Pre installed software, rather not

Feedback
1

I´d like Zorin to release a version without pre installed software as Brasero, Office. Just a clean install.

2 Likes
2

I changed the Thread Category to Feedback because this is not a Help Request.

3

Zorin OS is positionning itself as an OS for new users, migrating from Windows. So, they are trying to minimize installation options (thus, no "minimal install"), and user's efforts to have completely ready system out of the box. Hence is LibreOffice pre-installed and configured to mimick MS Office (nice job, by the way!). I believe that advanced users, who wants to avoid bloat software, are assumed to be able to remove whatever they don't need by themselves.

2 Likes
4

I've tried Libre Office for work during lockdown and it wasn't compatible when showing up on work computers running Office 2019. Where Libre Office does score over MS Office is it's Language support which MS cannot match by a long chalk. I use the perpetual licence of SoftMaker Office Professional but you can use the free one FreeOffice and it is fully compatible with MS Office if you remember to save the file in MS Format which you can make default. This is another reason why I like PCLOS Debian.

  1. It has a LibreOffice installer, should you need it.
  2. It has multiple browser choice so you are free to put your browser of choice on the machine, which is similar to what Zorin used to do, the difference being Zorin would have a Browser pre-installed but you had an additional 3 choices, which included an uninstall option of the pre-installed Browser.
5

It is my understanding there is an option for minimal installation if you have Pro. I assume that is still true?
Core is not particularly bloated with bundled apps, and the unwanted ones are not difficult to remove.

6

Personally, I created a script.
A text file with an .sh extension.
Containing, for example:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
sudo apt purge brave-browser brave-keyring -y
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-*.list
sudo apt autoremove -y
sudo apt autoclean
sudo snap install firefox

Then, each person can add what they want.
But, the first line is mandatory.

7

To this I would add today:

sudo snap set system refresh.retain=2

8

Another small thing that bothers me is the default backup software.
I agree that it is easy to use and powerful, but the backups once created are in a complicated format that is difficult to open with another software.
So I prefer the one from the other major desktop environment.

#!/usr/bin/env bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt purge duplicity -y
sudo apt install kbackup -y
sudo apt autoremove -y
sudo apt autoclean