Linux for personal computers - BNNLab/BN_Group_Wiki GitHub Wiki
For Evolution, see here.
Windows gets slower over time with updates, Linux doesn't. A five-years-old Linux computer will run exactly as well as it did on the first day. MS Office and other office tools are very heavy compared to Linux alternatives. Linux used to be ugly and unfriendly, but now it's pretty and very easy to use. The vast majority of software in Linux are free. It also doesn't need virus protection to slow you down further. The only area where Windows is better is battery life on laptops, but even that is <10% difference.
Another key reason to use Linux is that the majority of mathematicians, computer scientists and data scientists use Linux. Thus, their products are produced to run natively in Linux. Our supercomputer is Linux based, and most computational modelling software are developed for Linux. Given the direction of chemistry moving toward a data-based science, Linux is the future.
The main reason why the majority of people still use Windows is because they need to work with other people, who also use Windows. For Leeds researchers, the official reliance on OneDrive is another problem. But modern Linux distros and software, and web-based MS Office, can effectively compensate for these. LibreOffice can now work with most simple docx files with no problem. Just ask people of pdf files instead of docx files, and you don't even need the web-based Office tools.
- Debian/Ubuntu based distributions of Linux are recommended for the availability of relevant software to Chemistry, and for their extensive online support and literature. The current three hassle-free distros you should look into are:
- Ubuntu: Ubiquitous and extremely well supported. Whatever you want to do, someone else must have put a how-to guide on the internet. Used by many chemists and scientists. Try to get a LTS (long term support) version.
- Elementary OS: A beautiful and fast Mac OS-like distro, which get everything out of the way so you can focus on your work. Version 5.1.6 and the upcoming version 6 are matured and stable. Elementary OS is the best choice for a laptop.
- POP OS: Another Ubuntu-based distro which is very well designed and set up. It is amongst the most popular distro for desktop PCs these days.
| Windows software | Linux counterpart |
| Mail/Calendar | Evolution/Thunderbird, or just plain web-browser |
| MS Office | LibreOffice |
| Endnote | Mendeley, Zotero or BibTex |
| ChemDraw | Marvin Sketch |
| OneDrive | Insync (with business OneDrive) $30 |
| MobaXterm | Native ssh and Filezilla |
| MS Teams | Web-based version with Edge or Chrome/Chromium browser (NOT Firefox!) |
| Adobe Photoshop | Gimp 2 |
The biggest current disadvantage with Linux is the lack of software on AppsAnywhere, which was designed for Windows.