Since the release of our last major version in August 2021, Zorin OS 16 has garnered over 6.2 million downloads. Ever since, we’ve been …
  • just_another_person@lemmy.world
    481·
    11 months ago

    Does anyone use this? I’ve yet to find a defining feature list of why anyone should use it aside from cosmetic differences. Does it even have a defining feature set?

        • Lemonparty@lemm.ee
          132·
          11 months ago

          A better question might be why shouldn’t they? I’m not being pedantic (at least not intentionally) but if their defining characteristic is that they’re nothing special, just a simple Linux distro that does the basic shit easily enough and looks nice - that has major appeal to people unfamiliar with Linux looking to leave other OS’s behind. The vast majority of people that use an OS really have very little idea how it works or why. They just want some basic level of understanding and control over it.

            • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
              2·
              11 months ago

              I mean, most DEs copy Windows (KDE does, Cinnamon does, etc).

              • Taskbar along the bottom that shows opened programs

              • Start button that opens a small start menu in the bottom left

              • Clock in the bottom right

              • System tray in the bottom right

              • Frequently have menu bars at the top of apps

              • Minimise, maximise, close at the top right of each app

              • etc

              So tbh it seems harsh to criticise Zorin for copying Windows when it seems, with the exception of Gnome, that all actual up to date DEs have copied Windows. And if they went with vanilla Gnome they’d not really be offering anything different at all.

        • EuroNutellaMan@lemmy.world
          23·
          11 months ago

          Tbh I used it few months ago and it’s a pretty decent noob distro but I had some annoying graphical issues caused by snaps, which zorin use(d?) even by default so I can’t recommend it because of that. It also doesn’t allow much customization but that’s GNOME for you.

          spoiler

          Also, this is just a me thing and not the distro’s fault, but I couldn’t stand having Zs everywhere even if it is a pure coincidence and I actually know the volunteers stand with Ukraine.

          It’s a good distro for those who want an easy introduction to Linux, I just think Linux Mint or Pop_OS are better, but there’s many who use it and swear by it.

    • Corgana@startrek.website
      41·
      11 months ago

      I use it. It’s great. I’ve tried Linux many times over the past decade but it never stuck until Zorin. If you’re coming from Windows it’s a very friendly (and polished) way of being welcomed to Linux while also showing off Linux’s strengths, things that are often hidden to the user unless they want to explore the terminal.

      For Mac users who are Linux-curious I would recommend Ubuntu because it’s much similar, whereas Zorin seems clearly designed with people who liked Windows 10 but not Windows 11.

        • Tiger Jerusalem@lemmy.world
          13·
          11 months ago

          I disagree: elementary is quite limited with really basic desktop features out of the box, limited personalization, weird interface decisions with some ugly panels, and pretty behind on updates, relying heavily on their own walled gard-

          You know what? You’re right.

        • Roopappy@lemmy.mlEnglish
          7·
          11 months ago

          Kinda. I’m using Elementary OS right now, and I think of it more like a Chromebook… with more options to expand it.

    • bartolomeo@suppo.fi
      12·
      11 months ago

      Zorin was, at least a few years ago, tailored to be easy to adapt to for people switching from Windows. This new version looks beautiful, I’m going to take it for a spin!

    • HubertManne@kbin.social
      9·
      11 months ago

      oh yeah. its an out of the box for folks (like myself) who like that. Lots of apps preinstalled including play on linux. So I can install and start using without adding any additional software. Its not the only oob distro but combining that with the look feel emulation is great and I have never seen an oob that sets up wine so well to use immediately. So its a bit like a combo of a gaming distro with oob and then the lookNfeel thing.

    • UprisingVoltage
      8·
      11 months ago

      Tbh I see it as “prettier linux mint”. Good distro for beginners but nothing more

    • GustavoM@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      11 months ago

      No, but I used this back when I was a little penguin and I had to “see” something working on Linux.

      • Russ@bitforged.spaceEnglish
        7·
        11 months ago

        That’s not exclusive to Zorin however, that’s just a Gnome 42 feature (unless the base gnome implementation is the one you’re referring to that needs configuring in the terminal).

        • Moonrise2473@lemmy.ml
          3·
          11 months ago

          Ah. The way they wrote that seemed an exclusive…

          Nice for gnome, so, when I wanted to set xrdp on debian a couple years ago I cried and almost gave up.

    • governorkeagan@lemdro.idEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      I’ve got it on my fiancées laptop. She doesn’t use it very often though. It’s a decent enough experience

    • burgersc12@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      615·
      11 months ago

      It seems ok, guess I should try the free version before making judgements, realized the pro is ONLY $50 and completely optional. Sorry

      at minimum Seems they charge a shitton for “bonus” software like they’re a wannabe windows or some fuckin shit. Avoid this if you have any respect for yourself or open source software

      • morrowind@lemmy.ml
        101·
        11 months ago

        If you had respect for open source software, you’d be willing to pay for it

        • burgersc12@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          53·
          11 months ago

          $2,000 for autocad? Misunderstood what the site was saying Doesn’t sound like the kind of thing a linux distro should be selling. When was the last time Debian tried to get you to spend thousands of dollars on it??

          • TMP_NKcYUEoM7kXg4qYe@lemmy.world
            5·
            11 months ago

            They are just showing you that you don’t need to spend $2000 on Autocad and other listed software, because Zorin has all these open source tools bundled in it.

            Though tbh replacing Autocad or office365 with FOSS alternatives are bold claims because these alternatives just aren’t viable in a commercial environment.

      • Moonrise2473@lemmy.ml
        5·
        11 months ago

        It’s just support, for people that can afford it or want it. The bonus software is all free or foss, the rest are wallpapers or other gnome themes that can be get otherwise

      • HubertManne@kbin.social
        61·
        11 months ago

        I use the free version. its fine. if you have to have it look like a mac then yeah you can pay or configure it yourself like you would with any linux.

  • Lime66@lemmy.world
    23·
    11 months ago

    So let me get this straight, they have a windows look by default, but using GNOME for whatever reason, then they give you the option to switch to something more vanilla GNOME but disable all of the gestures and workspaces, and then they advertise it like they invented gestures when they decide to stop disabling all of them

    • greencactus@lemmy.world
      2·
      11 months ago

      Yeah, I don’t get it either. Like 95% of the stuff they promote is already out there in Fedora for a long time. It isn’t anything special to Zorin.

  • brax@sh.itjust.works
    113·
    11 months ago

    All the shit I hate about windows packed into a Linux environment… I guess maybe it will help Windows users switch over?

      • brax@sh.itjust.works
        39·
        11 months ago

        From the screenshot, an ugly as fuck theme and a useless start menu.

        I suppose it the menu would probably actually be functional in Linux and not just a way for them to spam Bing.

        • R0cket_M00se@lemmy.worldEnglish
          123·
          11 months ago

          The moment Linux users go from “install Linux to get off Microsoft products” to “WAHHHHH WHY DONT YOU LIKE MY LAYOUT BETTER :((((((” you lose all credibility.

          Maybe. And hear me out here. Maybe your desktop layout and theme is a fucking OPINION and no one else has to agree that it’s the “best” layout??? Fucking crazy, I know.

          • brax@sh.itjust.works
            24·
            11 months ago

            If it makes them more comfortable, all the power to them. But there are far better window managers and desktops environments out there both in terms of look and functionality.

            It’s still a huge upgrade from actually using Windows 11, and maybe once they dip their toes in they’ll ditch this eyesore of a layout next.

            • governorkeagan@lemdro.idEnglish
              5·
              11 months ago

              Not necessarily, it depends on the demographic of the user. I highly doubt that my grandparents would decide to switch this “eyesore of a layout”.

              I agree that some will switch, but definitely not everyone.

              • brax@sh.itjust.works
                14·
                11 months ago

                Some people are way too complacent with things being handed to them, rather than seeking out better alternatives that match what they really want. Though I suppose some people actuallyike that design.

                • governorkeagan@lemdro.idEnglish
                  2·
                  11 months ago

                  What works for you won’t work for someone else. The Windows design works just fine for some and that’s okay. Not everyone is trying to be a super power user

    • PixxlMan@lemmy.world
      391·
      11 months ago

      Damn, those silly volunteers are doing the wrong things in their free time!

    • aodhsishaj@lemmy.world
      141·
      11 months ago

      I think a unified package manager/app store model that is vetted by all contributing distros would go a long way. SteamOS/Steam deck is bringing gamers to linux and that’s great. But it would be easier to bring on a lot more desktop users if there was an app store that every distro could visit. Flatpak is close, snaps however I think are too polarizing.

      • juli@programming.dev
        31·
        11 months ago

        I use fedora silverblue. I’d like to switch to suse microos but the difference is so small that it’s probably not worth it to switch. (Just a guesstimate, silverblue has some goodies afterall with the whole image centric os)

        Probably, it’s almost the same for vanillaos. Because everything is within distrobox and flatpak, I do not work with the native package manager anymore (almost, there are exceptions because of the DE).

        If I would switch to microos, I, as an enduser, wouldn’t notice too much a real difference.

        People should stop making new distros for what should be a post install script. But, things are fucking complicated and that’s why we need the forks and new distros.

          • juli@programming.dev
            3·
            11 months ago

            Thx for the elaboration. That’s what I roughly meant with “image centric os”.

            Opensuse aeon encourages you to use flatpak. The first thing it does right after installation is to install apps from flathub, including firefox (unlike silverblue).

            An example from the doc

            For this reason, All Applications, Browsers, Codecs needed for specific apps, etc are provided by FlatPaks from FlatHub.

            Especially the following

            To reiterate: EVERYTHING should be done via Flatpaks or be installed in a Distrobox if a package is not available as a flatpak. Using transactional-update is strictly what you need for your host operating system to work (exotic drivers, specialized vpn services).

            Usually, you do not rollback, you do not go back to an older system. On both systems, you use distrobox and flatpak. I don’t see much of a difference as an end user.

              • juli@programming.dev
                1·
                11 months ago

                Fedora has images which you can create yourself as an enduser which means a corporation with thousands of computers can create their own image. They don’t have to create a new distro. That’s not possible with suse but I don’t know if that’s so important since I do not administer such things. I as an enduser do not care about the underlying system, I don’t tinker with it, I rarely touch it. That’s the case for both distros. I may install a vpn or so.

                If you want to tinker with your system, neither fedora nor suse are good for that, using arch is the way to go.

                Why is fedora better for advanced users?

    • TheOneCurly@lemmy.theonecurly.pageEnglish
      61·
      11 months ago

      I disagree. Each distro is a user of a thousand different open source systems. When a distro developer integrates gnome, systemd, bluez, or whatever other system they’re finding, reporting, and possibly fixing bugs that end users might miss. Other than arch users, who else is compiling these things from scratch and really digging into the documentation?

      • V ‎ ‎ @beehaw.orgEnglish
        2·
        11 months ago

        That kinda is his point. A distro maintainer patching and distributing a thousand packages is duplicitous. Especially when the only real difference to the user is the DE. Putting those efforts upstream is a better use of resources. I develop software, and I’m not going to test a million different distros especially when the difference between Ubuntu and Zorin is a DE and some additional packages. It makes Linux users very mad, but the reality is that they are too fractured to support every distro they use equally.

    • GnomeComedy@beehaw.org
      1·
      11 months ago

      The primary thing that makes FOSS popular is that you can fork it. You’re saying that people need to not do the main thing it’s designed to be able to do!

  • mlg@lemmy.worldEnglish
    81·
    11 months ago

    mfw when entire distros are advertising UI features of gnome that came standard on every DE like 15+ years ago, including gnome.

    Seriously, Compiz is from 2006.

    • Jears@social.jears.at
      2·
      11 months ago

      Also I find their Zorin OS Pro offer a bit scummy. Now the themes do look nice, but few would spend 50$ for a few themes. So they advertise having 5000$ worth of professional creative alternatives bundled. In screenshots you’ll then see Kdenlive, Blender and Inkscape. I don’t know what to think about the fact they want 50$ for bundling a few themes and free software. If they had just kept the stupid 5000$ part out I would have been fine with it, professional support can be great for people switching over from windows, but this seems a bit scummy to me.

  • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.worldEnglish
    73·
    11 months ago

    Distributions nowadays are defined by their desktop bling :(

    It used to be that you could just install whatever desktop you fancied on pretty much any distro.

      • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.worldEnglish
        21·
        11 months ago

        Can you install MacOS by Zorin™ on something else? I suppose there’s a source repository somewhere and you can always compile it if you really want it…

        • AntBas@eslemmy.es
          3·
          11 months ago

          There’s a gnome extension (ArcMenu) that’s inspired by Zorin that’s simply a better and more customizable version of all of zorin’s desktop themes (and more). You can get it on any Linux

  • spaphy@lemmy.ml
    34·
    11 months ago

    More people should start charging for their work and actually staffing security. I like zorin just for the fact that I have expectations for items I pay for where things that are free I can’t really hold accountable.

    I know that’s antiFOSS but I’m somewhere in the middle lately. I want to pay for quality but still be able to tinker with it.

    • zagaberoo@beehaw.org
      2·
      11 months ago

      What do you mean? Payment isn’t anti-FOSS at all, it’s just a lot harder to make money when the source is libre.

      • spaphy@lemmy.ml
        1·
        11 months ago

        I’m glad you think so. I remember Richard stallman banging on a bongo singing that charging for software is greed.

        I just want people to have enough incentives for their time that things are safe and the workers paid properly. I wish more open source devs got paid.

    • KubeRoot@discuss.tchncs.de
      1·
      11 months ago

      That’s not exactly anti-FOSS, to my understanding, since the “free” part refers to freedom. As long as after you pay you are free to use the software as you want and get access to the source code, I think it might still count as FOSS? And then, of course, there’s the option of paid support on free (of charge) software, though I think recent events might suggest that’s not really sustainable.