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The end of Windows 10 is approaching, so it's time to consider Linux and LibreOffice

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  • OK, really good article and I like Libreoffice (although I prefer Only office) and Linux. I browse on it, game, watch videos, do pretty much everything. I am also a technical person, who can create a VM in 10 mins, add a required boot parameter, etc.

    Now. I want to send this article to my colleague/friend who's not technical at all. In the blog post I read

    Start by testing Linux and LibreOffice on a second partition of your PC (for individuals)

    "Second partition" literally means nothing to most people. I know: just learn, just read. But most people will not bother, or they will simply not understand the tutorials. That's the unfortunate reality.

    I think Linux and Libreoffice can become mainstream if a regular Joe/Jane can buy a laptop from Walmart with a distro and office apps pre-installed and use them like Microsoft Office. Before that time all this Linux and FLOSS stuff is limited to technical, or at least curious people willing to put some effort.

    P.S. My relatives are on Linux and Onlyoffice, because I installed it for them. And it's so much easier and more rare for me to manage and troubleshoot than Windows. But I cannot see them installing it by themselves.

    Yeah I’ve been considering switching to Linux but I’m not a tech person. I know enough to play some games and install some Minecraft mods and that’s it. Since I was thinking about getting a new lightweight laptop I was gonna get one with Linux instead of windows to give it a try but every time I found one that said Linux I’d look at the specs and it says the operating system is actually windows. I’d be willing to learn how to get Linux myself but I’m worried about ruining my computer because I don’t understand even half of the technical stuff. If anyone has any up to date very beginner friendly guides, I’d appreciate the recommendation

  • Im seeing these posts twice a day at this point. So someone like myself who is totally ignorant on Linux, I have some questions if anyone can lend advice?

    I’ve been on PC windows for over twenty years now. And I use it mostly for video software like davinci resolve. Adobe software workflow. Unreal engine. I use clients harddrives and often times my own for working off of. And often times will send those harddrives to other people and their computers to finish the work. I also occasional play games on steam and Xbox App.

    With that said, is it even possible for me to switch over to Linux and keep using all the same software and workflow I have for high end video production workflow?

    It doesn't have to be one or the other. You can do most of your work in linux and boot windows as a 'secondary' OS for stuff like adobe? I do this, and share NTFS SSDs/hard drives between them.

    You are hitting weak points of linux though. I do all media work on linux (a lot through vapoursynth or 'lower level' frameworks than resolve I suppose), but TBH do most of my gaming on Windows, not just for convenience but for performance reasons too.

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    these articles offer ms office alternatives acting like most people write their shopping lists in excel or something. i remember my friend asking for a cheap key for office, and i asked him when was the last time he opened a file in office. after a few seconds of waiting he told me that he opened up an rtf manual for an ancient tomb raider game...told him that almost anything can open an rtf. he lives an officeless life since.

    • Davinci? Yup
    • Adobe? Not even remotely.
    • Unreal....yes? I'm pretty sure th development tools still run on Linux at least.
    • Crossplatform work? As long as it's in the same format from the same application, you should be fine. Just format the drive in something Windows can understand.
    • Steam? Works flawlessly as do most games now. You will need to change one option in settings, because Steam will by default only show games that are verified by valve to work (most games do though). Your biggest hurdle will be the developers that specifically block Linux.
    • Non-Steam games? You'll need to do some work, but you can get them running just as well as steam games
    • Xbox App/Xbox GamePass? Nope.

    While I'm pretty sure you're correct on majority of cases, there's still some stuff, like non-steam games, which just won't work no matter what you do. So, on paper these things work but your mileage may vary.

  • What can't you do on Linux that keeps you on Windows or Mac?

    photoshop, multiplayer games, excel specific macros, 99% of the accounting programs, drivers wificard soundcards, multimonitor support that doesnt shits itself within 10 seconds...2 years ago i tried mint, ubuntu, manjaro, they all failed.

  • Yeah I’ve been considering switching to Linux but I’m not a tech person. I know enough to play some games and install some Minecraft mods and that’s it. Since I was thinking about getting a new lightweight laptop I was gonna get one with Linux instead of windows to give it a try but every time I found one that said Linux I’d look at the specs and it says the operating system is actually windows. I’d be willing to learn how to get Linux myself but I’m worried about ruining my computer because I don’t understand even half of the technical stuff. If anyone has any up to date very beginner friendly guides, I’d appreciate the recommendation

    If you are willing to learn, then you can check Linux laptops from Framework, Tuxedo and Entroware. Linux preinstalled, and hardware is compatible.

  • photoshop, multiplayer games, excel specific macros, 99% of the accounting programs, drivers wificard soundcards, multimonitor support that doesnt shits itself within 10 seconds...2 years ago i tried mint, ubuntu, manjaro, they all failed.

    2 years is a long time. Driver issues are few and far between these days. Multi monitor support has greatly improved as well. I can't help you with your software requirements if you're stuck using proprietary programs like Photoshop. I can tell you that as a professional graphic designer and illustrator the alternatives to "industry standard" software are powerful and arguably better (Inkscape) on the Linux side. It does take time and effort to retrain years of shortcuts and workflow experience, but it's definitely doable.

    Maybe one day when you're feeling adventurous give Linux another shot. I know for a lot of people the ethics of open source vs closed aren't really important, but it's still fun to see what else is out there.

  • If you are willing to learn, then you can check Linux laptops from Framework, Tuxedo and Entroware. Linux preinstalled, and hardware is compatible.

    Thanks! I’ll check those out!

  • It’s possible to pass thru a single GPU. I followed this guide on my Fedora desktop

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eTWf5D092VY

    It is possible, but I have problems with it. Number one, my current GPU is one affected by the AMD reset bug, so it would take even more tinkering than that tutorial to get working. Number two, I'd prefer to not have to choose between windows or linux having the GPU - having to shut down the VM to get back to my normal desktop and programs is not ideal.

    Also, I just wish FreeCAD made more sense to me, as I don't trust Autodesk long-term to not take away the "free for personal use" license. They've already taken several anti-consumer steps already. 😞

  • 2 years is a long time. Driver issues are few and far between these days. Multi monitor support has greatly improved as well. I can't help you with your software requirements if you're stuck using proprietary programs like Photoshop. I can tell you that as a professional graphic designer and illustrator the alternatives to "industry standard" software are powerful and arguably better (Inkscape) on the Linux side. It does take time and effort to retrain years of shortcuts and workflow experience, but it's definitely doable.

    Maybe one day when you're feeling adventurous give Linux another shot. I know for a lot of people the ethics of open source vs closed aren't really important, but it's still fun to see what else is out there.

    i see now. you just love to be downvoted.

  • i see now. you just love to be downvoted.

    Why? I thought it was a pretty reasonable reply.

  • One-Click RCE in ASUS's Preinstalled Driver Software

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  • Catbox.moe got screwed 😿

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    archrecord@lemm.eeA
    I'll gladly give you a reason. I'm actually happy to articulate my stance on this, considering how much I tend to care about digital rights. Services that host files should not be held responsible for what users upload, unless: The service explicitly caters to illegal content by definition or practice (i.e. the if the website is literally titled uploadyourcsamhere[.]com then it's safe to assume they deliberately want to host illegal content) The service has a very easy mechanism to remove illegal content, either when asked, or through simple monitoring systems, but chooses not to do so (catbox does this, and quite quickly too) Because holding services responsible creates a whole host of negative effects. Here's some examples: Someone starts a CDN and some users upload CSAM. The creator of the CDN goes to jail now. Nobody ever wants to create a CDN because of the legal risk, and thus the only providers of CDNs become shady, expensive, anonymously-run services with no compliance mechanisms. You run a site that hosts images, and someone decides they want to harm you. They upload CSAM, then report the site to law enforcement. You go to jail. Anybody in the future who wants to run an image sharing site must now self-censor to try and not upset any human being that could be willing to harm them via their site. A social media site is hosting the posts and content of users. In order to be compliant and not go to jail, they must engage in extremely strict filtering, otherwise even one mistake could land them in jail. All users of the site are prohibited from posting any NSFW or even suggestive content, (including newsworthy media, such as an image of bodies in a warzone) and any violation leads to an instant ban, because any of those things could lead to a chance of actually illegal content being attached. This isn't just my opinion either. Digital rights organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation have talked at length about similar policies before. To quote them: "When social media platforms adopt heavy-handed moderation policies, the unintended consequences can be hard to predict. For example, Twitter’s policies on sexual material have resulted in posts on sexual health and condoms being taken down. YouTube’s bans on violent content have resulted in journalism on the Syrian war being pulled from the site. It can be tempting to attempt to “fix” certain attitudes and behaviors online by placing increased restrictions on users’ speech, but in practice, web platforms have had more success at silencing innocent people than at making online communities healthier." Now, to address the rest of your comment, since I don't just want to focus on the beginning: I think you have to actively moderate what is uploaded Catbox does, and as previously mentioned, often at a much higher rate than other services, and at a comparable rate to many services that have millions, if not billions of dollars in annual profits that could otherwise be spent on further moderation. there has to be swifter and stricter punishment for those that do upload things that are against TOS and/or illegal. The problem isn't necessarily the speed at which people can be reported and punished, but rather that the internet is fundamentally harder to track people on than real life. It's easy for cops to sit around at a spot they know someone will be physically distributing illegal content at in real life, but digitally, even if you can see the feed of all the information passing through the service, a VPN or Tor connection will anonymize your IP address in a manner that most police departments won't be able to track, and most three-letter agencies will simply have a relatively low success rate with. There's no good solution to this problem of identifying perpetrators, which is why platforms often focus on moderation over legal enforcement actions against users so frequently. It accomplishes the goal of preventing and removing the content without having to, for example, require every single user of the internet to scan an ID (and also magically prevent people from just stealing other people's access tokens and impersonating their ID) I do agree, however, that we should probably provide larger amounts of funding, training, and resources, to divisions who's sole goal is to go after online distribution of various illegal content, primarily that which harms children, because it's certainly still an issue of there being too many reports to go through, even if many of them will still lead to dead ends. I hope that explains why making file hosting services liable for user uploaded content probably isn't the best strategy. I hate to see people with good intentions support ideas that sound good in practice, but in the end just cause more untold harms, and I hope you can understand why I believe this to be the case.
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    Tokyo banned diesel motors in the late 90s. As far as I know that didn't kill Toyota. At the same time European car makers started to lobby for particle filters that were supposed to solve everything. The politics who where naive enough to believe them do share responsibility, but not as much as the european auto industry that created this whole situation. Also, you implies that laws are made by politicians without any intervention of the industries whatsoever. I think you know that it is not how it works.