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

Thoughts & Feedback
#103

I switched from Windows to Linux because once, with nothing better to do, I decided to read Microsoft’s private policies and terms of use. I couldn’t believe the atrocities I was reading so I rushed searching for alternatives.

Google ‘took’ me to Linux distros and for the last years I made Linux not only a work and leisure tool but also a hobby, I’ve used more than 10 distros as daily drivers and tested on vm more than 100 distros (probably more than 200 is more correct).

And all that Linux using, distro testing and learning brought me to Ubuntu MATE, which is my favorite operating system. What suits me best is an Ubuntu based distro, MATE desktop and Compiz, along with operating system stability so sooner or later is was destined for me to end up using Ubuntu MATE.

I’m using Ubuntu MATE 18.04 and really loving it.
Congrats to the entire team for a job very well done!

5 Likes
#104

###Why i use Ubuntu ? :slight_smile:

  • Long time OS X / Apple user. Don’t like Apple leadership and abandoning of professional user-base.
  • Ubuntu is the future of professional desktop. In combination with Nvidia and machine learning.
  • Open source + software
  • A dream for web / software development
  • LTS support
    ###Why i use Ubuntu Mate?:
  • Traditional Desktop paradigm
  • With little to no time i can make it look and behave like os x, closing, maximizing on left + dock, removing icons from menus, etc.
  • Gnome 2
  • Stable

Congrats on beautifully executed job and thanks.

5 Likes
#105

I got tired of Windows viruses doing sensitive work like taxes. I’m low tech so I will always be a newbie. Loaded on my 5 year old laptop with heat issues so I wanted a distro that wasn’t too big.I could see how do load software I wanted and update. No terminal for me. I liked how MATE lets me save everything on the desktop. Most distros only let you save icons to the side bar. I wanted Libre and Firefox even if Chromium doesn’t spy on you like Chrome.

#106

I am lazy.
Linux is easy.

I left Ubuntu when they deleted Gnome2.
I ended up with Debian Mate.

because it is easy …and familiar

1 Like
#107

Left Windoze
when they became quite invasive
when they didn’t stop making the decisions of what was best for me
when they started to improve the ‘experience’… while I had more problems then ever
when an update screwed up my Acer computer for good

Been ‘almost’ trouble free since then.
This Ubuntu Linux version is a real Mate.

3 Likes
#108

Been using Linux Mint for years along with a few others - this Ubuntu Mate seems very stable

3 Likes
#109

32bit support, and the lack of need for OpenGL.

Oh…wait :blush:

1 Like
#110

I use Linux because i want to control everything that happens in my system.
I use Ubuntu MATE because i like the gnome 2 interface and simplicity of Ubuntu.

3 Likes
#111

Mate is clean, fast, feature complete, not distractful. It is one of these DE that don’t make the fans of my computer go crazy.
On this point, Mate is also probably eco-friendly :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#112

I was introduced to Linux when my notebook, which had Windows 7 pirated, started to give problems because of the activation last year. So in that period, by chance, I met Linux, I discovered that it was free and very efficient. When I recovered my notebook the first thing I did was install Ubuntu 16.04, which had Unity by default. From there I was testing various distros until I discovered my beloved MATE.
In MATE the applications I use work better and faster and the look is also very beautiful, I like it very much.
I have been a user for a year and a half I do not know how to live without Ubuntu MATE!
Congratulations from Brazil with love!

5 Likes
#113

I have been in IT for‭ more than ‬25‭ ‬years and have held many jobs in that time from data centre operations to desktop support to process engineering to now enterprise technology risk‭ & ‬governance.‭ ‬My journey to Linux began with my move from windows to mac which was an OS based on UNIX.‭ ‬Initially I drank the cool aid from Apple,‭ ‬I did find their platform much more stable than windows and enjoyed the experience both from an OS software and hardware perspective.‭ ‬Over time I became concerned over Apple’s upgrade model and how it would obsolete hardware quicker than I would have anticipated or liked,‭ ‬being an early adopter of the iPad became an expensive lesson for me.‭ ‬I wanted out from the Apple ecosystem and moved to the burgeoning Google ecosystem and platforms,‭ ‬the Chromebooks had started to take off and the notion of the cloud and my data being available anywhere was initially appealing.‭ ‬I got a Google Chromebook LS and loved it and if I am honest still do.‭ ‬Chrome always updates with complete ease and with the advent of android applications available through the Chrome OS made the‭ ‬Chromebook even more fun.‭ ‬I ran my personal computing needs off a Chromebook successfully for‭ over the next ‬2‭ ‬years.‭ ‬But again I started to become more concerned on how my data was being used and how I was being tracked and Googles upgrade model. Now Linux having a Chrome browser plus powerful applications for photography seemed to be a potential winner.‭ ‬Being in technology I remembered Linux from back in the day and in the early days of my IT journey I did buy a version of SUSE on as set of CDs from PC World and that didn’t go well. So returning to try Linux again‭ ‬filled me with a little apprehension as I remembered trying to get a printer to just work.‭ ‬After running countless distributions in Virtual-Box I settled on Ubuntu as a base.‭ ‬Here I went through the flavours Ubuntu, Lubuntu,‭ ‬Kubuntu, Xubuntu and Mate.‭ ‬I settled on Ubuntu Mate primarily because of the flexibility in layout,‭ the ‬classic desktop,‭ ‬mutiny etc.‭ ‬I loved the welcome screen, the tweak tool and the software boutique is an awesome feature especially for a new user. The next step was to start running the OS on bare metal and see if it was going to work for me. Needless to stay it has and although I do remain a dual booter, most of my time is spent in Linux. Windows is still required for me to carry out firmware upgrades easily to my laptop and for work. There is still a lot to learn and now my journey into Linux and the community begins in earnest. An OS for the people by the people really is where I think computing needs to go.

5 Likes
#114

I learned some Linux having an OLPC G1G1 XO-1 laptop. Didn’t think much of Fedora in the YUM era, but it at least gave me a taste of something beyond Windows. That led me to purchasing old macs, including the 20 inch “lamp” or “sunflower” iMac G4 that runs Ubuntu MATE 16.04 today.

#115

I first used Unix on a BT created machine back last century, followed by Apollo and Silicon Graphics machines. But then the Macintoshes came out and I was a keen user (except at work) until about 2008.

Less money and higher prices and finding a Ubuntu CD in a magazine led me to try Ubuntu on a laptop. I think the first version I actually installed was 9.04. These early versions took some tweaking - typically six weeks to get everything the way I wanted it - with LAMP, Skype, Gimp, Wine, Video, hardware problems....

I prefer open source software because you are not locked into commercial sellers keeping available the features, the support or even the product itself.

I was a bit horrified by Ubuntu going to Unity. I definitely want onscreen a menu for software, for places, buttons for my most used programs and tabs to switch between my running programs. So I switched to Ubuntu Mate 16.04 LTS. That took just about a week to set up to my liking. That works fine and I haven't needed to change anything for months.

I am a bit worried about the future with snaps, especially automatic updating seizing control of the machine when you are trying to get something important/urgent done. I notice, for example, with an Android tablet, that if I come back to it after a few weeks, it's unusable for a quarter of an hour because (I think) it's updating software. If all our future household machines and tools are going to be Internet Of Things devices, then trying to get anything done with infrequently used tools will need careful planning.

4 Likes
#116

Hi, i have also tried other LINUX distros but i keep coming back to MATE. Now i am running it on my Lenovo ThinkCentre PC permanently. Thanks to all devs. Keep it up. Needed a change from Microsoft Windows.

1 Like
#117

I use Linux because it works, it's fast and efficient, and I'm tired of Windows and all of the proprietary software and issues with the OS. I've hopped around on other distros but I always come back to Ubuntu-MATE due to its speed, performance, and stability. It is THE best Ubuntu flavor available next to standard Ubuntu.

#118

I started using Linux because Weirdows 10 made my cheap laptop unusable after a big update, unresponsive as hell (despite a SSD). Decided to give Ubuntu MATE a go and fell in love with it.
Got more and more interested in privacy and security stuff and would miss Ubuntu MATE when using my main PC. Weirdows would just feel insecure. Every other day some news about how it just spies on us despite the privacy settings enabled or about viruses, ransomware etc... . Kept the dual boot but almost don't use W10 anymore especially since all the Proton improvements.

I choose MATE at first because I wanted some light DE for my cheap laptop. It's highly tweakable and feels modern. I use it as well on my desktop. Tried other DEs like GNOME and KDE but they would feel slower or buggier on my machines so I decided to stay with MATE.

Thanks for this amazing distro !

5 Likes
#119

yeah I have never found a DE that feels as quick a MATE, at least that feels like a proper DE

1 Like
#120

Why do you use Linux?
@RJMcKenzie

I've dabbled with computers for quite some time now - a mere amateur reading, trying, tweaking, and screeching and reaching - reaching for some semblance of privacy and control of my computer.

  • Linux respects our privacy and I don't have to sign off my privacy in order to saddle-up to the Linux clan. Kudos to Linux.
  • I believe that most people using other O/Ss do so grudgingly.
  • Interacting with Linux devs, users, fans, and support are more like 'family' and thankfully, "Contact your Administrator" is not their fix for almost everything.
  • Linux is respected world-wide, even by many die-hard Windows users and Linux has a better reputation when it comes to honesty, trustworthy, and reliability than any other O/S.

As a side-note, it appears to me that slowly, 'people' are taking back from governments and corporations and re-storing part of the Internet back to the "Information Highway", not the Google catalog of paying participants in Google's website popularity contest.
We see it in Mate, Firefox, startpage and duckduckgo coms, VPNs popping up everywhere, Ublock, GPU/CPU/Font MAC scramblers, more... - many, many things Internet are working hard to KOPIT - Keep Our Privacy In Tact. HURRAY! I think that with Linux being at the server side will help a great deal.

Linux and Mate are helping to lead the way by making it easier for more people to pave the way - people that are non-linear and detached from the typical corporate-controlled profit-driven Human Resources department.

  1. IMHO the Giants are shrinking our Internet - more and more no matter where we go or what we search for, the answers are all to often relative to our location.

  2. Add to that, the growing number of software (AKA Apps) and ads, that embed a CPU and/or GPU miner. WTH! GACK!

  3. Hint: READ ALL TERMS of USE and PRIVACY POLICIES - and then agree to giving them your soul.

  4. So I chose Linux to get my computer back, and to beat them at their own game. How? By going off the Microsoft/Google/Facebook grid. Linux and Mate, I hope, will help me to accomplish that by making it a little harder for the Stalkers, Miners, Peeps and Pervs to invade my privacy with their smarmy, but legal Stalkers.

How will Linux help me?: I'm not sure - I am just getting started but for one, I trust Linux over and above anything else. It is the strength behind a solid Internet, People deving Windows and Windows related software are locked into a controlling corporate structure while the devs of Linux operate in a totally - open source - :slight_smile:

The Linux/Mate devs seem to be non-linear in their approach. This is different than the 'other' O/Ss that is structured linear processing during development, or, logical line of thinking. I get it, and get the reasons - to micro-manage with the goal of increased bottom line; but linear logic has its' drawbacks whereas some non-linear developing adheres to the idea that there are multiple entry points from which to approach, start, create, restructure, analyze, adapt or end anything.

Why did you choose Ubuntu MATE?

That's easy. For the same reasons I chose Linux but add that I like having the options Mate offers, plus the support and fan-following Mate has strengthens the very foundation which it is built upon. It's made better, by people who surely don't seem to see themselves as employees, but are rather part of family with a common goal - to make a better, friendlier, respectful O/S for people - and people are what PERSONAL Computers (PCs) and the Internet should be for, not corporate bottom lines.
Having such a wide range of non-assimilated devs, volunteers, and even occasional aides all adding to a wealth of information, can't help but make Mate a logical non-linear development. Ergo, in combo with Linux, Mate is the best choice for me to use MY personal computer unencumbered by the shysters holding the Internet hostage in exchange for my privacy.

'nuff said already :hot_face:

~S~
p.s. It's Sunday, it was reply or mow the lawn, I was bored, and you did ask.

3 Likes
#121

I've used computers since grade school. My first machine being a Tandy 1000 from radio shack. I learned basic and even helped the computer teacher in our computer class when I was in 9th grade (Around 1987). He didn't know to much. Not that I did, just more than him .

The rest of school existed of skateboards, punk rock, and girls. Well attempts at girls. In about 1996 I was reintroduced to computers while stationed in Korea with the Army. Got into Windows and chatting around with mIrc. Flirted with girls on ICQ and the like.

I came home from Korea in 1998 and went to community college. I discovered Linux around that time, maybe early 99. I started off on Slackware and soon progressed to SuSE since it came with much more software on disks you could by at Barnes and Noble book store. I even had the sys admin at the college using SuSE, it was a Novell/Windows network. He used SuSE as the campus print server way back then.

From 1998 to 2002 I still served in the National Guard. I spent a big chunk of those years deployed. I jumped back on active duty in 2003 and participated in the Invasion of Iraq, came home for a few months and then went back to Iraq in 2004. I got out of the Army at after that.

Once I was home, I was still into computers and played around a little, but by this time I was married, had kids, and was working as an electrician to get bills paid. I still used Linux though, back then I think I may have been using Debian by then. I think I was using Mepis around then also.. Linux Mint not long after.

So now that i've bored you. I am really old, well not to old. I've been a chronic distro hopper. I was around when Ubuntu-MATE was a new thing and helped in the forums and with merchandise for a little bit. It's a great all around distro.

Since then I fell under the spell of i3 and Arch and have helped out with Archlabslinux. Still do a little. I am back here because I miss a more feature full DE. Gnome is a little to uptight for me and I'm not a super QT fan. So Ubuntu-MATE is a nice balance of everything.

Another real big reason for using Ubuntu-MATE is the fact that @Wimpy is a real stand up fellow and great leader. Not to mention the not to be officially named fellow @popey who helped start things. They are both great, humble, kind people.

Well thats my 2 cents.... actually more like 5 bucks, but oh well.

--- I just realized I didn't quite answer the questions...lol
I use linux because I'm a nerd, like to break things, then try to fix them...oh and freedom

8 Likes
#122

I am glad you were bored. Welcome to MATE! You are so right when you speak of the welcoming attitude of the Linux world. You other points are spot on as well!

2 Likes