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Comment by gecko | Hacker News Reader

It's worth noting that OpenSuSE is one of very few distros in the Windows store, and the only one other than Ubuntu with really solid put-of-the-box interop (e.g. adding Linux apps to the Start menu). I'm really curious if that's had a role.

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Distros like Redhat seem to be totally dropping the ball. Basic stuff like icons on the desktop and dragging and dropping files onto icons on the desktop isn't turns on by default and if you do turn it out it is broken. When the bug was reported it was closed without being fixed.

It sounds like you're expecting a different experience than the developers are targeting. Things like "icons on the desktop" aren't really how GNOME 3, the default desktop in RHEL and Fedora, is meant to be used. You might be happier using a different desktop environment.

> You might be happier using a different desktop environment.

What other desktop environment can you use in RHEL without adding third-party repos (which a lot of companies don't allow)?

If you don't like and embrace GNOME 3, then Red Hat just isn't the distro for you.

Who actually chooses to use RHEL on a desktop, rather than only using it because work doesn't allow any other distro?

I’m expecting basic features to work. I don’t mind having to switch those features on through a configuration option but I do mind when those included features don’t actually work and the response when reported by a paying customer is that they aren’t going to fix it.

That’s a really specific and minor gripe. It doesn’t really reflect the way that I’ve used a desktop for, well, ever. Are there other examples that you have?

Well when you have a novice user base familiar with the basic drag and drop mechanism and you’ve build processes they can follow around it and all of a sudden it doesn’t work anymore because you had to upgrade the OS it’s a pain.

I agree, openSUSE is a great choice for a WSL distro (and a great choice for a Linux desktop if you’re a fan of those).

Pengwin is really nice for a Linux distro that is explicitly designed for WSL. It’s just Debian with some custom glue that works really nicely.

It’s not free, but it’s $20 (and I got it on a sale for $10)

I literally went back to ubuntu(popos for the desktop) because fedora/rhel lack a proper wsl integration. I think this is going to become a huge driver for distros in the future as more people use wsl.

In case you aren't aware you can always build your own Fedora WSL install, just not offically from the store. It's definitely not as simple as installing an app from the store but it's not the hardest thing to do, definitely scriptable. https://fedoramagazine.org/wsl-fedora-33/ is a bit old but the steps are still pretty up to date, there are also other guides out there.

This is a good observation and it could indeed be a driver.

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