Hi!
I’m a long time Mac user, but I want to set up a laptop or mini desktop (something not too old but powerful enough for image editing, really just for photography workflow), and try a Linux distro with FOSS tools for this purpose. I’m done with Adobe.
I’d like to scale one day to having a NAS of some kind.
I’ve experimented with Ubuntu before but it felt a little noddy, I just didn’t like it. Any recommendations? I’d like something with a decent community that would tolerate my noob questions.
Many thanks.
What desktop environment were you running? I usually recommend GNOME to people who just want an OOB experience and KDE to people who want to invest into a more personal experience.
gnome is hell for people coming from windows though
That’s really only true of some users. Most people now are used to at least 2 OSs. GNOME acts a bit more like a mobile OS in my opinion, and KDE behaves more like a desktop OS. Ultimately if you’re moving to linux of your own volition, you’re usually going to be more tech friendly than anyone staying on windows.
To be honest, I personally disliked GNOME, but not because it didn’t match Windows. It just didn’t have the level of customization and accessibility that I expected from linux.
OP’s a long time Mac user. I don’t think he will have issues with gnome. Hell he might find it more familiar than kde
Yep, as a Mac user for 34 years, KDE is too Windows-like and Gnome felt pretty similar to Mac.
Oh, in that case, absolutely.
I hate Windows with an unbridled passion. I’m forced to use it lately for work and it absolutely sucks (Win 10 anyway).
I don’t actually know. It was Unity I think, whatever that is. Felt a bit, um, amateur and not very polished. Best way I can describe from what I remember.
I will be seriously researching every response here. Very grateful for the help.
Unity was abandoned for a few years by Ubuntu, so I’d assume it’s behind most other DEs in terms of development. Most of what users experience in a distribution is the DE, so using a bad one can ruin it.
Makes sense and stacks up against my experience of it as seeming unfinished.
Is it Gnome / KDE as standard or are there other environments available?
Those are the two most popular DEs. There’s also MATE, LXQT, Cinnamon, XFCE, and Pantheon, but I have no experience with those.
Additionally, some users opt to use window managers in lieu of a DE, so thats also an option.