Dedoimedo
dedoimedo.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2010
Linux and desktop software reviews by Igor Ljubuncic, covering distributions, desktop environments, Wayland, and older hardware, often with a critical tone.
What HN saysHN commenters link its Linux reviews, including Fedora and Gnome, and some call its judgments unfair for using atypical hardware and unusual setups.
124HN people shared it
37linked it in comments
183stories submitted
1.7Kstory points
3 months agolast shared
2010people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Modern software development is cancer4 people · 65 points · first shared 2017 · 32 comments on HN
- 2Gnome 40 – The anti-desktop desktop4 people · 61 points · first shared 2021 · 83 comments on HN
- 3My Asus eeePC still rocks in 2024 (with MX Linux)4 people · 18 points · first shared 2024 · 2 comments on HN
- 4Gnome 3 - This is the end, it seems4 people · 14 points · first shared 2011 · 2 comments on HN
- 5Fedora 18 review - Bad Bad Bad4 people · 7 points · first shared 2013 · discussion on HN
- 6Dedoimedo reviews Wayland in 2024 and comes to sad conclusions3 people · 59 points · first shared 2024 · 87 comments on HN
- 7Wayland vs. X11 Comparisons3 people · 44 points · first shared 2025 · 4 comments on HN
- 8Dedoimedo interviews: KDE's pointiest stick, Nate Graham3 people · 12 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 9WordPress Gutenberg will be the end of WordPress3 people · 5 points · first shared 2018 · 1 comments on HN
- 10The Year of the Linux Dissatisfaction3 people · 4 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 11Welcome to the Firefox Suckfest (2013)3 people · 1 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 12An early look at VLC 4.02 people · 104 points · first shared 2021 · 32 comments on HN
- 13Firefox 89 – Another redesign, another rollercoaster2 people · 31 points · first shared 2021 · 22 comments on HN
- 14Let's Talk about Wayland2 people · 29 points · first shared 2021 · 5 comments on HN
- 15The Plasma desktop is miles ahead of everything else (2021)2 people · 27 points · first shared 2021 · 7 comments on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
jaclaz · 2022-04-09
Classical by now "Experts say ..." on Dedoimedo's, Armand Gracious:
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/experts.html
tannhaeuser · 2022-02-26
> I like MacOS. I liked the old Unity. I like Gnome 3 except for the fact that it's consumes a lot of resources. I shy away from KDE even though I hear it's now more efficient because it reminds me of Vista from certain angles.
Same. Definitely don't like gnome/gnome-shell 3+ dropping the global menu, featuring a useless file picker, and overall just wasting a lot of space on my favourite notebook sizes of 13.3" and 14", though preferring dark themes I could see that gnome maybe wanted to get rid of those cheesy non-scaling, always-black-on-white icon menus as leftovers from the 90s. Regarding KDE (Plasma) though, I've learned you can customize the hell out of it to get back most of gnome 2 + Unity [1], so that's something I'm going to try next when I get around to it.
[1]: https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/plasma-look-like-unity.html
shadowprofile77 · 2020-08-26
so to follow up, the issue revolves mostly around the newer Kindle KFX format, and because it's been a while since I've done any DRM strips through calibre, it might at this point not even be an issue due to some more recent update. If it is though, this post from 2019 covers the details of getting around this too.
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/calibre-kfx-drm-guide.html
onli · 2020-06-12
That's really not a fair judgement. Like wazoox said, you used completely untypical hardware for a desktop system. And on top of that you did use neither a typical distribution nor a modern Desktop environment. For example, you wouldn't run into the multimedia software issues with something like Ubuntu with a KDE or Gnome desktop. And with something a bit less mainstream like Arch or void you'd have a great foundation for more alternative setups (like a custom desktop environment with software you selected for yourself).
Look for example at https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/kubuntu-focal.html.
josteink · 2013-01-24
If what this review says[1] is true though, why would you suffer through all this madness for what is essentially an upgrade without anything worthwhile offered?
[1] http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/fedora-18-kde.html
Misiek · 2013-01-23
I'am also disappointed with Ubuntu (version 10.10 was the best but 12.04 the worst). I wanted to try Fedora but I was reading interesting Fedora 18 Spherical Cow review on HN yesterday: http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/fedora-18-kde.html
What is the best Linux distribution (with Gnome 2) for Web Developers?
Karunamon · 2012-10-18
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/unity.html
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/gnome-3.html
Same guy, takes the words out of my mouth in both cases.
Worth mentioning is that they have, admittedly, made a great deal of progress. Unity isn't the buggy mess that it was back a couple of major releases ago, which renders moot a good deal of the author's complaints.
I could still do without the mandatory 3d acceleration (which wouldn't be so bad if they would leave Unity 2D alone but nope, they're killing that off.....) and the full screen , space wasting interface. I am on a desktop, not a netbook. Optimize accordingly, please.
Unity is a fine interface for smaller screens and mobile devices. Not so much for the desktop.
solid_fuel · 2026-06-18
>> if you think that would be an acceptable excuse
> This is the Is/Aught Fallacy. I'm explaining how things ARE you're confusing it with me saying it's how things SHOULD BE. In other words, it's a statement of fact, not an "excuse".
No, instead of accepting the authors experiences as described you came up with a contrived scenario that involves the author not knowing how to use a computer, but somehow being a power user. Then you said that was probably what happened, before moving on to claim that the author isn't in the target audience for windows anyway.
Explaining how things are would not include dismissing the original criticisms as untrue.
>> windows will HAPPILY overwrite your file preferences when it installs updates
> Do you have evidence of this?
Yes I just read a great article that mentions one persons experience with Windows doing exactly that, you can find it here: https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-11-june-2026-results.html
lproven · 2024-06-20
It's really hard, because the author is not only against limited user accounts, he is also against ISO files.
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/easyos-2-3.html
dschuetz · 2023-07-07
Reading this: https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/telemetry-should-you-allow.html I've stumbled on this:
> Optional telemetry, of course, but again - this creates a selective and unpredictable reality. Ordinary people don't care either way, and nerds will always make deliberate choices that often have nothing to do with product or profit or anything else entirely.
So, by that logic, users who opt out of telemetry are aware of why they are doing it. People who don't care share their chaotic usage patterns. This creates a false picture of usage reality, and makes software worse. In conclusion, there are only two remaining choices:
1. Make telemetry non-optional
2. Ditch telemetry and rely on QA studies
Bluecobra · 2022-07-18
Are you talking about the smooth moving cursor? That's the first thing I disable in the registry with any new install.
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/office-2016-smooth-cursor-disable.…
akoster · 2022-03-19
Igor Ljubuncic of Dedoimedo posts a lot about his experiences using various linux distros and configuring them to his liking [1]. Recently he posted about planning to migrate to Linux (from windows) [2]. Hope this might help!
[1] https://www.dedoimedo.com/linux.html
[2] https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-moving-away-sw-checklist.h…
MaxBarraclough · 2021-08-10
> Haters gonna hate
This is true for many UI changes, but I'm not convinced it applies here. This blog post points out many specific deficiencies in Proton: https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/firefox-89.html
pjmlp · 2021-06-30
No need, here is the current state https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/gnome-40.html
rocky1138 · 2021-03-27
In KDE you can access this sort of thing with the built-in GUI file manager right out of the box. You don't need a third-party app.
1. Open Dolphin (file manager)
2. Right click in the Places section on the left to add entry
3. Type `fish://<the-address>`
4. Click OK
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/plasma-dolphin-fish-ssh.html
kar1181 · 2020-10-15
Slight opposite take on the state of linux vs windows is here - https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/linux-year-of-dissatisfaction.html…
I unfortunately agree with a lot of what he says (this after using linux either a primary or secondary desktop OS for over 23 years) have kind of the same fatigue.
It really saddens, this current state of the linux desktop.
8bitsrule · 2020-10-14
A line-up of comments from a frequent reviewer: "The Year of the Linux dissatisfaction"
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/linux-year-of-dissatisfaction.html
smnthermes · 2020-05-07
> Mozilla has always been under-resourced compared to the competition (IE, then Chrome) and taking people off improving Firefox/Gecko to work on embedding never made the cut.
Yeah, sure, imitating your competition is the right way to handle that. /s
References:
1. https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/firefox-addons-future.html
2. https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/firefox-disable-australis.html
3. https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/firefox-29-sucks.html
4. https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/firefox-suckfest.html
userbinator · 2020-04-04
It used to be far more customisable for Windows; this is Windows 2.03:
https://guidebookgallery.org/pics/gui/settings/appearance/win203-1-1.p…
3.11:
https://guidebookgallery.org/pics/gui/settings/appearance/win31-1-2.pn…
95:
https://guidebookgallery.org/pics/gui/settings/appearance/win95-1-2.pn…
...and that dialog remained almost unchanged up until Windows 7:
https://www.dedoimedo.com/images/computers_new_2/windows-7-settings-bo…
Unfortunately, after Win7 it was removed, and they basically took away customisation completely in Win10.
samantohermes · 2020-01-26
Turning Firefox into a Chrome copycat* with built-in blocklists and Tor Browser Bundle features certainly didn't make it gain more users. Mozilla should've left Brave occupy that space. Brave, Pale Moon and Vivaldi deserve praise.
* References:
1. https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/firefox-suckfest.html
2. https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/firefox-disable-australis.html
3. https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/firefox-directory-tiles.html
[Edit (fixing link)]: 4. https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/firefox-addons-future.html
nycticorax · 2019-12-07
I feel like the Elementary folks have a lot of the right ideas about how to build a desktop OS and a third-party software ecosystem around it. (In particular: They have a HIG, and seem to make an effort to make their platform appealing for developers.) But it sounds like they struggle with execution in some ways:
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/elementary-0-4-loki-again.html
I haven't tried Elementary, but I've tried a lot of distros, and I always come back to Ubuntu because it comes the closest to just working. (It doesn't do as well as MacOS or Windows in the 'just working' department, in my experience (let the flames begin!), but it does pretty well, and better than any other Linux-based OS I've tried.)
And although reliable statistics seem to be hard to come by, my impression is that Ubuntu is the most popular Linux-based desktop OS by a pretty wide margin.
wayneftw · 2019-11-21
At one time, Manjaro Linux came with Microsoft Office pre-installed. The apps were built with python jade application kit with embedded webviews that take you to the online version - https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/manjaro-ms-office-online.html
NeedMoreTea · 2018-10-25
Having trialled the new offering thanks to a banner in my Wordpress dashboard, I went right back to the old editor. Trouble with the new one is the UX is hostile - everything needs an extra dozen clicks for the most simple things.
I want to publish a post about as fast as writing a text or word doc. The current wordpress editor is unexciting but has a fairly decent workflow. Faffing about with everything on a pulldown or modal is not progress.
A fair summary of my views of Gutenberg:
https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/wordpress-gutenberg.html
dchest · 2018-06-09
I wouldn't call it a dark pattern: there's no trickery or deception; nothing bad happens if you pressed the wrong button. It's called a "nag screen", and in many cases it's the only difference between a trial version and a paid one.
Here's an example from Total Commander: https://www.dedoimedo.com/images/computers_new_2/windows-cool-apps-tc-…
(the number to press changes randomly between launches)
mormegil · 2017-05-10
When I read http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/software-development-cancer.html I considered it a bit tongue-in-cheek/satire/something. When I read about things like TB rewrite, I think maybe it was just... true?
severine · 2016-10-31
That's if you can successfully install it (http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/solus-1-2-review.html)
tunap · 2016-10-02
Damn! I took the click-bait. For more on the so-called harm, here's a good summary of giorgio & wlad's pissing contest:
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/adblock-noscript.html
pmontra · 2016-06-19
See Mistake 6 at http://www.dedoimedo.com/physics/sci-fi-mistakes.html
Mistake 7 also hints about the possible shape when there are no preferred orientations.
Also interesting
http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a8140/what-would-a-st…
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/24/spaceship_design/
j_s · 2015-09-07
iTunes is required to manage the metadata db on the device for music and videos; "any device with DBVersion > 4 does NOT work"[1].
Copying files to/from the device is supported (works well for photos; music and videos won't appear in the native apps): http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/linux-iphone-6.html -> The proper solution
[1] http://www.libimobiledevice.org/ -> Status