I Want A Up to Date Zorin OS

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The design of Zorin OS is what drew me to using it. So i boutghy the Pro version of it. I was happy with it.

I had issues with Zorin OS 17.1. For example, i wanted to use Easyeffects but it didnt work. Then i learned that some apps in Zorin use pulseaudio. So i uninstalled pulseaudio and installed pipewire and Easyeffects worked. And some Wayland issues also. I cant use Ksnip app and OBS doesnt record desktop in Wayland.

I think some programs in the operating system are incompatible. I want to use a Zorin OS that has the latest programs and packages out of the box. And i want Zorin OS comes with "snap" disabled. Hope these become real one day. (Maybe there is a road map that includes what I'm talking about that I don't know about.)

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I've moved this to feedback as you're not citing any issue with hardware compatibility or trying to get a device working, but are expressing what you want from future Zorin updates.

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Have you tried switching to X11/Xorg display server to see if the issues you were having with Wayland get resolved? I did that earlier today and the only issue I was having (with Fractional Scaling) was resolved.

If you haven't tried it, log out of your desktop, click on your username, click the gear icon in the lower right corner and choose "Zorin OS X" (Or something similar). When you've logged in, it'll be using the X11 display server.

I think the same can be said for any Linux distro. :slight_smile: Which apps are you trying? Also, what do you miss from "snap?"

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I had issues with Easyeffects on Zorin. And i dont like "snap". So i just wish to see Zorin OS comes with snap disabled.

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That will not work because Zorin is a LTS Distro. When You want the latest Stuff, a Rolling Release Distro or some In-Between Model like Fedora would be an Idea.

That would be a realistic Thing. Linux Mint do that already. And to kick it out by default should be makeable I guess.

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I dislike snap, but there is one app I use on almost a daily basis which is currently snap-only. I guess because its a desktop expanded version of their Android app.

It could be useful to have sliders to enable snaps and flatpack in the software store settings, perhaps.

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Hi @NeilW, out of curiosity what is the app?

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Yeah, what is the app?

Also, because I've been out of the Linux loop for many years, does anyone have a TL;DR as to why snap is so hated that even its mere existence is disgusted? I mean, if I don't like a setting, I just avoid it. Should I avoid doing something inherently wrong with snap?

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Basically, historically, containerised GNU/Linux packaging started with 'flatpak' with a loose consortium of GNU/Linux developers. Poettinger, working for Red Hat at the time invited himself to the early meetings. Eventually, Poettinger was so impressed he proposed that Red Hat should adopt flatpak. Just as Red Hat had bludgeoned other distributions to adopt systemd and equally bad Pulse Audio, both created by Poettinger, faced resistance from Canonical as they pursued developing their own containerised software, snap. It's hated I suspect from the numerous reports of how badly it performed/performs. The issue for me is, containerised applications have no contact with system services, hence the OP's issue being unable to print from Brave. Diverting back to Browser's, in the early days, Zorin OS was very innovative, offering a Browser Chooser as part of the OS, copied by both Pear OS and Feren OS. Interestingly, the new release of PCLinuxOS based on Debian (Plasma DE) has a browser chooser but only available after installation for obvious reasons.

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Well ... Snap. Here on Zorin Snap is a Way to install a Program. Not more, not less. And that is okay for me. But on Ubuntu Snap isn't simply a Way to install a Program. They forcing it in the System. And that is, what I don't like - this Behavior.

On the Flatpak-Site seems to be to begin a new Step because they want to be more independent. Gnome and KDE are looking for someone who bring it on an independent Course. Here a Video to it:

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First, a small potted history.

I had tried various Linux distributions a few times from the mid 90s onwards, but only experimentally. My client work had to be in Windows as thats where my clients were (Access database, anybody?).

I remember the endless frustrations trying to download (on a dialup modem) various dependencies just so I could try out some app I had read about. Its why I didn't stay long enough.

When I came to Zorin and installed it 'for good' 3 years ago, I had no idea that these various package formats existed. As a Windows user coming to Linux, I headed for the software store and installed various things I fancied trying. Snap, FlatPack, native - I don't think I even noticed. I was just amazed and relieved that you could download software and it just worked!

Something for the system designers to think about perhaps - most people coming to Zorin aren't going to know about and appreciate different package formats.

As I came to read and understand more I saw why Snaps might not be best. In my new system I have avoided wherever possible and used (in order of preference) Native, downloaded .deb, Flatpack, then Snap.

I have 2 Snaps installed currently.
get-iplayer which allows one to download from the current BBC catalogue (both radio and TV). I haven't actually used it in ages as I mostly gave up listening to the BBC a long time ago, but for going on trips I can download some radio programmes and put them on my phone. Ditto some TV shows for my partner. We are often away from signal.

UpNote - a superb, very slick and well-built note taking app which I'd already used on Android for quite some time, so its natural to use the Linux version which happens to be on Snap. I know there are open-source Linux alternatives, but it just works so well out of the box, its a fantastic app, for my purposes. the developer has also been very responsive. Also available on Mac and Windows.

Checking the website just now its also on AppImage, so I may try that. But I'm very happy with the Snap version. It does take a while to load initially, after that I leave it open as I leave it open through the day (for personal note taking and book research purposes)..

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One reason why I'm convinced that newer or "up to date" does not equal better is because of Microsoft Office... best compatibility with zero issues: export as 2003 format. It just works.

The constant struggle to keep everything as bleeding edge as possible is a huge waste of time in my book. I only ever go for that option when I have a explicit and justifiable reason to do so. It's going to be "phased out" within days anyway, why keep repeating the endless cycle needlessly?

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I totally agree. Once the functionality you need is in place. Regarding the issue raised in this thread, I have no issues with the software in Zorin 17.2, mostly I'm happy with the native versions of software. Where I'm not I install the version I want myself.

I still have my Office CD from the 2000s, I think its Office XP? It always did everything I needed of it, with the advantage of sticking with a familiar UI saving me time. I stopped doing standalone Access DBs way back as I moved clients into mysql solutions.

The trouble is that its become increasingly difficult to install it on modern windows. I switched to SoftMaker Office which works across Win and Linux and has given zero compatability issues with clients. In fact, I prefer its interface to Office.

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Thanks for the background information on snap and others! I picked up a habit of always looking for a .deb file somewhere, knowing Ubuntu was Debian-based, and I still follow that. (Installed Obsidian via a downloaded .deb the other day.)

Between AppImage, Flatpak, and .deb, is there a performance benefit?

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Here is a nice Video about that:

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I have had good results with AppImages, at least the two I use. I have Inkscape as an AppImage because I found the package install problematic when trying to use certain features. I also have the game engine I use as an AppImage because, though I initially used the FlatPak when I first came from Windows to Zorin, I switched to AppImages of it for the convenience of being able easily use different versions. There had been some breaking changes to a few of my projects when they implemented a new variable system, and I haven't migrated them yet but still needed to be able to publish updates. The AppImages make it very easy to use both the most current and the legacy variable versions.

People say they take up more space on your computer but I never store anything on my computers except the tools I use so that's not an issue for me.

Personally I find them a little slow to open but I just use those few seconds to mentally prepare for the work ahead.

Also I understand some people believe they do not update themselves and tell this tall tale to gullible new Linux users, but sadly I found out this is not true as I left the game engine default "Download and install new updates when they become available" on - and it did! Right over my legacy version, even though I had renamed it. Lesson learned to toggle that off...

I also understand there can be difficulties if you are really into theming. I pretty much leave everything at default anyway because it's a lot quicker.

I kind of feel this way too, like I understand why companies want the illusion of all these new cutting edge features and conveniences and decorations so people will buy every year. Not sure how it benefits people though unless they're just keen on instability and having to relearn the wheel every year.

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Well, there is some truth to that, as it depends on a couple of things.

AppImage doesn't need anything else installed in your system to run. However, because of this, it's quite likely that a user would download the AppImage only and doesn't have any external process running that monitors AppImages in the system. There are ways to embed this mechanism to the package but the developer may choose not to do that, which would mean no automatic updates.

For reference:

https://docs.appimage.org/packaging-guide/optional/updates.html#making-appimages-updateable

I do like AppImage quite a bit, they are the most convenient and definitely the most portable as they have the least amount of dependencies. I don't know about the theme integration, but aesthetics doesn't bother me all that much anyway.

Precisely... there are legitimate reasons to want things to be better, but updating over and over doesn't even give you time to understand the needs for those new features. That's what ultimately leads to change for the sake of change.

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Thank you. Good to know.

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I think in the end it is down to user choice and what works and what doesn't. I still use .deb in the main, but not Zorin. In terms of DataBases, I have posted elsewhere that MS Access was noted not to be scaleable. Once it gets above 2 users it becomes pretty useless, coupled with the fact that if you have a Database in MS Access 2 (which is what they were using where I once worked) then moved to a newer version, the database files would not work. The only truly scaleable Database came from Oracle. I am not a big fan of Data Bases. When I was an IT Contractor, an IT guy from the Belfast Office said basically, Access is basically a jigsaw puzzle of spreadsheets joined together. I find databases too hard to handle, and another reason why I never completed the Microsoft Office Professional Course at my final place of employment! Yes, SoftMaker Office is to me the best out there that there is, and for Windows users get the benefit of an early version of MathType. They were supposed to be looking at some point at creating a Linux equivalent - all we have at the moment is LibreOffice Math, which isn't the best solution compared to MathType. I had to use the paid version when I was at work for producing Braille Math in Duxbury Braille Translator which BrailleBlaster can't handle, sadly. I am not a fan of App Images either. I prefer a streamlined OS for all updates.