Quoting: tuubiHey, wait a minute. What do you mean? Sure, they added support for flatpaks in their software center (mintinstall) alongside the normal deb packages, but beyond that I haven't noticed them recommending, much less pushing them. No flatpaks installed by default, no deb packages removed in favour of flatpaks or anything like that. Am I missing something?

They did choose to support flatpak instead of snap, if that's what you mean.

Just "clean" installing all my computers with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS now, so I don't have a screenshot to show you...

But like Ubuntu's "snap" Software Center, Linux Mint's equivalent had both the "regular" package and the "Flatpak" package of many software titles - in most cases, the latter was the current version of <software title> and the "regular" package was an older version (e.g. <software title> as a Debian package would be version 1.x, and the Flatpak package of the same software title would be 2.x).

For various reasons - one of which is that Snaps and Flatpak seem to get updated / upgraded quicker than Debian packages - I prefer to use Snaps and Flatpak... So I replace most of the software on my computer with the Snap / Flatpak version, in addition to installing new software as Snaps / Flatpaks, where ever possible.

I'm sure this was not the case for all Flatpaks under Linux Mint - but I use a fair bit of software, and this was my experience for most of those programs...

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Quoting: eldakingBut the way they keep trying to push snaps almost makes me want to not update at all, or switch distros permanently.

Other distros do the exact same thing, except with Flatpak - Linux Mint is a perfect example here, and I doubt they're the only ones...

Quoting: eldakingFirst, snaps had ridiculously bad performance problems; so it was not even a "non-technical users wouldn't even notice" - people did notice, for example how ridiculously slow chromium was.

Flatpak has similar issues... Though once a program is running, it should offer comparable performance.

I have been running Linux Mint for the last 9-ish months - which pushes Flatpak hard - and the only noticeable performance hit is when starting a program after a reboot... Depending on the program, there can be a pretty big delay.

But after initially running a program, it's usually just as quick as a Debian-based program.

My experience has been the same on my tablet - the Microsoft Surface Go - with Snap.

Quoting: eldakingSecond, as a system it is way too closed and centralized, which is particularly bad for something that is intended to work across distros (other distros can't just host their own snap repositories, the backend isn't FOSS, and it is entirely developed by Canonical without any cooperation with other distros).

I agree with this completely.

At the very least, Canonical should commit to eventually making the backend Open Source - though if I am not mistaken, they have not done so, meaning that for the foreseeable future, the backend is unlikely to transition to Open Source...

I think that in the long-term, this will affect the uptake of Snap, and eventually Flatpak will become the dominant of the two - Open Source doesn't always win in the end, but it usually does, especially in the Linux Community.

Quoting: eldakingAnd third, Canonical are actively pushing for it to replace other alternatives, which means we can't even ignore it if we don't like it.

Well you can use other alternatives - it's called "Flatpak" and "AppImage", neither of which is all that difficult to install or manage... There are also other - less common - alternatives , if you're really dedicated.

Quoting: CatKiller

Quoting: eldakingI'll wait a bit anyway and probably will update to 20.04 if it isn't too obnoxious to avoid snaps for most things, or if at least it works well.

sudo apt purge snapd will get rid of snaps entirely. Easy enough.

Or you could just remove Snap support entirely... Personally, I'd just ignore it if I didn't want to use it - but you have the option to remove it, if you prefer.

Quoting: eldakingSure, but will any default programs be removed by that - like say, the calculator? (I legit don't know what would happen to installed snaps)

I can't seem to find the link just now, but certain frequently-used programs - such as the calculator - still use "traditional" packages, largely because of the slow initial start of Snap...

See here [External Link].

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Quoting: Luke_NukemIf you want me to start on another laptop feel free to send it to me, or give me details.

This guy. :P

Quoting: Luke_NukemAuthor of the rog-core here...

I started with what I have, which is the GX502GW, which I purchased after a lot of research to try and get the best bang for my bucks - I use a laptop for work, gaming, entertainment etc, for me it's a desktop replacement. If you want me to start on another laptop feel free to send it to me, or give me details.

I wasn't haven't a go at you bud, just making a joke because I was planning to buy that ASUS ZenBook Duo at the time of writing (picking it up tomorrow)... In my experience, many Open Source projects are based on what people have available, and I think most people here know that already.

We all appreciate your work, and I'm sure there's some GX502GW users out there that are thankful for your work, even if they don't necessarily hang out here and know you personally did the hard work.

If I knew the first thing about writing drivers, I'd be happy to help out... But I don't, so it's people like you that "keep the lights on", so to speak.

Thanks.

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Quoting: xaviThanks! they look so good, I will have that in account.

My wife wants - and is probably gonna get - one of these "Republic of Gamers" laptops (though not the one above, it's a little rich for my blood right now), but I want the ZenBook Duo I linked-to above...

Not only do I think the dual screens will be especially handy for me personally (I can already think of lots of times when I might use a second, built-in screen like that!), but I genuinely believe it is a step in a the right direction for the future of laptops. Those of us that have been around for a while know that laptop design has been stagnant for a long, long time now... These particular dual screens might not be "the next big thing", but they're certainly taking a couple of steps closer to what is "the next big thing" in laptops, and I want to be a part of that.

ASUS seems to agree, too - only the other day I was reading that they have a third "dual screens" laptop on the way, a "Republic of Gamers" one, too. Though ASUS are tweaking the design slightly (in the new model, the lower display can tilt-up on an angle)... Given that most of ASUS' "ZenBook" products now include the ScreenPad / ScreenPad Plus [External Link] (apparently this does not work under Linux-based operating systems just yet - but it's only a matter of time!), it seems that ASUS are keen to keep pushing the idea going forwards.

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Quoting: Purple Library GuyThis is true enough. Mind you, there are similarly solid reasons for the world community to avoid products made in the USA (and I'm not even talking about Trump).
So yeah, products from Europe, Taiwan, Japan before products from either China or the US.

The big difference is that America is sneaky about it.

China blatantly invades privacy in every possible way, then dares the world to do something about it... America does the same - in secret - then plays the "Who me?" game when they get caught out, before starting all over again.

Call me ignorant, but (excluding perishable goods) what does America actually export in the way of products (particularly as far as Australia) though?

Sure virtually all of the big entertainment companies are American and many of the world's biggest companies in general are American, but do they (America) really export all that much in the way of non-perishable goods?

Quoting: chrYup, this. Every time someone says they avoid Chinese products, I wonder why don't they apply same principles to USA.

I do, I just didn't mention it above... And I don't really buy anything from America, except some clothing on occasion (with the obvious exception of "entertainment" goods).

The big Catch 22 is that some of the world's biggest tech companies are in America - however I avoid them where I can (for example, I don't have Google, Facebook, Reddit, Twitter or other social media accounts) - but like with China and their "DJI" drones / "Segway" products, it's not always possible to find a comparable equivalent that's not American.

So like with China, America is a last choice when there is nothing else that can compete with whatever it is I am looking for, to the same or an acceptable standard.

My support for Open Source / Linux / Open Formats ties in with this, though it is not the only reason I am a big Open Source / Linux / Open Formats advocate - I have loads of other reasons I support it, many of which applied long before Edward Snowden confirmed what we all suspected for years... The Edward Snowden revelations just give me even more reason to avoid proprietary stuff owned or operated by Americans, where ever possible.

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Quoting: xaviI always prefer to buy and doing business with Taiwan than with China!

This.

Say what you want about ol' Trump, but I don't trust China as far as I can spit, and I'll avoid products that have or likely have ties to the Chinese Government, where ever possible... No - before any "Social Justice Warriors" put their 5¢ in - that's not me being "anti-Chinese" or "racist", that's an opinion based on the apalling track record the Chinese Government has with regards to privacy and human rights, which are known (albeit often-ignored) facts.

[quote=xavi]

Quoting: xaviBut I reply myself: about laptops, I always buy Thinkpads because of better Linux support.

Hope Asus improves that :)

My current ASUS laptop has always had great support for Linux-based operating systems, and the ASUS ZenBook Duo [External Link] I hope to buy in the near-ish future apparently has great Linux support, too... As does the "Pro" version of the ASUS ZenBook Duo [External Link] - if you have an awfully big bank account! :D

ASUS used to provide official UEFI updates / upgrades for Linux-based operating systems too, but I can't seem to find this on their site any more (at least for the model of laptop I have now), so perhaps this is no longer the case? :S:

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Quoting: DragunovSo they chose a $2000 laptop that almost no one can afford to start on? That makes perfect sense.

This.

Besides, they should have started with the ASUS ZenBook Duo [External Link], which is the laptop I plan to upgrade to in the near future (no, not the monster that is the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo [External Link] - which is the laptop I want to buy, but absolutely cannot afford to buy!)... :P

Quoting: DragunovUsually when I install Linux on a Laptop most things already work out of the box. I've never bought an Asus before though.

I use an ASUS laptop now, have done for three-ish years, and I've mostly been happy with it... Everything "just works" on it and unlike pretty much every other laptop I've ever owned, this thing actually stays cool - even when pushing it pretty hard.

The only problem I've ever had with it is that the battery swelled up some point, warping the chassis and touchpad (not sure if it was from me leaning too hard on the palm-rest area or not)... But I don't use the latter and I wouldn't mind an excuse to upgrade. :wink:

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Quoting: pete910"Released for Linux" Would have been actually interesting :(

*Yawn*

Wake me up when this is actually available for Linux-based operating systems... I have no interest in a "streaming" game service.

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Sounds like some sort of bug...

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Quoting: slaapliedje

Quoting: Arehandoro8, 16, 24 and 40 GB RAM configuration... Why can't they change the embedded module to 16 to have symmetric RAM on 32GB? That's pretty weird.

I was considering giving it a try even with Intel but not with those configs.

If I were to guesss. It comes with 8gb of RAM soldered to the board.
That way you get 8 (empty slot), 16 (8+8), 24 (8+16), 40 (8+32).
I have an Asus that is that way, though I tried swapping the 8 out with a 16, and while the BIOS saw it, neither Windows nor Linux saw the extra memory.

We know it's soldered to the board - he was asking why can't they solder 16GB to the board instead of 8GB... It's not like RAM is worth all that much these days; even high-end RAM is cheap-ish.

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