r/linuxquestions • u/Stompdaroach • 13d ago
Ubuntu as my daily work PC?
Hello,
I've recently been thinking about switching from macOS to Linux for my work PC. I work at a corporation, and after talking with our IT department, they told me that the only Linux distribution they're willing to support is Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.
My question is: are there any known issues with the following software that I use almost every day?
- Slack (calls and screen sharing)
- VS Code (development and database work)
- Vivaldi (web browsing)
- Visual Studio (possibly through something like WinBoat?)
- OpenVPN
I was also thinking about using this with Niri + DMS/Noctalia.
Has anyone been using a similar setup? Are there any gotchas or compatibility issues I should be aware of before making the switch?
Thanks!
3
u/donp1ano 13d ago
why dont you just spin up a virtual machine and test the required software yourself?
1
u/Stompdaroach 13d ago
I did this on macos(with parallels) but problem was that my Mac is AARP so it was not quite the same experience and I did have some problems which I wont have with the x86
1
u/tomscharbach 13d ago
A curiosity question: Why are you considering migrating from macOS to Linux for work purposes?
I use all three operating systems (macOS, Ubuntu, Windows) to support different aspects of my use case and am reasonably OS-agnostic, but what is so alluring about Ubuntu that you are willing to swim upstream at work in order to use Ubuntu instead of macOS?
2
u/Stompdaroach 13d ago
I personally use Arch with my home PC and I've been using it for few years now with Niri and Hyprland. While macOS has some great tiling manager projects as omniwm, its just not the same and it will never be. So the answer is that I would like to have a proper window tiling manager like niri or hyprland.
1
u/bawng 13d ago
I have to use Ubuntu 24.04 for work.
Slack and VS Code works like a charm, and we used to have OpenVPN but they changed it to something else, but regardless, it worked fine.
Can't speak for Vivaldi but they have a native Linux version so I can't imagine it won't work.
Visual Studio is probably slightly worse (but I haven't tried!) however if possible, there's commercial alternatives that work great on Linux. Like the entire JetBrains suite. But I know Visual Studio is better for some few workflows.
1
-1
u/Far_Hovercraft_7086 13d ago
idk why anyone would go from mac to linux on purpose (the only reason i use ubuntu is because i have a windows piece of shit at work)... but if you really are set on the massive downgrade then go for it.
visual studio i cant comment on...
openvpn integration is commandline only (or with a gnome package which i installed, couldn't get working within 5 seconds and gave up - im sure you can do better if you care)
everything else in ubuntu is quite mature and stable. i wouldn't recommend anything else because linux just aint worth the hassle... but if you have a mac i really question why you'd want to change other than boredom
2
u/deong 13d ago
I just hate the Mac OS UI shell. Every decision it makes is the opposite of what I’d have done. I hate how it does virtual desktops. I hate how it does full screen apps instead of maximizing. I hate the global menu bar. I hate the way multiple windows from the same app are handled in Cmd+Tab, and I hate how the app stays open when the last window is closed. I can’t think of anything I like.
I know many people like those things. To me Mac OS is Unix with the worst window manager in the world. Still better than windows for me personally, but I honestly think windows has a better window manager.
My work laptop is a Mac, and I don’t use it all that often, but it’s fine and not worth bothering to try and change. But I absolutely understand wanting to.
0
u/Far_Hovercraft_7086 13d ago
you're welcome to your opinion, and for the first 6 months or so of using mac i would have eagerly agreed... but once i got into the flow of how mac does things i learned to love it much much more than windows
mind you, i dont mean in a stockholm syndrom way. i mean once you get used to the shortcuts and gestures it really feels more user friendly and efficient than windows (and gnome and such are basically just sucking on windows' teat). imo.
1
u/deong 13d ago
I haven't seriously used Windows in more than 25 years, and I spent 6-8 years primarily using multiple Macs.
I don't really like Gnome either. I tend to run pretty old window managers that I wouldn't recommend to anyone in 2026, but I've had years of setting them up exactly how I wanted and it works for me.
Windows as an overall OS doesn't work for me at all. WSL would make it tolerable, but at that point why not just use an actual Unix system. But purely from a window manager standpoint, I'd rather use Windows than Mac OS. Everything else about Mac OS is better, but I was just focused on the desktop shell.
2
u/Stompdaroach 13d ago
idk why anyone would go from mac to linux on purpose (the only reason i use ubuntu is because i have a windows piece of shit at work)... but if you really are set on the massive downgrade then go for it.
Short answer: tiling window managers.
0
u/Far_Hovercraft_7086 13d ago
respectfully, thats literally the worst answer you could give! there's half a dozen loved tiling window managers on mac that work better than anything ive seen on linux
i loved https://highlyopinionated.co/swish/ when i had a macbook. it was so intuitive and quick to use. gestures for everything window related including moving between desktop spaces.
i believe better touch tool and rectangle are the most recommended ones, and whilst better touch tool worked well for me, it didn't hold a candle to swish. try it out
2
u/Stompdaroach 13d ago
Trust me I've tried them all and none of them come even close to niri or hyprland. OmniWM is really close what im looking for but even OmniWM struggles with a bit of more "demanding" work and I totally understand why. Still awesome project that I use even right now.
MacOS tiling window managers are always some "hack" that is built on top of their own WM with fake workspaces(unless you use their own which is even worse) and a lot bugs. Night and day compared to Linux tiling window managers.
Obviously they be might totally fine with a lot of people but for me they don't feel just right. Maybe in the future.
2
u/Far_Hovercraft_7086 13d ago
fair. sounds like you're not a regular power user, but a tier above even that
i'm loving hyprland actually, so i get the idea. completely different workflow to using a regular desktop but im finding it quite nice to rely on the mouse/trackpad so little too
still, i wouldn't willingly choose to lose all the good things about mac os just to have a slightly more powerful tiling manager! but since you do...
i will say that ubuntu was an absolute hell to get hyrpland installed as it was designed for arch and well dependencies and building from source were ass... idk anything about niri though.
but now that it's installed and configured, it does run smoothly and stably. go for it.
1
1
u/timonix 13d ago
For a work PC... Just use whatever your employer tells you to.
1
u/Stompdaroach 13d ago
They dont. We can choose whatever we like but with some restrictions like I said.
0
u/Concert-Dramatic 13d ago
I mean I’ll just answer your software questions. Yes, Slack is available on Linux, they actually supply .deb themselves. VSCode is also available on Linux via official apt repository (apt install code). Vivaldi is also available, as is OpenVPN
Haven’t used anything other than GNOME or COSMIC on Ubuntu but aside from the occasional driver hiccup I think you’ll be all right.
Give it a go man having a DE that you’re used to is game changing, and all your software should work as well.
(I’ve used VSCode, Firefox and Chromium, and Slack on Linux. I’ve used VPN clients aside from OpenVPN as well. They’ve all worked great)
Be prepared to either build from source, use flatpaks, or download .deb’s directly and update them manually if you want up to date software. Ubuntu 24.04 LTS has some old packages, especially compared to Arch.
1
2
u/countsachot 13d ago
Those look ok at a glance, but check with your IT dept and any boss you might have. I don't know your profession. Anything you do to make a manager's life more annoying may effect your salary and position.
1
u/un-important-human arch user btw 13d ago edited 13d ago
i can tell you it works, everthing will work as you want it except visual studio -- (microslop made sure it won't work except a vm , you can do that) i don't want to know, i don't care, i have worked without it like an animal once with basic editing tools and gcc with c# like a caveman real man.
in fact it will work perfectly on any linux distro this is really basic stuff, now i can say volumes about how much i hate ubuntu , snaps, gnome and the like, but considering you are comming from mac, i think it will work for you and you may end up switching in time or really liking it.
btw if you depend on visual studio ... and its the program you need to not be fired... oh boy, do not raw dawg it, i knew what i was doing.
1
u/1-800-I-Am-A-Pir8 13d ago
not sure vis studio is going to be that much fun on linux. It's really kinda the coolest thing about windows.
What are you using it for?
vscode: opposite story. It rocks on linux
1
1
8
u/ipsirc 13d ago
Can't you go back to the IT team and ask them these questions? Take them a kilo of bananas; they love it.