Thoughts on Linux GUI, usability, customization, and such

As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve been using Linux in various forms for roughly 20 years now. What I’ve found is that at this point is that most daily functions work as well, if not better, under Linux as they do in Windows or MacOS. There aren’t a lot of applications that are unavailable for Linux. For browsing online, writing documents, even many games, those all function as well on Linux as they do on Windows. Certainly, part of that has been the steady march with Linux distributions becoming more and more user friendly over the years.

Using the distros with larger support platforms and communities, in my case Ubuntu and Linux Mint, has ensured stability and ease of use for me over the last several years. I’ve been using Linux almost daily at least on my laptops since 2019. And using Mint and Ubuntu have been my choices for the most part during this time. Being based on Debian, to get access to the Debian and Ubuntu repositories along with the capability to natively use .deb packages has made using the platform frankly very comfortable.

I still use the terminal quite frequently, but that’s more out of familiarity and ease of use for me personally. I could do nearly everything I use it for in some sort of GUI but choose not to do so. For most other users I feel they wouldn’t need to do any of that. Whether it’s configuring Wi-Fi, changing system settings, or even installing drivers, most of that doesn’t require diving under the hood and editing system files individually anymore. Now most are included with the distros themselves, or available in the package repositories. And, for most users, who rarely use such a wide breadth of applications, once everything they need is installed, they may never install another application again.

What’s left is basic system maintenance and maintaining a regular update schedule. While I manually refresh for updates every day, for average users the update managers for Ubuntu, and other Linux distros, is so good that honestly such vigilance is hardly necessary. For the most part even if I don’t maintain that strict scheduling, I get update notifications. Rarely do these involve any sort of technical expertise either, simply listing what packages need to update and a simple dialog chain leading the user through the process to do so. What I feel is likely the most confusing aspect of updating is that occasionally the window will pop back up and list packages that are no longer needed and can be uninstalled, something users familiar with other operating systems likely haven’t encountered, or at least haven’t encountered since the days of Windows installers warning about DLL dependencies when uninstalling programs during the Win9x days.

But even with that, after the first encounter, if the user is informed that it’s essentially a post-patch install cleanup can make that far less intimidating. Amusingly, that fear of change or complexity is also something that can be addressed with Linux as well. It’s easy enough to install UI skins and tools to make Linux largely look like whatever operating system the user is most comfortable using. Whether that’s Windows XP, 7, 10, or even 11, or MacOS 9, or even Solaris, there are options available to use. That said, the more you change the greater the potential is to cause a conflict but again that’s unlikely unless you decide to really get into the weeds of customizing the interface.

Ultimately, with how much Windows has become more complicated, at less user friendly to use, not to mention all the growing privacy rights issues, there’s less and less reason to maintain using it as your sole computing platform. In fact, for a great number of users, I see no reason to use it at all for most people. They could be just as easily serviced by using Linux. And with gaming quickly gaining tremendous ground in Linux compatibility and capability that is one major feather that was previously only in Microsoft’s cap, to being available to another growing community and platform. I’m excited to see where Linux will go over the coming years and the future is brighter than ever for it.