I'm my case, it was possibility of having desktop where change for the sake of change is completely absent. My desktop is fully up to date, yet it hasn't changed visually since 2006. Every control and menu item is where it was 15 years ago, colors are the same, fonts are the same. I'm not using OS, I'm using apps. The best thing good OS can do for me, is not to get in my way when I run apps. I'm using jwm set up to resemble early gnome.
This has always been my complaint about Windows.
I've long considered the OS as a tool to launch my apps ONLY!. That's it!
Of course, under the surface there are a few more things that it needs to perform like not corrupting my data, being secure and protecting me from attacks and so on but it's purpose is a toolbox.
Carpenters don't use their toolbox to build furniture. They use the tools in it. That's what the the OS is to me: a toolbox that holds my tools.
When it starts giving me shit for not using a Microsoft account or trying to "help me with that thing" that pisses me off.
However, the worst thing is when shit moves around, menus change etc.
Perhaps it's time to give Linux a go again!
So keeping the desktop static is not as important as keeping the desktop stable, imho. Which is why I just use vanilla Gnome. (with some dconf edits to improve speed and stability)
1. Native docker support which runs on the same kernel, shares the same RAM. It's better than Docker in VM.
2. Sane virtualization story. Windows has Hyper-V, VirtualBox has its own stuff, they conflict, if they don't conflict, VirtualBox runs slow as molasses, Android installs some intel hax to work in Windows. WSL provides its own virtual machine, docker provides its own virtual machine. It's a mess! With Linux it's pretty simple: everyone just uses KVM which just works. I run my Windows VM with simple bash script. Perfect!
Also I can't really claim it, but I still think that Linux works better under heavy load with slow CPU. I have very slow mobile 2-core Intel i3. I can run docker containers, Windows VM, IntelliJ Idea, Android Studio, Android Emulator, Factorio. All at once! I just need enough RAM, that is. Of course I can get occasional lag if something taxes my little CPU. But it's very usable. Unless I run Chrome. Chrome is bad.
With Windows, I can run less applications at once. I guess that with powerful CPU that's not really an issue, so I kind of handicapped myself with slow CPU, but whatever.
I think the idea is that Hyper-V was supposed to be what everything uses on Windows, but clearly they didn't make it enticing enough for any virtualization software to switch over. Besides the crappy Hyper-V manager, the only other thing I know of that uses it is WSL2. Too bad Microsoft doesn't care enough to improve the situation.
It's quite nice as a power user, I use terminals and.. overall terminals and tiling window managers barely change.
But the pace of change can be jarring, and sometimes controversial:
GNOME2->3
init->systemd
alsa->pulse->pipewire
ifconfig->ip
NetworkManager->iwctl
A lot of the ergonomics _do_ change with Linux if you're not paying attention.
And this isn't to mention the default desktop manager changing between major versions of popular distros like ubuntu.
I assume MATE is still supported. Yes, it requires user action to change the DE, but end result may be worth it.
>init->systemd
OpenRC supported on Gentoo.
>alsa->pulse->pipewire
Pulseaudio is optional. Pipewire might be worthwhile to hear out.
>ifconfig->ip
ifconfig still works for me.
>NetworkManager->iwctl
No idea, never used any of those.
In my understanding, the systemd-networkd is more like a successor of NetworkManager.
Finally after long years of fiddling with chaos of markdown files I invested the time and switched to Emacs and org-mode. Affinity Designer is running fine under VM, Figma-linux is delight to work with, KDE with middle gray color palette ( as all professional software must be, not dark-themed /check the pinnacle of professional UI design - Soundtrack Pro for reference/) and ARCH.
Gnome is to childish for my taste, Sway is to minimal. Running old version of Plasma without KUserFeedback and for the first time in many years feeling in full control of my desktop. I got tired from configuring Little Snitch and recent Apple move towards scanning macOS was the tipping point.
Sadly there is no replacement for Capture One, RawTherapee is very good, but lacks some essential tools. For this case I will build a monster air-gaped Hackintosh and call it a day.
Usually i find the default/light options too bright and the dark options too dark.
I fine tune it my self, there is a room for interpretation over basic middle gray as lightness value, you can colorize it with subtle bluish, greenish or warm colors.
Soundtrack Pro example is well balanced implementation. When they released it I thought that this will be the default pro UI theme in MacOS.
But iPhone came around and Apple left all Pro Software and Audience behind.
I believe Chrome users can do this as well, however it requires an extension.
Well done, Marius. Well done.
Colorful LEDs, huge liquid coolers… definitively not for me.
[1] https://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/3351
or the smaller
[2] https://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/1074
if one doesn't need up to 250W CPU cooling performance. This 'top-blow/blow down' stuff has other benefits, though, since more airstream is reaching the VRMs and the RAM. (usually, sometimes not, as it depends on layout of the board)
edit: I know there are many, many otheres, comparable, maybe better, or even more cheap. I've chosen this because I'm just a happy customer with their PSU and cooler stuff which is something I'm unwilling to scrooge on. Also I can reach them in person by bicycle, bus, whatever, if need arises.
Anyways, there are silent and powerful aircoolers available, which not only cool the CPU, but also other important parts in compact builds.
Furthermore it seems that watercooling makes real sense only with room for 3 fans of => 120mm on the radiator, everything below seems to be a waste/physical nonsense.
Nice to see Gentoo getting some love. Curious why a custom 5.12 kernel though.
Bluetooth drops out from my headphones once in a while, I can't find decent open software to control the fans in the machine, and getting sound passthrough to work from an audi o input had to be done via the commandline, but apart from that it's been an ok experience.
I'll note that I'd previously given the latest Ubuntu a go, but the UI/WM is a complete and utter mess. Mint is much cleaner.
Xtia Xproto-N $118
ASUS ROG Strix X570-I $268
Ryzen 9 5950X $750
2x Samsung 980 Pro 1TB 2x $180
Team T-Force XTREEM ARGB 64GB (2 x 32GB) $290
Corsair SF 600W $130
LIAN LI GALAHAD AIO 240 $117
2x Cooler Master MasterFan MF120 HALO 2x $ 17
AMD Radeon Pro WX 2100 $200
Intel Mac Mini with cheap CPU, 64 GB RAM and 2 TB SSD is $2699.
I didn't know a mITX board could handle a Ryzen 9 though.
I would also wager the vast majority of people who have a PC only use one SATA or NVMe socket/slot and only have a GPU as an add-in. This makes, for the most part, an mATX board mostly as used as an mITX board in terms of features.
My first generation AM4 mITX board that I built with a Ryzen 7 1700X can handle the 3000 series Ryzen 9 CPUs just fine.
https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/Fatal1ty%20AB350%20Gaming-ITXa...
Even the Ryzen 9 3950X.
I recently did a rebuild and got another mITX AM4 board.
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B550I-AORUS-PRO-AX-rev-...
It handles all Ryzen 3000, 4000 and 5000 CPUs. Including the 16 core Ryzen 9 5950X.
Size =/= Quality of Board.
If anything the `xn--....` is a indicating a non-malicious name, since anyone spoofing another service would go for a generic name or something slightly similar to "google", "microsoft", "paypal", etc.
(Unless you saw "マリウス" in the link - but that's a similar story - non-english character sets are completely valid and popular. They're not indicating malicious pages.)