How is Cosmic (Pop!_OS) ?
Posted by PurpleBudget5082@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 61 comments
How is Cosmic behaving ? Are there many bugs ? Is it stable ? I know it's pretty new.
I have a dual monitor setup ( 1 4k 1 2k ) and I mainly plan to use the PC for programming, gaming and internet browsing. The PC is high end.
I want things to be stable, I haven't used Linux for my personal computer for 5 years and I come with this question after a day where Fedora 42 came with too many problems, after reading about other distros, I arrived at Pop!_OS.
Civil-Ant-2652@reddit
I tried it, it was way too unstable. So I went back to Debian
Technical_Strike_356@reddit
Yeah, the people here recommending it are really overselling it. It's very obviously alpha-quality software.
wowbobwowbob@reddit
I really like it and use it daily on my laptop (t480) on which I don’t do much more than a bit of browsing, playing some music and some ssh stuff. So really light use but, not a single bug in sight for that as far as I’m concerned.
cornmonger_@reddit
Cosmic's alpha has felt more like what other teams declare as a beta in terms of stability.
If it has a feature, it usually works well. It just doesn't have all of the feature polish yet.
Zeznon@reddit
It's technically still alpha, and it's supposed to be released in 2026. Whether it's good enough regardless, I don't know.
generative_user@reddit
And they are freezing Pop!_OS to 22.04 until then?
PaintDrinkingPete@reddit
this is what kinda bugs me... I get that they had to focus dev resources on Cosmic, but not releasing a 24.04 variant means a lot of folks that were already using Pop have possibly moved onto to something else.
Business_Reindeer910@reddit
i think that really shows that they thought it would be easier than it was.
maltazar1@reddit
it's almost like making an entire de purely out of spite isn't a good idea
Business_Reindeer910@reddit
That doesn't seem to be the way it went down to me and I was watching it from the beginning.
maltazar1@reddit
i mean it pretty much exists only because gnome wouldn't change some things
RepentantSororitas@reddit
Does that really count as spite?
That's just being open source.
mmstick@reddit
The project began as a prototype based on GNOME using gnome-shell extensions long before any technical arguments happened. The stopthemingmyapp and libadwaita arguments happened after the COSMIC extensions were proving to be successful, so they only served as an additional catalyst for moving forward with the COSMIC idea.
maltazar1@reddit
obviously you're doing what you wanna do, but in my opinion no one really needed yet another de.
obviously gnome does what they want to, and I don't necessarily agree with everything, but no one will deny that they do a lot of things right. desktop development on Linux is already a niche thing enough, having it be fragmented more and more simply because a compromise could but be reached isn't great
it's one of the biggest cons and pros of open source development at the same time
DoctorJunglist@reddit
How many DEs with a non-traditional desktop paradigm do we have? Only one, and it's GNOME.
I for one think it's great that COSMIC is getting developed.
I've been a GNOME user for a long time, but I'll give COSMIC a shot once a stable release is ready (I just hope it won't conflict with GNOME, because I don't know If I'll be able to ditch it straight away).
We need an alternative to GNOME.
maltazar1@reddit
almost like kde, hyprland, xfce, deepin and 15 other things just don't exist right
DoctorJunglist@reddit
I would classify both classify all of them apart from hyprland as desktops following the traditional paradigm.
Hyprland is a window manager.
So it's not really the same thing.
maltazar1@reddit
correct, but it just came to my mind when writing this down, regardless there are way more desktops then needed
of course everyone is free to make new ones
Business_Reindeer910@reddit
I'm still glad for it because it gives us a better foundation to build on. Dealing with all the C codebases, build systems, and old libraries is not a fun task.
mmstick@reddit
We knew it would be difficult, and intentionally chose the most difficult path forward because it was the best decision. We did not think it would be easier than it was.
Business_Reindeer910@reddit
The proposed timelines belie that! Beta should have been out already.
That's all i meant by that.
I don't want it released earlier than it should be to make an artificial deadline of course.
kalzEOS@reddit
They got themselves into this dilemma/trouble and they're trying to get out of it like they promised people. I wish them the best of luck honestly
Business_Reindeer910@reddit
i mean of course they're trying to get out of it.. by releasing the thing they promised. Software estimation is a really hard problem, and harder so when you don't control the entire stack.
mmstick@reddit
That would have meant delaying COSMIC to 26.04, and then simultaneously supporting two GNOME-based LTS releases in addition to COSMIC. Which puts us into the same situation, but worse. Better to focus on COSMIC instead of wasting time on a project that will be replaced soon after.
Theoretically, if Pop!_OS 24.04 had officially released with GNOME, it would have required substantial development time to update all of the GNOME COSMIC patches and extensions for the GNOME release in 24.04. After all, customers expect to have all the features they're currently using in 22.04 to be fully functional in 24.04.
The GNOME release in 24.04 was subtantially different from 22.04. Core apps that were previously written in GTK3 were rewritten in GTK4 with stronger dependency on libadwaita.
For example, all of the custom pages and features integrated in gnome-control-center for the GTK3 version would have needed to be rewritten from scratch for the new GTK4 codebase. Such as the OS upgrade page. I'd rather port it once to COSMIC than port it twice to GTK4 and COSMIC simultaneously.
cloud12348@reddit
That combined with the LTT fiasco moved most people’s recommendations of a gaming distro to nobara/cachy/bazzite
ShotFromHeaven@reddit
i agree, i was using pop-os and i did move on to something else because it seems their 24.04 release will be already completely outdated once they release it.
mmstick@reddit
22.04 still gets frequent updates for the kernel, firmware, drivers, systemd, mesa, etc. Ubuntu is also still releasing updates as it is a LTS release.
thomaspeltios@reddit
the iso is the same but updates are pretty recent on here, nvidia driver is the latest
AllyTheProtogen@reddit
They technically frozen it. They stay on the latest LTS kernel and Mesa version and keep Nvidia drivers up to date, along with other components to the system.
NaheemSays@reddit
Any idea where they have said that? It would be interesting to see (mainly because I suggested it won't be ready until then to utter derision by one of the developers last year).
mmstick@reddit
There's only 76 issues remaining for the beta. Epoch 1 will release sometime after, and Epoch 2 to follow soon after for features that didn't make the Epoch 1 feature freeze.
NaheemSays@reddit
Thank you for as always not answering the question I asked 🤣
atiqsb@reddit
Beta was supposed to be released in Q1! What’s the new timeline?
Business_Reindeer910@reddit
not sure, but the alpha 7 release on april 25th was supposed to be the last alpha
vancha113@reddit
Don´t use alpha software when you want things to be stable. Cosmic is in alpha. Best just to wait for the stable release.
wowsomuchempty@reddit
Been using it since alpha3. It's fine. Linux is like camping, can't be afraid of a few bugs.
Long-Ad1466@reddit
I used for a week on nobara 41, and was fine, but definetely not great and it has a ton of bug and the customization is a bit weird to use
Informal-Style-8952@reddit
Everyone’s experience is different but I’ve been daily driving cosmic on arch for a long while now and it has its quirks, I do game with it, however it’s not ready for gaming if you want something stable I get some of the weirdest bugs cause of proton that only occur on cosmic however pop os would be great if you want something stable just don’t use cosmic just yet and wait till it’s full release.
OrdinaryGovernment12@reddit
dude pop OS is solid. it's a good daily driver. smooth out of the box and easy setup.
Suvvri@reddit
If you are unhappy with fedora because of issues then using a DE that's in Alpha isn't gonna make you fall in love with pop
PurpleBudget5082@reddit (OP)
Fair
kalzEOS@reddit
Cosmic is alpha software. It's full of bugs. You can use the old one if you really want pop os.
Also, I don't know why no one recommends Cachy OS. This is hands down the fastest distro I've ever tried, and I've been running Linux for 8 years now. I run it with KDE and it's such a joy to use. And before people start saying it is "terminal centric", no, it absolutely isn't.
It has its own software app. It also has "Cachy hello" app that tries so hard to keep you away from the terminal. Everything is a button in that app. You want to game? No problem, press "install gaming packages" button and you're done. Want to update your system? Press the "update system" button. And for a more sophisticated software center(s), I have installed Bauh and Octopi. Give it a try.
ousee7Ai@reddit
I use it as main daily driver. It still has some rough edges but for my simple use-case it works fine. Easily the best DE for me.
CiggiesInside@reddit
I left PopOS for Fedora Kinoite.
Just not suited towards my hardware currently. And the lack of updates kinda sucked as i had issues.
PopOS is only for their own hardware as far as i'm concerned.
PurpleBudget5082@reddit (OP)
What hardware do you have ?
CiggiesInside@reddit
A Intel igpu amd dgpu laptop
5thSeasonLame@reddit
I've been daily driving Cosmic for months now. Don't forget that Cosmic is a DE. It's the graphical shell over the system. Underneath it's still your trusty system, whether you run Pop, Fedora or Arch ... btw.
Yes, I encountered some hiccups with mounting large files systems, but in general it's been smooth sailing for me. If you don't mind the odd disappearing icon (it's still there, it just has a gear icon all of a sudden) and small things like that.
For my use case: browsing, coding, some light gaming it works perfectly. And honestly, I couldn't see myself moving to any other DE in the near future. I love the keyboard shortcuts, auto tiling, the crisp look. I love how it's there, but also completely stays out of your way
PurpleBudget5082@reddit (OP)
From what I understand I can change back to Gnome pretty easliy. The look is nice indeed.
TheNinthJhana@reddit
Not to fllame Comisc but why is that urgent to use it? Are there specific features you miss? If not use a stable desktop
PurpleBudget5082@reddit (OP)
I would rather use it from the start, then having to change to something else in a few months.
Business_Reindeer910@reddit
I can see why. You don't wanna bother getting familiar with one thing just to move on to the thing you think you really wanna use.
PurpleBudget5082@reddit (OP)
Yup, one of the reasons.
Maiksu619@reddit
Agreed, Cosmic is cool as fuck. But, 22.04 Pop OS works fine assuming you don’t need the latest software packages.
leoumair@reddit
I wish the team focussed on getting the DE to stable and shipped with gnome apps before building any cosmic apps which could have followed shortly after. Now you have a case where it's taking a while and neither side feels mature. I hope they can keep investing resources into this because there is a big gap between gnome and KDE that cosmic can fill!
SealProgrammer@reddit
I like it but it is too buggy for me to daily drive.
alinaresg@reddit
It's still in alpha, so probably best to stick with a stable distro for now. I stopped distro-hopping and found my home with omakub.org.
atiqsb@reddit
If fedora 42 came with too many problems for you, cosmic is not for you. Cosmic has lot of weird GPU bugs, suspend issues, basic UI features yet to be implemented!
usbeehu@reddit
I daily drive it. It has rough edges here and there, and a bunch of missing features too. But in terms of stability it is pretty decent already. I didn't really had any serious crash or hangup or anything like that so far, and I use it since december.
Enzyme6284@reddit
I’ve played with it and it didn’t crash but it’s missing a lot so I would just wait. It’s been a couple months so maybe progress but it’s still alpha. Promising though - I like the look and feel.
redoubt515@reddit
> Is it stable ?
Nope.
Cosmic is in Alpha, which is pretty much the opposite of Stable. (Software moves form pre-alpha > alpha > beta > (sometimes) release candidate > stable)
Here is the top line from Cosmic's github:
Alpha is a designation that implies something is far from ready for use by the general public and far from stable in the eyes of the people developing the software.
Beta is typically when software is mature enough for testing and use by early adopters who like testing new stuff and helping find/fix bugs get involved, but still not considered stable or ready for the general public. When System76 releases a stable release of Cosmic, you'll know about it, it'll be well publicized.
IIRC if you were to install Pop!_OS today, you would not be using Cosmic (which hasn't been finished or officially released yet), Current Pop!_OS uses Gnome as the desktop environment. Like Ubuntu, they modify the UI/layout, but it is still Gnome.
0riginal-Syn@reddit
If you want stable, do not use it while it is alpha or even beta. You will get some with the "I've been using it for x amount of time and no problems" but the fact is they would not be in alpha and there would be no known major bugs, which you can look at their GIT and know that in fact there are still a lot of them left and quite a few that are what would be considered blockers for moving to even beta.
I have a test bare metal and VM that I have been using to test and report bugs. It is not ready yet for a system, you need to be stable. If it was a secondary system, sure.