Dedoimedo review - he is happy :)

[Buck Fankers]

https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/mx-23-4-kde.html

Apologies if already posted, I'm a little bit behind with reading....

[Jerry3904]

Hasn't been posted yet, though I had heard about it--so thanks.

[AVLinux]

Excellent work! Kudos to all!

[Adrian]

I like this quote:

You can feel the MX Linux team cares, and this sets them apart against the great apathy gripping the Linux desktop space.

[Stuart_M]

From the "MX Linux MX-23.4 Libretto review - Slick, elegant, fun" 10 October 2024 link shown in Post #1 above:

Conky games

For once, I actually wanted to use a Conky widget on my desktop. The default one is the prettiest, BUT. This one cannot display time in a 24h format, which clashes with how I set the clock in the bottom panel. So I was forced to try all sorts of different widgets. Some were nice, some were customizable, but the default one remains the best, and yet, I couldn't really use it.

If Dedoimedo (or anyone else) looks at this viewtopic.php?t=82150 30 September 2024 forum thread he will see exactly how to convert the default Conky to display 24 hour time in Xfce, which I'm guessing will be the same procedure as using Plasma/KDE.

[AVLinux]

I like this quote:

You can feel the MX Linux team cares, and this sets them apart against the great apathy gripping the Linux desktop space.

There are pockets of apathy for sure, and some former big names on Distrowatch are slipping down and away, but there are also some projects like PopOS and their Cosmic Desktop for example that are really swinging for the fences and are on fire to create something fresh and fully realized. I can't help but feel there is less 'patient curiosity' about Linux and more an expectation that it's going to be something like Android for your PC and present this flawless corporate type of experience more akin to Windows or MacOS. There are a lot of projects that neither have MX's tireless ingenuity and work ethic nor something new and ready to compete toe to toe with proprietary OS's. Perfectly good projects like a Zorin or an Elementary must be finding it increasingly difficult to stand out in this changing paradigm. MX Linux demonstrates that 'slow and steady wins the race' and that there is no substitute for focus and working hard and smart at the same time. There were a lot of pretty large projects that were single developers or small teams and I think it is becoming less and less feasible for these types of projects to measure up to the demands of the new Linux User as well.

[fehlix]

From the "MX Linux MX-23.4 Libretto review - Slick, elegant, fun" 10 October 2024 link shown in Post #1 above:

Conky games

For once, I actually wanted to use a Conky widget on my desktop. The default one is the prettiest, BUT. This one cannot display time in a 24h format, which clashes with how I set the clock in the bottom panel. So I was forced to try all sorts of different widgets. Some were nice, some were customizable, but the default one remains the best, and yet, I couldn't really use it.

If Dedoimedo (or anyone else) looks at this viewtopic.php?t=82150 30 September 2024 forum thread he will see exactly how to convert the default Conky to display 24 hour time in Xfce, which I'm guessing will be the same procedure as using Plasma/KDE.

Or simply change LC_TIME locale to a 24h-locale using the tool mx-locale. Thats it.

[asqwerth]

That's a pretty positive review.

However, he is again deliberately being obtuse about some things [eg how to manually edit conky config to display 24h time, the "discovery" that MX/Debian support is 5 years], which I'm sure he is actually aware of.

He's always been a GUI guy, so in many of his past distro reviews he ignores what I would consider well-known -- certainly to him who's been a Linux user for ages -- manual solutions just because the distro has no graphical tool to do the task/change the setting in question.

Maybe he's trying to put himself in the shoes of a Linux newbie with no background Linux knowledge - which is fair approach I guess, or he simply wants every distro to provide GUI tools for every task.

As a reader though, I think those sort of small complaints/comments about what should be obvious to him get a little repetitive. I don't know about other people, but I was reading the "wow! MX now has 5 year support, it's like Ubuntu LTS!" bit with some incredulity.

I just feel he should just acknowledge the fact he is an experienced user in his reviews, but make it clear that he tries to approach a distro through a newbie's eyes, rather than making it seem in his writing that he is pretty ignorant of a lot of things despite having used Linux for a long time.

Example:
I cannot believe he didn't know Debian support was 5 years, and I would have thought that for an experienced user like him, he would have written:
1. MX's welcome window nicely displays the fact that support is 5 years;
2. it's a good thing to expressly state, as users might not always know about MX's base or how long it's supported, and users will be comforted that MX will be supported a good amount of time.

[siamhie]

Or simply change LC_TIME locale to a 24h-locale using the tool mx-locale. Thats it.

All I see is to change the language in mx-locale.

locale.png

[fehlix]

Or simply change LC_TIME locale to a 24h-locale using the tool mx-locale. Thats it.

All I see is to change the language in mx-locale.

locale.png

You don't see the "language", what you see is a selection screen of locale categories.
and LC_TIME defines the locale "default" representation for time. Just select and 24h LC_TIME.
Sure the screen is missing to display examples.
The only English locale category, I'm aware of, which offers a default 24h time representation
and supported on Debian system would be English locale for Ireland, which has the code en_IE.UTF-8.
+++EDIT+++
Actually there are some more, checking most English locale availabe in Debian:
and listing the default short and long date-time represantation:

Code: Select all

C.UTF-8      : C locale                                 : 10/12/24 16:07:03         - Sat Oct 12 16:07:03 2024
en_US.UTF-8  : English locale for the USA               : 10/12/2024 04:07:03 PM    - Sat 12 Oct 2024 04:07:03 PM CEST
en_AU.UTF-8  : English locale for Australia             : 12/10/24 16:07:03         - Sat 12 Oct 2024 16:07:03
en_BW.UTF-8  : English locale for Botswana              : 12/10/2024 16:07:03       - Sat 12 Oct 2024 16:07:03
en_CA.UTF-8  : English locale for Canada                : 2024-10-12 04:07:03 PM    - Sat 12 Oct 2024 04:07:03 PM
en_DK.UTF-8  : English locale for Denmark               : 2024-10-12 16:07:03       - 2024-10-12T16:07:03 CEST
en_GB.UTF-8  : English locale for Britain               : 12/10/24 16:07:03         - Sat 12 Oct 2024 16:07:03 CEST
en_IE.UTF-8  : English locale for Ireland               : 12/10/24 16:07:03         - Sat 12 Oct 2024 16:07:03
en_NZ.UTF-8  : English locale for New Zealand           : 12/10/24 16:07:03         - Sat 12 Oct 2024 16:07:03
en_SC.UTF-8  : English locale for the Seychelles        : 12/10/24 16:07:03         - Sat 12 Oct 2024 16:07:03 CEST
en_SG.UTF-8  : English language locale for Singapore    : 12/10/2024 16:07:03       - Sat 12 Oct 2024 04:07:03 PM
en_ZA.UTF-8  : English locale for South Africa          : 12/10/2024 16:07:03       - Sat 12 Oct 2024 16:07:03
en_ZW.UTF-8  : English locale for Zimbabwe              : 12/10/2024 16:07:03       - Sat 12 Oct 2024 16:07:03

The closest time representation which looks like en_US.UTF-8 but with 24H would actual be C.UTF-8.
en_IE.UTF-8 : English locale for Ireland would be also OK, but differs in short date representation dd/mm/yy instead of mm/dd/yy,
in case that matters.