[HN Gopher] Linux for UX Designers: What I learn after a year of...
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       Linux for UX Designers: What I learn after a year of doing design
       work on Linux
        
       Author : sohkamyung
       Score  : 58 points
       Date   : 2024-08-07 05:20 UTC (17 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.chris-wood.design)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.chris-wood.design)
        
       | Avisan wrote:
       | Linux offers a compelling alternative for designers seeking
       | customization, cost-efficiency, and stability. Your article is
       | great. It covers all the important points that can help UX
       | designers.
        
       | snide wrote:
       | I work as a Web designer in Linux. I'm not sure that I could
       | completely get away with it if I wasn't already pretty code /
       | frontend focused. I reach quite a bit to web-based tools (Figma,
       | Whimsical) when I need to do prototyping, and find things like
       | Krita and Inkscape more than competent for actual pixel pushing.
       | 
       | Where things fall apart is when you're in larger teams where
       | everyone uses the more common tools on the more common OSes.
       | Collaboration becomes much harder, and there are certain walls
       | you can't cross. The other weak spot is with video editing. There
       | are options, but none of them are as easy to use as the ones
       | you'll find on OSX.
       | 
       | Design requires A LOT of screenshotting, and for that I resorted
       | to building my own workflows [0]. That sort of brings up the
       | major benefit of Linux as a designer. You really do get to build
       | out your "dream" setup, and my Desktop over the years is really
       | customized to the way I work, not the way others work. That's
       | part of the joy of design for me, and while it certainly will
       | limit me to working with Startups or companies that are OK with
       | individuality in workflows, it's provided a level of happiness I
       | wouldn't trade. If anyone is interested, I wrote about my
       | thoughts about using Linux as a designer over here [1].
       | 
       | [0]: https://www.davesnider.com/posts/screenshot-app
       | 
       | [1]: https://www.davesnider.com/posts/im-a-linux
        
         | jpc0 wrote:
         | I can't speak much on graphics but for video I have very
         | happily used DaVinci Resolve (Studio but free is good too) and
         | have no issues with it on linux. It can be a little bit of a
         | pain to get running but so is almost anything on linux but
         | ymmv.
         | 
         | Our team of video editors have almost universally switched to
         | Resolve from Premier ( FCP just doesn't work for us so I have
         | no comparison there )
        
           | gen3 wrote:
           | I am a big fan of Resolve. For quick and dirty work kdenlive
           | is another great editor. Basic in a good way
        
       | carlosjobim wrote:
       | I was smeared and defamed here on HN for saying that Linux Gnome
       | is a more beautiful looking GUI than MacOS. But I stand by it.
       | Gnome is consistent and clear, while MacOS currently looks like a
       | Linux knock-off of MacOS. But looks aside, Linux is an atrocious
       | OS to actually use for professionals who are not developers.
        
         | Jnr wrote:
         | It is great for casual users also. I set up Fedora for my wife
         | on older Macbook Air that stopped receiving MacOS updates and
         | she has no issues using it.
        
           | xtracto wrote:
           | Xfce mint is so awesome for old computers.
           | 
           | I just wish linux was more available for old ARM based set
           | top boxes...
        
         | jaredcwhite wrote:
         | Modern GNOME is the _only_ reason this macOS fanboy (I was an
         | early Switcher in 2001 and never looked back at the PC market)
         | has grown to love Linux. I 've been running Fedora in a VM on
         | my Mac mini and it's awesome. I'm hoping to pick up a Framework
         | laptop later this year and really go hard into the Linux
         | lifestyle. I absolutely love the way GNOME apps look and feel,
         | and meanwhile macOS feels stagnant and Apple's handling of
         | iPadOS (I'm also a big fan of iPad hardware) has been supremely
         | frustrating. Time for a change!
        
         | petepete wrote:
         | I agree with you. I've used GNOME for 20 years and exclusively
         | since 2011 - it just keeps getting better and better.
         | 
         | Every time there's a thread on here I point out that the
         | detractors are a vocal minority and gather a load of downvotes.
        
       | zzo38computer wrote:
       | I use Linux with mainly the command-line programs, so there is no
       | dock, icons, menus, etc. Most functions I will do by the command
       | shell with xterm, although I do have some GUI programs. I do not
       | use any of the software listed in that article, except Linux
       | itself, and Firefox (although it is a rather old version).
       | 
       | But, it is good to know about these things so that other people
       | who do want to use these programs can know how to use them on
       | Linux.
        
       | GenerWork wrote:
       | Glad to see another UX designer adopting Framework and Linux!
       | 
       | I'm curious as to what the task list/notetaking application and
       | color contrast application are as they look quite useful.
        
         | throwaway74354 wrote:
         | These are Planify[1] and Contrast[2]
         | 
         | [1] https://flathub.org/apps/io.github.alainm23.planify
         | 
         | [2] https://flathub.org/apps/org.gnome.design.Contrast
        
       | rafaelgoncalves wrote:
       | nice article, thanks for this. It's great to know that linux
       | increased usability in another areas beyond software development.
        
       | rty32 wrote:
       | Unpopular opinion: the web stack including Electron apps, which
       | many people here find every opportunity to complain about, made
       | this possible.
        
       | DidYaWipe wrote:
       | There's an open-source Figma alternative called Penpot:
       | https://penpot.app/
       | 
       | When Apple orphaned my late-2014 iMac, I tried OpenCore Legacy,
       | but it was plagued by weird glitches and stalls that rendered
       | some things (notably Safari) pretty much unusable.
       | 
       | I installed Mint and now I have a nice 25-inch Linux workstation.
       | Everything works fine.
        
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       (page generated 2024-08-07 23:01 UTC)