An Interim Assessment
After three months with Linux Mint, it's time for a midterm review.
In fact, there are many things I really like, but there are also a few things I miss from the Windows world. The following article is therefore intended to give you some insight into what to expect when working with a Linux operating system on a daily basis.
I've dabbled in the world of Linux a few times in the past, and the last few times I've always used the KDE desktop. First it was KDE Neon, and then Kubuntu.
In January, I decided to give Linux Mint a chance for a bit longer. You can read about what I noticed in the following paragraphs.
Stability
I haven't experienced a single complete system crash—what's known in the Windows world as a "blue screen." All the updates offered installed without a single issue.
When it comes to updates, there’s complete transparency about what’s being installed. Unless you explicitly change the settings, no update is installed without your explicit consent.
Windows could certainly take a cue from this.
The only program crash I encountered was with the GIMP 3 AppImage. You can read about exactly what happened here.
Performance
Subjectively, Linux Mint feels a bit more polished than Windows 11. However, I haven’t conducted any objective, verifiable tests.
It’s enough for me if the operating system and programs start up and run smoothly.
Especially since working with Darktable (though this is also entirely subjective) feels much smoother on Linux. This may be because Darktable comes from the Linux world and was “ported” to Windows relatively recently.
Graphics Programs
I was a bit worried that I’d really miss Affinity Photo. But since GIMP 3 has, in my opinion, taken a huge step in the right direction, the pain of saying goodbye is very manageable.
I especially love how well GIMP and Darktable work together.
In terms of the user interface, I still find Krita more polished than GIMP—so for small projects, Krita has become my go-to choice. Even though Krita was originally a drawing and painting program, it’s now excellent for general image editing.
Office Programs
Since I’ve already used Softmaker Office on Windows—which is also available for Linux—I don’t miss a thing in this regard.
However, the full version of Softmaker Office is not free. If that’s not your thing, LibreOffice is more than enough.
The only thing I miss is EmClient for email. Thunderbird has come a long way, but it still lags behind modern email clients in terms of appearance.
I’ve described how you can spruce up Thunderbird’s appearance a bit in this article.
For quickly working with emails, I find the email client built into the Vivaldi browser to be very good. I then use Thunderbird for archiving emails.
Security
Linux Mint comes with an excellent built-in backup program (Timeshift) for system backups, so I don't feel like I'm missing anything here either.
To back up important files, I also use a few other programs—most notably FreeFileSync.
I enabled the built-in firewall after installation, and even though it isn't strictly necessary, I also installed the ClamAV antivirus scanner. It scans my home directory once a week.
Otherwise:
Linux doesn't "call home" and doesn't turn into an advertising platform either.
And it certainly doesn't tell you what you want to see.
Multimedia
If you have a stack of Blu-rays on your shelf that you watch regularly, you might run into some difficulties on Linux due to licensing and copy protection.
The same applies, to some extent, to streaming HD videos.
While there’s a browser extension for Netflix that allows streaming in HD, at least, Amazon has put a stop to that.
Prime Video is only available in SD quality.
You can read about how I solved this for myself at this link.
If I write down all the pros and cons on a piece of paper, the advantages of Linux clearly outweigh the disadvantages at this point.
Ikem: on 17.04.2025
Bei mir ist es Linux Mint XFCE geworden.
Ein paar Anmerkungen:
- ich empfehle jedem den XanMod Kernel und zram-config zu installieren
- Timeshift ist ein Programm für System-Schnappschüsse und die sind kein Backup!
- Gimp 3 hab ich aus dem PPA "ubuntuhandbook1/gimp-3"
- LibreOffice hab ich aus einem PPA
- bei LibreOffice nutze ich die Benutzeroberflächen-Variante "In Registern"
- als Videoplayer verwende ich Celluloid
Den Cloud-Diensten wie Dropbox, Google Drive und OneDrive hab ich den Rücken gekehrt.
Ich benutze Nextcloud von Wolkesicher.
Ikem: on 17.04.2025
> *Ansonten*:
> Wie heisst die *Hauptstad* von Deutschland?
Ralf Kerkhoff: on 17.04.2025
Zu Timeshift hatte ich deshalb geschrieben "Backupprogramm für die Systemsicherung", spätestens wenn ich bei den Filtern das Homeverzeichnis inkludiere macht es mir auch ein Backup des Homeverzeichnisses. Auch wenn das nicht der eigentliche Sinn von Timeshift ist.
Für Gimp nutze ich ebenfalls das genannte PPA.
Libreoffice nutze ich nur selten, da ich eine Lizenz für Softmaker Office besitze. Das gefällt mir optisch besser.
Externe Clouddienste nutze ich gar nicht mehr. Ich habe hier zwei Synology NAS' und eines von Western Digital.
Wenn man es so nennen möchte bietet Synology mit Synology Drive damit eine eigene Cloudlösung für das Netzwerk an.
Die andern beiden NAS Laufwerke dienen mehr oder weniger nur als Backup für das Haupt-NAS.
Das was derzeit noch fehlt ist eine externe Lösung wie eben Nextcloud.