I never imagined I’d write this kind of review for our readers, but I felt compelled to share my thoughts on the recently released Deepin 23 RC, hoping to save everyone the trouble of trying it out themselves.
Deepin is a Debian-based Linux distro developed by China-based Deepin Technology Co., Ltd. Its distinguishing features are ease of use and the visually appealing, in the face of the in-house-developed Deepin Desktop Environment (DDE), which is somewhat reminiscent of macOS.
This makes it an attractive option for those who appreciate aesthetics and users transitioning to Linux from different operating systems. The news of the just released Deepin 23 RC version delighted us and we eagerly downloaded the installation ISO image to test its new features. But that’s where it all ended. Because of this!
Well, you don’t do things like that if you have ambitions to target the English-speaking and generally non-regional market. We spent 15 minutes wandering around “lost in translation,” getting the right settings to change the language. After that, it was unanimously decided not to continue with the review for one simple reason.
Our readers are our top priority, and our content is crafted for their ease and informed engagement. Given this, we can’t publish a review about how wonderful the new Deepin 23 is and with the boot of the installation ISO to involve them in the insurmountable language barrier that the distribution throws in our face.
Dear Deepin developers, we sincerely hope that the final 23 release will address this issue by clearly offering users a choice of their preferred language right from the start. The current approach gives the impression that your target audience is exclusively Chinese-speaking. However, I am confident that your ambitions extend beyond this.
Finally, we want to emphasize that this article is not directed in any way at the great people of China or their language. However, in this specific case, we advise that Deepin Linux 23 RC may not be the best option for users who do not speak Chinese.
I am very sorry that this problem has not been taken into account. We will improve this problem in the June version。
Thanks for your understanding! We look forward to the final release next month to publish a review that truly reflects Deepin's high standards. It deserves it as one of the most user-friendly and visually polished distributions.
You are in a live environment, and there’s only two icons in the desktop, and you spend 15 mins for what? And the 2nd grub menu I think is some thing like ‘install deepin’. So can you write an article about how did you spend that 15 mins?
U could choose your language setting into English
You can set the locale in the boot options. Just edit the Grub accordingly. I was able to set de_DE.utf8 there for German.
Yes, I agree. This approach could work, but only if we were writing a guide for installing Gentoo or Arch, for example. However, recommending such a workaround to our readers is not an option for a distribution that prioritizes ease of use.
I'm surprised you have that problem.
Choosing the language setting is very easy.
In Spanish everything is correct.
There’s definitely lots of problems, but I personally do not think the live cd’s language would be an excuse for publishing a review article without actually reviewing. And the live cd’s desktop has only TWO icons on it, I’m pretty sure that everyone used a live CD would click them for a try. Yet he said ‘We spent 15 minutes wandering around’. I'm curious where were they wandering, downtown?
Thanks Bobby. I really enjoy what Deepin is doing with their very eye pleasing OS, but as you correctly pointed out, we English speaking folks just don’t have the time to learn another language just to try out the OS.