From macOS to Linux (desktop)... a few questions
[This may be considered off-topic but I'll take the chance anyway since there is not much traffic here today (Sunday)]
I'm thinking about about moving from macOS to Linux, probably Ubuntu. I ran Linux desktop (first Slackware and later Debian (Mepis, Kanotix) from around 1999 to 2006 when I moved to the Apple platform. So except for maintaining a simple Linode web server, I've been 'out of it' for a long time.
I would need:
- A powerful SFTP client (like Transmit)
- A full-featured email client (like Postbox)
- A messaging app (Apple Messages)
- A good text editor (I think Sublime runs on Linux?)
- A Word processor (Word) and spreadsheet (Excel)
- A Password manager (I think 1Password runs on Linux?)
I assume GIMP for graphics is still around.
I'd like to keep things simple and not install a huge window manager like KDE and just use the Ubuntu default… which is what these days… GNOME?
Any (and all) suggestions are welcome. It is a quiet Sunday so if this is considered (way) off-topic and there are objections I'll happily delete it (if possible?)
2 Replies
If you're wanting to test drive Ubuntu desktop, just run it from an external drive or partition your internal drive. That way you can always switch back to macOS without losing data.
There are plenty of linux desktop communities/forums out there where this question would be more relevant.
Try looking for a linux community on reddit.com, for example.
Good luck.
I did quite a bit of research and decided that the pain-point of moving from the macOS platform to the Linux platform for my personal and business needs is higher than the reward-point.
The hardware savings would be a one-time amount in the area of $700. Amortized over a four year 'shelf-life,' it is $175 a year, which is basically 'petty cash.'
The software savings would be in the area of maybe $150 a year (most of that being the $99/yr Office 365 'rental'.) Over the 4-year span it is $600, which again is negligible to me.
Add in the $175 hardware saving and you get a total of $775 for 4 years or $193.75 per year.
Changing out all of my software and probably having to create some new workflows and figure out new integrations, the savings is just not greater than the pain of doing it all.
Since the macOS terminal has most of the same commands as Linux and bash scripts work just fine, one can make the case the macOS (based on FreeBSD) is a "distro" of Linux. It just runs on more expensive (and closed) hardware.