Distro-hoppers anonymous

dummie789 · 2015-12-08 03:56:24

Been hunting around Linuxland since the initial sunset of #!, just in case for some odd reason BL doesn't quite take off (though it looks like it's picking up momentum like a comet!) Wanting something similar to the #! spirit, I tried MX-14.4 and was very pleasantly surprised. I'm more interested in a Linux workhorse than a playhouse, and MX seems to fit that bill: compact, minimal eye-candy, Debian, lots of useful practical apps, stable, fast, etc. It's built on XFCE, but that works okay for me. I also tried its cousin, antix, but found it took a little too much work/time to get up to the level I'm looking for. Anyhow, just my 2.75-cents. My distro-hopping-days-for-fun are over, but in this case I felt it was a good move to build a safety hedge. I've got my work to do, so I need the superb powerful mix that is the heritage of Crunchbang. Looking forward to the glory days of BunsenLabs!!

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-12-08 07:34:48

dummie789 wrote:

MX-14.4

+1 utterly awesome distribution.

Look out for MX15, the work they're doing is incredible
http://www.mepiscommunity.org/mx

BLizgreat! · 2015-12-09 05:44:37

Random update: Am thinking about overwriting Arch with the above named distro.

Once again ... though early on, just not seeing any real justification for all the extra hoops and buttpains someone has to endure to run Arch.

Not at all impressed with the system stats, not overly impressed with the package selection ( as there are numerous ways to do similar with Debian.) Not sure exactly what Arch's niche is, though there clearly is one and not @ all attempting to take away from the distro.

Just for me ... not clearly seeing any benefit for all the added time and buttpains involved in installing/config'n the distro. Am already abandoning the effort, feel I did give a fair chance ( 3 times) and nothing as far as can tell has changed.

Still massive headaches and overcomplications in setting up basic things, still not user friendly n terms of the time necessary to invest to deal with all the hassles, still no significant stats or performance differences that would justify putting oneself through such nonsense.

Just 2 cents. Vll!

Snap · 2015-12-09 07:23:26

That's the beauty of Linux. Test them all and choose your poison. My own menu comprises three courses: I chose Debian (Sid) to start from a clean and small net install and build from it. PCLinuxOS to get it more pre-built, easy and frigging stable while still rolling. And Void for my particular headaches when I want to face a good spiced challenge.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-12-09 07:50:14

DragonFly BSD 4.4.1 is out (they skipped 4.4.0 due to the late inclusion of an OpenSSL patch):
https://www.dragonflybsd.org/release44/

Looks like it will support the HD4600 on my laptop so I may not have any GNU/Linux systems at all when I eventually [1] get my new SSD

[1] Curse you Amazon!

nobody0 · 2015-12-09 13:57:53

@ BLwillbegreat,

Have some patience and try a bit more. Arch is really good, once you get it installed.

Maybe someone should upload his working Arch system, squashed of course, so the others can benefit from it.

BLizgreat! · 2015-12-09 16:00:41

Got it up, everything pretty much working. Only major thing left on the list is config'ing the wireless to auto connect. Probably just install ceni or some other network manager. But yeah ... gonna keep it around to dork with for awhile longer.

As in times past though just not seeing what all the hubbub is about. Other than the few hours it takes config'ing junk that majority of distro's take care of ootb. Not seeing much by way of return/benefit for that time invested.

(Edit: To be fair am sure for people more familiar w Arch the time taken drops dramatically but initially anyway, it's a real pita.)

Jessie netinstall was up and running in a fraction of the time (with all customization complete to preference) and the same would be with a Debian Sid netinstall too. Pretty much same thing, base system with only what user opts to install and the packages in that case aren't that far off in terms of version #, w/o even resorting to enabling experimental, or finding .debs or compiling etc etc.

Do like pacman though. Almost as much as apt. Findings as with other times dorking w Arch, it's gnu/Linux. Much the same as with so many others. Just requires jumping through hoops, sinking time to setup basic things and then winding up with well ... a gnu/Linux OS. Anyway who am I kidding, am definitely and permanently Debian biased now.

Do like the roll your own vs ready made where all choices are made for a nixer. So Arch definitely gets a thumbs up there. Jmo ... still makes it a bit over time intensive. I could've sunk those few hours into one of the dang mad nix scientist experiments on my 2do list instead! Arghhhh.

Vll!

Last edited by BLizgreat! (2015-12-09 16:37:28)

C#Coder4ever · 2015-12-09 16:13:14

Like pacman? ALMOST as much as apt?

That will change!

BLizgreat! · 2015-12-09 16:28:51

^ Heya Coder ... hope you're doing well.

Yeah do like Arch's package manager. There was talk of it being ported to other distro's. Wondering if that ever came to be ? Though yeah, still like apt as a preference and you're right likely do to being familiar with using it vs not so much with pacman atm.

Not to mention, apt is no slouch in what it's capable of. Fricker has been around forever and a dy.

Last edited by BLizgreat! (2015-12-09 16:47:47)

pingu · 2015-12-09 16:58:12

if I would call apt a sharp knife, pacman would be a lazer scalpel

tknomanzr · 2015-12-09 17:04:49

Apt has been getting some TLC lately in sid. apt-cache search the other day brought an entirely new look in. Instead of a basic list, it had md5, sha info and all that in addition to package name and description. Although more info was nice, I will probably have to start piping searches through less to keep them readable.

pingu · 2015-12-09 17:14:37

edit:. relevancy

Last edited by pingu (2015-12-09 17:15:58)

PackRat · 2015-12-09 17:49:12

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

DragonFly BSD 4.4.1 is out (they skipped 4.4.0 due to the late inclusion of an OpenSSL patch):
https://www.dragonflybsd.org/release44/
Looks like it will support the HD4600 on my laptop so I may not have any GNU/Linux systems at all when I eventually [1] get my new SSD
[1] Curse you Amazon!

I was looking at DragonFly BSD myself.

NetBSD also had a recent release.

nobody0 · 2015-12-09 17:53:11

Great you got Arch installed BL..G8.

We would be happy, if we can have live isos, or netinstall isos, so we could install any distro/OS. We would like to have an app to boot it up in live mode, so we can have a look at it, and an installer app inside it, so we could install it by just giving our user name, locale, time etc and with few clicks.

Most distros are actually someone's working system, without the user name, locale, fstab and time set to UTC, and when you install it, you get that person's configs, but with your user name, host name, locale, local time, fstab.

Temetka · 2015-12-10 08:49:09

I tried Ubuntu 15.04 w/ Unity on my Precision M4400.

I do not like Unity. Nope, not one bit. Nor do I like Gnome 3 either which I recently gave a spin on.

To be honest I kept sitting there using the system and thinking to myself that none of this behaves like BL. I tried for a bit to "unlock" Unity and make Ubuntu more BL like.

I gave up and re-loaded BL. Man it feels good to be home.

Nili · 2015-12-10 16:31:07

^Perhaps they're too bloated for your system

Head_on_a_Stick · 2015-12-10 20:09:36

My OpenBSD-current system is now starting up with Secure Boot enabled.

I am well pleased.

EDIT: This system plays full HD (1080p) YouTube videos out of the box, sound and everything with no tweaking required.

That cannot be said of the vast majority of GNU/Linux distributions I have tried.

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2015-12-10 22:05:26)

Temetka · 2015-12-11 06:17:31

Nili wrote:

^Perhaps they're too bloated for your system

My T410 has an i5, 250GB SSD, 8GB of RAM and an Nvidia GPU. It's handled everything I have thrown at it so far with aplomb.

But this being a text based medium, you were probably cracking a joke at the distro and not my gear and I completely missed it.

It's been a very long day. I plan on drowning my brain in beer for medication purposes after I work out.

Snap · 2015-12-11 06:41:19

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

My OpenBSD-current system is now starting up with Secure Boot enabled.
I am well pleased.
EDIT: This system plays full HD (1080p) YouTube videos out of the box, sound and everything with no tweaking required.
That cannot be said of the vast majority of GNU/Linux distributions I have tried.

Really? That's cool. It usually needs a lot of tweaking to get it right.

I always read that the Unix hardware compatibility was lower than Linux. Anyway, whenever I finish tweaking my (80 years) old dad's computer to make it super easy to use for him, I'll give OpenBSD a try for sure.

BLizgreat! · 2015-12-12 07:39:41

That's one thing about HOAS,

The guy is NOT playing around, he's dead serious when it comes to trying everything tech fellows. Ya almost got me there HOAS, was considering following suit and trying to install openbsd too. However fortunately my laziness instincts kicked in, in time to prevent me from such a folly.

Though is good to hear you're enjoying a positive bsd experience fellow nixer.

#121 2015-12-08 03:56:24

Re: Distro-hoppers anonymous

#122 2015-12-08 07:34:48

Re: Distro-hoppers anonymous

#123 2015-12-09 05:44:37

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#124 2015-12-09 07:23:26

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#125 2015-12-09 07:50:14

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#126 2015-12-09 13:57:53

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#127 2015-12-09 16:00:41

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#128 2015-12-09 16:13:14

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#129 2015-12-09 16:28:51

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#130 2015-12-09 16:58:12

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#131 2015-12-09 17:04:49

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#132 2015-12-09 17:14:37

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#133 2015-12-09 17:49:12

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#134 2015-12-09 17:53:11

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#135 2015-12-10 08:49:09

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#136 2015-12-10 16:31:07

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#137 2015-12-10 20:09:36

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#138 2015-12-11 06:17:31

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#139 2015-12-11 06:41:19

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#140 2015-12-12 07:39:41

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