If are still not using Linux, now it is a good time to start

[AnalogJoe]

Susan Bradley in "AskWoody" now writes:

Recommendations for consumers

Linux — specifically Mint

There have been predictions that this will be the year of Linux on the desktop — every year for the past 20. I’m not holding my breath. But I do consider moving to Mint achievable, albeit with some caveats. There are lots of resources (including at our own forums) to provide guidance about converting a Windows 10 PC into a Mint PC. I equate this to ripping out your lawn and converting it into water-saving flower bed, as several of my neighbors have done — it’s extreme. There are emulation programs that allow you to run Windows programs on Linux systems, but you’ll be in the minority when it comes to finding vendors (or neighbors) able to help you. It’s an option, but not my highest recommendation.

One important advantage of Mint, and most other Linux distros, is that it comes packaged with many apps including browsers, office productivity software, email clients, and creative software. Open source, and free. https://www.askwoody.com/

This comment was made in an article about migrating to other operating systems after Windows 10 end of support.

I've been using Mint since I started this thread. There is no way I am going back to Windows as my main OS, although there is a caveat. Some software companies are very sneaky. I have to use a couple of high-frequency circuit simulators for work, and they do run on Linux.... Redhat or Suse, both of which require a paid license, and they aren't cheap. I have seen this trend very often, software that runs on Windows and on Linux, but only on paid Linux.

So my work computer has both Linux and Windows, and every time I have to use a specialty simulator I have to run Windows. I'll tell you, you don't realize how bad Windows is until you go back to it after a while.

In any case, Linux Mint is not perfect either. It has its quirks and sometimes it seems to have a mind of its own. But it is much, much, much better than any OS I have every used.

[Heikki]

Anyone thinking about starting to use linux might want to use and support OpenMandriva or Devuan.

I recently tried both Devuan and OpenMandriva on my laptop. Devuan installer didn't have GUI, which might be intimidating for new users. Installing from a live system does have a graphical installer though. Regardless, installing Devuan is pretty straightforward. At first boot up the display server didn't start automatically and it had to be started with a console command. After the desktop environment started, I immediately noticed the laptop trackpad didn't work. This reminded me what Linux used to be over a decade ago. If you're a new Linux user, you might want to skip Devuan.

Installing OpenMandriva is easy and it only has a graphical installer which can be started from the live system. OpenMadriva comes with KDE Plasma desktop environment and it looks a lot like Windows. Everything can be done from the graphical user interface and new users probably don't need to learn Linux shell commands. It can be baffling to find the live/installation ISO image from the OpenMandriva website, but other than that everything is easy.

Anyone thinking about ditching Windows might want to try OpenMandriva.

[mediatechnology]

It looks really polished.

Everything can be done from the graphical user interface and new users probably don't need to learn Linux shell commands.

Including setting up SMB shares?

[Heikki]

Everything can be done from the graphical user interface and new users probably don't need to learn Linux shell commands.

Including setting up SMB shares?

Most likely not. Setting up Samba you need to edit the smb.conf file and and add users with a console command. If you already have a working Samba share, you can connect to it using KDE or Gnome file manager.

Last time I tried setting up Samba share on Linux I couldn't get it to work and it looks to be a commong problem with OpenMandriva too.
https://forum.openmandriva.org/t/workin ... nters/7794

Sharing with NFS or SSHFS is more reliable, but those definitely require bunch of console commands.

[ruffrecords]

Linux has been my main OS for over 20 years. It has been perfectly usable in that time for everyday tasks (surfing, email, word processing). You have always been able to run LTspice using wine, Eagle had a Linux native version and Kicad always has done. Front Panel Designer has a native Linux version, as does FreeCAD, QCAD, GIMP etc etc etc.

I wonder why anyone would want to run Windows these days.

Cheers

Ian

[AnalogJoe]

Linux has been my main OS for over 20 years. It has been perfectly usable in that time for everyday tasks (surfing, email, word processing). You have always been able to run LTspice using wine, Eagle had a Linux native version and Kicad always has done. Front Panel Designer has a native Linux version, as does FreeCAD, QCAD, GIMP etc etc etc.

I wonder why anyone would want to run Windows these days.

Cheers

Ian

LTSpice works even faster with wine than on Windows.

I do have to use Windows for my work laptop, though, although I have a partition with Linux. I have to use Keysight ADS, Genesys and EMPro and Keysight decided that their Linux version of the software suite would only run on RedHat, which costs a fortune if you are not an enterprise. I've seen people do some tweaking to make it run on Mint, but it is too much of a hassle. I am an EE not a computer engineer. Anyway, that is why I still have to use Windows, although I tend to avoid it as much as possible.

[john12ax7]

I never got along much with Wine emulator. But have found using Windows in a VM works quite for any engineering software you might need that isn't Linux compatible.

[AnalogJoe]

I never got along much with Wine emulator. But have found using Windows in a VM works quite for any engineering software you might need that isn't Linux compatible.

Wine is great with some programs but when they require special libraries or stuff like that, it is a nightmare. As I said before, LTSPICE is more efficient in Wine than in Windows, the simulations are faster.

[john12ax7]

Simulations being faster in Wine is interesting. Have you noticed it with anything else besides LTspice? I've never considered this, but might be worth investigating for something complex.

[AnalogJoe]

Simulations being faster in Wine is interesting. Have you noticed it with anything else besides LTspice? I've never considered this, but might be worth investigating for something complex.

There are several benchmarks for software that show that the same software running on Linux is considerably faster than on Windows. There is some guy on YouTube who did this benchmark with 3D software and Linux vastly surpassed Windows.

On the other hand, Linux is much lighter than Windows. My computer runs smoothly on Linux and when I have to boot on Windows it takes forever and the fan starts kicking in like crazy; the fan rarely turns on in Linux. So, the fact that the processor is constantly having to deal with BS bloatware can also explain that some apps works faster on Linux.

Yes, I have also noticed it with other apps and Wine, for instance TinaTi and Microcap. Also, apps that do not need Wine to run work faster in Linux, like MATLAB, it works much, much better on Linux. Although, to be fair, many apps do not run with wine or it is too much of a hassle to make them work.

Also, Wine is not an emulator, the creators of Wine constantly target it as "Wine is not an emulator, it runs Windows programs"