It’s an Ubuntu downstream maintained by Linux box maker System76 which is targeted for both general usability and design/media applications. They will soon be debuting their own home-spun desktop environment, Cosmic DE, which is highly anticipated by the Linux community.
How does the community here feel about this distribution and the company that has brought it to us? How do you feel about the projects that they’re working on, and their goals for the distribution moving forward?
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I like their window manager, pop-shell, and use it on Fedora. I used to daily Pop but just can’t stand Ubuntu.
Why can’t you stand Ubuntu?
Visuals were striking, but on non-System 76 hardware the thing as a whole broke several times cuz updates. Would love to try out some System76 hardware one of these days though.
Ive had good success across three non system 76 machines. It is Ubuntu under the covers. I’d expect most of it to work as well as ubuntu does.
Personally, I’ve installed it on at least a couple of dozen machines that definitely weren’t from system 76, and not one of them them had a problem.
I’m curious, what sort of issues did you have?
Use it on my lenovo carbon x1 flawlessly. Love it.
I like their company and what they do for Linux. I wish I had a use for a laptop but then I would be stuck between system76 or framework.
And tuxedo. Depending on your country.
I generally find it to be a family friendly sheen on top of ubuntu so I’ve been installing it for friends and family lately. I would prefer debian based but shrug. They’ll probably get there eventually.
I really don’t like that underscore.
Agreed
The correct way of saying it out loud is “pop exclamation point underscore O S”
I have used it on my Lenovo X1 Extreme as my daily driver for years. Bulletproof.
I have a Gazelle 16 laptop, and was in PopOS for a while too, even before this laptop, when I had a 17" Alienware. However, I’ve moved on to Fedora now, and can’t go back to anything Ubuntu or Ubuntu based again. Fedora is just too great a balance between stable and cutting edge, Ubuntu feels old real quick, and so do all it’s derivatives and downstreams.
I loved the Gnome based Cosmic, best Tweak of Gnome ever in my opinion, but other than that, I just can’t leave Fedora behind anymore. Even Ublue distros are amazing.
Care to elaborate on what really sold you on fedora?
Also, the new cosmic DE will be available for all distros
I wish they based it on Debian. It definitely earns my personal recommendation for default distros alongside LMDE
I dont understand why they didnt. Debian with gnome is essentially the same imo.
Ubuntu is Debian with more up-to-date packages and a lot of additional third party packages. There’s a lot of companies who produce development toolkits, frameworks, and applications that are explicitly built for the Ubuntu base. Some governmental agencies and organizations also require access to packages and repositories that have been audited by security agencies, which Ubuntu has gone through the process of getting certification for certain kernels and their Ubuntu Pro repositories. All of which are useful for real world customers.
Regardless of shortcomings in Snap, Pop does not rely on Snaps, and offers its own packaging for things that would otherwise require Snap on Ubuntu.
Pop is sick and absolutely shines on laptop.
It was too far from the metal for me. But it is a great distribution. Especially if you’re looking for fancy pants gaming ability or just turn-key ready to roll MS alternative.
Made the switch to Pop!_OS from Win10 half a year ago, and my machine’s been purring like a happy cat ever since. All my games still run (thanks, Proton!) and some even had a significant performance boost (RDR2 being the best example) with a 3090. Only problem I had was getting DaVinci Resolve to work properly, but I caved and bought the Studio version which runs perfectly.
This sounds like written by an Ai or some marketing person…
Ordinary people don’t use phrases like “box maker System 76” or “highly anticipated by the Linux community”…:)
POP is an excellent distro for a number of use cases. I can’t speak to System 76 hardware but Pop is definitely one of the good Distros. I have used it for about 5ish years to run Davinci Resolve on video editing laptops and workstations. Another use case for POP was for breaking Mac OS acclimated relatives out of their walled gardens. Relatives as old as 80 have had very little problem adjusting to it after having help installing it. Looking forward to Cosmic but I will make sure I have backups and other stuff to tinker with during the transition - was the same way during Wayland transition on my other machines.
Positives
- Davinci Resolve working with a little bit of fiddling and continues to run solidly.
- No hassle with Nvidia drivers on editing laptop.
- 4-5 years daily driver on Thinkpads (t460,13) and other older laptops (daily use)
- Gaming on Nvidia good.
- Elder folks adjust easily from Mac OS. Its basically Macbuntu for them without the complete pile of shit that is Snaps.
Negatives
- POP Shop was kinda shite. Had a few problems years ago. Wasn’t patient during upgrades or used terminal. A couple of shitty things happening recently but looking forward to testing out everything Cosmic (I have a rock solid edit station that will remain AMD on Endeavour OS to make sure I can still work).
- Name doesn’t bother me, but would be better as just POP OS
I think their current modified gnome is the best desktop that exists anywhere. Cosmic is a full desktop environment with an actual (auto) tiling window manager… a combo I think should be more common in desktops. The way they implement the tiling makes it really easy for beginners to use because you can turn it on/off by keyboard shortcut or clicking the plugin icon, and because you can just drag n drop windows to change their tiled positions (along with keyboard shortcuts if preferred). It’s hard to go back regular “window managers”.
The System76 devs have good ideas, they seem really cool, and sane! They have been a net positive for the Linux community and desktop development IMO. I am SO hyped for the new Cosmic DE!
You realise KDE’s had tiling for years, right? (Bismuth and then native)
