Posts by Jeff3171351982 28 publicly visible posts • joined 2 Jun 2016
Yeah. I see "Sony", and the first thing that comes to mind is DRM. Maybe management just can't control everything. E.g., I'm still amazed that Logitech management allowed the open sourcing of the Logitech Media Server (now Lyrion Media Server). This is a super informative article, btw.
Great stuff. It brought to mind a photo of some Ukrainian military personnel working at a wall of screens with windows desktops that accompanied an article in a New York newspaper near the start of the war. I had been wondering whether or not they would be using Linux. Seeing the desktops, I then wondered about the windows licenses.
I don't know that much about Wayland--only that when my (former and cursed) distro defaulted to it after an update, things I depended on couldn't be used any longer. Wayland is not good for a mere end user like me, but I guess for certain developers it's nice.
Since mx Linux was mentioned here a couple of times, I just want to note that I've been checking out mx Linux kde (for a full size PC), since the recent kde neon rollout of plasma 6 has shaken my trust some in neon, such that I'm holding off on updating my main PCs (upgrade to 6 included in updates presented as recommended security updates on the User Edition, not the Testing, Unstable or Dev editions, caused malfunctions and gui issues (on my testing PC), some of which were quickly corrected). I've installed MX Linux kde on a test machine. Light usage was pretty uneventful for about a week, but then the panel started disappearing from my desktop. I do like that mx includes a newer version of Timeshift than is available in the repo used by kde neon. MX Linux has a dev identified as anticapilista, and I may not be able to get comfortable using mx Linux to do work for clients who are pursuing capitalistic endeavors. Didn't want to distro-hop after 4 years with neon, but looking for insurance.
Initially, it broke the shutdown & restart options on the menu on the panel. Nate Graham from KDE has since apologized "It should be fixed now with a new Neon snapshot. But I’m really sorry this happened. The roll-out of Neon’s packaging of Plasma 6 was unacceptable, and we’ll be conducting an investigation to determine how it happened and make sure it doesn’t recur." https://discuss.kde.org/t/shutdown-button-not-working-after-switching-to-kde-6-on-kde-neon/11025/14 They offer Testing, Unstable, and Developer editions, but I use the User Edition because it is supposedly "Ideal for everyday users." This was ridiculous. I'm a KDE neon user who only hit update because a red light indicated security update (I only updated on a testing a machine, but still). On X11, the panel now doesn't appear for 22 seconds after the desktop appears after boot. The panel has other weird non-responsiveness and behaviors now. My custom shortcut for dim inactive has been moved, and while not deleted, it was made non-functional (so I had to relearn how to make it work). Wayland appears to be a reason for a number of changes. Lovely. I know it doesn't quite fit here, but LP's recent statement that "It makes X11 look very overcomplicated, and it makes Wayland look like it was invented by Microsoft." was going through my mind while I was trying to deal with KDE neon's bad update. https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/21/successor_to_unix_plan_9/
Before I had ever heard about computers, I didn't even want a computer.
I didn't even know I wanted a portrait display until I walked into a business computer store with my dad in the 80s, and saw something that I think was by Xerox.
I most passionately came to want a software company to stay out of my business when Microsoft forcibly introduced Windows 10.
Funny about choice (and expectations management) in implanted chips from someone on Mastodon https://social.makerforums.info/@NedMan/111848623311348167
True that my hardware has been refreshed since I was using Kubuntu. Although, the other distros that I tried before hardware refreshing didn't have the freezing issues. I'll keep an open mind. (Also, I do worry that forthcoming Plasma 6 on neon could break things, so I need alternatives on standby.)
Since the article points out that Linuxes don't phone home & usage numbers are hard to know, I'm noting here my continued use of KDE neon for 3+ years. I know LP isn't a big fan of KDE neon, but I am a fan of LP and just want to make sure my vote gets counted. I converted to Linux back when Windows 10 came out. I tried a variety of Linuxes & desktop environments, was kind of amazed by KDE, and after about 3 different KDE distros, found neon to hold up the best, so I stuck with it. My goals are easy GUI, low telemetry, some ability to tweak, reliability, and lowest friction when installing Linux apps outside of a distro's main repo (which in personal experience means known to run on current Ubuntu LTS). The KDEs I had to pass on included Kubuntu (unreliable, froze), Manjaro (great until broken by update), Fedora (some apps I needed didn't have rpms handy), Debian (decent, but couldn't afford time too learn new things which seemed to already easily work on other distros). I do actually keep an MX Linux box updated, just in case neon fails/goes away. (Wife's also on neon, kids on Ubuntu, and Mom's a Zorin.)
I should add that my main neon machine has 3 monitors, and neon is quite bad for getting multiple monitors set to one's liking (like, once you've got your setup, don't disconnect or add a monitor!). But, even with this, neon still checks the most boxes for me. Thank you for the opportunity to comment (and thank you for the articles).
Some people may prefer not to have their in-laws visit. Even if one's in-laws never visit one's home, the in-laws will still--over time--know what one is up to. I actually like my in-laws, and am happy to have them visit and stay at my home. However, I would not be able to work with them sitting in my office, even if they keep quiet.
The biggest change for me is telemetry. I became aware of it with Windows 10. It is ever-increasing. I use Linux not because I love it, but because I try to reduce telemetry. Almost every time I consider engaging with some technology (apps,tvs,transport,discounts), I think about telemetry and try to find the path, which has the least of it.
Rule 28(a)(3) of US Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure state that appellant's brief must contain "a table of authorities—cases (alphabetically arranged), statutes, and other authorities—with references to the pages of the brief where they are cited". Have to switch to Word in virtualbox to do a brief like this (and exchange comments on it with others). For regulatory work, which involves drafting comment letters to be submitted to a regulator, LO usually OK to start.
https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/federal_rules_of_appellate_procedure_december_1_2022_0.pdf#page=45
Would sure love to have better outlining ability too.
2+ years on KDE neon. I use it for work (law).
Dolphin is a decent file browser. I really enjoy right-clicking on a file and selecting copy location to copy a path of the file into my clipboard. I do it a lot.
KDE neon is less than artful at managing multiple monitors--I know because I have 3 monitors on my setup. In system settings, you can select any monitor as the "primary monitor," but the selection has limited impact. Getting apps and windows to automatically open on a preferred monitor takes effort (Configure Special Window/Application Settings) and behavior depends on the app. The settings tend to hold, unless you unplug a monitor or change the order of monitors.
I like (i.e., need) a GUI. I came to Linux because of Windows 10 telemetry. Hopped around on distros for about 2 years before KDE neon. Started with Solus Budgie, but had some issues installing certain apps. Tried Ubuntu Mate, but was not quite rich enough of a desktop, and Manjaro was amazing (or I was just blown away by KDE)--until an update killed it. Kubuntu froze randomly. I also looked at KDE on Fedora (but was less familar than Ubuntu) and KDE on MX Linux (ok, but seemed a bit noisy, feature-wise). KDE neon has (fingers crossed) mostly been just working for the past 2 years.
I use Ubuntu Mate on machines that I will only access via x2go (e.g., offsite or headless), as a desktop served via x2go server is a smoother connect process when its Ubuntu Mate than KDE neon, in my experience.
I do wish KDE neon would get more mention in distro discussions. I know it's claimed to not exactly be "a distro," but it is the version of KDE which has been the most reliable for me.
One issue I occasional experience with KDE neon is that the panel (I have vertically on the left side of my desktop) disappears and comes back after 2 seconds. This happens rarely--maybe a couple of times in one month, and then maybe not for months at a time.
Some basic but important things that have been working for me on KDE neon: editing applications on the application menu, scanning on an HP MFP M478 to a samba share, printing to HP and Dell printers on the network. Autokey (gtk) shortcuts work, as does a custom Kwin shortcut to dim inactive windows (via help from Reddit). Remarkably, PulseEffects started working recently (perhaps it had something to do with the Jammy Jellyfish upgrade), so now I have working equalization to add some bass to my headphones.
Frankly, on occasion, I look at my desktop PC running KDE neon, with many apps accomplishing things efficiently simultaneously, and I am in awe of the fact I have this powerful system doing so much, without the need of OS license from Microsoft, without massive amounts of telemetry (but some monitoring here and there, depending on apps), and without having an inordinate amount of skill to set it up.
I very much look forward to your article on KDE problems. (And, it is already good information to hear about the indignant reaction in your discussions.) There's all kinds of room for improvement, which I hope you will be able to encourage. I do just want to note that I have been able to make my KDE neon setup do a whole lot of useful things--hard to be sure where the credit should go, but it does let this GUI user get work done.
Main pc: KDE neon 5.26, X11, AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, 32gb ram, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760
{This is my new favorite article.} There almost seems to be another category between open source and closed source (perhaps decent closed-source?). Probably not a long list, but an interesting example of closed source software that is convenient (cross-platform, no vendor lock-in) is Obsidian. Free or $50 per year for commercial use.
I installed it (i.e., UbuntuDDE Remix 21.10 Impish) and found the following funny:
I created an 18 character user password during the install process, and received the message "Password too long," which went away when I reduced it to 16 characters.
Mildly ironic:
After installation of the OS, the Control Center made it simple enough to find how to switch the system language from English to Chinese, however, how to instead select a Chinese language input method and keep the menus in English, was less obvious. I did find IBus Preferences with the launcher and was able to enable Chinese language pinyin input by following steps I have used on other Linux systems.
Buggy:
Pressing the minimize button on an app window did minimize the app down to the taskbar, but if the app was brought back up into view, clicking the minimize button no longer did anything (I could still minimize by clicking on the app's icon in the taskbar).
Unsmooth:
Trying to shutdown from the taskbar or launcher leads to a message about Unattended Upgrades Shutdown and forcing shutdown may cause data loss (even after the OS was updated and restarted and the Software Updater indicated that the software was up to date).
And, that's about it. Time to uninstall. I've been using KDE Neon as daily driver for more than a year, and other setups (Linux or otherwise) continue to impress less. I will note that getting the Chinese language input method setup on UbuntuDDE was easier than doing so on KDE Neon, however, I expected something way better. To analogize, before one gets to own a car that one likes a lot, rental cars can be exciting, but once you own a car you really like, a rental may be novel, but likely will be a letdown. Initial impression of UbuntuDDE felt like one of those unexceptional rentals (but I'm still glad that TheReg put it on my radar).
"increasing the number steps to achieve them" So true! I used to click once to split a screen in Word. Now I have to go and type the word "split" into a box (sometimes, it remembers what I typed and there are 2 clicks). Of course, who knows, maybe there is a way to click just once, but its hidden.
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