What Killed the Linux Desktop (2012)

Re:What Killed the Linux Desktop (2012) by udp on Sunday February 05, 2017 @11:55AM (#13573210)

> Put Unity Ubuntu on that same machine, and it's unusable garbage. I can't even hit alt-F5 to get to another terminal because Unity slows the whole rig down to an absolute crawl. Like, can't even move the mouse, 5 minutes between keypress and action taking place. Fuck Unity. I blame Unity about 40% for killing the Linux desktop.

Have you tried Xubuntu? It fills the gap that Ubuntu used to, and it's my go-to desktop OS now (apart from on my MacBook because only OS X is usable on high DPI displays). I've also installed it for non-technical friends and family and they've found it much more familiar than recent Windows versions.

In an age when the family computer is just as likely to be running Android or iOS, I think the Linux desktop has a niche and we need to start evangelizing it again. Even for the typical home user it feels more powerful than ever when you compare it to such "appliance" operating systems, which Windows and OS X seem determined to become.

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Re:What Killed the Linux Desktop (2012) by acmecorps on Sunday February 05, 2017 @12:06PM (#13573261)

Like the OP, I absolutely despise Unity and tried to find a different route. I came across xubuntu - tried it and absolutely love the simplicity. It's minimal, gets out of the way when you need it; but, best of all, it's USABLE. Can't praise it enough.

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Re:What Killed the Linux Desktop (2012) by yellowapple on Sunday February 05, 2017 @03:20PM (#13574378)

To expand on this, Ubuntu MATE is also a viable option if you literally want Ubuntu with the old DE (since MATE is a fork of GNOME2).

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Re:What Killed the Linux Desktop (2012) by ythn on Monday February 06, 2017 @12:22AM (#13576715)

I've tried so many Linux distros over the years, and Xubuntu impressed me enough that I've abandoned all other distros for around 5 years now. It's got the perfect balance of trade-offs that make it fast, usable, and low-maintenance.

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Re:What Killed the Linux Desktop (2012) by krasicki on Monday February 06, 2017 @09:55AM (#13579911)

Thumbs up to Xubuntu - best GUI across vendors. The latest Unity desktop is a vast improvement over the initial rollouts (this my current work environment).

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Re:What Killed the Linux Desktop (2012) by raverbashing on Sunday February 05, 2017 @06:15PM (#13575316)

XFCE: lightweight and powerful

That's my choice as well

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Re:What Killed the Linux Desktop (2012) by JustSomeNobody on Sunday February 05, 2017 @08:35PM (#13575905)

Good thing about XFCE is that xrdp still works when you need it.

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Re:What Killed the Linux Desktop (2012) by VonGuard on Sunday February 05, 2017 @12:01PM (#13573241)

I've long ago moved on from this. This was many years ago. We put a lot of Linux desktops in a lot of homes, though. Thousands a year.

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