Favorite Distro that is closet to the old Ubuntu Interface

ManofGod

ManofGod

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I preferred the old Ubuntu interface before they removed it in the latest version. Now, however, the latest versions of Ubuntu have been a bit more buggy and Steam never works on the first try. Therefore, I have tried a bunch of distros over time but have stuck with none.

What is the distro with the closest Ubuntu feel of recently old interface.
 
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IdiotInCharge said:
:ROFLMAO:
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Laugh all you want but, that is the straight up experience from where I am coming from. The Steam program never opens when using the version that comes from store, ever. You need to go out and use the command line commands to get it up and running, which for me, was no biggie but, that is the whole point of this thread. Therefore, any chance you can actually answer the question at hand?
 
ManofGod said:
Laugh all you want but, that is the straight up experience from where I am coming from. The Steam program never opens when using the version that comes from store, ever. You need to go out and use the command line commands to get it up and running, which for me, was no biggie but, that is the whole point of this thread. Therefore, any chance you can actually answer the question at hand?
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Literally everything I've tried in the last six months. Ubuntu (LTS and latest), Mint, Pop_OS!, all Ubuntu derivatives, Manjaro (arch-based), Solus, I've had it working on several Fedora releases, and so on.

The experience you're having is one that I had about two years ago. It installed, but it wouldn't run. Everything I've done recently that's had it in the store was a straightforward install, and anything that wasn't (maybe Fedora?) I found straightforward instructions to get running.

Toss something into a VM and find out.

And with respect to 'Old Gnome', most distros include a fairly ugly 'Classic Gnome' option that may be what you're looking for. Outside of Gnome, MATE is essentially a fork of Gnome 2, and nearly every distro rolls a MATE flavor, and nearly every one that doesn't has it available in their repositories to switch to. You just install MATE and then you can switch from the login screen. Further outside of Gnome is Cinnamon, which I'm currently using on Mint. It's their default and yes, I installed it on an SSD today, installed Steam from their store, installed a game, and started playing.

As to distros themselves, I'd tell you to flip a coin. The differences are pretty small once you get stuff set up the way you like; the biggest 'look and feel' differences are the desktop environments. Distros distance themselves more by theming the desktop environments, and by what default settings and applications are included.

And if I had to pick one, it'd be Manjaro. Get the MATE flavor and roll out. ChadD would be proud!
 
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Hagrid said:
I think some should just stick with windows....... ;)
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Which does not answer the question at all. I use all OSes so perhaps you should just stick to one, you know, since you seem to be a bit limited in that department? :D ;) I was using and installing Linux probably before you were even born.
 
ManofGod said:
Which does not answer the question at all. I use all OSes so perhaps you should just stick to one, you know, since you seem to be a bit limited in that department? :D ;) I was using and installing Linux probably before you were even born.
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Dam, you must be really old! I am 49.

I agree that Linux is still limited, but it's so much better and easier to use. At least that was the case when I was messing around with it.
 
Hagrid said:
Dam, you must be really old! I am 49.

I agree that Linux is still limited, but it's so much better and easier to use. At least that was the case when I was messing around with it.
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Ok, so not that old. :D (52) That said, I preferred Unity and want the closest I can get to it, any ideas?
 
ManofGod said:
Ok, so not that old. :D (52) That said, I preferred Unity and want the closest I can get to it, any ideas?
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It's been a long time since I have used it. I ordered computers for properties business centers without an OS to save money. I put Linux on it and put the most used icon's on the desktop
and people had no problem using it. Let me say some of the people were not the brightest..... Basically it was just like using 7.
I think it's like using any software, you need to make it work for you. I can't since some stuff is 10 only and some games do not work on Linux, etc.
 
Hagrid said:
It's been a long time since I have used it. I ordered computers for properties business centers without an OS to save money. I put Linux on it and put the most used icon's on the desktop
and people had no problem using it. Let me say some of the people were not the brightest..... Basically it was just like using 7.
I think it's like using any software, you need to make it work for you. I can't since some stuff is 10 only and some games do not work on Linux, etc.
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No no, I mean what is the closest to the Unity interface in a specific distribution, by default. I have been using computers since the C64, Amiga Workbench days. To me, interfaces are not an issue since, for me, all OSes essentially do the same thing.
 
ManofGod said:
No no, I mean what is the closest to the Unity interface in a specific distribution, by default. I have been using computers since the C64, Amiga Workbench days. To me, interfaces are not an issue since, for me, all OSes essentially do the same thing.
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You could have Ubuntu MATE or Manjaro MATE running in a VM by now if not in hardware... what's taking so long?

Get to it!
 
IdiotInCharge said:
You could have Ubuntu MATE or Manjaro MATE running in a VM by now if not in hardware... what's taking so long?

Get to it!
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NO! I am going to eventually disconnect my drives and remove my M.2 drive so I can install it on a blank 480GB SSD. (Do not want to erase my other drives or mess with them and they cannot be simply disabled in the bios.) No, I also do not want to dual boot.)
 
ManofGod said:
NO! I am going to eventually disconnect my drives and remove my M.2 drive so I can install it on a blank 480GB SSD. (Do not want to erase my other drives or mess with them and they cannot be simply disabled in the bios.) No, I also do not want to dual boot.)
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Yeah, I have not dual booted in a LONG time. VM's are the way to go.
 
Hagrid said:
Yeah, I have not dual booted in a LONG time. VM's are the way to go.
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Yeah but, I have 3 very fast computers so I just want to use one, for a time anyways, with Linux. (I have in the recent past as well.)
 
ManofGod said:
Yeah but, I have 3 very fast computers so I just want to use one, for a time anyways, with Linux. (I have in the recent past as well.)
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Only way I would do that is set up a system in my mining cabinet, so it does not affect the house with heat. Mainly, my room! :)
 
ManofGod said:
NO! I am going to eventually disconnect my drives and remove my M.2 drive so I can install it on a blank 480GB SSD. (Do not want to erase my other drives or mess with them and they cannot be simply disabled in the bios.) No, I also do not want to dual boot.)
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You can tell it to use a specific drive, and then, to put the bootloader on that drive. Then, you have to interrupt the boot sequence and select that drive specifically.

The Mint install referenced above is installed to an SSD that's in a USB3 adapter. I select it at boot, there's Mint. Do nothing, there's Windows 10.

ManofGod said:
Yeah but, I have 3 very fast computers so I just want to use one, for a time anyways, with Linux. (I have in the recent past as well.)
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But you could sort through which one has an amenable interface and software defaults that you like.

You could have tested three distros by now. What's stopping you?
 
I always find it amazing how dual booting an Ubuntu derivative with Windows is so easy, the installer literally steps you through the process, yet Windows users always manage to stuff it up and then blame Linux when they loose all their data! At one stage I was booting Windows and five Ubuntu based distro's for comparison (and I installed Steam under them all direct from Valve, no harder than installing Steam under Windows and worked perfectly) not a problem in the world - And I'd never dual booted Ubuntu before.

I'm fairly certain I'm just an average PC user, so how can one explain this unfounded difficulty?

You want the closest you can get to Unity? Run Ubuntu Mate with the Mutiny theme or the latest version of Gnome Ubuntu - That's as close as you'll get and even then the behavior will be different. Unity is dead.

Just waiting for the wave of negativity as Linux isn't a Windows clone.
 
Mazzspeed said:
I always find it amazing how dual booting an Ubuntu derivative with Windows is so easy
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The biggest concern I had was not installation, but the inevitable need to reinstall stuff after I broke it, and how that would work with dual-boot.

I've since learned to remove Grub from within Windows or by booting any Linux distro- it's as easy as deleting folders with UEFI now.

And that's not to say that I haven't destroyed Windows installs- but I made backups first ;).
 
Go with Manjaro. If your not sure what DE you want it will be the easiest distro to mess around with. Just be ready to kill it and install from scratch if need be.

INC is advice is good the MATE version... its basically a slightly updated gnome 2.

IMO Unity just looked like a skinned version of Gnome. I am a Gnome 3 user and lover and I don't apologize for that. If you really for some reason want a silly start bar you can add gnome star bar extensions. There are a bunch of good ones. Dock to dash can be made to look exactly like the Unity side bar. (Ubuntu added the code to make it extend full screen).

I would say honestly try out Gnome 3 if you haven't in awhile. I detest start bars... and if I'm forced to use a machine without a activities screen now it drives me batty. It boggles my mind that every OS hasn't trashed the alt-tab for an activities screen its not 1999 our machines can handle large updated window previews.

If you really want a bottom bar (or top bar with launches ect)... and must have a start bar....
https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1160/dash-to-panel/
https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/6/applications-menu/

Anyway ya go manjaro... I would just go Gnome3 myself but they have MATE or pretty much every other popular DE option ISOs.
https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/Install_Desktop_Environments
Its pretty easy to switch manjaros DE at any time... and most will play nicely with each other if you have more then one.
 
Hagrid said:
Only way I would do that is set up a system in my mining cabinet, so it does not affect the house with heat. Mainly, my room! :)
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Well, they are not all running 24/7 so I just boot them up when I want to use them. They are all fast booters.
 
Eh, I love the bar at the bottom. I don't need the 'start' button as much, but having a 'bar' with open applications is just more convenient to me.

But I can certainly use anything. I think it was trying to use the Activities screen in Gnome 3 with a trackpad that got me a little annoyed with it, but I likely wouldn't mind it with a mouse.

Note to MoG: we use CentOS 7 at work with Gnome Classic Shell. It's butt-ugly, but it works.
 
I've become a massive KDE Plasma fan, it's simply awesome and every few weeks it just keeps getting better. The devs post in r/Linux regarding DE improvements and they're really making massive strides.

It's the first DE I'd recommend to any transitioning Windows user. The last distro I'd recommend is Linux Mint, unless things have really changed the WM under Mint has massive issues - I have no idea why people keep recommending Mint to new users.
 
Mazzspeed said:
The last distro I'd recommend is Linux Mint, unless things have really changed the WM under Mint has massive issues - I have no idea why people keep recommending Mint to new users.
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First time I've tried it, 19.2 is working well.
 
Mazzspeed said:
The must have made some changes since I used it last. AMD or Nvidia graphics? If you get the time, try KDE Neon and tell me what you think!
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I've used KDE Neon, though not sure I've used it on metal yet- definitely in a VM at least. Not sure I have anything useful to say but I have been meaning to try it again.

And this is a laptop with an Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU, with Optimus. Still working on testing that.
 
Mazzspeed said:
I've become a massive KDE Plasma fan, it's simply awesome and every few weeks it just keeps getting better. The devs post in r/Linux regarding DE improvements and they're really making massive strides.

It's the first DE I'd recommend to any transitioning Windows user. The last distro I'd recommend is Linux Mint, unless things have really changed the WM under Mint has massive issues - I have no idea why people keep recommending Mint to new users.
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The cool thing is, for me, I am not transitioning and do not need to have the same interface for each OS I use. I used to think KDE was great a long time ago and GNome was not as good. However, GNome improved greatly in the last 3 years and KDE is still the same start menu where everything is hard to find and search does not even work great, from my experience. GNome search works really well, however, and is fast by just hitting the windows key and typing.
 
IdiotInCharge said:
Eh, I love the bar at the bottom. I don't need the 'start' button as much, but having a 'bar' with open applications is just more convenient to me.

But I can certainly use anything. I think it was trying to use the Activities screen in Gnome 3 with a trackpad that got me a little annoyed with it, but I likely wouldn't mind it with a mouse.

Note to MoG: we use CentOS 7 at work with Gnome Classic Shell. It's butt-ugly, but it works.
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I have it as my default super key. (I think a bunch of distros default to that now) Old habits I also set up super+D to hit my desktop and super+E to pop up my file manager (I still install thunar and make that my default in gnome). On my wives machine I installed dash to panel and added a manjaro logo on the far left... which opens activities, beside it I have the gnome all apps icon as well. She seems to like that setup. I know the app folder button is very close to a start bar still... its not. lol

https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1217/appfolders-manager/
Still nice to use that one for now... I believe Gnome is adding proper app folder creation, which might make it into 3.34. Still till then, this extensions is easier then creating app folder links in .desktop files by hand. :)
 
ManofGod said:
The cool thing is, for me, I am not transitioning and do not need to have the same interface for each OS I use. I used to think KDE was great a long time ago and GNome was not as good. However, GNome improved greatly in the last 3 years and KDE is still the same start menu where everything is hard to find and search does not even work great, from my experience. GNome search works really well, however, and is fast by just hitting the windows key and typing.
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There's more than one KDE menu to choose from and the default one works perfectly. Search works better than my experiences with other operating systems, in fact global search straight from the desktop even craps all over the search feature under MacOS, aiding my workflow considerably. Nothing is at all difficult to find.

KDE today is considerably different from KDE three years ago.

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IdiotInCharge said:
So, Manjaro KDE is alright. Default software installer is ass (Octopi).
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Discover is the best installer I've ever used, the Software Center under Vanilla Ubuntu is the worst installer I've ever used - I had all sorts of issues last time I tried (early 18.04) just installing third party .deb's under Vanilla Ubuntu, had to install Gdebi in the end.

Discover handles everything perfectly from Flatpak to Snap to .deb straight out the box.
 
Mazzspeed said:
Discover is the best installer I've ever used, the Software Center under Vanilla Ubuntu is the worst installer I've ever used - I had all sorts of issues last time I tried (early 18.04) just installing third party .deb's under Vanilla Ubuntu, had to install Gdebi in the end.

Discover handles everything perfectly from Flatpak to Snap to .deb straight out the box.
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This is on Manjaro... so we're on an Arch base :).

Didn't really have any significant trouble with Ubuntu. Of course, there's always something.
 
IdiotInCharge said:
This is on Manjaro... so we're on an Arch base :).

Didn't really have any significant trouble with Ubuntu. Of course, there's always something.
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I know, just interesting doing comparisons. They use Octopi as it's Qt and therefore works better with KDE, but there's no reason why you can't just install Pacmac is there?
 
Mazzspeed said:
They use Octopi as it's Qt and therefore works better with KDE, but there's no reason why you can't just install Pacmac is there?
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Top result under 'enable AUR in Manjaro KDE' is use Pamac.

I'm sure there's some political fosser reason for it, but the AUR option in Octopi was unselectable.
 
Mazzspeed said:
I know, just interesting doing comparisons. They use Octopi as it's Qt and therefore works better with KDE, but there's no reason why you can't just install Pacmac is there?
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No there isn't .... there is even a Pamac-QT
https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/Pamac

I haven't tried it on KDE... but I would assume pamac-qt should look pretty good.
 
IdiotInCharge said:
I used the GTK one first out of ignorance- the QT version does look significantly better.
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Not sure you noticed on their wiki but there is a tray indicator package as well.
pamac-tray-appindicator

Not sure why they don't just default pamac for all their spins. When I see octopi I always think of RPM distros. lol
 
IdiotInCharge said:
Top result under 'enable AUR in Manjaro KDE' is use Pamac.

I'm sure there's some political fosser reason for it, but the AUR option in Octopi was unselectable.
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That's because Octopi needs an additional component to access and use the AUR which isn't installed by default. Once you install one of the backends for accessing the AUR through Octopi it works fine.
 
SmokeRngs said:
That's because Octopi needs an additional component to access and use the AUR which isn't installed by default. Once you install one of the backends for accessing the AUR through Octopi it works fine.
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Yeah, I saw a few listed- it was just easier to replace it's asstasticness and move on.
 
Mazzspeed said:
I always find it amazing how dual booting an Ubuntu derivative with Windows is so easy, the installer literally steps you through the process, yet Windows users always manage to stuff it up and then blame Linux when they loose all their data! At one stage I was booting Windows and five Ubuntu based distro's for comparison (and I installed Steam under them all direct from Valve, no harder than installing Steam under Windows and worked perfectly) not a problem in the world - And I'd never dual booted Ubuntu before.

I'm fairly certain I'm just an average PC user, so how can one explain this unfounded difficulty?

You want the closest you can get to Unity? Run Ubuntu Mate with the Mutiny theme or the latest version of Gnome Ubuntu - That's as close as you'll get and even then the behavior will be different. Unity is dead.

Just waiting for the wave of negativity as Linux isn't a Windows clone.
Click to expand...

Who cares? I do not want to dual boot, period, at all and this is not a Linux vs Windows vs OSX thread, as the title has indicated. I already made it clear, I do not want to dual boot, at all.
 
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