1 year ago I switched from Mac to Linux for professional UX design work. In this article, I explain as simply as possible:
I cover design-specific concerns like:
https://www.chris-wood.design/resources/linux-for-ux-designers
[#]Design #UXDesign #UIDesign #Linux #MacOS
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I love open-source software and I know there are some wonderful open-source design tools like Penpot. However, I only mentioned apps I genuinely use in my commercial workflow or which UX Designers will need based on typical client demands.
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@chriswood 👏 im having a great experience doing UX design work on linux too! For photo editing, have you tried Darktable? Can recommend it! Also Blender is super capable for UI animation prototyping - it even imports SVGs from Inkscape.
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@bastianilso I didn’t know about Blender - thank you!
Yes Darktable is so powerful isn’t it? I don’t think I’m enough of a power user to make it worthwhile learning for me, but it is an impressive piece of software for sure
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@chriswood great write up!
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@chriswood love your blog post! I never really thought about using Adobe PS & Lightroom in their web version. 🤔 That makes switching a lot easier!
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@sturmsucht glad it could give you some ideas!
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@chriswood Great writeup. Welcome to the club. :)
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@chriswood frankly puzzled how this is not an angle more people present linux from
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@jannuary honestly the minimalist view makes it all worth it. That and the window management. Hitting “super” and getting whatever I need opened / found / moved is just beautiful.
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@chriswood Practical advice and reassurance, very nice!
The desktop you are using, Gnome, got a lot of flak when switching from being more like a Windows 95 clone to what it is now. It's great seeing someone coming to it and enjoying the design choices that they made.
Glad you got more use from your machine 😀
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@ocnurb I LOVE the design choices Gnome made. 10/10 please may they continue the good work 🙌
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@chriswood interested in giving a talk at Linux App Summit ? You can record it ! https://linuxappsummit.org/cfp
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@sri I’d never thought of giving a talk! I started building an icon manager app on the side for Linux several months ago. Once I manage to finish and release it I’d be open to giving a talk 😊
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@chriswood do a talk about writing an app .. ecosystem people would love to know from folks like you in the challenges
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@sri I’d be open to that once I’ve got a bit further with development and have a bit more to talk about. Would be great if my experience could help others
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@chriswood it is a win win, because you use open software and you are also able to set yourself free from the grip of Adobe ❤️❤️❤️
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@puravariedad I hope the alternatives flourish and that more designers are able to become less reliant on Adobe over time. For a career path that often isn’t well paid, it seems unfair that such software is so expensive.
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@chriswood 1000% and Figma out of the deal with Adobe also is a good reminder to search for other alternatives to Figma, like penpot ❤️
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@chriswood great write up! If you don't know him yet, I encourage you to check the work of @davidrevoy -- he is a very respected digital artist in the Linux community, and does regularly extensive testing of free software/hardware setup on Linux, like https://www.davidrevoy.com/article1030/debian-12-kde-plasma-2024-install-guide
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@severin @davidrevoy Thanks! I’m a big fan of David’s work. I use his Krita brushes in my digital painting projects on the side. It’s so nice to have such a prominent artist clearing a way for other artists to use open source software.
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@chriswood @severin :blobcatheart: Thank you! And cool article 👍
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@chriswood great post, thanks
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@chriswood
That's nice, but why would someone use a Magic Mouse on a Mac? 😂
Just kidding, it's good to see this vector covered.
[#]Design #UXDesign #UIDesign #Linux #MacOS
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@chfkch It was really hard to track down how to unpair a Magic Mouse / keyboard / trackpad without having access to a Mac. So I’m hoping that this makes it easier for other people to find how to do that!
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@chriswood The ease of writing reflects the ease of use here. Especially design people should at least know what's out there when they have the opportunity to make their own choice. Linux really became a strong contender for non-techy things in recent years. And FOSS came a long way, too. It's a great way of breaking the self induced adobe addiction in the design sector.
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@otter_linnus thank you. Any time I read something to do with Linux it almost always goes down the rabbit hole of desktop environments, display managers, etc etc etc. Some people love knowing how their computer works (including me!). Most people couldn’t care less.
I wanted to write a piece that focused on the essential things a designer would need to know in order to start using Linux and nothing more, and I’m glad that came across.
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@chriswood amazing write up 👍🏾 great job
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@chriswood This is fantastic, thanks a lot for the write-up! 🙌
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@chriswood nice to read such a positive take on using a Linux DE for such a use-case.
Have you given @penpot a try as potential Figma alternative?
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@eliasp @penpot yes! It’s come a long way in the past year. But as I’m such a power user of Figma and was always trying to work as quickly as possible being self-employed, switching to a less mature tool would have cost me time every day so it didn’t make sense. Am excited to use it again in the future though.
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@chriswood fantastic article Chris. Echo's of my own experience shifting from Mac to Linux in 2018 (after 18 years of dual booting but not committing!)
In particular it was that calm feel of the Gnome desktop compared to macos that finally made me switch.
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@adrinux so glad you can relate. Using the UI is just the most peaceful sensation, I feel like it really respects my attention. Congrats on switching!
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@chriswood Great post. It seems nuts that all the tools I use to design/develop work pretty well on Linux, but I can't get a decent email client.
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@devolute I hear there’s a new email client in the works which follows the same UI as I showed in the article’s screenshots (the GNOME desktop environment, if that means anything to you). Keep an eye out!
I’m personally very happy with Thunderbird. They released a new version which shows threads in a nice card layout. It might interest you
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@chriswood Yeah, I'm a big fan of what GNOME are doing but I have almost zero faith that anyone will be able to pull an email client together that is anything approaching event the most basic Mac Mail setup.
I'm glad to see Thunderbird moving forward after so long, but it still feels clunky. The attitude seems to be "everyone uses a web client anyway".
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@devolute @chriswood Have you tried Geary? It is the nicest lightweight email client on Linux and integrates with GNOME.
https://flathub.org/apps/org.gnome.Geary
(It's powered by Evolution libraries behind the scenes, but has a lighter, more modern interface than Evolution.)
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@garrett @chriswood I have - maybe a year ago. I found it really clunky & unfinished, unfortunately.
So much potential though, but I read that development was struggling. Do you daily it?
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@devolute @chriswood I've tried a bunch of native clients over the years, including Geary from time to time, but I generally use web mail these days, when I even use email.
I usually use other means of communications other than email these days, as do people I communicate with. Various chat platforms for work and personal communication. Issue trackers for work related things as well. Email is more of a fallback.
It's probably due to the overwhelming volume of mail overall, including spam.
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@garrett @chriswood Mate, see that's the thing.
So often we get to a place where "Actually, email isn't all that important". For me it is absolutely crucial.
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@devolute @garrett @chriswood It kind of is struggling, at least work is being done on a new app for it: https://gitlab.gnome.org/felinira/envelope
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@chriswood Good article for those that are new to the platform.
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@chriswood Great hint with the browser “Web” as a Safari equivalent! I already found a bug on my website with the color transparent.
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@charakterziffer it’s such a hidden gem of a tip, I thought it was worth calling out. If it works in Web, then it works in Safari 👍
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@chriswood Great blog post, thanks for that! They are important to get people interested in FOSS.
2 more tips:
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@chriswood Oh, someone else has already recommended penpot, I missed that one.
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@josp0001 thanks 😊 couldn’t live without those GNOME keyboard shortcuts! I’m glad. I think it’s helpful for people to see that it’s not so scary after all
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@chriswood Please keep sharing your experiences with Linux and FOSS. It's really helpful for people who are still new to it or unsure about making the switch. Thanks!
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@josp0001 glad to hear it! One day I might make a little gallery of all the little details and interactions which I love when I’m using the OS. But one project at a time 😅
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@chriswood
Tuxedo.de is another supplier for Linux notebooks in Augsburg, Germany.
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@chriswood The article states you're self-employed now, but your profile text states that your activity here does not represent that of your employer. Is that tongue-in-cheek, or does it need an update? 😄
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@sindarina I have recently started a permanent role which is my main job although I am still doing a few bits and pieces for clients on the side. My main employer requires me to state that phrase online, so there it is!
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@chriswood Ahh, right 😄
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@chriswood Hey @gnome are you seeing this? This is awesome. Many good things said about Gnome
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I am also a UX/Product designer who uses GNU/Linux for my everyday workflow
and I am grateful that I discover this article I feel blessed so thank you
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@chriswood Thanks for linking to the work we've commissioned on GNOME and the Linux desktop ecosystem. Just a small correction that we're not an European Union institution or program, but rather German -- funded by the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action @BMWK
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@sovtechfund @BMWK Thanks for the correction. The article now reads:
" the German-funded Sovereign Tech Fund invested €1 million in improving Linux in 2023-2024."
Thanks for all your work!
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@chriswood many thanks for your writing! Have you tried @penpot ? Also, mentioning @opensourcedesign and @uradotdesign since seems relevant to me 😁
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@enricostn @penpot @opensourcedesign @uradotdesign Hi Enrico, glad you enjoyed it! I have tried Penpot, however as it is not part of my workflow for various reasons, I did not mention it. I wish the team all the success nonetheless. Thanks for the links
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@chriswood good to know thanks!!
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@Leneux thanks for reading! My pleasure 😊
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