In 2018, a YouTuber calling himself QuidsUp posted a video claiming that Deepin Linux contained spyware that sent information back to servers in China. Since then, rumor has it that the snitch has been removed from the system. The company’s official response mentioned that the data collection was similar to what Google does with its Analytics service.
But if you want to use the Deepin distribution and be sure not to haggle over your data, there is an alternative: Linux ExTiX.
Discover ExTiX Deepin on SourceForge
ExTiX is a Swedish distribution, hosted by the Swedish Linux Society, which can be installed with different desktop environments (such as KDE Plasma, LXQt or LXQt Mini), including that of Deepin (DDE).
A few black dots
When I first tried ExTiX, I found the OS to be beautiful, but in serious need of tweaking. For example, with ExTiX 21.1, I had to fiddle around to get a GUI. And even so, the system was buggy.
The list of pre-installed software is also very small.
Although some of these problems have been fixed, there are still some black spots on ExTiX. But let’s talk about the positives first.
ExTiX is beautiful
If you are looking for a beautiful desktop environment, this one from ExTiX is quite charming. It is also very stable and anyone who has used Windows, KDE Plasma, or any desktop model with a menu and a status bar will immediately feel at home.
Picture: Jack Wallen.
ExTiX (like Deepin) ensures that all aspects of the desktop follow the same graphical language. Whatever application you install, it will always be impeccably integrated.
Picture: Jack Wallen.
ExTiX is very powerful
To my surprise, ExTiX works very well. During my last test, the operating system was quite slow and unreliable. Now apps open in a flash and show no signs of instability. So, for anyone looking to use a beautiful, stable desktop environment that rivals that of macOS, ExTiX is a great option.
ExTiX is user-friendly
You’ll find plenty of pre-configured app launchers on the bottom panel along with an easy-to-navigate menu.
Picture: Jack Wallen.
If you want to easily find an application, you can use the search function in the menu. Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, you won’t find many pre-installed apps. ExTiX comes with:
- Firefox;
- Deepin Email;
- Deepin Music;
- Deepin Movie;
- Deepin Draw;
- the Deepin document viewer;
- the Deepin text editor;
- LeafPad.
If you want to install applications other than those of Deepin, you will have to go through the dedicated store. But be careful, this is where things get complicated.
Deepin app store
At first glance, Deepin’s app store is not bad. It is well designed, ergonomic and the installation of applications is simple. The problem is that it is precisely concerned with the problem of data collection mentioned above.
Nothing to worry about though, since you can work around this problem with command lines. Unfortunately, the Snap package manager causes bugs. Fortunately, Flatpak works well and can be installed with the command:
sudo apt-get install flatpak -y
Once installed, add the required repository with:
sudo flatpak remote-add –if-not-exists flathub
You can now install LibreOffice with the command:
sudo flatpak install libreoffice
If that doesn’t work, you’ll need to download the flatpak file for LibreOffice from the Flatpak site, then run the command:
flatpak install ~/Downloads/org.libreoffice.LibreOffice.flatpakref
Once the installation is complete, log out of the desktop and log back in, so that the LibreOffice entry is added to the Quick Launch dock.
Or, you can give it a shot with Deepin’s app store and install everything you need from there. If privacy is important to you, this may not be the best way to go. Still, I used Deepin’s app store and it’s really easy to understand. For an average user, I don’t see how using it via ExTiX would be problematic. But if you’re overly paranoid, go with the Flatpak solution.
The verdict
If you are looking for a nice Linux distro, the Deepin edition of ExTiX will definitely do the trick. And, since this is Linux, there are ways around the privacy issues. Anyway, ExTiX is a beautiful operating system, easy to use, high performance and as stable as any other system.
Source: ZDNet.com