Distro-hoppers anonymous

hhh · 2023-11-26 09:17:32

@Martin, I use Ubuntu without any Snaps or Flatpaks. I can't remember which Lunar version I originally installed, but I think it was the standard GNOME one. I immediately started removing things... first all the gnome-software, Ubuntu-store, auto-update stuff and the Ubuntu Pro advertisement in apt. I used Firefox straight from Mozilla which (optionally) requires manually creating a firefox.desktop file, but now Mozilla has a deb for firefox-nightly that does that the same way almost all apt installed package does.

I eventually pulled GNOME out and install Openbox and a selection of the BunsenLabs packages, and that's worked great. I use one PPA source (kxstudio), the BunsenLabs source, a source for Plex Media service and one for my VPN, but other than that it's stock Ubuntu. It's been dist-upgraded to Mantic at this point.

The only thing that's different than running a similar Debian setup is that sometimes apt will auto-hold some package upgrades, so you have to run apt install *package* to get the new version. That doesn't happen very often, though.

That said, it was a bunch of scouring dpkg -l to get things where I have them now. If I were to go with an Ubuntu derivative, I'd be tempted to try the Lite edition of Zorin OS that uses Xfce. Otherwise, I'd just use debian sid and keep an eye on the siduction forums' Upgrade Warnings thread.

hhh · 2023-11-26 17:04:46

Here's the Ubuntu list of recognized Derivatives...

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DerivativeTeam/Derivatives

r.chaffee53 · 2023-11-26 23:41:21

Xubuntu Minimal

On the download page under torrents. Sorry I can't post a link.

I use it after limiting Snap with this.

apt remove --autoremove snapd

Create the no snap preference.

sudo nano /etc/apt/preferences.d/nosnap.pref

Package: snapd
Pin: release a=*
Pin-Priority: -10'

Bob

Last edited by r.chaffee53 (2023-11-26 23:45:24)

Colonel Panic · 2023-11-26 23:52:30

hhh wrote:

Here's the Ubuntu list of recognized Derivatives...
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DerivativeTeam/Derivatives

Thanks but I've just spotted a mistake in that list; WattOS is now based on Debian rather than Ubuntu (which I believe it used to be based on). I haven't tried Bodhi (which is also on the list) for a while but it used to be good and has a nice looking desktop as standard (Moksha).

R.Chaffee; thanks for the advice concerning how to remove Snap from Ubuntu Minimal too.

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2024-08-04 13:49:56)

rbh · 2023-11-27 19:54:56

Colonel Panic wrote:

I havent tried Bodhi (which is also on the list) for a while but It used to be good

Yes, I liked it when it came 2011. Run it for a while until I read about #!. But, their 32-bit Non-PAE version is based on Ubuntu 18.04!

I am runing one Lubuntu VM, just to see if I'm missing something when running Debian. Can't see I am missing anything essential...

jeffreyC · 2023-11-27 22:06:30

If I had to use an Ubuntu derivative I would use Linux Mint Xfce and set the desktop up like MX Linux.

No snaps, sane decisions on telemetry ond so on...

Martin · 2023-11-27 22:54:28

Yesterday I took Tuxedo OS 2 for a Live ISO spin. This only worked after I had disabled secure boot.

Tuxedo OS 2 is well put together. It is slick and contains some help function a la MX Linux but not just copied. Some of them are tailored for use with the HW Tuxedo sells. I am impressed.

But, it is too much KDE Plasma which means most tools (file manager etc) are over designed and the desktop fills up much quicker than I am used to. Everything is a bit over ambitious and suffering from 'featuritis'.

Bottom line: Not my kind of UX.

Then I took Pop OS for a Live ISO Qemu spin.
Is it a saner take on Gnome than Ubuntu? Probably. Having used vanilla Ubuntu at work for years I feel much more at home here than in Tuxedo OS 2 even though Tuxedo comes across as a more polished product.

This evening I revisited both MX-23 and Spiral Linux. Both with XFCE and both staying out of my way but doing the job. Spiral being slightly lower key but offering no special programs and repos.

All these four distros have some kind of fancy program/app finding tool. The one in Tuxedo OS 2 is the worst one due mostly to poor layout. The one in MX Linux is best. Both MX and Tuxedo offer some extras such as very modern/tailored kernels. Maybe Pop also do -- I didn't check.

I should take a look at Mint Xfce.

But I hope I can stay in Debian -- been here ever since I came across #! many moons ago.

/Martin

Colonel Panic · 2023-11-28 20:24:29

One advantage of Pop! is that it supports tiling on the desktop, which is useful for a lot of people. You can get a more basic version of this though in any other distro by installing WindowMaker as your window manager; if you're happy with the somewhat retro interface it works well.

I agree that Tuxedo looks interesting. Like Pop! it was developed by a computer manufacturer for use on its own machines.

https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=tuxedo

Jeffrey: I agree with you about Mint too. I had some problems with earlier versions but as far as I can see there's really nothing wrong with the latest one (my current computer came with Mint Cinnamon already installed).

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2023-11-28 20:28:05)

unklar · 2023-12-10 12:22:38

@nwg, if you're reading this...

On 2023-12-06 the system was updated here. This also affected the files under /etc/lightdm, without your're 'nwg-greeter.conf'.
Since then, the Light Display Manager can no longer be started. In the meantime, I have installed the lghtdm-gtk-greeter.

What do I have to do to get your nice login screen back?

hhh · 2023-12-10 14:53:06

@unklar, I found this. It should help...

https://github.com/nwg-piotr/lightdm-nw … stallation

unklar · 2023-12-10 18:34:16

hhh wrote:

@unklar, I found this. It should help...
https://github.com/nwg-piotr/lightdm-nw … stallation

+1
Thanks @hhh, I have the nwg login window again

I'll have to remember that tip.

Colonel Panic · 2023-12-10 21:51:39

Just installed Fedora 39 (Cinnamon Edition), and it's working well and seems very solid apart from a freeze up once after the screen saver activated. As with the previous version of Fedora though it's very heavy on updates (a 1.2 GB total download and it's only a month old), so I can't really recommend it to anyone who doesn't have a fast internet connection.

I had a couple of problems with MX-KDE and AntiX (the latest stable version in each case), but that might just be my machine so I'm reluctant to go into any further detail.

[EDIT: I've changed the screensaver's settings in Fedora so that it is only activated once the computer has been idle for an hour (the maximum permissible time.) I'm going to look for a more permanent solution later.]

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2023-12-11 08:37:40)

hhh · 2023-12-12 05:14:45

Ubuntu. Someone was asking about Ubuntu. I've got your Ubuntu, baby!

https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/viewtopic … 90#p130790

Ask for details, I'm happy to oblige.

Colonel Panic · 2023-12-12 21:36:50

Those rounded window corners are nice!

hhh · 2023-12-13 17:01:57

^ Much obliged! It was a hassle getting that extension working on GNOME 45. Fingers crossed that everything keeps working. I'm running GNOME in Xorg, there are still many programs that are hard to get to work in Wayland.

hhh · 2023-12-14 01:16:49

I just want to say, I am no GNOME fanboy, nor an Ubuntu one, in any way. They both suck in so many ways. GNOME is fragile as all hell when you start trying to customize it, and when there's an issue it just crashes and gives you that moronic "Oops! Something went wrong! " display that tells you exactly nothing about what happened. And they broke all of their extensions again with the re-write of GNOME 45, par for the course with GNOME. What's that, the eighth time extension authors have had to port their work to the new version? BTW, why hasn't GNOME unified gnome-settings, gnome-tweaks, gsettings... yet?

And Ubuntu... I just recovered from being unable to get into my session, or even into the login display. Why? because I ran "sudo apt purge --autoremove ubuntu-wallpapers" without paying attention. I know, irresponsible, but it's just wallpapers, what could go wrong?

rachel@tyrell-corp:~$ sudo apt purge --autoremove ubuntu-wallpapers
[sudo] password for rachel: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  chrome-gnome-shell* dconf-cli* evolution-data-server-common*
  fonts-cantarell* gdm3* gir1.2-accountsservice-1.0* gir1.2-adw-1*
  gir1.2-atspi-2.0* gir1.2-gck-1* gir1.2-gcr-3* gir1.2-gdm-1.0*
  gir1.2-geoclue-2.0* gir1.2-gmenu-3.0* gir1.2-gnomebg-4.0*
  gir1.2-gnomebluetooth-3.0* gir1.2-gnomedesktop-4.0* gir1.2-graphene-1.0*
  gir1.2-gtk-4.0* gir1.2-gweather-4.0* gir1.2-ibus-1.0*
  gir1.2-javascriptcoregtk-6.0* gir1.2-json-1.0* gir1.2-mutter-13*
  gir1.2-nma4-1.0* gir1.2-polkit-1.0* gir1.2-soup-3.0* gir1.2-upowerglib-1.0*
  gir1.2-webkit-6.0* gjs* gnome-bluetooth-3-common* gnome-browser-connector*
  gnome-session* gnome-session-bin* gnome-session-common* gnome-shell*
  gnome-shell-extension-manager* gnome-shell-extensions*
  gstreamer1.0-pipewire* libcamel-1.2-64* libecal-2.0-2*
  libedataserver-1.2-27* libeis1* libgdm1* libgjs0g* libgnome-autoar-0-0*
  libgnome-bluetooth-3.0-13* libgnome-menu-3-0* libical3*
  libjavascriptcoregtk-6.0-1* libmozjs-115-0* libmutter-13-0*
  libtext-engine-0.1-0* libwebkitgtk-6.0-4* libxcb-res0* mutter-common-bin*
  ubuntu-wallpapers* ubuntu-wallpapers-mantic* xwayland*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 58 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
After this operation, 258 MB disk space  will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]

gnome-shell, gnome-session AND gdm3??? What in the actual eff!?!!?? IT'S A WALLPAPERS PACKAGE!!!!! Not for the faint of heart, I swear. It took some head scratching and reboots to figure that one out after the fact.

Extensions needed for functionality, window focus issues that have to be mitigated, keyboard bindings conflicting, GTK3 AND GTK4 AND the odd GTK2 package AND, of course, Qt... Please let what I have keep working, because it's close to perfect right now. It's like working on a junk car, and when you finally get the engine to start you cry.

Sector11 · 2023-12-14 03:35:03

That's why I belong to:
- Alcoholics Anonymous
- Gnome Anonymous
- *buntu Anonymous

I remember what seems like a hundred years ago when I was using #! someone said:
"Xubuntu is the perfect example of how not to set up Xfce."
And IMHO Ubuntu is the Windows of Linux.
________
Everyone has their options and opinions of course.

hhh · 2023-12-14 04:13:23

Lol. Maybe ironically, the 23.10 minimal version of Xubuntu is great. Just install epiphany-browser and you can start removing snap and downloading Firefox from mozilla, or download the new nightly deb package. Xubuntu minimal is what I installed to get my current setup, I intentionally didn't use the Ubuntu Mantic ISO. Too much bloat.

@Marten or whomever is asking about an Ubuntu distrolet to install, I can recommend Xubuntu 23.10. Even the full version, you can strip out firefox and snapd after the fact with no problems. Just don't install gdm3 and the try to purge ubuntu-wallpapers-mantic. That's how they get you to pay for Pro support, I guess.

Here's the ISO I'm talking about(amd64)...

https://torrent.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/rele … so.torrent

https://xubuntu.org/download/

johnraff · 2023-12-14 05:20:12

Interesting site for distro-hoppers - lets you try distros in live form, online. No downloading of isos. BunsenLabs is included!
https://distrosea.com/

hhh · 2023-12-14 06:47:04

johnraff wrote:

Interesting site for distro-hoppers - lets you try distros in live form, online. No downloading of isos. BunsenLabs is included!
https://distrosea.com/

What the frick did they do to Ututo's logo. Is that our logo? I mean, I think I see a little of those harsh angles in this, but nothing like the Abomination logo they have there.

Other than that, very cool.

#2101 2023-11-26 09:17:32

Re: Distro-hoppers anonymous

#2102 2023-11-26 17:04:46

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#2103 2023-11-26 23:41:21

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#2104 2023-11-26 23:52:30

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#2105 2023-11-27 19:54:56

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#2106 2023-11-27 22:06:30

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#2107 2023-11-27 22:54:28

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#2108 2023-11-28 20:24:29

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#2109 2023-12-10 12:22:38

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#2110 2023-12-10 14:53:06

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#2111 2023-12-10 18:34:16

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#2112 2023-12-10 21:51:39

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#2113 2023-12-12 05:14:45

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#2114 2023-12-12 21:36:50

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#2115 2023-12-13 17:01:57

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#2116 2023-12-14 01:16:49

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#2117 2023-12-14 03:35:03

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#2118 2023-12-14 04:13:23

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#2119 2023-12-14 05:20:12

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#2120 2023-12-14 06:47:04

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