What Linux have you settled with?

I had to do this about a month ago and it worked great after updating. However, I scrubbed that install and after a time (2 days ago) came back and tried the same thing. This time after updating the wifi still was not working.

Apparently Fedora 35 works fully out of the box. I should note that I never used a respin. I rather liked Gnome 40. Of course I’m finding tiling managers might be more my thing.

I can see clearly that you’re not a fan of Nix and I really don’t have a problem with that. I don’t share your opinions but you’re welcome to them.

This just isn’t accurate though and I think setting the record straight for people interested in NixOS is worthwhile. Kernel and driver installs are indeed a part of the NixOS generation and can be rolled back if you have an issue. If you have a functioning NixOS install and then an update to the kernel breaks it you can roll back to the previous generation. Not sure why you thought that wasn’t the case I just had to verify on my old laptop running NixOS to confirm that this was true and sure enough rolling back an update rolls back any kernel or driver updates installed.

I’m not trying to convince you that you were wrong and you should give NixOS another try. I don’t advocate for anyone using software they don’t enjoy there’s too many good options out there to make a recommendation like that.

But I don’t think all of your criticisms are factual and anyone interested in trying NixOS should know that.

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That’s accurate :slight_smile:

While I never embraced NixOS in my heart some team mates liked it (and were quite proficient in it) and I remember the problems with CUDA + running kernel.

But really I don’t intend to start a discussion on the merits of Nix (hey, I still maintain a couple of packages!), if you like it by all means enjoy it.

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Update: Switched to KDE Plasma, and it looks like I’m here to stay.

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I also recently switched from Gnome after about 10 years of using it. I am totally blown away by how much better KDE is now. Also seems to have much better HiDPI support out of the box which is a bonus with the framework needing fractional scaling - I’m running at 150% and it seems to work almost perfectly!

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If you use Plasma (Wayland) you can enter any custom scaling level, just like you can on Windows. I really like 130% on both Windows and Plasma.

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I have settled with PopOs. I am currently debating about switching to Fedora 35. I am still not 100% sure.

I am not using fractal scaling just 100% with HiDPI off

It depends on why you using pop. If it is for gaming or doing any kind of development having Ubuntu repos is REALLY nice. Fedora using a different package system is a learning curve if you’ve never used it, but if you are ok with learning you can get Fedora setup pretty much the same as Pop.

NixOS! Formerly used it on my Thinkpad X270, but figured I’d try out Fedora 35 beta once I got my framework… bad idea, it was so incredibly buggy for me. I also missed having the much larger # of packages in nixpkgs than in the Fedora + rpmfusion repos.

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Ubuntu 20.04 LTS with the WiFi workaroud. I’m a linux newbie still. Only have really used Ubuntu 18.04 and 20.04. I tried Fedora 34, but I wasn’t really certain how to get WiFi going. I also tried Fedora 35, beta. This actually worked surprisingly well, until I updated to the latest patch and all system sound completely broke. This is likely just a stability issue with F35 beta. I hope to switch to F35 when the complete version comes out, though. I really want to learn more about the linux ecosystem.

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Have you seen this salt script that gets 20.04 working completely?

I’ve used this and 20.04 is purring for me.

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Well, thank you for bringing that to my attention. This worked beautifully!

EDIT: I also want to add that I tried Ubuntu 21.04 for a while, and was increasingly bothered by the mouse lag that others have reported as an issue with 21.04 on the framework laptop. 21.04, other than the mouse lag, did work better out-of-the-box, however.

I just purchased ZorinOS Pro for some Thinkpads I’m working with… they are going to non-Linux users, and ZorinOS is pretty easy and baked. Uses 5.11, and their community is pretty great.

I think, since its a paid os, that if we showed interest they might support the Frame.work - and I’ve posted in their forums about such.

Its an Ubuntu/GNOME and… might be usable; I’m gonna give it an install and see where it lays.

pAULIE42o
. . . . . . . . . .
/s

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I had Zorin 15, but I want to give Zorin 16 a whirl as well, so I went ahead and bought it also. Going to see how it does, and if @lightrush’s script will work on Zorin as it is a Ubuntu derivative.

When I finally get a framework to call my own I’ll probably put Arch on it just because I like Arch and it has nothing to do with the fact that I could then say “I uSe ArCh” every 5 seconds on the internet.

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I will mainly be using for RDP into work and for local dev. I believe I have used Fedora before but it has been a while so that is what is keeping me with PopOs. I am somewhere between a beginner and intermediate.

Currently the only two things that are bothering me are

  • google wifi (older model) doesn’t seem to like this wifi card so I get slower speeds.
  • weird stutter when scrolling through webpages
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I was getting screen tearing / choppiness when scrolling on Pop!_OS 21.04 as well.

I’d highly recommend test driving Fedora 35 beta (or wait a couple of days for the final release); my experience so far is everything “just works” and performance and battery time are better than I was getting on Pop!

Software install/maintenance is really no more complicated than on Ubuntu derivatives. You can use Gnome Software Center for the common stuff, and just substitute “dnf” for “apt” if you find you need to install something from the command line.

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Fedora Kinoite 35 (the KDE counterpart to Fedora Silverblue).

The good:

  • Plasma on Wayland Actually Works Now, so I can set 125% display scaling on the Framework display and 100% scaling on my 1080p external monitor.

  • Read-only root filesystem means no more worrying about updates borking my install. (I’m looking at you, Ubuntu with your buried reference to ZFS being completely broken in the initial release of 20.10)

  • Most of the programs I need are on Flathub, and most of the rest can be layered with rpm-ostree. (YMMV, obviously)

The not-so-good:

  • SDDM theming doesn’t work properly (big whoop)

  • Occasional freezes on shutdown or slow shutdowns

  • Some apps aren’t available as Flatpaks, AppImages, or rpms (glowers at Authy)

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Fedora Linux + i3 window manager.

I like upstream Linux distributions in my desktop use, The LInux distributions are such as Fedora, Debian that are close to the upstream. Because when I see an issue, the steps to fix the issue are easier and smoother on Fedora Linux + upstream. Reporting issue or sending the pull-request patch to the upstream or Fedora Bugzilla or Fedora RPM repository. I think the repairability for the software is good on Fedora.

As we have experienced on this forum, asking/answering questions and working in the community is a great learning opportunity. Through my activities with the Linux distribution or upstream projects, I learned a lot. This is what I have not experienced when I worked with only a company’s internal limited source code and limited people inside the company.

After l learned how to build the RPM package, I could build any other RPM packages in the reproductive manner, seeing the recipe file (RPM spec file). Seeing the code is fun. It’s someone’s effort and outcome.

I started to use the i3 window manager, when I saw an issue on Gnome in the past. The i3 is a kind of minimalist window manager. My assumption is that if a window manager or a desktop environment is simpler or smaller and popular, there might be less issues. I also like the tiling window manager to use the monitor space effectively, and intuitive keyboard short cuts. There is a learning curve and I am still learning. But I enjoy the learning.

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How has your process been in getting i3 set up to work well on a laptop for battery life, etc.? I tried it a while back and it took me forever to figure out how to change the brightness on my screen, then long enough to get it bound to the actual keys on keyboard that I gave up and went back to GNOME. I like the concept behind i3, but I just don’t have the time to spend days to get it to a usable laptop system, and I wonder if there’s a better way to do that.

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