Making room for Linux in 2024
I regard Linux the same way I regard healthy eating and regular exercise: I admire it, I acknowledge its importance, and I'm excited about embracing it just as soon as the fundamental concept evolves to become less of a hassle and a lot less work.
Also: I'll do it when I absolutely have to. When I encounter a cool old laptop at the MIT Flea Market or wherever that seems to need a new Forever Home, I'll throw a copy of Linux Mint on it. It's a quick and cheap way to turn e-waste into a perfectly modern, functional, and secure computer again.
But although I always have at least one working Linux machine in the office, it's never found a role as a working OS. It's still not a comfortable place for me to work or relax in; it's hard to maintain an extended flow, without the many subtle efficiencies and little cognitive and aesthetic advantages of macOS (or even Windows).
Those of you who daily-drive Linux are full of helpful impulses right now: "Oh! You just need to switch to a different desktop environment! Give [recommendation here] a try!" Or you've got suggestions for how to enhance the DE in whatever Linux distro I'm using.
Bless you! That's exactly the kind of community spirit that has made Linux succeed despite all the odds. I just don't want to fiddle with things overmuch.
Those of you who don't daily-drive Linux are wondering what the hell a desktop environment is. Speaking with the expertise of a Linux tourist, I will oversimplify the concept and explain that a Linux desktop environment is a package of all of those user-facing elements – from front-and-center UI stuff to invisible system-level things – that make or break usability and simplicity. A specific Linux distribution (be it Mint, Arch, Pop! OS, etc.+++) will come with a desktop environment but if you don't like it, you can swap it for another one and change the character of the experience.
With all that in mind, it makes sense that if the big thing holding my back from Linux is its (perceived) shortfalls in simplicity, usability, and comforts, then the information that Pop! OS is building a new DE from scratch has commanded my full and earnest attention.
Yeah, the name of this distro provokes a mandatory eyeroll. But once I got past that, I discovered that Pop! is a contender for the most Mac-like Linux experience. Pop! builds upon Ubuntu as a foundation and has added a lot of their own engineering to make it more palatable for mundanes like myself, going beyond what's strictly possible by putting Ubuntu up on the lift and swapping out components for a smoother ride and better handling.
(I encountered Pop! OS for the first time a few years ago. I remember enjoying my first run and I've still got it installed on a ThinkPad. Why did I stick with Linux Mint as my go-to distro? I can't remember. I'm sure there was a good reason. Depending on how much sleep I had that day.)
Anyway. I only heard about this new desktop environment a few days ago. COSMIC has been under development for a year or so and it's targeted for release this summer. Last week, they blogged about how excited they are about being close to an alpha release, so I'm not necessarily circling a date yet. Still, I rewound through their previous posts about the development and I've been reading what actual Linux users have been saying about, so I'm keen to take it for a spin in the fall or winter.
It's because, yes, I like and admire Linux and something about it makes me want to find a place for it. I'm hoping that Pop! OS will finally crack this.
At the same time, I wonder if my desire for a Linux that looks and functions the way I want it to (without swapping components out) isn't kind of selfish. When I use Linux, I enjoy – or perhaps "respect" is the better word – how it challenges me to learn and grow. If you don't like the app launcher, just swap it for another one. This, of course, will force you to learn the role of the app launcher within the rest of the installation, shop around for the right one, and then install it properly. A couple of rounds of troubleshooting and amber-colored hard liquor will occur before it's working properly.
So, I might argue that the point of Linux, the way to get the most out of it and to celebrate what it's good at, isn't to make Linux more like a Mac. The point is to make Mac users more like Linux users, in the best possible way.
This is all swell from an academic point of view. Of course, I've seen how angry I can get when I'm ten minutes from a deadline and an iPad app isn't handling a cut and paste operation exactly how I think it should. At moments like those, I don't want an experience that Builds Character. I'm desperate for a reliable, linear, "put bread in toaster; slide the thingy down; wait; remove toast" sort of operation.
This simile is begging for a Pop! pun. I will leave that as an exercise for the reader because, at this moment, I am begging for a hot dinner. ⓘ