My thoughts on Elementary OS?
Date: 2019/12/01
Note: this post is part of my new series of posting every day for December.
Elementary OS is now a veteran distribution, they started back in 2011. One thing that immidiately was obvious, that they tried a new thing with the design, and the POV how a Linux distribution should do things.
From the start they were like a little bit of Apple: "Think different". Just in the Linux/free software community. For that I give them crap, and other people also give them hard time. But honestly, if you think about, diversity is a good thing. And I don't talk about forking for just the sake of forking (like the Glimpse photo editor thing), but actually creating something different. And it is not just a clone, but they have their own ideas. For example the window buttons, if they wanted a Mac OS clone, the first thing people recognize the wrong side and the order of buttons about OSX, and they went with a completely different direction.
I personally was disappointed with them how they handled the "pay for something to our distribution" fiasco. especially the communication, and calling people cheaters. At that point I gave up on the distro.
But since, I've changed, and I wanted to give them another chance. After all Elementary OS is free software, and you can make it your own, if you don't like the systems others have to offer.
Why I use Elementary OS as a distrohopper?
In the past few weeks I switched from Manjaro Linux to Devuan to Ubuntu Mate, and now I am using Elementary OS.
I will be blunt here, I like the design, the simplicity of the default things. I miss some of the customization part of other systems, but I think there comes a time when I just want to use my computer and enjoy what it can give me, without want to change things every day.
So yes, I like the animations, I love the alt+tab that it shows in plank dock, and other little things. I love the theme, the separated window buttons (without minimize, which we really don't use much in my experience), the icons. The slingshot launcher/menu is functional, and nice to look at.
Most of the things has sane defaults, and totally enjoyable for most of us. Which leads to my next point…
Would I recommend Elementary OS to a regular user?
I think Elementary OS has a little bit of a learning curve, if you are comming from windows. I mean the menu is at the other side of town, there are panels, date in the middle, icons in mid-bottom. If a person who never used anything other than Windows, and just look at Elementary OS, would definitely had a few questions. On the other hand if you show Manjaro Linux, or KDE Neon, most people would just start their day as it were yesterday. That's why I'd still recommend Ubuntu MATE for beginners, and I could recommend Elementary OS, if you already spent some time with Linux.
As always however, if you give a well setup system to a person, who does just regular stuff, then Elementary OS still can be OK, with maybe a little bit of demonstration to show, where things are.
Ultimately, I am tired of people…
Looking at you like you are some kind of noob or looking down on people, just because you are using Elementary. So I use Elementary OS, big deal. If I or you like it, you should use whatever you want, and whatever makes your productive and enjoy your time with your computer. Don't feel guilty just because you use Elementary OS, it's your choice, if you like it, than use it!