As of writing this, I have been using Linux on my laptop for eight days, and so far there have been ups and downs. Here is what I’ve learnt from using Linux, and why I’m so conflicted on whether or not I want to revert to windows.
Ubuntu
As I’d stated in my earlier post, I had been using Pop!_OS as my Linux distribution, though this is no longer the case. I made the switch to Ubuntu because I wasn’t happy with some ‘gimmicks’ of Pop!_OS, such as the Pop!_Shop, which just didn’t work because it kept crashing, my Conky customization just wouldn’t work, and I did just wanna see how Ubuntu was.
I tried to use Ubuntu 22.04, but for some reason it just didn’t want to use my laptop’s Wi-Fi adapter. My local networks would show up, but when I’d try to connect and enter my password, I’d keep getting this repeated ‘Authentication required’ prompt.
Ubuntu 22.04
Swapping to Ubuntu 24.04 resolved this, and I’m happy that I made that swap because the 24.04 interface was so much smoother than 22.04! It was a lot more animated and looked more clean.
Overall, Ubuntu was better than Pop!_OS; I had previously thought that LibreOffice was awful, but it turns out that Pop!_OS just had a shit version of it installed by default – Ubuntu had a better version that I would happily use as a substitute for Office 365. My Conky customization also now works.
One thing I thought I’d never use but ended up benefiting from is Ubuntu’s ‘multiple workspaces’. I’m pretty sure this is also a windows feature but I’ve learnt to use it all the time on Linux. It really helps with separating my individual tasks to their own workspaces which I can then swap through individually.
The Good Apps
Over the course of my Linux journey, there were some apps that I liked and would certainly recommend to anybody who has more patience than me thinking of trying out the operating system for themselves.
Switcheroo
Switcheroo is an app which converts image formats.
This is what I used to convert all my .png screenshots to .jpg so that I could upload them to this website, the reason for this being that .jpg files use a lot less storage space so it loads a lot faster when you view it online (for example, that screenshot you see above of my desktop was 2MB initially as a .png, but the uploaded .jpg is only 203KB).
As you can see in the screenshot of the Switcheroo app, it is incredibly easy to use – you just drag and drop your image file in, choose your export format, and click convert.
I installed this using Flatpak.
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)
GIMP is essentially the Photoshop alternative for Linux.
I used GIMP to make this post’s featured image, which you can see on the Home page or on the All Posts page.
Personally, I think that while it’s less innovative in terms of the tools it has, GIMP is a relatively okay substitute for Photoshop is you’re looking for some simple and basic editing, although my word shouldn’t be taken for gospel because must have only spent five minutes on the app editing this featured image and three of those minutes were me looking for how to change the brush color.
I installed this directly off of the Ubuntu App Center.
Warehouse
Warehouse is a very simple app for managing Flatpak packages.
Within Warehouse, you can view all your Flatpak packages, search for and install packages, and uninstall packages though the use of a singular compact UI.
I’ve used this generally throughout my Linux journey.
Geary
Geary is a simple mail client. It takes the email connection you make within the Ubuntu settings as you’re setting up the OS, in my case this was IMAP and SMTP, although it works with most of the popular email services such as GMail, Yahoo, etcetera.
The UI is super simple and the app itself is very easy to work around.
Ubuntu does come with Thunderbird Mail Client, but I wasn’t much of a fan. I got this with Flatpak.
Resources
Resources is essentially a Linux Task Manager alternative.
It shares the basic features of the Windows Task Manager, such as resource graphs, an apps and processes list accompanied by the usage of each process, and an ‘end process’ button like on Windows.
What’s crazy to see is that no matter what I do on Ubuntu, my CPU usage seems to never go above 20%. Everything is incredibly efficient compared to Windows.
I got this off of Flatpak.
The Issues I have with Linux as a whole
Software Compatibility
I personally think that Linux has incredible potential to be better than Windows. The outstanding issue is its compatibility with most regular software. For example,
- Office 365
Although Ubuntu comes with LibreOffice, which is an okay alternative for Office 365, I still much prefer 365 for its capabilities and interface. I tried to use Wine to install the Office 365 apps, however it didn’t work out. I just got an error immediately as I tried. Something along the lines of ‘Failed to launch installer’.
- Games
Ubuntu does not support any games that have a specific sort of anti-cheat. For example, Valorant’s Vanguard (not that I play Valorant). As for Roblox, there is a package on Flatpak called Vinegar which is meant to allow you to play Roblox, however it breaks any time the game has an update, leaving you with only the Roblox Studio, which for some may be alright, and for others, they just want to play the game.
- Adobe
One other set of software I like to regularly use which isn’t compatible with Linux is the Adobe apps. As for Photoshop, GIMP can act as an alternative, however it will never match the capability of Adobe’s Photoshop. As for Adobe Premiere, Davinci Resolve can be a good alternative, however I don’t want to go spending a large sum of money on Davinci Resolve Premium when I already have Premiere paid for.
- Others
FL Studio is on Ubuntu’s App Center, however I can’t get it to work at all. Apparently it comes pre-setup with wine, however it sucks to see when an app on the OS’ official app store just doesn’t launch.
A Little Rant about LibreOffice:
As for LibreOffice, the reason why I say it’s just ‘okay’ and not a great alternative is because it occasionally has some stupid ‘gimmicks’. If I’m pressing tab to move a text further from the margin, and then after typing my text I press enter to start a new paragraph, my text is moved back to the margin. A pretty stupid feature, which defeats the purpose of tab.
Another issue I have with LibreOffice is that it’s too compact. It’s all in one place. With Office 365, you get categories which make it easier to navigate through its functions, however with LibreOffice it’s just all in little image buttons on one singular block.
LibreOffice also likes to just randomly change the font or size of my text when I start a new paragraph or sometimes even when I back-track on an already-existing paragraph. If I’m typing and I press “ctrl+]” to increase the font size, LibreOffice will always change my font to Calibri.
It’s also just slower than Office 365. When I use a keyboard shortcut to change my text size or perhaps underline something, there is a second of delay between my key-press and the actual function. On Office 365, this delay is non-existent and the function is carried out immediately. This is one factor that is small but certainly noticeable.
In Conclusion
As of writing this, I’m still super conflicted as to whether or not I want to revert to windows. Perhaps I’ll dual boot Windows and Ubuntu, but for now I’m incapable of using Linux without missing my most-used Windows apps.
This really sucks because Ubuntu is actually very well-designed. As an operating system, it is incredibly efficient and just nice to use. I really like the anonymity of Linux too. I don’t like the fact that once I switch back to Windows, I know that my data is gonna be collected more often, and I get less anonymity online. Not that I do anything shady, but I do like my privacy.
The issue is that big companies such as Adobe or Microsoft don’t design their software for Linux compatibility, and it’s understandable because the margin of people that use Linux is very small so it’s just not rewarding enough for the effort and money they have to put into re-working their software for Linux compatibility.