This week we make an Ubuntu Core laptop, discuss whether Linux on the desktop is rubbish, bring you a virtual private love and go over your feedback.

It’s Season 11 Episode 12 of the Ubuntu Podcast! Alan Pope, Mark Johnson and Martin Wimpress are connected and speaking to your brain.

In this week’s show:

  • We discuss what we’ve been up to recently:
  • We discuss whether desktop Linux is rubbish and has failed.

  • We share a Virtual Private Lurve:

  • And we go over all your amazing feedback – thanks for sending it – please keep sending it!

  • Image credit: Mike Wilson

That’s all for this week! You can listen to the Ubuntu Podcast back catalogue on YouTube. If there’s a topic you’d like us to discuss, or you have any feedback on previous shows, please send your comments and suggestions to [email protected] or Tweet us or Comment on our Facebook page or comment on our Google+ page or comment on our sub-Reddit.


3 Comments » for S11E12 – Twelve Years a Slave
  1. Andy Bleaden says:

    Really interesting chat about Linux/Ubuntu failure around apps. Not sure where I stand on this but I don’t think you are wrong Alan. I use both Ubuntu laptops and Chromebooks

    Ubuntu for my day to day every day usage and use Rythmbox, Nautilus, Libreoffice and Terminal and Chrome
    Chromebooks just for quick web access

    Maybe we want to ask why people want to use Ubuntu or distro X and then what they want on there.

  2. dshimer says:

    Regarding Linux failing, I may be an odd case but I embrace the minimal installer because
    1) I want snaps whenever they are available and
    2) I mostly just need to get work done and want to start with the leanest cleanest system available on whatever hardware I want to choose.
    Toward the first point, I know what software I want and start with the snaps of any critical app that is available. My biggest problem is there aren’t snaps of some of my most important apps and I usually want their ppa anyway.
    Toward the second point I default to making the apps I can get on Linux work outside my day job then bringing them into that world. I’m not a developer so must content myself with evangelizing and dropping small amounts of cash on the most important ones on a regular basis. For example every single day, sometimes for hours at a time I use things like Libreoffice, GIMP, GnuCash (oh for a snap of that one), QGIS, OpenShot, and Syncthing to get things done (on the office desktops it’s Windows because it is required).

  3. Chris Were says:

    Great discussion, I think its worth considered the subjectivity what’s considered the “best” software. Most people consider what’s easiest to use to mean what’s best, when I think most Linux users would look to a deeper standard. By Popey’s logic, we’ll always fail, because we’re really playing a different game.