Daily Driving Linux in 2025

Woke up this morning with zero agenda. No pressing tasks, no urgent errands—just a blank slate and the sweet freedom to figure things out as I went. And what did I figure out? Today was the day to replace the NVMe in my trusty Lenovo X1 Carbon (2018 model). This laptop's been a total workhorse for me, still rocking an i7 and 16GB of RAM, so it felt like the perfect candidate for a little weekend refresh.

Now, for the big decision: the operating system. I've been really digging my recent server-side work with Alpine Linux, and its minimalist vibe is fantastic for what it is. But as a daily driver? Eh, not quite. It feels like almost everything requires a bit of a workaround compared to a more traditional Linux setup. Don't get me wrong, Alpine's got a unique set of goals, and I still love it for its niche, but for my everyday grind, I decided to return to an old friend: Ubuntu.

Normally, even with Ubuntu (which I've got plenty of server-side experience with), I stick to the LTS (Long Term Support) releases. But today felt different. I wanted to see what the bleeding edge had to offer, so I threw caution to the wind and went with Ubuntu 25.04. Go big or go home, right?

As expected, the installation was pretty much a breeze. A few quick questions, and the installer hummed along, doing its thing. Once that was done, I dove straight into getting my daily tools set up. It's funny how that list keeps shrinking, mostly because so much of what I do is browser-based these days. But here’s the essential lineup:

• Google Chrome (Had to snag the .deb file directly from Google's site for this one—a minor hiccup!)
• Joplin
• Owncloud Client Sync
• Draw.io
• PowerShell
• Signal

Pretty straightforward, huh?

So far, the graphics are behaving perfectly, and YouTube streams without a hitch. I'm no gamer, but I did a quick test just to see how it handled. And speaking of tests, Wine is a new "thing" for me; I've never actually needed it before. But seriously, the installer just did its magic without any input from me. Big win!

Alright, now for the real test: actually using it day-to-day. I'll report back with how it holds up! Catch ya later!