Pop_OS makes using Linux easy
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1. No snap packages! 2. Easy full disk encryption during install. 3. Optional tiling window manager right in gnome. 4. Nvidia drivers just work with no effort. 5. HiDpi displays just do the right thing with no effort.
I also use ZFS (non-root), which was just an 'apt install' away. This is also true on Ubuntu, but nice either way.
Only downside I've seen is that it's still X11. From what I read there were Wayland stability issues so they are giving that more time to bake.
I believe their in house DE is going to be Wayland based. I'm personally very excited, it may finally be the DE to unify my Linux boxes away from i3/Sway/GNOME.
`apt install chromium-browser` installs Chromium as a snap package. If you don't have snapd installed, it'll "helpfully" install it for you.
It's become a binary choice between snap and flatpak, with flatpak being preferred by all major Ubuntu forks (Pop OS, elementary OS, Linux Mint). I won't be shocked if years from now Ubuntu decides snap is no longer worth it, like they did with Mir and Unity.
Alternatively, the *ubuntus have Snap pre-installed and recently said they are removing Flatpak support, although I believe the user can install Flatpak if they want to use flatpaks.
Uninstalling snap removed every web browser available short of lynx and w3m. That was fun. Trying to add one back also adds snap back. Next install I'm ditching Ubuntu.
If you can avoid all that by using Pop or Mint, why not?
Regular Ubuntu (and Debian) does not need any of this.
> The boot loader and kernel must be signed with a trusted key recognized by the UEFI firmware. Microsoft maintains a widely trusted key for Secure Boot called the Microsoft UEFI Certificate Authority, and many Linux distributions use it to sign their boot loaders and kernels. This enables them to boot on systems with Secure Boot enabled by default.
Even more problematic is that X11 lacks user-noticeable deficiencies. Architecturally it has (partially severe) issues, but as an user, you don't notice. But if you're blind, need a screen reader, or want to use software enabling you to interact with the desktop environment outside of the classical, expected hardware (mouse, touchpad, screen), you're still out of luck. At least, screenshots mostly work now.
Yeah I know, probably unpopular opinion.
¹ https://wiki.gnome.org/Accessibility/Wayland (2017) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25175894
I ran Linux Mint with X11 and KDE for a few months and it was mostly pleasant. (There was an issue with brightness controls when using auto-switching hybrid graphics, but I don't know if that's an X11 vs Wayland issue.)
[0] https://superuser.com/questions/1221333/screensharing-under-...
If you have an AMD graphics card it’s fairly trivial to switch Pop_OS over.
I found it to be very obviously a clear improvement in app start time and general snappiness in the OS. To extent that meaningfully improved the experience.
Apparently there are gaming benefits too, steamdeck has adopted it for this reason.
Yes I have, with Ubuntu 22.04 and kubuntu 22.04. As a result, I've switched to Mac OS ;) Though not because of Wayland specifically but eg. libinput causing physical pain as opposed to the nonlinear/kinetic scroll synaptics had was definitely a contributing factor, along with other regressions making me want to throw my notebook out of the window.
The next morning I booted into the USB, and 15 minutes later was logged into the DE.
Everything. Worked.
Wifi? Sound? Worked.
Nvidia? Worked. I couldn’t believe it.
Latest version of Python? Already there.
Big fan of that sort of experience.
I do wish the Pop community would start up an initiative for building components for enterprise management. Much of it is already there because of SystemD but remote administration and management would be good. Something similar to Zorin Grid. The reason I'm a fan of this is so that I can use Pop at work.
I've found Pop to be mostly similar but preferable (seems more Desktop oriented).
I've also had very few issues with (IME )typical Linux stuff (doesn't sleep, doesn't wake from sleep etc.) I can't say the same about my Ubuntu desktop, which struggles to maintain two weeks of uptime without one of these issues.
Pop shall remain for the foreseeable future.
This laptop does have issues with external displays, unfortunately, but has been used as a laptop 90% of the time so it's not a big issue. Fear that's the best one can expect with Desktop Linux.
Things just work: nvidia drivers, firmware updates, bluetooth, multiple screens, switching keyboards (bt to usb and vice versa), games (steam, heroic launcher), keyboard backlight (it's a pain on other distros for some reason), those little led indicators on fn buttons, the fn buttons!
The laptop overall is quieter (fans running slow), cooler, snappier - all with an amazing battery life.
This is compared to Windows - something that apparently Intel spent time testing this particular model of laptop with. (one of my relatives works there)
The tiling window manager is a productivity enhancer (feels better than i3wm to me, ymmv). I recently had the privilege of connecting to a 2K display using the thunderbolt port. This thing somehow felt faster (a couple 100ms, but it was noticeable). I have reached a point where Mac feels slow and Windows is just unusable. I'm having a great time with this OS.
Only 1 thing doesn't work: Intel WiFi display. But I guess that technology doesn't have enough market proliferation anyway. So. That.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000...
There are some things that can be annoying, like; Using 2 different wallpapers on two monitors required me to edit an image on Gimp and just set a single wallpaper. I selected the wrong keyboard layout/language at install and now i must run a macro every time to force the correct one. My ALSAMIXER is always at 10% volume on my USB headset on boot (but i suppose it's an easy fix). I just cant run Vmware Player anymore, after a particular update from some months ago, the netmon module will not compile anymore.
But overall, everything is great; For the games it can run (Steam + Proton), sometimes is better than windows! I can run AI stuff (LLMs, stable-diffusion, etc) with absolute no issues or hiccups. It's blazing fast.
I just miss some particular softwares that have never been ported to Linux, but that will be solved with time i hope.
I'm also very much looking forward to the new window manager, Cosmic.
Edit: Now if we could just get it to run on Apple silicon, that would be amazing.
However, I do like PopOS, I'm glad I got it pre-installed when I got the laptop, which I was on the fence about. I did have to tweak it to be like how I want, but that's true of every linux ever.
With win11 being such a disaster I suspect my windows days are finally numbered. Hopefully PopOS is still good when I finally need to switch full time.
It's godsend. I ran out of time to fiddle with i3wm years ago, but dearly missed being able to tile. It's a perfect middle ground.
GNOME frustrates me so Pop_OS is the only place I currently use it. Will likely be moving all my GUI Linux boxes to COSMIC once it kicks off.
That said, you can also install and use KDE or whatever other packaged WM/DE you feel like.
Sure you could start swapping around core components but it strongly suggests it's not the right desktop environment for you personally.
I love it, but totally get that's not for everyone.
https://i.stack.imgur.com/YjUTQ.png
It's surely worse in the 16 years since.
Also a lot of that stuff is arguably obsolete. 90% of Linux apps will just dump audio to PulseAudio, which is neatly managed through PipeWire. A few professional apps use JACK2, which is also PW managed. Everything else will default to an ALSA sink wired through, you guessed it, PipeWire. It's like a boring and remarkably stable version of the Wayland situation.
I know to the end user this doesn't really make a difference, but everyone seems to blame Linux when there really isn't anything Linux devs can do about this kind of thing.
It just works ©
I'm going to make a switch when I get a new SSD. Pop_OS is #1 on my list to try.
I strayed to Mint for the last 10 years or so and only recently gave Pop_OS a try. I was delighted to see the "Welcome to Colorado" wallpaper on there right after installation. Now Pop_OS is the only distro I use. Hats off to System76 for their contribution.
I recently inherited an HP All-In-One desktop that was extremely sluggish with Windows. I have yet to find anything seriously wrong with Pop_OS and feel it really strikes a good balance. Yes the Pop!_Shop is definitely the weak point. It worked great for many applications, but when it didn't I was able to install fairly painless using other options (apt-get...).
It's very clear in the Pop!_Shop whether it's a flatpak or not, which is nice ....
I have often seen multiple entries in the pop shop for things like kodi or vlc, and it can be a crap shot on if it works or not. sometimes there's a dropdown but often it's two entries in the search results with similar descriptions and no indication of installation method.
Other than that, best desktop linux experience so far for me.
I just tested it out and some applications like GIMP and INKSCAPE appear as a result and when you click on it, it has a drop-down in which you can choose between the flatpak and deb version. Unfortunately the flatpak is the default choice, so many people would probably never even know about the alternative choice.
Other applications a clearly different, and it's not clear what you are getting. Like VLC.
Then you have some like BATTLE FOR WESNOTH that shows two results. One of the two (if you activate it) has the drop-down, but both choices are flatpaks. The other result is apparently NOT a flatpak, but not clear in what it is.
I now see I have more flatpaks than I believed I had. They are working nicely at least, the ones I am using.
If you open up Pop Shop (their GUI alternative) you'll see both flatpaks and debs. If an app could be installed by either they have a dropdown next to the install button that defaults to flatpak.
I think that's probably the best compromise possible. Power users get what they want, novices get something that probably just works, and intermediate users are guided towards learning about the distinction.
They should drop the underscore. At the time I wrote this comment "pop" appears 21 times on this page, and only 3 of those times bother to follow it with an underscore.
The brand is Pop or Pop OS. The only thing the underscore accomplishes is communicating "this is at least a little awkward" which I hope they don't intend.
Yeah, but then the resulting word "popos" has a relatively negative, or at least embarrassing, connotation in several languages :)
Branding is important, and "Pop!_OS" is unique but not in a good way.
I've known people who have been running PopOS (my preferred) for years who can't remember if the bang comes after the pop, or after the os. And everyone hates the underscore.