Iāve some weeks ago moved my main computer from Windows 10 to Linux, specifically OpenSUSE Leap with the Plasma user environment, mainly because it doesnāt have the magic Windows 11 chip. I had never used Linux and have been a Windows user since I was six years old or somewhere around then (Iām in my late twenties now). Iād just like to share my likes and dislikes.
Things I like about Linux (my specific install, anyway):
- Not being a corporate environment. There arenāt any cheeky attempts at making money or advertisement anywhere, like the annoying fake widgets in Windows 11 and the half-filled start menu. Iāve gotten used to that on my laptop (which is running 11), but you do always have the feeling of āwhat are they trying now?ā That not being a thing is quite refreshing.
- In that veign, having actual widgets. I loved them in Windows 7; Iāve got a webpage widget on my second screen showing a Zoho sheet I made with an RSS feed. Just being able to be a bit creative like that is cool.
- The system seems quite a bit quicker than it was in Windows - though in all honesty this will also be because Iām still on a fairly fresh install.
- Iām positively surprised by how little I miss from Windows when it comes to programs. Steam having compatibility tools is great, for example. Otherwise there are often replacements for what Iām missing (eg. Iāve found one to allow general settings for my Logitech mouse).
- The general ability to change the way everything looks and feels. I feel technical people sometimes look down a bit on aesthetics, but I really care about the user interface I use day in day out looking and feeling nice. While Iām a fan of the Windows 11 look myself, I really like how much Iāve been able to get my UI to look how I want it to in Plasma. Though Iām a bit surprised that itās so hard to change the appearance of the start menu and bottom panel. Iāve had to install a specific program to change their colouring.
- The little icon jumping next to your cursor when opening a program (I know, Iām easily amused).
Things Iāve found annoying:
- Not knowing where to find anything. Of course, coming from Windows Iām used to there being a program files folder with my programsā folders, and a documents folder with (often) user settings for those programs. In Linux, everything just seems to be everywhere. What seems to be the ādocumentsā equivalent for the game Factorio is in my user folder in a hidden .factorio, but Iāve to no avail been trying to find out where my ādocumentsā for Workers and Resources are. Iāll find them eventually, Iām sure. In general, Iām looking around a lot, though.
- The lingering feeling of instability. This is my second install of OpenSUSE, after I messed up something leading to my computer having some files which it wanted to update, but using urls which didnāt exist. After this, Iāve been feeling a bit insecure and afraid of doing something that ruins my installation. I know thereās the saying that Linux ājust worksā, but Iāve never messed up a Windows installationā¦
- The capslock works differently, apparently. Iām used to writing every capital letter using the capslock key, meaning if I write a capital at the beginning of a word, I press capslock, then type the first letter, then quickly press capslock again and type the rest. In Linux, this often doesnāt work as it somehow takes a while for the capslock press to go into effect, so you often end up with āLInuxā, for example. After lots of looking around, I have found some script that seems to fix this (āLinux CapsLock Delay Fixer Masterā), but it also randomly stops working and there are other āodditiesā I canāt really explain.
- Every once in a while, my desktop icons get rearranged. This seems to be a known issue, but itās really annoying.
- It seems impossible to get Firefox to not restore sessions after shutting down the computer with it still open. Iāve tried several things, but I canāt get Firefox to just give me a fresh session on startup.
- The above all add to a bit of a general āstuck together with adhesive tape and loveā feeling.
- Not knowing how to install programs. This is more of a learning-curve thing, obviously. The software centre didnāt contain everything I could find online - for some programs, you could use āone clickā in OpenSUSE, but that seems to work more like a self-destruct button: Iāve tried those several times and have always had bad results >.>. Iāve found itās easiest to install programs just using flatpaks.
All in all, I am quite happy. Though I am still afraid Iāll mess up my installation, and Iām now at a point where thatād hurt. I have installed Timeshift, but also with mixed resultsā¦
That Caps lock thing is a bug. It is not supposed to happen. Something is wrong in your system
That firefox not restoring session is also a bug, it does not happen in most cases
You could add the following
Pinch to zoom in laptop touchpad is not a thing
Some programs will not play nicely with themes, like title bar and menu bar following dark mode, most apps not following dark mode followed by the bottom most part of UI in dark mode. Its honestly frustrating
Not wanting to break your system is quiet a common wish of most people. Good news is, you are on OpenSUSE and that thing is supposed to be stable. Bad news is, you are new to linux and will inevitably break things. Here are few tips from my side to help you not break things
1: When you are asked to modify system file by deleting some other file, do not delete the old file, rather, rename it to something else, change its extension or move it outside
2: Try to find fix that is least complicated, often times you will have many solutions with different pros and cons. If you can help yourself, try the change that is easiest to revert
3: Always take notes, if you had a problem and you did some things, note what you did and why/how you did it. What was in your mind when you did it.
4: Understand why a setting is the way it is before changing. I see alot of guides that teach you to make your system fast or make it lightweight, etc by changing some default settings. Before changing them, ask why they were the way they were. Somone at OpenSUSE probably decided to set it that way for a reason. Try to understand why and what are the consequences of changing them. Now, I am not saying you should not change it. Often times, distro maintainers try to be as generalist as possible to support as many hardware as possible like installing all kinds of drivers. You may get away removing support for things you dont actually need.