I'm having more and more problems with the old, outdated software that Zorin 16.2 is using. For example, something that ran strong in POL last year is constantly crashing now.
The error:
0024:err:winediag:select_shader_backend Ignoring the shader backend registry key. GLSL is the only shader backend available on core profile contexts. You need to explicitly set GL version to use legacy contexts.
I tracked it down with:
$ glxino | grep "OpenGL ES"
and it returned
OpenGL ES profile version string: OpenGL ES 3.2 Mesa 21.2.6
OpenGL ES profile shading language version string: OpenGL ES GLSL ES 3.20
Most everything now needs GLSL 3.30 or greater. Then, I tried installing Zorin 16.2 Pro on a laptop with nvidia and the base install didn't perform well (it's an Optimus ); so, I tried to install the xanmod kernel and then reinstall the latest nvidia driver, but the GCC compiler is too old.
More and more of the stuff I'd like to do, things that worked just 6 months ago, is failing to install, crashing or stutters. And, everything I've seen points to outdated software.
Zorin 16 is the first time I've used an LTS release distro in a long, long time. I used Debian until their release schedule stopped me from using newly developed software.
Is Zorin 17 close to release? Or, does anybody have any recommendations for a distro that's more modern which is as polished as Zorin? I have 2 games I play to relieve stress and can't do it anymore... getting desperate!
I don't understand this unless you are installing software from another versions repo. All of the focal repos software work with the LTS release of that version. That is to say that the kernel is in a specific version range.
Jammy or later software will require the next kernel versions libraries, which would cause this issue. Upgrading the libraries will be a rabbit hole that results in the breaking of Zorin or upgrading the machine to Ubuntu 22.
Zorin 16, and all of its subversions, are based on Ubuntu 20. While the kernel has now matched/exceeded the Ubuntu 22.04LTS version, other libraries are not upgraded (cc, gcc, etc.) as they are dependent on kernel and library versions.
Upgrading the kernel alone will not give you access to this newer software. Installing the dependencies for this newer software will break your system or have you running a version of Ubuntu instead of Zorin.
Upgrading to newer software just to have the latest version is not recommended and will cause this issue. If the previous versions were working, remove the software in question and install the version that is supported. Otherwise, install Ubuntu 22 or Pop!OS to run the latest versions.
There is no other way.
Zorin 17 is in the works, but a release date has not been offered. Currently the devs are focused on Zorin Grid and Direct Upgrades, which will most likely be released with Zorin 17.
If they remain true to their previous release schedule, it will be the end of the year, but that is an educated guess, not a firm timeframe.
So, I install PlayOnLinux ("POL") and then install the game with a specific version of Wine, like I've done for over a decade in several distros... even Zorin 16.0 - 16.2 Pro. It worked, until this last reinstall (new system).
In the middle of the game it kept crashing, so I turned the debugging on and found the error message (above). This is with stock Zorin PPAs active, nothing added.
In trying to fix the driver issue, I once again installed the xanmod kernel, thinking that since the AMD GPU drivers are baked in to the kernel that it would help; however, that wasn't the problem. The problem is the antiquated OpenGL version of LTS. Ubuntu LTS 20.04, of any distro, also has the same problems, from my research.
The laptop that I was using was purchased in Dec 2022. I tried everything from Zorin to Void to Pop!_OS to Nobara to openSUSE and the Optimus was problematic. I'm now putting it up for sale and have vowed to never use an nvidia product again with Linux.
The other game I play is on Steam. I can get it to launch, but it will crash sometimes. Again, in Zorin 16.0 - 16.2 Pro, this was not a problem... until recently when things changed with the steam update. Steam fetches its own updates on launch.
If you have the installer, without being connected, install and launch in offline mode, disable the update on start feature in the settings.
You could also reach out to stream and inform them that the updates are breaking functionality for the last LTS, which they should respond to since they tout support for Linux natively.
Developers attempt to stay current, and in doing so sometimes don't realize that they have broken things on older versions. Since the LTS of Ubuntu 20 is supported for another two years, it should bring their attention to and initiate a support response for the LTS.
Yeah, as I update the games and apps outside Zorin (like through Steam or the clients in PlayOnLinux), the app requirements are for newer software than Ubuntu 20.04 (and thus Zorin and all other derivatives) is able to provide
To be fair, these are Windows apps that I run through Wine/Lutris/POL/Steam, but they worked up until recently, meaning that their updates require newer versions OpenGL, GCC, et al, than I'm able to install with 20.04
This is interesting. I have had zero problems with Steam.
I do not use WINE, however, so I am not sure I can be helpful on that front.
It makes a lot of sense to me to immediately guess that the current Zorin OS packages might be the issue. However, on closer look, this appears very unlikely to me.
To be direct:
That sums this up quite neatly. These are current and supported packages. They are not the latest packages - to give you some perspective on this; 85% of the packages you are using are never the latest packages - and cannot be. And this is true on a Rolling Release as well, where the majority of packages are not the latest.
We must be careful to avoid the trap of assuming that the latest package being released automatically makes anything before it "outdated' (It certainly does not) and to avoid the X - Y problem. We do not want to assume x is true and therefor, y is a result of x.
Instead, let's try troubleshooting your issues individually and see if we can accurately discover the cause. It May be that you are correct. But let's confirm the cause first.
While I appreciate that the devs are a small team, Ubuntu 20.04 that this OS is based on is literally 3 years old almost to the day. That's not insignificant. LTS or not, there's a ton of things we can not do on this OS due to the constraints of 20.04 and the need to have the "enhancments" so embedded in the OS that simply updating Gnome to a recent version will break everything.
Gnome 3.38 is also almost 3 years old and most normal extensions that give users modern abilities are unavailable to us. They are all 4x versions.
Anyway, as someone who spent years in dev I get not hounding them or demanding timelines. Just would be nice to get a newsletter, now and then, to let us know what the progress is or if they are opening any sort of beta testing for the newer, more updated, actually modern version.
When Zorin OS 17 is released, members will then complain that it is based on an "Outdated and old" version of Ubuntu 22.04 and they are suddenly limited in what they can do since Ubuntu 24.04 is due to be released soon.
@337harvey That is great, but none of those have been updated in about 7 months.
@Aravisian, I don't think it is unreasonable to hope for new versions, perhaps even once a year, versus having an OS using a 3 year old base. No one is demanding cutting edge tech.
Even Ubuntu LTS's are not released at one per year. Windows OS generally follows a 5 to 8 year release cycle, that currently they are hoping to decrease to every 3 years.
LTS means LTS.
You said:
The Canonical team is significantly larger and they release once every Two Years.
There is nothing reasonable about suggesting that a two person crew cuts that time in half, especially when that release is what Zorin OS is based upon.
I thought ZorinOS is better than its base (in this case, ZorinOS based on Ubuntu) because ZorinOS refines and improves upon the base. As for LTS, it focuses on stability and long-term support. Basically, the concept of LTS is different from non-LTS
That's correct. Microsoft releases major updates to Windows 10 and Windows 11 approximately every six months, which include new features, improvements, and bug fixes. These updates are typically referred to as "feature updates" and are designed to improve the overall functionality and performance of the operating system.
Even Microsoft takes years to release major versions (10, 11, 12). The upgrades you speak of are subversions (still win10/11).
For being a two man team, the ZorinGroup does a hell of a job getting updates out, more often than M$. We see everything from security fixes to kernel and library updates weekly. And they test all releases for stability prior to release. There's something M$ doesn't do.
Asking for more releases and a quicker turnaround for major releases is to ask them to ignore all other aspects of their business (website maintenance, blog, legal documentation, taxes across multiple nations, marketing, accounting, feature research and implementation). Two people do all of that, while giving us timely updates. They do a wonderful job delivering, for all that's required of them.
The problems you have are from two specific pieces of software, POL and Steam. They are the ones breaking their software on LTS versions. They are the developers that need to resolve these issues. Zorn and the ZorinGroup do not have to make any software work on their OS. That is the software developers job.
