So you want to try switching to Ubuntu? | Hacker News Reader

So you want to try switching to Ubuntu?

mhall119.com

15 pointsvgnet14 comments

I feel this article doesn't really meet Hacker News quality guidelines.

-> We aren't usually stupid enough to "Google for software" and download it from shady warez sites and get viruses.

-> Of course there are Linux alternatives to Windows software.

-> Of course there are Windows programs that will not work in Windows.

On topic, the real thing to consider is whether or not core tools that you use in a day to day production environment have comparable alternatives on other platforms (Photoshop? A specific feature only in Office? Stuff dependent on Windows libraries? .NET? (Will mono work with it well?)

I need the Adobe suite to make the switch. I can't get away from that. I don't care if you can achieve similar results with other tools. Flash, Photoshop and various third party plugins are so tightly integrated into my workflow I would lose money and clients by making the switch.

I dual boot with Ubuntu on my Macbook. For anyone thinking about making the switch, it is really easy.

My primary tools for daily life:

-> Instant messenger.

-> Email client.

-> Web browser.

-> Text editor.

Both MacOS and Ubuntu Linux have excellent working options for each, so I don't miss MacOS when I'm in Linux. Infact, sometimes I miss Linux when I'm in MacOS.

Oh.. and if you're dual-booting, Ubuntu mounts the MacOS partition as read-only, which is great for being able to access stuff in my mac partition.

IME, you're going to want non-Nvidia graphics for Gnome3.

What is the advantage of that?

I've had varying levels of success using gnome3 with the nvidia drivers. With one install, gnome-shell would crash about every day. On another, I didn't notice any bugs other than sometimes when adding a second monitor (easily fixed with the nvidia config).

Currently I have decided not to use the nvidia drivers and haven't needed them for anything I do.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...

TL; DR: You're changing OSes, expect for a complete change in landscape.

If, according to the author, "In the Linux ecosystems, we do things a little (ok a lot) smarter", then we shouldn't be discussing things like this: https://plus.google.com/109922199462633401279/posts/HgdeFDfR...

The article itself is just some basic advice for people new to linux that want to try Ubuntu.

I switched from Ubuntu to Fedora for my dev machines (two thinkpad laptops). I still use Ubuntu 10.04 LTS for my servers and am considering moving to 12.04 LTS once my provider supports it.

I did a year ago, then I upgraded to 11.10 and it slowed my workflow down for months. Now I'm back on 10.10, which just feels old, so now I'm considering FreeBSD once I get past my current work milestones. I'm sick of thinking about my OS.

I sorta said the same thing with 11.04 (not 11.10, I liked 11.10 quite a bit), but I've been using 12.04 as my primary system for quite some time now. I simply cannot go back to another system anymore. Ubuntu and, specifically, Unity have completely changed and improved my workflow. Unity is completely able to be keyboard driven (AWESOME!), gets out of my way (I autohide the launcher on my laptop, but keep it out on my desktop with 24" screen). Simply put, every other system feels old and dated at this point without the innovation that Unity has brought. Even OSX.

You mention "thinking about your OS". My experience is exactly opposite of this. I never think about my system with Ubuntu/Unity. Everything just works and gets out of my way, but is easily invoked when I need it (super, alt, super+<whicheverkeybinding>) and that is how I want it!

Recently I had to go back to OSX for a bit when I was doing something for a friend and, besides from some nice UI polishes that were really well done in OSX, everything else was annoying and I started to realize how bad OSX really was. Maybe "bad" is a strong term, but dated might be more appropriate.

Either way, I love Ubuntu and Unity and I won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

I have 11.10 on my work laptop right now, since we use ubuntu at work. my experiences are

2 hours battery life (with jupiter), windows on the same machine gets 6-8 hours

around 1 in 5 times it crashes when coming back from hiberation

it never shows me the login dialog after turning the monitor off, instead i get my desktop in a much lower resolution, and random artifacts of the windows that were on the screen when the machine turned off the display

fonts look like garbage compared to osx

trackpad support is a joke compared to osx.

I use the keyboard primarily, and things don't make anywhere near as much sense as osx. For example, c-c to copy test, alt-tab to switch to terminal, c-shift-t to create a new tab, and c-shift-v to paste the text. on osx, it is cmd-c, cmd-tab, cmd-t (just like every other app), cmd-v (just like every other app). I don't appreciate constantly jumping modifier keys for even the simplest workflows, and the wild inconsistencies in short cuts on ubuntu.

There is nothing that even comes close to omni-focus for gtd, photoshop for image editing, 1password for account management, colorschemer for color choice/manipulation, ia writer for creative writing, git tower for git frontends, reeder for blog aggregation, keynote for slide decks, etc etc. I have found alternatives for these things, but honestly, they all suck in comparison to what is available on osx. This is probably the biggest dissatisfaction with the os, frustration with every app I use that is not chrome or emacs.

Not saying osx is perfect (I could do a top ten list of things that annoy me there), but given a choice I would probably use windows over linux, and osx over windows. I am hoping 12.04 will at least give me battery life that will last a long meeting, but im not holding my breath.

> Now I'm back on 10.10, which just feels old, so now I'm considering FreeBSD

It's easy to swap a different window manager or desktop out for Unity without ditching Ubuntu entirely. I have my own reasons for switching away from Ubuntu (for Debian), but Unity is not one of them.

Sure, and before trashing 11.10 I indeed switched to XFCE for a few months. It was better, quite a bit, but the Gnome artifacts made it the jankiest combination. Not the worst of both worlds, but definitely not the best.

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