Why do you use Linux? And why did you choose Ubuntu MATE?

[quote=“RJMcKenzie, post:1, topic:12572”]Just wondering why everyone else uses Linux and Ubuntu MATE?[/quote]Why Linux:

  • It offers me more control over the exact components in play.
    Kernel
    Windows does not allow you any change here. There is the Windows kernel and that’s it. No customization, no control.
    Graphics Stack
    Closed Source vs Open Source
    Filesystem
    Honestly, NTFS should be buried. It served its purpose but it has not aged well. It is slow, prone to fragmentation and just not up to spec anymore.
  • For the hardware I am currently using, Linux actually is considerably faster than Windows. And not just the kernel itself but also third party software, userspace tools and so forth and so on.
  • Security and privacy. For a great example, see WannaCrypt. For years now, governments and intelligence agencies worldwide have shifted towards the assumption that everyone has something to hide. Well, if they’re going to be that paranoid about me, I am definitely responding in kind with great aprehension. And since Windows apparently is as porous as Swiss Cheese (again, WannaCrypt), I’ll avoid it for now. Until the world has come to its senses. Which it won’t.
  • Hardware support. And that is an odd one, I know. But, for me, hardware support is actually better in Linux than it is in Windows. Windows 7 will not recognize half the hardware in this PC I am using right now. And the hardware is not that new. I built this box in 2013 but if I install Windows 7 on it, almost nothing works out of the box. Which brings me to possibly the most important point…
  • Windows is commercial. And to me that actually is a problem. Even though I am a gamer and probably would be better off with Windows, I am also poor. And I simply cannot afford to keep purchasing new versions of Windows whenever Microsoft feels like releasing a new one. If Microsoft were to release a rolling release Windows, which you could, say, update by simply downloading the latest point release, I’d be interested in setting up a dualboot between Linux and Windows. But they won’t do that because of DRM issues and piracy concerns so Linux-only here.

Why Ubuntu:
Simple – Most mature community. Not as far as behaviour is concerned, mind you. What I mean is, there simply is the most stuff available for Ubuntu and Ubuntu is almost always a given supported Linux distribution if a given software supports Linux at all, that is. You’ll rarely run into something that does run on Arch but will not run on Ubuntu.

Why MATE:
An almost perfect match between performance and aesthetics. It looks solid enough. Sure, not too many bells and whistles but MATE looks polished. Like actual care was given to its appearance. While remaining very performant.

Edit: Just had to respond to this:

[quote=“marfig, post:18, topic:12572”]I’m a ticking bomb on the edge of a volcano on a dying planet being engulfed by a nova star of a collapsing galaxy.[/quote]Oh, so you’re that bomb that sits on that little hill on that mudball next to that hot globe of plasma burning away inside the raging galaxy that is me? :wink: high5, obviously. I empathize so much with what you’re going through, albeit for different reasons.

9 Likes

I tried Linux when I got a virus via an MSN Messenger message, the HDD became un-formattable and wiping it was the “go to” for a new Window installation. I couldn’t get it working again and spent some weeks offline. Someone told me to try Mandriva and I loved how the Desktop cube looked, also the customizability. The installer made the HDD work right away and I was impressed.

I choose Ubuntu MATE because I can stay at oldies and use Compiz and there’s no design agenda where my customizability is something trying to be taken away. Every user can adapt the DE to their preference and this mentality is gold.

Before the Unity DE from Canonical, I used Gnome-Do and all my DE handling was done mainly from the keyboard. I can do all this in MATE. And I love that I can automatically copy the selected text to clipboard in the terminal :wink:

If I want to modify Windows or Mac to fit my use, I would have to enforce my preference to everybody using any of those OS’s

2 Likes

I loaded regular Ubuntu onto my laptop in a dual-boot arrangement about 10 years ago simply out of curiosity. A free operating system? Hmmm! I eventually wiped the partition and went with Ubuntu exclusively. The regular distro grew too large for my old laptop, so I started researching other distros and chose Xubuntu because of it’s size and efficiency.

This spring, my Dell/Windows desktop started crashing. I ‘reset’ Windows 10, and then I could not connect to the internet. Using the Xubuntu disc, I was able to establish it was a Windows problem rather than a hardware issue. Poking around on DistroWatch, their ranking showed Ubuntu MATE was the highest-rated distro in the Ubuntu family. I tried it and liked it immediately. It is now my daily driver and I’m not going back! Security, stability, and ease of use are my primary concerns. A welcoming and helpful community is the icing on the cake!

2 Likes

Like a great many people I was a long term Windows user, I used to play a lot of Halflife 2 Deathmatch on a custom server with mates and I always said that when Linux supported Steam and Halflife 2 Deathmatch I’d give it a go - Never actually believing that it would ever happen!

Famous last words!

So, naturally, out of curiousity I decided to give Linux a go and was very impressed. The platform was slick, it was fast, super stable and as time went on I found that more and more of the software applications I use were available cross platform, what wasn’t available cross platform had a perfectly usable and polished alternative.

It took me a while, distro hopping between a few Ubuntu distro’s, vanilla Ubuntu and Arch, finally coming back to the Ubuntu distro’s and giving Ubuntu MATE a go until I felt truly settled with my prefered distro of choice. I love Ubuntu MATE, so tweakable, the perfect balance of eye candy and performance with a great assortment of packaged software applications.

In conclusion, why do I love Linux? Because for the first time since my C64 and Commodore Amiga days my PC feels 100% like it’s mine again. No large corporations spying on me at OS level, no activation rubbish, and it’s got so many great features that suit my workflow perfectly.

And using Nvidia hardware/drivers I can still game until hy hearts content (not that I have as much time as I used to anymore!) and my multi monitor setup no longer suffers the issues I was experiencing under Windows.

6 Likes

I have been helping seniors to use computers for almost 10 years.

“Seniors” used to be “defined” as someone over 70. But with the improved health conditions and healthcare, many of my students are now in the 80’s.

From my (quite extensive) experience, it is essentially impossible for the seniors to learn to use Windows or Mac.

Another major obstacle with Windows and Macs is that, when the seniors need to replace their hardware, the new computers often come with a new, “upgraded” operating system. All of their application programs need to be re-installed, some may not work in the new computer.

Ubuntu prior to 11.10, with their classical gnome2 text-based menu bar, was a godsend; it allows those seniors to break the barrier and upgrade their life to a new level without requiring much of a learning curve.

However, Unity wreaks havoc our program.

I am very appreciative of the efforts endeavored by the Ubuntu Mate community to continue the gnome2-like text-based menu bar. Its simplicity allows the 80+ year olds not only to productively use their computers, but to use them “creatively”. Yet, it is so stable, powerful, and versatile, that I am using it (Ubuntu Mate 17.04) as my desktop OS.

7 Likes

Linux et al is a thing I use for fun; It helps me I exercise my brain a bit, and for my effort I get the system I want.

Being a user since 2009 on Canonical Ubuntu, I’ve done a lot of things and I’ve seen it change in a variety of ways which made it difficult to recommend for mission-critical use or my friends and family.

Worse yet my mother doesn’t feel like learning it, and the only way she was goaded into open-source software was through Google’s Android. She occasionally thinks it’s a Windows phone and I have to keep telling her it’s A Linux. My friends I associate with are also avid gamers so it’s hard to tell them Give Ubuntu MATE a try when half of their existence revolves around Microsoft’s DirectX or Adobe’s AIR.

But I still persist because I can just boot into it if my hard disk dies. And I keep holding it over their head because I know if they don’t back their stuff up, they’ll be left in the cold with their phones.

1 Like

Very nice write up @ping-wu. Thank you for sharing that with us, and for using your abilities to enrich the lives of others. :slight_smile:

I am with you brother. I’ve been using Ubuntu since 10.04 and I love it. Then Unity. I adapted to it but I wondered why? I became impatient with Ubuntu.
When I saw an interview with Martin I changed to Ubuntu-Mate and at first I had trouble tweaking probably because I am using 4K TV and 2160p made the print too tiny . Patience and working with it got me the best OS that I have used to date. Learning Linux is fun again. I am so happy to have the weather on the desktop again!

2 Likes

I knew Linux from 2000, i had the mandrake distro sharing the hard drive with windows 98 or millenium.

The problem when you have a Linux distro sharing with Windows is at the beginning it’s fun but after few weeks you get back to windows, and i should say that it was a bit unstable, so after few month i have removed Mandrake and get back to full Windows with its continuous problem of formating the HD almost every years if not more often.
In 2011 my big laptop crash after 4 years on XP then vista without a problem (though i formated after 1 year, but never got a problem later)
I got really upset and bought an iMac (with OS X 10.6 snow leopard on it) to do a complet switch, as i was fedup with windows.

it took a while to re-learn an operating system, but after few month on Mac, i decided to ban Windows and all derivative Microsoft from my house (my wife have an old mac book pro she bought in 2010 and still doing good job on OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion).

So at home we became “Mac”, but i was always from 2000 listening the open source (photography and office’ s software like GIMP, OOo etc) .

So when at my work (8 months ago) we open a new department with 3 new computers, there were noway to buy Apple (too expensive for our need) i decided to install Linux on the new PCs after knowing they came from quite far to a better ergonomic.

i tried few main distros (debian, open suze, ubuntu, etc…) in a matter of a day i was quite happy with Ubuntu but
and it’s the but which made me search for something debian/Ubuntu alike with a better sauce, so i discovered the Ubuntu flavors pages and i tried Lubuntu, Xubuntu, etc…
Deep in me i knew i was near the “Perfect OS” to understand fast and easy to configure with different users.

Then i tried Ubuntu-MATE 16.04 LTS and … The Welcome screen appear, clear like crystal water, not overwhelming by useless info, straight forward in the explanation and the direct button to configure different things!
… and put Cupertino desktop (don’t forget i am 6 years on Mac) which in my opinion is even more beautiful than the Mac

I didn’t uncheck the box (don’t show at start) of the welcome screen for at least one month to be sure i will have all my shortcut and explanation i needed when it comes to the OS.

few month ago i bought a PC for my kids (no fancy things they are young), when at the shop they ask me to put windows (and pay for it) i proudly said quite loud in the shop : Windows is forbidden in my house, I’ll install Linux Ubuntu-MATE myself!

then 1 month ago my iMac do not want to start any more, it lights up start loading and freeze.
S i bought the same PCs than my kids (a cheap one) and Ubuntu-MATE is on it too,
then now my wife want Ubuntu-MATE on her laptop…

Overall i just felt in love with this distribution and it’s HUGE abilities to personalize the desktop and the look and feel, superb stability, never crash until now!

One more things i don’t miss any Mac softwares as Ubuntu has it all and even more, my kids enjoy Gcompris, childplay and so on

I am against wine or any VMware to make a Windows or a Mac software working, as we do not need it at all (use a search engine for what you want with the word “Ubuntu” or “Linux” in the keywords and you will find what you need).
I don’t miss my Mac (maybe the hot corner) and Microsoft Windows is banned for life in my house.

And all came from the MATE Welcome screen :wink:
Hope i was not too long
Have a nice day

9 Likes

When I still had OS X on our MacBook, I actually had more open source software installed than Mac. So the switch to Linux was quite easy, and I agree Ubuntu Mate beats OS X hands down. Nice write up @Patrice. Thanks for sharing :slight_smile:

1 Like

A post was split to a new topic: Pourquoi utiliser Linux ? Et Pourquoi Ubuntu MATE?

Try telling them that when their education requires Windows because of Windows-only software which won’t run well in Wine. I’ve tried; The last community college I was at is in bed with Microsoft because they wouldn’t even touch OpenOffice.org with a barge pole.

Patrice, you have an interesting outlook on freedom. I’m happy to respect your opinion. However, I’d still love for you to listen to Ikey Doherty’s thoughts on a choice that you have clearly made. It’s quite relevant.

I’m very glad we do have the choice, and I’m also glad people like Ikey are voicing this opinion too. :slight_smile:

2 Likes

New != Better, regarding a bit about the podcast.

Also, while I don’t entirely agree with the idea that Linux should augment the computing experience, wanting my parents to use a Linux system and all because they’re already using that for their cellphones so what’s the difference I also don’t try to shove it down people’s throats like I use to. Instead of accepting that Windows will have complete dominance, I am one to advocate for developers to code so their software works on Linux.

A huge part of the problem is that these established brands, Apple and Microsoft have limited means of installing software, whereas a company looking to deal in Linux needs to either write a universal shell script, using a probably-universal packaging solution or packaging per-system, which becomes a major pain in the ass.

1 Like

Been using Linux Since I got a hand-me-down Cyrix 6x86, 256 megs ram, and a hand-me-down copy of Red Hat 4.0 (Colgate), May 1999 was when I first installed Linux: that distro on that system.

Was tired of renting my OS from a slave master who demanded I get a newer PC at their whim and fancy. I recall getting very irritated at a Staples store, I went to get a copy of Win 3.11 because I only had a 386DX, and the store had 3 versions of Windows: 3.11, 95, and 98, and they all cost within $8 of one another, each one mandating escalating minimum hardware.

Went to Slackware, then went through many other distros. Predominantly, I return to Debian derived distros, but some recent installs leave me hanging on a system that has had MANY successful (and mostly functional) installations. Modern distros are starting to lose skills on my hardware, and that just might be a good thing, all in all.

I have minimal requirements for a desktop PC: I could care less about almost ALL media, especially Flash based stuff, because Flash hasn’t shown much love towards anything but Windows. I tend to purchase music online, and play it off line, so I store my music archives external to the PC. Updating my resume, reading email, applying for work, and maybe I’ll be able to get my VHS home movie collection digitized.

I have chosen Mate, primarily, and feel that Ubuntu is probably a good backer for this desktop environment. I used to like and use Kubuntu, but when Plasma 5 wrecked all the KDE graphics into widely spaced monochromic … (be nice) … I just couldn’t stand the pain. Mate hass pretty much what I need, though I do miss Dolphin and its KIO slaves.

Moving forward, on my 2nd day with it, I need to make some adjustments somewhere in Ubuntu Mate 16.04.3 for AMD64.

3 Likes

You can use Dolphin inside of MATE, if you wish to also install the KDE backend files for it but last I tried the terminal kept spitting out errors about pixmaps.

Since your requirements are quite minimal, from the look of things if you wanted something “Better-looking” than Caja you can use Nemo just fine with Marco.

Welcome to the forum @mmmmna.

I have been on Windows from the old days of 3.11 right up to Windows 7. I have suffered through all the inestabilities, crashes, blue death screen, etc. etc. I think their best version was 3.11 where you really had control of your computer. After that, it all went to hell :smile: Windows 7 was the best (Windows OS) after 3.11 but 8 and now 10 are a disaster, you lose your privacy, Windows does what it likes with your (YOUR!) computer and the places you visit, etc. etc. etc.!. So a year ago a friend introduced me to Linux Mint… oh la la, lovely. You don’t have to download software, most packages come with the OS, you can start working, watching movies, etc. right away. And then you only need to upgrade your system and all your software gets updated! I am very happy with Linux Mint.

Then two months ago I bought the Raspberry PI 3 and downloaded Ubuntu-MATE. Fell in love the very first day and I will never never go back to Windows. For a short spell I had Wine (trying to hold on to some software) but after the hacks on Windows, I got rid of that. I have all the software I need with Ubuntu and Linux. Long live Linux and Ubuntu, and many thanks to the community that helps so much for us learning, keep up the good work (and I subscribed on a monthly basis donation because you guys so deserve the help we can give). Thanks, from a very very happy Linux user.

6 Likes

Welcome to the forum @Consu and thank you for contributing :slight_smile:

Thanks tiox, I appreciate the tip!