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Linux 'Deepin' distribution

Robert

Robert

Tapehead
After installing Linux (Mint) a while ago and deciding to make the switch for the main PC I hopped around a few of the alternative distributions to get a feel for what's out there. Most worked except Manjaro (BIOS errors) and I'd kind of settled on KDE Neon. Then my curiosity was caught after reading a discussion about online privacy in which a Linux distribution named 'Deepin' was mentioned. Deepin comes from China and the company producing it receives funding in part from the government. So you can imagine, armies of nerds rooting around in the code looking for spyware reporting secrets back to the Chinese government. Honestly, some of these people clearly don't get out much. if you want examples of blatant spying, look to the western governments and western tech corporations - Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon.......

FWIW, nobody has discovered any spyware running in the Deepin distribution, and believe me, many have tried. But I digress.

Deepin is gorgeous. You get OSX-like looks and polish on top of a Linux Debian base.
Clearly a lot of thought and effort has gone into this distribution. The installation took 15 minutes (core i5 5 year old laptop) and everything runs smoothly with no hiccups. It's not a light distribution so you'll need ram - I'd say 4Gb minimum as the OS consumes the best part of 1Gb at start-up. But processor load is low.
All peripherals I've connected seem to work without issue, including a new 32 bit USB dac.
Comes loaded with some nice applications and the app 'store' is the best example I've seen.

Well worth a look.

https://www.deepin.org/en/
 
I've been very happy for many years with Kubuntu, the KDE version of Ubuntu, which is also Debian-based. Have you ever tried it? I tried the latest Kubuntu and did not like the "Plasma" GUI, with all the clever transparencies that just got on my nerves and served no useful purpose, so went back to the last version with the pre-Plasma GUI. But the Debian-based distros do seem to be the most popular these days. I would have thought that a distro made in China might feel a bit "alien," but I expect I'm wrong.
 
PaulMB said:
I've been very happy for many years with Kubuntu, the KDE version of Ubuntu, which is also Debian-based. Have you ever tried it? I tried the latest Kubuntu and did not like the "Plasma" GUI, with all the clever transparencies that just got on my nerves and served no useful purpose, so went back to the last version with the pre-Plasma GUI. But the Debian-based distros do seem to be the most popular these days. I would have thought that a distro made in China might feel a bit "alien," but I expect I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

Hi Paul,

Haven't tried Kubuntu but I did run KDE Neon for a while and liked it. Quite like the KDE desktop.
Deepin has the odd language issue where the Chinese to English hasn't quite worked but those are quickly identified and corrected.
 
The KDE desktop is the most windows-like. There are two generations, number 4 which was in new distros until around 2016, and now this Plasma KDE with a lot of transparencies and "zoom" effects which I personally dislike.
I think distro choice boils down to what works easily on your hardware, and what you are used to. In the sense that the new "X" distro will be similar to the old "X" distro so you find your way around easily.
I would love to try straight Debian, but I have the impression that you have to install a lot of additional software which is not included because it is not 100% open source.
 
PaulMB said:
The KDE desktop is the most windows-like. There are two generations, number 4 which was in new distros until around 2016, and now this Plasma KDE with a lot of transparencies and "zoom" effects which I personally dislike.
I think distro choice boils down to what works easily on your hardware, and what you are used to. In the sense that the new "X" distro will be similar to the old "X" distro so you find your way around easily.
I would love to try straight Debian, but I have the impression that you have to install a lot of additional software which is not included because it is not 100% open source.
Click to expand...

Apparently Arch Linux is the distro for masochists. You have to build it yourself and hope it doesn't fall over with the weekly updates. Life is too short!
 
I tried to love linux / debian in its various guises but frankly its strength lies behind the scenes, NAS appliances etc. Front of house its just so fractured and ugly.
 
Still exploring, so last night I installed Antergos with Gnome desktop. A much longer install and unusual in that it actually required some thought ;) - being essentially a graphical installer for Arch Linux. Well, this also installed fine and works extremely well. It feels nippier than the others tried but you have to do a fair bit of customisation.
The Arch software repositories are rammed full, with stable and unstable beta versions of software so some care is needed when selecting and updating.

Good fun though, and if it breaks it breaks!
Backup is your friend :)
 
Keep up the good work! I expect all PFM's Linux-fiends are watching your experimentation with interest.

One thing that is getting increasingly on my nerves with operating systems is the obsession with eye-candy "effects" that are perfectly useless. I mean who really needs transparent windows so you can read the window underneath? Or things that zoom in and out at the slip of a finger?
 
PaulMB said:
Keep up the good work! I expect all PFM's Linux-fiends are watching your experimentation with interest.

One thing that is getting increasingly on my nerves with operating systems is the obsession with eye-candy "effects" that are perfectly useless. I mean who really needs transparent windows so you can read the window underneath? Or things that zoom in and out at the slip of a finger?
Click to expand...
very useful, both features - who cares, compute power/graphics can easily cope with it.
 
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