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elementary OS 6 Odin is an absolute beauty and it's out now

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The Linux distribution elementary OS 6 Odin is finally here, coming in years after their last release and honestly - it really is a thing of absolute beauty. elementary OS 6 is built on top of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS with the 5.11 Linux Kernel making it good to use for years to come.

Unlike a lot of other Linux distributions elementary OS is a lot more than a different style and a few tweaked packages. It has their own desktop environment with Pantheon, which has a very clean and clear design. The Pantheon desktop gives you a bottom icon-style dock with a top panel that gives you access to their applications menu, time / date and indicators. All together, it does look very slick.

The thing about elementary OS is that you're not supposed to see it like just another distribution, as it's a whole platform. The team mentioned this release being the "biggest update to the platform yet". Not only does it have their own desktop environment with their own constantly tweaked style, it also has its own developer ecosystem and applications too. A big part of this is the AppCenter, which gives developers a pay-what-you-want model and everything is reviewed by the elementary team to ensure "a native, privacy-respecting, and secure experience".

A big improvement for elementary OS 6 is that all AppCenter applications are now Flatpaks, which comes with security and sandboxing improvements. They've hooked up a "portals" system so users get control over how apps interact with each other and your data.

There's a huge amount more that's new including:

  • Multi-touch support throughout elementary OS 6.
  • A richer notifications system that supports visual indicators, action buttons and more.
  • A new to-do application named Tasks.
  • Built-in support for firmware updates powered by the Linux Vendor Firmware Service which supports lots of hardware vendors.
  • Upgrades to many of their own applications like their web browser now just known as Web which includes Intelligent Tracking Protection and ad blocking built-in and enabled by default their mail app was rewritten with tighter integration with the online accounts system and upgrades to their calendar, mail, camera and other applications.
  • Panel tooltips on indicators will note if they have a middle-click function, like the audio indicator for example that allows middle-click to mute and so the tooltip mentions it.

That's not even half of it. The desktop and window management was upgraded too, with nifty features like giving you window titles when hovering over in the Multitasking View to help you find the exact one you want. A favourite of mine though is the right-click menu now having a screenshot option for super-easy shots of applications. You can also right click your desktop now to get some quick functions like changing the wallpaper, configuring display settings and system settings too.

The list of improvements continues on for what feels like forever. The installer has been cleaned up and makes installing just a few clicks, improved performance across the whole thing due to their work on the experimental Pinebook Pro and Raspberry Pi builds, a new Universal Access indicator to expose toggles for various accessibility features, new wallpapers and the dark style shown in my shots above - no more bright white applications if you don't want them. You can also customize various parts of the colour scheme too so that's nice.

Overall it's an massive step up for elementary OS. Easily one of the best looking desktop Linux distributions around.

See all that's new in their rather long and detailed announcement.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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15 comments
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DMG Aug 11, 2021
Talking about Flatpak, does anyone uses it? I had only headaches with it. After upgrading pop os all my Flatpak applications stopped working. Steam and many other apps haves issues to work after installation and requires extra configuration. And with steam it's quite problematic, because new proton versions do not work with Flatpak steam version. Or work, but again requires many extra tweaks. Basicly for people like me, who do not understands so much about background processes, it's just no, no. Even if goals are good.


Last edited by DMG on 11 August 2021 at 3:43 pm UTC
Linuxer Aug 11, 2021
I prefer to download via torrent, is there really no torrent or a magnet link to download this?
Liam Dawe Aug 11, 2021
Quoting: LinuxerI prefer to download via torrent, is there really no torrent or a magnet link to download this?
When you go to download there's a magnet icon next to the main download button, that's the torrent.
BigJ Aug 11, 2021
QuoteTalking about Flatpak, does anyone uses it? I had only headaches with it. After upgrading pop os all my Flatpak applications stopped working. Steam and many other apps haves issues to work after installation and requires extra configuration. And with steam it's quite problematic, because new proton versions do not work with Flatpak steam version. Or work, but again requires many extra tweaks. Basicly for people like me, who do not understands so much about background processes, it's just no, no. Even if goals are good.

I only use it for Steam. It takes a lot of headaches away ensuring I have the correct packages installed. The only downside I've run into is sometimes flatpak lags a bit updating their nvidia driver list, and some games don't run until they do- usually a day or two at most.


Last edited by BigJ on 11 August 2021 at 4:43 pm UTC
Linuxer Aug 11, 2021
Quoting: Liam Dawe
Quoting: LinuxerI prefer to download via torrent, is there really no torrent or a magnet link to download this?
When you go to download there's a magnet icon next to the main download button, that's the torrent.

Oh my thank you very much!
Lofty Aug 11, 2021
Quoting: GuestThe Steam flatpak experience is awful, mine wouldn't allow me to use my gamepads for some reason - and adding games from an external HDD was really hard at one point, so that one is the distribution's package. I haven't tried it in a while, maybe it has improved over time.

did you try flatseal ? its the best way of managing flatpaks and their permissions & folder access.
wvstolzing Aug 11, 2021
Tangentially related, but I've recently been bitten by this, so it might be worth mentioning: When you install flathub on a fresh system, make sure the $XDG_DATA_DIRS env. variable is set before you run anything. As far as I can tell, unless you've already had flathub configured, this variable is undefined at the time of login; flathub tells you to reboot (like a windoze user) so that it gets set up; otherwise things might break or fail to launch. (Mine looks like: $HOME/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/share)

FWIW, I've used Flatpak for Thunderbird & GIMP w/o any problems.


Last edited by wvstolzing on 11 August 2021 at 8:12 pm UTC
Linuxer Aug 11, 2021
I tried it and elementary OS is still VERY patronizing and limited. "Non-curated app" and threatning "untrusted app" (even with VLC media player) bubbles with long running software, are like... WHAT.

Not recommended. This distro is non sense?
dziadulewicz Aug 11, 2021
Quoting: LinuxerI tried it and elementary OS is still VERY patronizing and limited. "Non-curated app" and threatning "untrusted app" (even with VLC media player) bubbles with long running software, are like... WHAT.

Not recommended. This distro is non sense?

eOS is very unpolished and too much towards control. User can't do much easily!

Switched to Linux view on it: https://youtu.be/6ySplfANy7c
Thetargos Aug 12, 2021
The closest to the Mac experience on Linux, and as such feels really restrictive, though it aspires to offer a cohesive and tightly integrated user experience. For the bulk of us, not our cup of tea, but I do reckon it does have it use cases.
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