is the last one"
Yes, sadly, Linux Format is gone, rather abruptly. It won't be continuing in digital-only format, either, as announced via the Pocketmags digital publishing site a while back. Back issues are available until April 2026 via Pocketmags and you can print your favourite articles until then, with a limit of 8 pages at a time.
I have had no notification of Linux Format ceasing although i am a subscriber.
I get pocketmags e-mails, and also futureplc ones too. Mymagazine manages my subscription, and i am paid up until April 2026 issue.
So i have spent the last hour downloading all issues as a subscriber and used the following :
https://www.linuxformat.com/archives
Once you have logged in, you can access all issues.
It is a shame that the magazine does not continue to exist even as a digital download. There was always something in every magazine that was of interest.
Linux and Windows are fundamentally different operating systems. They differ in architecture, file systems, system calls, user interfaces, applications, and software ecosystems. Dressing Linux to look like Windows does not change these underlying differences. Many Windows applications do not run natively on Linux, and those that do often require compatibility layers like Wine. Wine does not feel like Windows and often lacks the same behaviour, interface consistency, and support for features such as system integration, shell extensions, and certain Windows-specific APIs. Any attempt to make Linux behave like Windows results in a system that is neither fully Windows nor a true Linux, often reducing Linux to a simplified or compromised version of itself.
Well yes, and no, or maybe.
Whatever, I see no problem of having distros whose desktop design make it easy for users who never do anything than point and click to transition from windows. This is particularly relevant as many win10 users are running hardware which won't support win11, so, do they try a new, free, OS or simply shell out for new hardware?
Yes, but people aren't used to running any OS other than Windows, as the people who try to make a Windows-user-friendly distro since last century have repeatedly told us. And this is true because nobody has invented tablets and smartphones using fancy operating systems yet. I'm sure Steve Jobs will change that at his next keynote, though...
My mum doesn’t care, as long as the tools she needs to do what she wants, are found where she expects to find them and look how she expects they will. So putting a Linux on her PC that looks like Windows is fine with her and me, if it saves her a few hundred quid.
Just Win32 still works.
And on Linux? Which version of Qt? Or GTK? Or something else? Ah but under Linux a common GUI was never a target - every software has to have its shitty one. That's "freedom".
It's true Windows followed the "web UI" bandwagon too now, and in fact we see the enshittified results. And all the good IDEs to design nice UIs are gone... again because a hoard of bad developers came with the "web applications".
You're perfectly right. It's Linux can't get a desktop sytem right, and lacks applications many people need, and not all will adapt to their subpar couterparts available under Linux.
Linux is sitll essentially a server OS, and a OS useful for some developers who can't use anything beyond vi, and system administrators who touch some text file only when forced to do so. Sure, there are some vertical solutions developed on Linux because it's cheaper than other OSes, but they are not for the general public.
So inteead of taking its own path, and become an appealing platform for the software users need, Linux chase Windows endlessly - you see on the Reg here too, "hey, Windows 11 won't run on your old PC, please, please, switch to Linux, please, please".
That's not what a really competitive desktop OS should need.... people should choose it regardless of where Windows is going, because they feel it fulfill their needs better. Yet it doesn't, and it couldn't until the mindset behind its development is changed.
I mean it would be cool to have a sort of AppImage-like bundle where you have a Windows application like Photoshop or MS Office that "just works". A combination of a certain Windows app version, a certain Wine version, and the right Wine configuration that's been proven to work and won't suddenly break because some random library got an update. And all downloadable in one file that acts like it's a standalone app.
I think there was a project called "Winepak" that attempted this several years ago but then died.
And before that, Google Picasa had an official Linux app that was basically the Windows app bundled with Wine.
I mean it would be cool to have a sort of AppImage-like bundle where you have a Windows application like Photoshop or MS Office that "just works".
Er, isn't that the mission statement of Docker ?
I'm a bit of a Dockler fanbois with HomeAssistant, piHole, Deluge, gPodder all running as containers on my little Deb12 server. All of a sudden arsing around with infinite combinations of Python, php, Apache, MySQL etc etc are history.
> Er, isn't that the mission statement of Docker ?
No. Docker has nothing to do with running Windows apps via WINE at all.
And if it did and if people did package Windows apps for Linux this way, the result would be having multiple copies of different versions of WINE, which is not a desirable outcome at all.
Docker is an utter pain in the fricking rectum to set up, I'm no newbie to tech but I found installing the thing frustrating as hell with multiple websearches needed "oh yeah they don't make that clear but you need to type this command in"
"They assume you know you need to add your user to this group it doesn't do it automatically "
I mentioned to a programmer friend....his reply was that he feels similar often, that it gets more in his way than helps....
"Surely the only people who switch to Linux are those that actually want to?"
Or are switched by their children. I am seriously considering switching my mother (94) over to a Linux distro. She needs Chrome, and access to Whatsapp - and that's probably all. It needs a very, very, Windows-like UI. Different system calls are entirely irrelevant.
> She needs Chrome, and access to Whatsapp
Try her on ChromeOS Flex.
Task bar at the bottom. Program launcher doodad at bottom left. Clock at bottom right. Apart from a file manager the only app is Chrome.
Plus of course:
https://web.whatsapp.com/
Whenever I read a comment complaining about the number of available Linux distros available, I just sorrowfully shake my head. What's the problem?
There are hundreds of brands of bread, each with several different types (e.g. sourdough, wholegrain, steam baked white, etc.) but nobody is complaining that they're starving because they can't make up their mind, or all just buying the one type of bread made by ShaftU Corp. that will only toast in a ShaftU Corp. toaster.
Likewise, thousands of types & brands of vehicles but choices are made that suit the requirements & wants of the intended user.
Often, people delegate some or all of the task of choosing to consumer advice magazines/websites such Which? or What Car?, so named to make it blinding obvious what they're for; if only there was something like that for Linux Distros..
Oh, wait, there's Distrowatch and The Register!
But, the thing that most annoys me it is that people are complaining about the hard work of others that's being given away FOR FREE out of pure altruism.
Before you complain about any aspect of Linux, consider this: IS IT WORTH WHAT YOU PAID FOR IT? </rant>
> I'm not if I understood it correctly: they're pre-installing WINE and integrating it with the operating system
Yes.
> so you can transparently install and run Windows applications?
Sort of. But the point is that there are Windows apps in its app store which it will install for you.
I personally think this is a very nice touch. I've never been able to get any Windows application to run on WINE no matter how trivial.
Last one I tried was Password Safe and it had all sorts of issues. Fortunately for me they created a native Linux version so that's what I use these days.
I understand that this Linux version isn't for everyone, but it suits me, my mum and the old PC and Laptops I refurbish for the Online Centre I volunteer at.
I expect no existing Linux users to like my approach, but this OS isn't for you, it's for your mum, for your non tech friends.
Each decision I made wasn't random and my focus was to make LLStore work with every Linux and windows.
So since July last year I've started using Linux and while I was learning I made scripts and automation for the things I had to put time into, so that I didn't have to remember them or do them again. As I've been modding windows for decades, I transfered my knowledge and experience to Linux as best I could.
As for the Mac sand dunes wallpaper, that is because LastOSLinux includes the 32 bit UEFI boot loader, meaning you can install it on iMacs and MacBook Pros from the late 2000's up to the M1 ARM change over, I don't own any ARM hardware so can not build and test for that, even though XOJO supports ARM now (and native Mac), so in the future someone might get LLStore working on them too.
I decided instead of being selfish and just moving myself to Linux to see who wanted to come along with me. It's true that a majority of Linux only users actually are set in their ways and have forgotten how different it is for people who are only just starting, also expecting them to have programming and scripting knowledge. The fact is my OS is made so you install it and use it, having the tools windows and LastXP, Last7, Last10 and Last11 users (10's of thousands of them), could feel comfortable using as I have given many years of my time (sometimes 16+ hours a day) building, testing, sharing and supporting my work.
I am not taking on making a while Distro, just a topper that makes life easier for us to use any existing Linux Distro.
I love Mint for it's stability and familiar approach. But the fact is BigLinux and Nobara have newer packages and Kernels, making them better suited for hard core gamers. After I install either of those OS's, I run LLStore off my USB drive that has all the repository items locally stored and I can install the themes, tweaks, apps and games without having to go dependency hunting or sort making shortcuts, associations etc. it's all part of my automation.
I've been doing all this long enough to know haters gonna hate, so I only focus on those who say thank you, ask questions or offer suggestions. Just this morning I added the ability to resume a failed queued installation as there is a known bug in Debian and XOJO, if you install a font and it refreshes the cache it will close all instances of LLStore, so now you can resume where it stopped :)
Every single bit of work on this distro, webpage, support, testing, building the repository and bug fixing has been done by myself, except for the conky theme and boot theme, these were improved by a couple of the members who frequent LastOS.org. so the fact 1 man is trying so hard to make something, mentioning the default wallpaper and rushed documents seems like a minor gripe and I am happy with this review above, thank you.
I'm curious how they managed to get Photoshop CC running under Wine 9 with a standard installer? Last I heard is that 2019 was the latest version of Photoshop that will run in Wine but to get it to run you needed to install it in a virtual Windows machine first and then copy a couple of directories into your wine directory before it would run under just wine itself?
It uses a preinstalled version, with the AppData and common files extracted to relevant paths, then it uses genp to bypass activation checks. I then removed camera raw and liquify as these are large and do not function in Linux at all. I modified Mint hotkey from alt to super key so adobe works with the tools that require alt and clicking. So it's fully usable and lite. I wish the AI features worked, but having what I do is still handy while I am converting from Adobe to gimp 3.
I stopped my Adobe subscriptions renewing in March, I used to spend time doi g photo repairs on Reddit and Facebook groups for a while, making $5 to $10 every now and then and when I'd made enough money to purchase an Adobe subscription I brought a year's subscription to try all the AI stuff out. I've since moved on from doing that as I noticed 5 or 6 regulars would edit pictures and would require each of us to repeat work so I started sharing dust and scratch repaired images for others to enhance from them, a few did, but it was too time consuming. I've left it as the AI is improving so much that it seemed pointless to keep refining my repair skills.
Seems like a bit of a chicken and egg thing with linux.
People will like the idea of using lininx as it's free, does basic tasks well (for 95% of non gaming users), generally reliable and opens up a world of FOSS to them.
But they are terrified of tech change, we here are the wrong audience, most home users want nothing to do with the guts of a computer and never want to see a command line.
So they need help to switch, or need a switching service. And that's not going to happen for free. As soon as you introduce the idea of paying for linux they will switch off and will buy a W11 machine, an iPad or just do without and use their unsupported W10 kit. So free with no help they won't switch, small charge to hlep switch they won't bother.
Is Linux install easy, well yes IF it works. I have been a PC user personally and professionally for 30yr, I've used Linux off and on for nearly 25yr and I still find fixing Linux an utter bastard at times. If the install fails it is not easy to fix, not at all and I have a much better idea what to do than most.
What might work, is an AI LLM switching assistant. When switched my W10 machine to Linux and the install crapped out on a display driver I used GPT to help fix it. I would not have been able to do it alone. I think a trained LLM could be the cheap way to hlep people switch.
> So they need help to switch, or need a switching service.
Or they buy a machine with Linux pre-installed and pre-configured. You know, like they do with Windows, MacOS, their mobile phone, smart TV, games console, car, fridge, ...
Shame that few desktop/laptop vendors offer this option. (Now that may well be a chicken/egg thing: vendors don't offer the pre-installed Linux option - or if they do, hardly go out of their way to market it - presumably due to lack of demand; but demand is contingent on consumer awareness and availability.)
Linux requires specific hardware, the same way you don't put petrol in a diesel truck or your gonna have a bad time. If you buy things guaranteed to work perfect with Linux, it does run better than a windows machine.
Arguing over free OS's is a waste of your time, either offer a better solution than those who are already trying to improve things, or offer them constructive feedback. Linux doesn't suck or have major problems, the Desktop Environments, Drivers can do and the fact it's not a clone of a Windows OS means it'll never replace windows for a lot of people, it's not trying to. It's a tool set that requires lots of time to learn/train yourself to use correctly. As many have said, most of us grew up learning piece by piece how to use and fix windows OS's, but none of that transfers over to Linux much at all, your starting from square one. Of course if your lack the patience, time and desire to change your existing tools/OS and workflow you will never get far learning Linux, that doesn't make it good/bad or broken, it's just a different tool to one you've used before.
Many drivers that are incomplete on branded hardware can be fixed by buying Linux Compatible USB devices to replace any inbuilt devices. If your not willing to do this then it's often better to stay on Windows as some hardware will require this. It really depends on if you actually use the hardware that doesn't work with Linux or not. I mean the camera's on laptops usually suck and the fingerprint readers aren't really much quicker now you need to do a 2FA anyway - so why use it at all?
I am not saying everyone needs to switch to Linux, just home users with hardware that can't run Windows 11 have a choice to try. Work and Business Computers require more than most Linux Distro's can offer. Those who find the time to learn Linux see it's value and do not need convincing to use it. All we really should be discussing is how much better things have been getting with Linux over the last 5 to 10 years, so even if the Desktop market never takes off for Linux, for it's continued use on servers, the internet back bone, super computers, Android devices, space/robots, fridges, smart homes, Single Board Computers, Handhelds, consoles etc etc, Linux has already won! So not having the major home desktop share is not a problem, it's all a passion project.
The choice and freedom Linux gives users is valuable. It's a shame that some people pick sides based on their limited experience with each. So long as progress is being made, I don't see a need to fight - the fact Microsoft just made VSCode and WSL open sourced shows even they know the true value Linux has and it's not money.
What usually happens is we get things working perfect for us in all the test cases we can try. But then new things come out, old things are dropped and we're left with unsupported hardware again. It's not that we release broken OS's or tools. It's just the march of time in a profit driven world makes it very hard to get the information we need to make things work without windows.
Best of luck
Sad to hear it's gone, if that's what's happened. I subscribed for a couple of years from issue 1, and still have the 'pilot' issue ('Linux Answers'?) and cover CD around somewhere. I tried many of the distros from later issues' discs, found that Ubuntu worked quite well, then tried Linux Mint and have not changed since.
By the way, I salute the chap who created this Linux Mint spin; it's not for me, but congrats on making it happen.
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