Jack Baty, on his experience with Omarchy

So far almost everything has worked without fuss. My Apple Studio Display works, as does its speaker volume, webcam, and microphone. I was able to print to my laser printer straight away, and never needed to install anything for it.

Speaking of installing things, using the little TUI wrapper over Pacman and the AUR is a dream. Launch the TUI, type part of the name of the app to install, and hit Return. Done. No app store, no DMGs to extract. Homebrew on macOS is pretty good, but it’s not as all-inclusive and consistent.

Mostly what I like so far about Linux is how I feel about using it. I like the feeling of “Hmm, what can I do with my computer, today” rather than, “I wonder what Apple is going to allow me to do with my computer, today.” Running Linux on this completely repairable and upgrade-able Framework laptop, I feel a sense of agency. It’s a good feeling.

I really need to give Omarchy a try. Everyone seems to have a great time with it — I’ve heard nothing but good things.

I tried setting up an Omarchy virtual machine on my Framework, but I couldn’t get it installed for some reason. I’ll have to dig out an old MacBook to install it on sometime.

➝ Source: baty.blog

David Heinemeier Hannsson:

We’re going all-in on Omarchy at 37signals. Over the next three years, as the regular churn of hardware invites it, we’re switching everyone on our Ops and Ruby programming teams to our own Arch-derived Linux distribution (and of course sharing all the improvements we make along the way with everyone else on Omarchy!).

It’s funny how nobody bats an eye when the company mandate is to use Macs or Windows, but when the prescription is Linux, it’s suddenly surprising. It really shouldn’t be. Your ability to control your own destiny with Linux is far superior to what you’ll get from a closed-source, commercial operating system. Of course it is! The code is literally all there!

True, you might face more challenges, and there won’t be a vendor to call (unless you hop into the Enterprise Linux camp, which doesn’t appeal to me either). But I’ve never given a damn about that. I started using Ruby to build Basecamp when we could barely fill a room in American with professional Ruby programmers. This is what we do here!

They’re going to be slowly replacing existing machines with Framework laptops, desktops, and Beelink mini PCs. I hope we see more companies do this in the future.

➝ Source: world.hey.com

The announcement was a few weeks ago at this point, but I still think it’s worth highlighting. If this chassis was available when I purchased my Framework last fall, I probably would have ended up with it instead of the Framework 13. Not because I dislike what I have now, but because I suspect I would have appreciated the touch screen and smaller footprint.

Although, it may be worth waiting an iteration or two, in case there are any issues that need to be resolved with the new chassis — this was the case with the hinge on the original Framework 13.

Framework hasn’t announced pricing for the Framework 12 yet, but I’m definitely intrigued. If it’s affordable, I could see encouraging my wife to make the switch. Right now she’s using a 2015 11-inch MacBook Air, but I think the Framework 12 with Ubuntu would be a pretty slick setup.

➝ Source: frame.work

Nirav Patel, founder and CEO of Framework:

Framework Desktop brings the PC ethos around customization as well. You can choose between black and translucent side panels, select an RGB fan, and attach an optional carrying handle to bring it with you to LAN parties (or just to your living room). We also designed the front panel of the case to be made up of 21 color-customizable tiles, and we’ve open sourced the design so you can 3D print your own too. We also brought over the Expansion Card system from Framework Laptops, with two slots at the front of Framework Desktop enabling front port customization.

I wish Framework’s first attempt at a desktop computer was as repairable as their laptops — the lack of upgradable memory is a big miss for me — but the case is such a neat design.

To me, the case is the real announcement. You can get a powerful Mini-ITX machine elsewhere, but what sets this computer apart is the ability to customize the front ports using expansion cards and spruce up the design with the front panel tiles. It wouldn’t surprise me if this case even becomes popular as a standalone product for enthusiasts that want to build a machine completely from scratch — without internals from Framework at all.

➝ Source: frame.work

Seems like a solid update to me. I still wish they would offer some degree of upgradability in their machines. Even if they just added an M.2 slot in the bottom that you could use to add some internal storage.

But I’m sure Apple won’t be releasing hardware with those capabilities any time soon. It’s unfortunate.

➝ Source: macrumors.com

For the first time in my life I’ve purchased a laptop that isn’t made by Apple. I used a Compaq laptop back in the mid-2000s, but that was our family computer, not specifically mine. I had a feeling it was going to happen sooner than later.

On Thursday night I placed an order for a Framework 13. It will replace the trusty 11-inch MacBook Air that I bought earlier this year as my primary personal machine.

I chose the Ryzen 7640U with the 2.8K display, a black bezel, and four USB-C expansion cards.

My understanding is that the AMD models are the one to get, primarily because of their superior battery life and performance compared to the Intel models. I tend to prefer AMD when given the option, so I don’t have much complaints there.

I thought about ordering one with the 7840U processor, but it would be difficult to justify the $280 price increase. I just can’t imagine really needing the increased performance, especially when it would cost an additional 25% over the 7640U.

As for the display, I opted for the 2.8K display because it’s better for resolution scaling — you can set it at 2x and your user interface will look crisp and be properly sized. The display option also comes with the larger battery and improved webcam module. I’m not thrilled about the rounded corners on the display, but I suspect I won’t even notice it after the first few minutes using the machine.

The expansion cards were something I spent quite a bit of time thinking about. It’s a unique experience to fully customize the port selection on your laptop and there’s just so many combinations that can be had.

Ultimately, I took battery life into consideration and went with all USB-C to start. The other expansion cards have an impact on power consumption. And although that isn’t the largest factor — especially compared to things like display brightness — but every little bit of battery life counts. Being a longtime Apple user, though , I’ve already transitioned most of my cables and accessories to USB-C.

I will probably end up purchasing some additional expansion cards down the line. A single USB-A card will come in handy more often than not. But I plan to live with all USB-C for a month or two to see what other expansion cards may be the most useful to me, depending on my real world use of the machine.

I chose to buy the system’s memory and SSD elsewhere. I ordered a kit of 32GB of RAM by Kingston and a 2TB Solidigm P44 Pro.

The Kingston memory is listed on Framework’s site and offered the timings I was looking for. The storage was a recommendation that I came across in a thread on Reddit. The Solidigm P44 Pro is lightning fast and is one of the better SSDs from a power usage standpoint.

I’ve already received my tracking number for the Framework, so I expect it to arrive sometime next week. At that point I’ll assemble the machine and install Ubuntu 24.04.

I may end up installing Windows as well — possibly on a storage expansion card. There are a small number of applications that aren’t available on Linux and I may want to run on this machine. We’ll see how essential they feel to me as I use it, though.

I expect I’ll be sharing my impressions of the Framework, both here and on Mastodon. If you have anything specific that you’d like to learn about the machine, feel free to let me know.

I saw David Heinemeier Hansson recently wrote about this topic and thought I’d take a crack at the question as well.

I’m sure there are plenty of others, but I’ve identified what I believe to be the primary reasons why more people don’t use Linux.

Marketing

Apple, Google, and Microsoft spend millions of dollars each year promoting the use of their operating systems. And not just through direct advertising, but also in the form of salespersons convincing large corporations, organizations, and governments to use their operating system over free alternatives.

They’re some of the largest companies in the world and are able to promote their software to every corner of the market.

By comparison, when was the last time you saw a Linux distribution advertising their operating system? Probably never. I don’t think I ever have.

But I suspect the majority of their efforts are targeted toward hosting companies and perhaps some segment of the developer user base.

Support Structure

Dell, HP, Apple, Acer, Lenovo, and more. They’ve all built their business around selling computers and offering support to their customers. There may be some non-zero amount of effort put toward supporting Linux on their machines — I know that some of them have sold computers with Linux pre-installed and would have wrote documentation and done testing for those customers.

But it’s minuscule compared to the knowledge and expertise that they have in building and supporting computers that run Windows, macOS, and ChromeOS.

I’ve had some conversations about Linux with some close friends and family. All of whom I’d think of as having a, roughly, average level of technical knowledge about computers. And one of the points that has been brought up on multiple occasions is the idea that if something goes wrong when they’re using one of the major operating systems, they know who they can call for help.

If they were running Linux, though, they have no idea. They can’t just call the support line for their computer manufacturer and expect to get assistance. They’d likely end up relying on me or they’d be aimlessly searching for answers on the web — almost certainly without the vocabulary necessary to craft fruitful search terms.

Familiarity

I’m sure most people have a pretty similar experience when it comes to computer access. You likely had Windows machines at your school and maybe some Macs for specific classes — we used them in my photography class in high school.

Children of today might be slightly different, I know ChromeBooks and iPads are seeing some usage.

At home, your family probably had Windows machines or maybe Macs, but obviously that wasn’t as common. Likewise, if you use a computer at your job, it’s almost certainly a Windows machine or less commonly a Mac.

The overwhelming majority of users have absolutely zero experience with Linux. So it’s difficult to convince them to jump on board with something they’re completely unfamiliar with.

Perceived Barrier to Entry

Even for many users that have deeper experience with macOS and Windows, Linux is perceived as a difficult operating system to use and maintain. The type of users that have installed Windows from scratch, recovered a Mac using a Time Machine backup, or have spent time customizing their system beyond the surface-level tools built into the operating system.

Some of that may have been warranted in the past. I know I’ve spent my fair share of hours trying to get Wi-Fi working on some machines or hitting my head against the wall because of some graphics card driver issue.

I still have trouble with these things from time to time — generally because of hardware that’s a bit tricky to get working on Linux.

But I think a lot of people think of Linux as often requiring a command line to function. But I think, for the majority of users, they could use a Linux desktop for years without having to use the command line for anything.

Many Linux distributions have far better hardware support than I’ve experienced in the past. There are the occasional hiccups, but if you are already using Linux or know that you plan to use Linux, you can just buy hardware that has solid support without jumping through hoops.

That combined with the software center apps that make installing and removing software a breeze, Linux is pretty darn user friendly.

Can We Change This?

I expect most of the people reading this would consider themselves to be a bit more technologically savvy compared to the average user. What we can do, if we want more people to use Linux, is to start using it ourselves.

Eventually, as we gain more familiarity with the system ourselves, the idea of convincing a friend or family member to switch will become more approachable.

The key is to wait for the timing to be right. For example, my mother-in-law is currently using an older iMac as her primary computer.

It works okay for now, but Apple doesn’t offer software updates for it anymore. Brave and Chrome still support the operating system that she’s running, but that won’t be the case forever. Eventually, you won’t be able to get a decent browser that runs on the machine that also receives regular updates.

At that point, a new computer seems like the obvious solution. But the iMac has a quad-core processor, enough memory for her tasks, and a solid state drive. The hardware itself is more than capable.

When that time comes, it will be the perfect time to pitch the idea of installing Linux.

Consider the options:

• Spend over a thousand dollars on a new iMac.
• Try using Linux on the exact same machine, for free, to try and get some additional years out of it.

The great thing is, if she were to try using Linux and it doesn’t work out, she could always just fallback to buying a new machine. There’d be no harm done and at least we gave the free option a shot.

There are likely other scenarios where suggesting Linux as an alternative could be met with interest. Maybe the next time Microsoft decides to add a feature to Windows that’s almost universally detested. Or when Apple decides to add yet another security feature that will primarily serve to annoy macOS users.

Think of it as the type of effort that many of us participated in with Firefox in the mid-2000s, helping friends and family install it on their machines and encouraging them to use it over Internet Explorer. That effort, in no small part, helped Firefox reach its peak marketshare of 38%.

Now I don’t expect we’ll ever reach those heights with Linux in desktop marketshare, but we can certainly improve things. And I think the world would be better if we did.

I’ve recently been tinkering around with Linux again on my 11-inch MacBook Air. I’m running Ubuntu 24.04 with Gnome and have just finished customizing the desktop to my liking with extensions.

I thought it was worth documenting what extensions I’m using in my setup, if only as something I can look back on if I ever need to replicate it on another machine. But I’m sure others will find some interesting extensions in the list that they might not have known about before.

• App menu is back — Just a simple extension that brings the app menu back to the top bar. I don’t have a list of open applications visible in Dash to Panel (the Taskbar), so I use this extension to indicate which application currently has focus.
• ArcMenu — A heavily customizable application menu. I’m currently using it to display Gnome’s built-in application overview. I’m using this over Gnome’s built-in app menu because it lets me configure a right-click menu that I’ve populated with shortcuts to some commonly accessed settings and applications.
• Auto Move Windows — It allows you to automatically move application windows to specific workspaces. This type of setup has never stuck for me on macOS at all, but it feels natural on Linux for some reason. I keep my browser — Brave — in my second workspace, Terminal in workspace three, media applications in workspace four, and everything else in the first workspace.
• Caffeine — This extension adds a button to the system menu that, when enabled, prevents your machine from going to sleep. It can also automatically trigger when you enter full screen in an application — useful when watching videos.
• Dash to Panel — I use this as a replacement for Gnome’s Top Bar. You can have it more closely match the functionality of Windows’ taskbar, but I prefer to keep it a bit more simple and, instead, use it for it’s more robust customization when compared to Gnome’s built-in features.
• Impatience — A very simple extension that adjusts the speed of animations in Gnome.
• Just Perfection — A large collection of tweaks you can use to customize the look and behavior of Gnome.
• NoAnnoyance (fork) — Gnome, for some reason, can often throw you these “Window is ready” notifications when opening apps. This extension prevents those from occurring and puts the associated window into focus.
• [QSTweak] Quick Setting Tweaker — An excellent extension for customizing and tweaking Gnome’s quick settings. You can hide sections of the menu, move notifications from the clock menu to the system menu, and more.
• Space Bar — This replaces the workspaces indicator in Gnome’s top bar with a more simple indicator that will display numbers for each workspace or a customizable name.
• Top Bar Organizer — Gnome doesn’t offer a way to organize items in the top bar. Some extensions have built-in functionality to change the order and location of their own icon/indicator, but for everything else, Top Bar Organizer does the trick.