Hi sorveltaja, just to maybe help/explain why wine in many current Linux's doesn't work with many older programs (like in my case, old free Google SketchUp 8 3D-CAD, which is essential for me), we need to also install 32bit compatibility architecture for wine to handle these older 32 bit programs.
I also need that 32 bit compatibility to run my older Dell laser printer driver in CUPS. If you find mysterious problems like the above two in using windows programs or drivers, this may be a solution. Many linuxs now support only 64 bit applications and drivers out of the box. But for most there is an addon to allow you to also run 32 bit legacy software.
In Puppy linuxes from Fossapup F96-CE on back, they do not use apt or synaptic to load programs, but include a special Puppy Linux package manager that handles that stuff without using the console.
In later Puppy Linuxes, Bookwormpup64, and on, they do include apt and Synaptic, but also a degraded Puppy package manager. They have (to me) the same problems of needing to use the console in many cases to make an installation. HOWEVER, now there is a move to make a large number of applications available as appimages. These do not require a package installer at all. You simply download the application to your hard drive, make a shortcut to it, and then it runs itself. In other words, it acts a lot like a Windows program, without needing any installer.
None of the above Puppy types require sudo or su to work in the terminal. They are considered single-user systems, not multi-user, so there is no need to isolate multiple users from the administrator. The user and the administrator are all the one -- the computer owner. This is how Windows 98 used to work, as well, and all early computers.
But I also rarely needed to use the terminal in Puppy Linux. Sometimes I'd use it to check a printing cue via the command "lpstat" or clear it. Or occasionally I'd run a program from terminal instead of clicking on it graphically -- that was useful if it was a new program that crashed silently. In terminal you would get the actual error messages that happened in the crash, and you could troubleshoot the cause.
But that was pretty much all the need I had for using the console. I contrast that greatly with the period, about a dozen years ago, when I used Ubuntu. There was a constant need for troubleshooting, and installing, and correcting issues with the terminal.
Okay, enough about Puppy Linux as an historic background -- I stopped using it after 10 + years about two months ago, in favor of EasyOS. Really, to me, EasyOs is a highly developed Puppy, by the original developer of Puppy, although he doesn't say that.
In relation to what I wrote above, one very big feature is its Package Manager, which I think is the best I've ever seen, and most comprehensive of any I've tried. It can load a great variety of different application types into EasyOS : .debs appimages, flatpaks, .pets, .sfs and it does a lot of behind the scenes work automatically -- for instance refreshing the file list from the repositories for .debs. It also offers to run any application as a restricted user, or as root, your choice at installation time.
Another advantage of EasyOS is that it can take a snapshot of your system and store it at any time. If you ever have problems, you can always revert to a former snapshot.
The entire system upgrades seamlessly with the push of a button, but can be also rolled back to a former snapshot or system version. The speed of upgrade is amazing, because it only downloads a differential file from your last version.
All of your user data is encrypted automatically, also. And your browser can be run as its own user, so it does not have admin access. It is isolated.
Well that's enough, but I think it goes further to give a context for the fact that apt, synaptic, and sudo, are for me rarely needed, and terminal is used very occasionally only for troubleshooting, unlike the old days for me, using Debian and Ubuntu.
Again, this is not meant to in any way be negative about other Linuxes, and there are a huge variety of them. it's just an expression of my own personal preferences about how I like to work on my own computer. Obviously there's a learning curve for any Linux, and I've experienced that these last few months in transitioning from Puppy Linux to EasyOS. But I definitely think it was worthwhile. It's a very fast system with a minimal footprint, and huge capabilities in terms of available programs.
