Celebrating the fifth annual Tuxies awards, the hosts dive into community-voted favorites like Helix and NixOS. They spotlight the rise of self-hosted apps such as Home Assistant, emphasizing their significance in privacy management. Emerging trends in command-line tools and community chat platforms are discussed, alongside highlights of popular applications for 2024. The conversation also touches on enhancing podcasting through direct support and the impact of open-source software. A sneak peek into innovations involving OpenWRT hardware rounds off the lively discussion.
The 2024 Tuxies featured a record participation of 1,587 votes, emphasizing community engagement in recognizing top Linux projects and applications.
NixOS retained its title as best desktop distro, while Ubuntu's drop to third place illustrates shifting preferences among Linux users this year.
Bash's popularity as the leading shell highlights its familiarity, while self-hosted applications like Home Assistant reflect growing user priorities for privacy and control.
Deep dives
The 2024 Tuxies Awards Overview
The episode highlights the fifth annual Unplugged Tuxies, where the audience votes for various categories related to Linux distributions, desktop environments, and applications. This year's awards saw significant participation, with 1,587 votes collected, and new categories introduced after the Hall of Fame was removed. The focus on community input helped ensure that all contenders had a fair chance this year. The hosts were excited to reveal the results that reflect the current trends and preferences within the Linux community.
Best Text Editor Results
In the 2024 Tuxies, Visual Studio Code was voted the best text editor for the second consecutive year, achieving 25% of the votes. NeoVim followed with 15%, while Kate, Vim, and Nano tied for third place. This year's results reveal a shift in the community's preferences, with some new editors like Helix entering the arena but not securing a top position. The discussion highlighted how the diverse range of text editors makes it challenging to determine a clear favorite among users.
Desktop Distribution Trends
NixOS retained its title as the best desktop distro with 21% of the votes in 2024, while Asahi Linux made a surprising second place. The year also saw Ubuntu drop to third place with only 10% despite its historical popularity, reflecting a shift in community preferences. This trend was attributed to the engaging presentation by the hosts and increased adoption of newer distributions. The close voting percentages among the top three show the competitive nature of the Linux desktop environment.
Shell and Command Line Tools Performance
Bash emerged as the leading shell in the new category, receiving 43% of votes, followed closely by ZSH at 37% and Fish shell at 18%. The popularity of Bash is tied to its long-standing presence and familiarity among users. For power CLI tools, TMUX dominated the category with 41%, indicating its preferred status among Linux users for terminal multiplexing. The hosts speculated that while newcomers like Fish provide compelling features, users often gravitate toward established tools.
Best Self-Hosted App and Community Chat Platform
Home Assistant clinched the title of best self-hosted app in the Tuxies with 21% of the votes, marking a significant rise in popularity for 2024. Image, a Google Photos alternative, made a strong showing as well, coming in second with 19%. The best community chat platform award went to Matrix/Element, which garnered 48% of the votes, reaffirming its stronghold in the community. The hosts discussed how the popularity of self-hosted applications reflects broader trends of users prioritizing privacy and control in their digital environments.
It's the fifth annual Unplugged Tuxies; our community votes on the best projects, distros, and desktops of 2024. Join us for the final Tuxies, and the second annual Boosties!