It’s been a while since I posted about my experiments with Linux, and I’ve come a long way since then. My most recent discovery is the delight of a high-definition, Fedora and GNOME3-based desktop. I’m totally in love with this system, both for work and for fun!

It started as an experiment

This system started its life with me as an experimental server for the product we offer at my work: Globus. I wanted a minimal server that I could load our Globus Connect Server (GCS) software onto and use as an always-on, “headless” data transfer endpoint. My goal was to see how easy and inexpensive we could make it to set up systems like this in small research laboratories to encourage sharing data and experimental results to improve scientific reproducibility and quality. I bought a 5th-generation Intel NUC (NUC5i3RYK) with no memory or storage installed and added 4GB of RAM and a 32GB SSD: just big enough for a reasonable Linux distribution. My plan was to set up the GCS server software and have it auto-detect and serve up any external USB disks I attached. (I figured small research labs might find it easiest to simply attach an external drive with their data already on it.)

That experiment was a moderate success. I had no trouble getting a Fedora-based GCS server running, and by configuring automatic mounting and pointing the GCS at the automatic mountpoint root, I could easily provide Globus access to any external drive that the Linux system could mount.

The goal was to create a headless server: no screen, keyboard, or mouse. Just attach your hard drive, power up, and your data is online. But to make my work easier, I attached a spare monitor, keyboard, and mouse to the system and loaded a full workstation version of the operating system. And then, I got hooked.

Fedora on a really big screen

See the thing was, this system felt fast! Arguably, I’d overbought on the processor. For a wide-area data transfer end point, I probably could have done just fine with a Celeron or even Pentium processor. I’m glad I went with the Core i3, though, because the experience of using GNOME 3 on a well-powered processor turned out to be pretty nice.

By the time I was finished (about a year later), I had doubled the RAM to 8GB, replaced the internal 32GB SSD with a 500GB SSD, removed the external USB drives, and hooked it up to a beautiful 28″ Dell 4K display. Now we’re talking!

This is a terrific productivity system. It never lags. The display is gorgeous, with text as good as print-on-paper and interface elements that look almost solid. With a basic Amazon keyboard and mouse, I have all the input I need for normal desktop work. Web browsing with Google Chrome (synced with all my other devices, of course) is a pleasure because everything looks so darned pretty and comes up so effortlessly. I hauled out a monitor stand I’d had in storage for years and stowed the NUC underneath the stand where I don’t see it unless I need to get at a port. Although the monitor has built-in audio output, I went ahead and used the headphone jack to connect to the Jawbone BIG JAMBOX sitting next to the display on my desk, and the audio is fantastic. I could have used a Core i5 or i7 system, but I really don’t miss it: as far as hardware goes, this system is about as close to perfect as I’ve had in a while. (Remember, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Apple user, so that’s a pretty high bar.)

But wait, what’s that? You’re skeptical about the applications available on a Fedora system? It’s a reasonable point, and if I hadn’t been using Fedora on my laptop for nearly a year now, I might have had the same worry. But, no.

Software, software, software

• I use Google Chrome for my web browser. Runs great on Fedora, it’s synced with my laptop and mobile devices, and I have it set to use the standard GNOME title bar and menu style. My work uses Gmail for email and Google G Suite for collaboration, so I’m totally covered there.
• I use 1password for Windows running on top of Wine, the Windows-compatibility layer for Linux. Using Dropbox for syncing, my passwords are synced with all my other devices, and accessible in the browser via the 1password plugin for Chrome.
• I’m currently using Evolution as my email client for my personal email (both private cloud-hosted and Apple iCloud mailboxes), and it’s ok, but not everything I’d like in an email client. The interface is a little too clunky/complicated for my taste, but it has all the features I want, so I can live with it.
• I’ve got the Slack and Skype clients loaded and ready for staying in touch while I work. My monitor doesn’t have a built-in camera or microphone, so I don’t use this system for videoconferencing, but that’s fine because I have an iPad, an iPhone, and a MacBook, so who needs desktop videoconferencing?
• I use a self-hosted OwnCloud drive for file sharing and syncing, so I pretty much always have all of my files on all of my devices.
• I’m a huge fan of Google Docs, Sheets, and Google Drive, so I don’t even bother with LibreOffice, though it’s nice to know it’s there when I need to collaborate with someone using Microsoft Office. But, in my experience, it’s more likely my collaborators will be using Google G Suite instead. (Gasp! Could it be that we’re finally breaking free from the Office stranglehold?)
• I run a Plex Media Server in my house, so I run the Plex Media Player on my desktop and have access to all of my home media and playlists.

I haven’t done much with photo/image management and editing on this system, but I know there are options. To be honest, I’m still using my Macs with Affinity Photo for that, because I’m not aware of anything remotely comparable in the Linux world yet. I’ve never done much video editing, so the many Linux video suites are lost on me.

Basically, I really, really like how Fedora and GNOME work on the desktop. Being able to use the same environment on the desktop that I use on the 2-in-1 laptop is a nice bonus.