[kwlug-disc] Snappy judgements, snappy issues, flat shadows

[Charles M]

Hi Doug.

Yes, we considered Mint back in 2010 when we were looking to move away
from Ubuntu to Xubuntu. Back then, it was what worked best on the
hardware we had, and back then Mint just didn't work as great on the
hardware.

I've kept my eye on Mint since then. But this also needs a bit more
context. We PXE (network) install Xubuntu. Right now the process is
mostly automated.

When Canonical decided to move away from the Debian Installer (d-i) to
Ubiquity, doing auto-installs became a bit more complicated, but I
eventually figured it out. I had LM "Una" on our server, but when I
last tried to put "Veronica" on the server, it didn't work. (To be
fair I didn't have much time to do it).

The Una installer wasn't an auto-install (like Ubuntu/Xubuntu), but a
live installer (which means more steps for volunteers, but this
doesn't seem to be an issue , as we follow checklists).

We've also developed documentation around using Xubuntu (so when
people get a computer from the project, they have a starting point to
help them). I've gotten really used to Xubuntu, when I switched to
Mint for a month (to be fair Cinnamon) I actually grew a bit
frustrated because I felt less productive (hot keys). For sure, Mint
is on the radar. Completely automating the PXE element is one of the
things I have to consider, but we could probably get away with the
live installer + pulling some BASH scripts to do the rest of our
install. Currently we're installing a bunch of extras, things like
OnlyOffice, Zoom, to make the experience a bit more like that other
platform.

Cheers,

Charles

On Sat, 18 May 2024 at 21:20, Doug Moen <doug at moens.org> wrote:
>
> Charles, if you can't move to Ubuntu 24.04, have you considered Mint?
>
> The Mint app store is "Software Manager", aka mintinstall, and it seems perfectly fine. There's a search bar, a list of app categories, app listings have a 1-5 star rating, a good description, a screenshot (even for fonts, cli commands, etc), and reviews. It installs software either from 'apt', or from flathub. No snaps.
>
> On Sat, May 18, 2024, at 8:38 PM, Charles M wrote:
> > I'm not sure about server Khalid, but GNOME software was replaced with
> > Canonical's Snap Store for Xubuntu 24.04. The snap store behaves a lot
> > better than GNOME software, it's snappy (fast). I'm happy to be wrong,
> > but it sadly seems to be snap only.
> >
> > There are still lots of .debs that can be downloaded via apt on cli,
> > and it's still possible to install GNOME software, and install the
> > flatpak extension. Flatpak's do not appear to work in the snap store
> > (in my limited testing), but do work CLI and with GNOME software.
> >
> > There are other issues with Xubuntu 24.04 that prevent us from
> > implementing it at Computer Recycling (we're still doing 22.04), but
> > snaps are a problem for us too. Lots to think about in the next while.
> >
> > On Fri, 17 May 2024 at 20:50, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> I am still on Xubuntu (desktop) 22.04 LTS, and Ubuntu
> >> Server 22.04 LTS on all the servers I manage.
> >>
> >> So far, I have been successful in uninstalling snapd, after
> >> I uninstall Firefox, and that does it for me. No snap in sight.
> >>
> >> Perhaps that works because I don't use Gnome, which
> >> I faintly recall had a dependency on snapd. Or maybe 24.04
> >> LTS changes things around? Don't know.
> >>
> >> $ snap
> >> Command 'snap' not found, but can be installed with:
> >> sudo apt install snapd
> >>
> >> $ snapd
> >> Command 'snapd' not found, did you mean:
> >>   command 'snap' from deb snapd (2.58+20.04.1)
> >>   command 'snmpd' from deb snmpd (5.8+dfsg-2ubuntu2.9)
> >>   command 'slapd' from deb slapd (2.4.49+dfsg-2ubuntu1.9)
> >>   command 'zsnapd' from deb zsnapd (0.8.11h-1ubuntu2)
> >> Try: sudo apt install <deb name>
> >>
> >> For Firefox, I use the Ubuntu Mozilla Team PPA, and install firefox-esr,
> >> so it is a .deb with proper dependency management. The ESR version
> >> is so that I don't get version updates too often.
> >>
> >> But for my specific use case, there is no reason to move off Ubuntu,
> >> since all the servers are doing well.
> >>
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> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Charles
> > Mastodon: @chaslinux at techhub.social
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > To unsubscribe, send an email to kwlug-disc-leave at kwlug.org
> > with the subject "unsubscribe", or email
> > kwlug-disc-owner at kwlug.org to contact a human being.



-- 
Charles
Mastodon: @chaslinux at techhub.social