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The Final Switch to GNU+Linux

In 2005 I made the switch from Windows XP to Mac OS X. My experiences with it were refreshing. The interface was well designed and ease of use was great compared to what I was used to with Windows XP. At the time I was looking for anything more enjoyable or easier to use than Windows.

At the time Macintosh had a pretty small hold on the computer world. So using a Macintosh was something special. Almost mythical to me. Eventually, this would change, and Macintosh would grow in it's user-base, would no longer feel special to me.

I Thought Mac was Forever?

I stayed with Macintosh until 2018, waiting on Apple to release a pro desktop computer to replace the MacPro from 2013, also known as the trash can, which was what I was using at work and at home. They eventually would, but it was nothing close to anything I could afford for the power and memory needs I wanted. Starting at $6,000 for a base memory of only 64gb which is what I was already maxed at. I wanted to double that at least.

Enter the AMD Threadripper

So, I looked elsewhere and made the switch back to Windows for a while when I built a killer workstation with an AMD Threadripper with 16 cores and 32 threads, maxed with 128gb of memory, and an Nvidia RTX 2080 Super video card capable of running several displays with 4k.

At the time Windows 10 was out so the computer came with it installed. I remember that any experience I had with Windows 7 was not so bad, so I was going to give Windows 10 a try. Although it looked pretty good, I quickly found out that life with Windows 10 would be a constant barrage of blue screens of death (BSOD's) and forced updates from Microsoft whether I wanted them or not. Sure I could delay them a few months, but that means you're not getting security updates and we all know that Windows is a cluster and huge target. I want a stable experience and that means non-crashing and also an interface that wouldn't change with each update. Microsoft doesn't know what they want, they are always changing the interface, adding features, or removing them. It is almost like you're running a beta version.

Pop!_OS or Fedora?

So in mid-2020 I decided to make the move to GNU+Linux. I spent several days installing and trying out the different popular distros and the different desktop environments available. It seems I've landed on Pop!_OS with the Gnome 3 desktop environment. It's customized a little but working out great. In the shadows, Fedora w/ KDE or Gnome is lurking as a backup if I ever decide to change. However, if I do, it needs to be with the ability to replace ANY applications I use that isn't super "open" or "libre" / free as it seems strange to use Fedora and use applications that would defeat the focus of Fedora. Free, Libre, and Open-Source applications only.

Further Reading

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