this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2025
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Amazing how lemmings will find a way to jump off of any cliff.
"Free OS that works great?"
NO! I WANT TO PAY.
Free as in Freedom and not free as in beer. I donate to a lot of open-source projects such as KDE.
I keep hearing about this "free as in beer." Where are you guys getting free beer? Can I have some?
I'm mostly amazed that they discovered it. When I think of a good transition distro this is not what comes to mind. Must have been some kind of targeted ad campaign. Also there's probably a ton of people that think no good software could possibly be free.
They've been astroturfing the fuck out of it for the last 6 weeks.
This was my guess. This shit doesn't come from nowhere. My bet is that some big wig or VC backed it and is trying to get ROI.
Nah, y'all just young. Zorin's designed to look extremely Windows-like, and they've always gotten a bump when Microsoft has a stroke. Last time they grew a lot was Windows 8.
If anything, this is just a sign of how badly Microsoft has fucked up with Windows 11.
These kind of distros always existed. I'm pretty sure I still have CDs around with Lindows from around the same Mandrake and Knoppix was the cool stuff.
I've been running linux for decades and I only heard of it those past few months. But then I never used YouTube or social stuff much, maybe they communicate there.
It's been around quite a while, but I never heard it mentioned as much as in the last two months.
Zorin? Its a great transition distro. Clean aesthetic, with back end gnome tweaks so you can have it look like KDE/windows. Software store made easy. Everything seems to work OOTB.
you know what looks like KDE?
KDE.
But KDE isn't as integrated throughout the system like GNOME, on Zorin you have 4 desktops styles you can choose that range from GNOME like to KDE like without having to switch DEs.
I know KDE is highly customizable, but it doesn't have the smooth feel of GNOME, and for a distro where their whole vibe is a clean aesthetic GNOME makes more sense
KDE is free
Zorin is a smooth clean aesthetic, and GNOME has that integration into everything, making the system feel polished. So when a user transitions to Zorin you can stay on same DE and have it windows like, and later choose 1 of the 4 styles of interface without tweaking.
KDE Is amazing for customization, but with Zorin being so focused on being a polished UX, GNOME makes more sense.
I mean, I don't mind monetization if it keeps the project alive and they're actually doing work. I do mind free stuff that comes at the price of your data, or free stuff that is eventually bought up, or free stuff that can't sustain itself and constantly splits off and churns through personal drama cycles.
To people who will pay whatever they think a thing is worth, a free OS is worthless
This is unironically a huge issue, and it's just fascinating how the psychology of pricing and valuation works.
Semi-large company needs something. They make a budget for €100k and start looking at different alternatives. They find alternatives a) €120k, b) €80k, c) €15k. I bet you they'll try to ask their superiors to expand their budget in order to buy the premium €120k solution, and they will not in any way consider the €15k one.
Come to think of it, it goes beyond software as well.
so your going with pro then?
It's honestly like that with free mobile apps. You either find a paid version or you install free abandonware riddled with ads.
Or you look on fdroid...