I loaded up Ubuntu Linux recently to get a taste of what it would be like to live on the other side, to try an operating system that does things very differently than my MacBook Air does. Open-source and free operating systems fascinate me. I had to know if I could use them.
So I installed Ubuntu in a virtual machine (not enough storage to dual-boot) and gave it a shot. I tried to use Ubuntu for as much as humanly possible, relying on OS X for the bare minimum. The results and experience surprised me. Going from OS X to Linux was an experience worth sharing with our readers.
Ubuntu: Friendlier Than I Expected
Using Ubuntu was… not bad. The GUI can’t keep up with the polish of OS X, but it looks decent and works perfectly well. No complaints about the out-of-the-box theme.
I stuck to Unity, Canonical’s default desktop manager that divides the community. I fall into the “cautiously optimistic” camp on the interface. As someone who’s never had a commitment to GNOME, Unity is decent.
Universal search works well. I like that it finds files, apps, and internet results with a tap of the super key.
Not a fan of the “app sidebar,” though. Too tablet-y. I spent an hour or so configuring it to never re-appear again and replaced it with Docky, a decent clone of the OS X dock. Much better.
I liked the deep customization options. You can dig into everything and set it up exactly the way you want.
Programs on the Ubuntu OS
An OS is only as good as what it can do, and third-party programs help us do more. I took a look around the Linux world to see what I could find.
Downloading content on Linux was easier than I expected. Ubuntu does particularly well at this with its Software Center and high compatibility. Debian gets plenty of software that’s compatible with the distro.
I also found Linux versions online, outside the store. Chrome, Spotify, and Viber all support the penguin-branded OS. Checking my list of installed apps on OS X revealed Linux equivalents for almost everything.
I liked the command-line interface for downloading programs. Everything I wanted was a sudo apt-get away. Simple, fast, and efficient. I see why Linux users like this.
Cool Tip: Ever Wished to Install Ubuntu on Your Android Device? Here’s How To Do It
Programming and network engineering seem especially well-supported. Linux is a system made by programmers, for programmers. Anybody who does heavy development should take a nice long look at a Linux-based system.
If only it had more creative programs. Take it from someone who’s worked in multiple multimedia productions: the creative industry runs on Adobe. No matter how crappy Flash Player is, no matter how expensive, no matter how unfriendly a company they are, people like to use Photoshop.
There are solutions. Wine. Alternative programs like GIMP or Bitwig fill the gaps but can’t replace them.
If Linux had more enterprise-grade support, it would be a juggernaut. Imagine installing Ubuntu on a hundred PCs (taking away the cost of 100 Windows licenses) and being able to use them with InDesign and the like.
As it is, though, Linux is ideal for programming, general development, wireless networking and server work. It’s adequate or unusable for everything else.
Very Different Philosophies
The biggest change between OS X and Linux (other than changing operating systems) is the different approaches to user experiences with each platform.
OS X is all about the Apple philosophy of design: it should “just work” without making the user configure everything.
This makes Macs reliable, easy to use, and more streamlined than other systems. You don’t have to download drivers like on Windows or something. The system does that for you.
The downside is that you can’t customize the system to a deep extent. Don’t like the dock in OS X? Too bad.
Linux doesn’t work like that. Linux is all about giving the end user a dizzying amount of choice and customization. If there’s even the slightest possibility someone wants an option to change something, it’s an option. Want an OS X-style dock? Go for it.
It’s also about working the system yourself, finding the solution without having anybody just give you something that just works.
The idea is that if you take ownership of your own operating system, you can learn how it works better and know how to fix things.
It’s like the difference between taking your car to the mechanic and knowing how to work out a dent yourself. Arch Linux personifies this attitude, but you can even see it in Ubuntu.
This gets annoying when it starts happening to basic system functions. Call me entitled, but it’s not unreasonable to expect things like dual monitors to work out of the box.
I remember struggling with Ubuntu, trying to get my second monitor to connect to my last laptop. Christ, what a struggle.
Digging through the system to fix everything leaves me feeling conflicted. I like rolling my own system and tinkering with my computer to get everything working. That’s good fun. I don’t like when tinkering comes between me and getting work done.
The truth is that there’s only so much time to mess around with your settings to get Linux working. At a certain point, I need to stop working on my computer and start working with my computer.
Even Ubuntu suffers from this. They did a good job of fleshing out everything that you might need to work with the system, but you still hit walls. Corners. Rough patches.
Why do I have to manually set up my external monitor? Why does the Ubuntu installer default to the UK layout, even when I tell it to use “US – English (Macintosh)”? Why does a virtual machine with zero modifications tell me the keyboard has crashed at startup?
All these questions probably have answers on the forums. Which I have to look for. And implement. That’s time out of my day that I could be using to work and get paid. Not a fan.
Final Thoughts
Linux feels like a secondary OS to me, something you install on a spare laptop rather than your main computer. It’s seems more hobbyist than serious for my line of work.
I could see the appeal for programmers and open-source fans, but everybody else won’t like it.
Mac fans in particular should avoid this. Despite their shared BSD core, Linux is the opposite of OS X. Things don’t “just work,” and Unity can’t hold a candle to Mavericks in terms of our-of-the-box ease of use.
Linux is great for its target audience. Anybody else shouldn’t bother.
