Hey ThinkPadders,
So I found myself needing to do some programming on the road this weekend but dont have access to a laptop. So I'm plugging in a bunch of peripherals to my TPT and hoping to work off it. (UPDATE: It worked great! Just ran out of space in my pre-allocated image, see update #2 below) Forgive me if the outcome is a bit rough or this exists elsewhere, I'm in a bit of a rush but thought I'd throw this quickly out to anyone who may find it usefull (or is nice enough to complete it).
There's just a small modification from the Ubuntu on android instructions on AndroLinux. Sorry I cant post links as a crappy member X_x, but I think you know what to do with this:
www.androlinux.com/android-ubuntu-development/how-to-install-ubuntu-on-android/
Change the mount calls in each of the scripts from:
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
to:
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mmcblk0p3 /system
That's about it. I've installed build essentials just with apt-get and got simple STL c++ to compile, so things seem good so far.
Here are pics of the TPT running vnc and ssh to localhost. I attached modified scripts if you dont want to do it yourself. All credit should go to Max Lee at AndroLinux and Charan Singh.
(And a hurrah for getting our kernel source!!)
UPDATE #1 (2-27-2012):
Terminal/ssh usages are great, but experiences with the stock ubuntu GUI are a little slow (probably due to the lack of tegra drivers on tested distributions). You can improve this GREATLY by using a lighter weight windows manager (lxde, xfce, unity 2d, etc).
UPDATE #2 (2-28-2012):
Also, you can skip using an image entirely. Since then I've partitioned a 32GB sdcard into 10GB fat32 + 22GB ext2 partitions and just directly copied a preinstalled/debootstrap'ed ubuntu and mounted it. This way you don't have to pre-allocate space with an image and can use both partitions for general storage (the fat32 is just for windows specific access). You could probably use space on the internal sdcard if you like. But I have a 16GB model so I went straight for an external solution.
I can extend this guide or create a one-click windows script to handle the entire setup/installation if there's interest.
This is really cool, thanks for sharing this info with the rest of us.
Thanks! I run Ubuntu on all my computers, now I can run it on my TPT!
Cool stuff anapmac.
I too have an ubuntu chroot on my thinkpad (actually just copied the loop file from my droid x and didn't even have to change any settings)
Just a tip: I highly recommend swapping out the default window manager for lxde.
lxde is much more lightwight and will run a lot faster.
Also, you may want to try pointing apt at the debian repositories, debian seems to have more complete ARM repositories than ubuntu does.
How about libre office. Could it run in an usable speed on ubuntu on android, or would it do it if ubuntu only could get installed?
Hey,
could anyone help me...i managed to do all and it finally worked.
but i don't think it is quite useable, so what d0 I have to do to make all steps undone?
thanks for your help.
dan
thanks for posting the changes required to get this working. I got it working with the ubuntu.img from the guide at androlinux.com
I've used the instructions there also to build an image of from ubuntu 11.10. I simply replaced the ubuntu.img with my own and all is working ok. I'm currently installing unity to see how slow it will be. or if it works at all.
hidd3n_bit said:
Cool stuff anapmac.
I too have an ubuntu chroot on my thinkpad (actually just copied the loop file from my droid x and didn't even have to change any settings)
Just a tip: I highly recommend swapping out the default window manager for lxde.
lxde is much more lightwight and will run a lot faster.
Also, you may want to try pointing apt at the debian repositories, debian seems to have more complete ARM repositories than ubuntu does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip. I did find loading firefox somewhat slow when I took the screenshots. This past weekend though I was only accessing the distribution through a terminal emulator (just ran the bootubuntu script to setup the chroot). After working with it, I'm very satisfied with this setup I'm planning to buy an external SD to use host a large ubuntu image (or anything else that's ARM compatible?). Maybe I'll look into the GUI if I get a chance.
There's also a native ubuntu setup on some android devices. That would be interesting to see how well the GUI performs when android isn't running next to it. Luckily for me, the terminal is perfect since I use vim
danjac said:
Hey,
could anyone help me...i managed to do all and it finally worked.
but i don't think it is quite useable, so what d0 I have to do to make all steps undone?
thanks for your help.
dan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey danjac,
when you exit out of the shell that bootubuntu launches, it unmounts the required loopback and folders for you. The setup script, ubuntu.sh, simply copies a few files into known locations (deleting any existing files from previous runs). These files are:
/system/bin/fsrw
/system/bin/bootubuntu
/system/bin/unionfs
/system/bin/mountonly
You can just delete these by hand. Otherwise, I've attached a shortened version of the setup script (now only contains the clean-up and not the file copies) that does just this. Besides those files you just need to delete your ubuntu image file. Also, I dont believe the mounts (calls to losetup and mount) persist through reboots. Someone please correct me on that if I'm wrong. But if true, you wont have anything ubuntu related running if you've done a simple reboot lately. It is probably best to reboot before running this script. FYI, the script is run from the TPT's terminal (either using a terminal app or adb).
baser5nature said:
thanks for posting the changes required to get this working. I got it working with the ubuntu.img from the guide at androlinux.com
I've used the instructions there also to build an image of from ubuntu 11.10. I simply replaced the ubuntu.img with my own and all is working ok. I'm currently installing unity to see how slow it will be. or if it works at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool. Let me know how it goes. I'm curious how well we can get an ubuntu GUI to run under chroot. I really like the integration it gives. Though we're probably running on software rendering no matter what UI we use. Nvidia released linux tegra drivers for hardware acceleration:
(H)ttp://developer.nvidia.com/linux-tegra
(curse you linking!!! still too forum newb for this)
hopefully I (or anyone ) can get time to mess around with this.
Hey danjac,
when you exit out of the shell that bootubuntu launches, it unmounts the required loopback and folders for you. The setup script, ubuntu.sh, simply copies a few files into known locations (deleting any existing files from previous runs). These files are:
/system/bin/fsrw
/system/bin/bootubuntu
/system/bin/unionfs
/system/bin/mountonly
You can just delete these by hand. Otherwise, I've attached a shortened version of the setup script (now only contains the clean-up and not the file copies) that does just this. Besides those files you just need to delete your ubuntu image file. Also, I dont believe the mounts (calls to losetup and mount) persist through reboots. Someone please correct me on that if I'm wrong. But if true, you wont have anything ubuntu related running if you've done a simple reboot lately. It is probably best to reboot before running this script. FYI, the script is run from the TPT's terminal (either using a terminal app or adb).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Anapmac,
thank you very much for the information/script.
You are right, it does not survive a reboot.
Once again, thanks for your help.
I'm going to give this a go, looks really cool.
Canonical have just announced Ubuntu for Android which looks pretty amazing.
Oh, yes.
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscent...tu_android_addon_designed_to_replace_pcs.html
Cant wait until having really time to try it......
Yea, my dreams are coming true! I hope they're not picky about using the dock though. I'd still rather just open up a local terminal and work from there (for those of you who keep line widths in code, the character width can perfectly be 80 in portrait mode using android terminal emulator ). Should work anyway though, seems like a chroot solution with dock integration. Either way, that makes for an AWESOME thin client to access any workstations. Add that to having a mobile data plan, who needs to be in the office! Love being able to fiddle with these devices so much.
I wasn't able to get unity to work, I'm really not that strong in linux though. Based on things I've read around other linux forums, it's not likely to get it to work, but luckily canonical is taking care of that for us.
I tried gnome-classic and it worked ok, I wouldn't call it unusable, tried ubuntu-2d and 3d and they just don't work, finally settled with xfce after installing xubuntu-desktop via apt-get and then messing with the xstartup in /root/.vnc to start xfce with vnc.
vncserver -geometry 1280x752 fits perfectly in the screen space available without hiding the honeycomb status bar.
Although android vnc works quite well for free. I grabbed Jump Desktop back when it was on sale, and the mouse integration feels more like a native install.
I've been using Terminal Emulator in android to edit files and things with my folio keyboard, but there are a few annoying things with that. the vol-dwn button as Ctrl only works with onscreen keyboards, so I have to take the thinkpad out of the folio keyboard for certain keystrokes in apps like vi and nano. Funny enough the enter key on my onscreen keyboards, isn't accepted when saving a file with nano. I have to return to the folio keyboard to hit enter... wierd.
Anapmac said:
Cool. Let me know how it goes. I'm curious how well we can get an ubuntu GUI to run under chroot. I really like the integration it gives. Though we're probably running on software rendering no matter what UI we use. Nvidia released linux tegra drivers for hardware acceleration:
(H)ttp://developer.nvidia.com/linux-tegra
(curse you linking!!! still too forum newb for this)
hopefully I (or anyone ) can get time to mess around with this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my ThinkPad Tablet using Tapatalk
Thanks for checking on that baser.
I've been plugging in a full keyboard whenever I wanted to code, so I'm not sure what issues come from using the folio. I did experience some funky keyboard (hardware) mappings when I was using the GUI though. I'd have to do some remappings of the keyboard keys to get it 100% working, I figure we could probably do the same for the folio. For instance, my caps lock key is normally mapped to ctrl. If the folio has one it may be a good solution (I've never really seen one and I'm assuming it doesnt have a ctrl or alt from your experiences).
As for the GUI responsiveness, I tried using a ubuntu image which was compiled with the nvidia tegra drivers (see Linux for Tegra for details, but dont try their test image). It FELT more responsive to me, but I didnt get a chance to run solid benchmarks on my different distributions though. My experience using the ubuntu GUI on the TPT is pretty slim, so I could be completely wrong on that visible speedup.
I got a hold of a nice big 32GB sd card over the weekend, so I plan to put a large ubuntu/debian distribution on it this weekend. I'll try to get some updates on the keyboard issues and tegra drivers around then.
Check it out, there are tegra drivers in the next ubuntu arm release
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/precise/armel/nvidia-tegra
It's to be released in april. I'm sure this has to do with canonical's android announcement. Sweet! I'm curious, so I may look into setting up a 12.04 distro this weekend to see if there's a noticeable speed up.
So, I definitely understand the desktop usage awesomeness. But I'm still not sure what android (mobile) gains from getting an ubuntu GUI. It seems all the added benefit comes from the command line tools, where android apps can cover any graphical needs. Thoughts?
One-click?
UPDATE #2 (2-28-2012):
Also, you can skip using an image entirely. Since then I've partitioned a 32GB sdcard into 10GB fat32 + 22GB ext2 partitions and just directly copied a preinstalled/debootstrap'ed ubuntu and mounted it. This way you don't have to pre-allocate space with an image and can use both partitions for general storage (the fat32 is just for windows specific access). You could probably use space on the internal sdcard if you like. But I have a 16GB model so I went straight for an external solution.
I can extend this guide or create a one-click windows script to handle the entire setup/installation if there's interest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A one-click script would be awesome! I know there's others who would appreciate it as well, I'm just gona take one for the n00b team and ask for it. No rush, if you have time it'd be great but either way thanks for your work!
tutorial
can anyone please guid me to a tutorial for this? if it's possible do with android terminal emulator.....l'm a noob ,just don't know how to do it
Hey guys!
Since the ubuntu touch preview came out yesterday, I thought I'll give this thread a bump. What do you guys think about it? Can we port this to our good old TPT? I just stumbled over the Porting howto: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touch/Porting
I mean, thanks to Koshu, we have CM10 running, so porting should work? But I have to admit that I don't have a lot of experience with this kind of stuff
ChiefOHara said:
Hey guys!
Since the ubuntu touch preview came out yesterday, I thought I'll give this thread a bump. What do you guys think about it? Can we port this to our good old TPT? I just stumbled over the Porting howto:
I mean, thanks to Koshu, we have CM10 running, so porting should work? But I have to admit that I don't have a lot of experience with this kind of stuff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This would realy be very cool.
Switching to Linux after many years of using Windows can be a daunting task, but nowadays, it’s easier than ever. I just finished up four years of a computer science degree, for most of which I would switch between Windows and Linux. Windows was primarily my gaming operating system (as anti-cheat clients for games like Counter-Strike require Windows), but for anything else, Ubuntu was my go-to operating system. Prior to starting my degree, I was almost completely a die-hard Windows user (admittedly with experience in Linux server administration) and I would scoff at the thought of having Linux installed on my main machine.
However, it quickly became apparent that Linux in recent years is a whole lot easier than it once was, and the suite of applications you can install has grown dramatically. Gone are the days of needing to compile your own applications, for example, as there are now countless application repositories that you can access. If you think about it, even ChromeOS is a Linux derivative, which has more than enough software support for many people.
My personal Linux experience has basically always been with Ubuntu, but it has clearly improved across the board with package managers coming bundled with many of the popular distributions. Being a hardcore Windows user, I knew my way around a computer and the little that I did need to use the command line for I felt comfortable in using. Pretty much all your favorite applications are on Linux, and the ones that aren’t often have viable alternatives.
For the purposes of this article, I am going to be documenting my switch from Windows to Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a Debian-based Linux distribution and uses the Synaptic package manager, which is a GUI for the Advanced Package Tool, or APT. It also has built-in Snap support. The beauty of using Linux is the terminal, and in particular, how much control it hands over to the user.
Note: forcing yourself to get used to Linux isn’t something that you need to do, and it will come naturally over time. If you’re like me, you’ve used Windows machines all your life, and it won’t be easy to immediately transition over. Your computer is your computer, and making sure you can still do everything that you need to do is paramount.
Linux package managersThe biggest learning curve when switching from Windows to Linux will be learning how to use package manager. In most cases, the various Linux package managers all act and feel the same, and switching from one to another is easy once you’ve learned how to use one of them.
With Ubuntu, you can use the Synaptic package manager, or you can do what I do and make use of APT via the terminal. Applications can be downloaded and installed online as you would on a Windows machine in most cases, and the ones that require a bit more work often have instructions on how to use the terminal to install them.
Personally, I switched to just using the terminal and the apt-get command for nearly all cases.
Build your ownIf you’re the kind of person to want to have complete control over their operating system (which likely explains why you’re considering switching from Windows), Arch Linux is an operating system that you basically will need to end up building yourself. It’s a pretty lengthy install process, but a great way to get to grips with Linux and how the terminal works, while also ensuring you setup and install everything that you need and nothing more. Depending on the device you’re using, it’s possible you may need to engage in a lengthy setup anyway in some way or another.
For me, installing Ubuntu on the Huawei MateBook 14 2020 required building the latest version of the Linux kernel in order to ensure complete compatibility, as Ubuntu at the time did not support the Ryzen 4xxx series of chipsets. Your mileage will vary on this front, as it’s entirely possible that your machine will work right out of the box with Ubuntu, once all drivers are set up.
Install Arch Linux
Software that I useThe biggest sign that Linux has come a long way is that pretty much every common application that you would use is now present on the platform. I play a lot of games, I listen to a lot of music, and I do some development. These are the three core necessities I had when switching, and nearly all of them have been met.
Gaming
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Gaming on Linux is by far the most underdeveloped facet of the ecosystem, and it’s a mixture of developer choices and a history of poor graphics drivers that have left Linux in the current situation that it’s in. NVIDIA refused to contribute open-source drivers, and AMD had an open-source Radeon driver that was not as good as the proprietary alternative dubbed Catalyst. The only open-source NVIDIA alternative was Nouveau, which was developed unofficially by reverse engineering official NVIDIA drivers. These issues were exacerbated by developers not even building games for Linux, though that has changed more in recent years with the advent of the Steam PC (which runs Linux) and a growing number of Linux users on Steam.
There are a lot of AAA titles that don’t work on Linux, and likely won’t ever. All hope is not lost though, as a combination of Proton and Steam Play makes most Windows-only games at least compatible with Linux, even if they may not work perfectly. Proton is a fork of WINE, a compatibility layer for Windows applications to run on Linux, and it has a number of optimizations primarily focused on gaming to ensure compatibility across operating systems.
While an argument can be made that Proton’s existence encourages developers to not bother with implementing proper Linux support, it’s better than the alternative of games not being playable at all. Ultimately, gaming is no longer next to impossible on Linux machines, which puts it far ahead of where it once was. The biggest issue for me switching entirely has been that a lot of anti-cheat software does not run on Linux, and the two anti-cheat clients that I use for Counter-Strike are Windows-only. Aside from that, there’s no gaming incompatibility stopping me from using Linux all of the time.
Many die-hard Linux users will say not to support WIndows-only games, as that will force developers to release games on Linux. While that’s technically true, only roughly 1% of gamers on Steam are using Linux. Is the number growing? Yes. Is it still low? Also yes. The truth is that there isn’t enough interest for developers to want to care about Linux if it’s not easy for them to do so, and rather than alienating people from the Linux community just because they want to play Windows games, we should be welcoming them with open arms and showing them how to get around what may be the one deterrent they face.
If you’re going to ask someone to switch to an operating system that they don’t know and need to learn, and they need to no longer play their favorite games, that’s a pretty tall order for a lot of people.
Download Steam
DevelopmentIf anything, development on Linux is easier than on Windows. I use virtualization software in the form of Docker and VirtualBox, both of which are much easier to set up and use on Linux. Docker itself can be finicky to use, whereas the terminal in Ubuntu makes managing and switching between my containers a breeze. The environment variables are also much quicker to manage (in my opinion), meaning that it is easier to set up file paths for SDKs and commonly used project management tools like Maven.
I personally use IntelliJ as my IDE for Java, and PyCharm as my IDE for Python. Setting up LaTeX for document creation and editing was also much easier than on Windows, particularly when attempting to install all of the LaTeX packages that I use for my document templates. LaTeX is a collection of independent tools, and the LaTeX distribution that I use is TeX Live.
Download Docker
Download VirtualBox
Download IntelliJ
Download PyCharm
Download LaTeX
Photo editingSadly, Adobe hasn’t released any of its tools officially on Linux. There are two ways to get the likes of Photoshop working on Linux - WINE and PlayOnLinux, or VirtualBox. As already mentioned, virtualization technologies work well on Linux, and it shouldn’t be a problem to get working. However, it’s likely that performance will suffer if running it in a full-fledged Windows VM, particularly if your computer isn’t powerful. If you don’t need all of the advanced features of Photoshop, then you can switch to using GIMP for photo editing, as it does a lot of what Photoshop does.
Download GIMP
Video editing softwareMost major video editors aren’t on Linux, and therefore, it’s likely you’re going to need to learn to use a new video editing software. I use MAGIX Vegas 16 for my video editing, and others might not use Adobe Premiere. If you don’t mind learning a new video editor, then the powerful DaVinci Resolve might be exactly what you need to transition over to Linux. What’s more, DaVinci Resolve is free, so you can try it out without needing to break the bank. Like anything, there’s a learning curve, but I found that having had experience with many different editors, I was able to pick it up fairly quickly.
Download DaVinci Resolve
Awesome right up!! I've gone 50/50 Windows-Linux but my distro of choice after trying many, many is Manjaro. It's very easy on computer resources and looks beautiful.
I'm hoping to do a full build of Arch this summer
Arch will be a walk in the park for you after learning Manjaro. You'll find that it's also more stable than Manjaro.
I switched to Linux a year and a half ago and haven't looked back since. Why you ask, well because I got fed up with windoze spyware. Same reason why I use a custom ROM without google trash apps though I kinda miss google maps but hey you can't have it all.
chomsky55 said:
I switched to Linux a year and a half ago and haven't looked back since. Why you ask, well because I got fed up with windoze spyware. Same reason why I use a custom ROM without google trash apps though I kinda miss google maps but hey you can't have it all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
XPx64 was Window's zenith with W7 being it's last good OS. I run W7 and have a XPx64 machine.
Zero faith in W11, the fail runs strong in MS.
So sick of big sister wannabes.
I helped my brother install Linux Mint MATE in his 8 year old laptop (dual-boot) and it was 5 to 10 times faster than Win10 and since then I have never even thought about using Windows 10.
#Linux4Life
Much emphasis has been placed on open-source, and I think each person approaching the use of Linux on their PC should consider unpacking this angle because there's lots to think about here. For instance, open-source doesn't necessarily mean free, and neither does it mean best in practice. Nvidia may have refused to release open-source drivers for their GPUs, but they're also spent the last year and a half working with Valve and a number of large hardware manufacturers to make their tech accessible as well as viable for gaming in Linux. Without these two companies providing this support, and the updates they continue to provide, this latest push, the most advancement made towards Linux becoming a viable platform for gaming, would not exist. And their software remains proprietary still. So does the open-source philosophy really provide much draw for non-Linux users to take the plunge?
On the note of users coming from other operating systems, I think it's perfectly reasonable to consider anybody in this group the same as drivers who don't know anything about the mechanical workings of an automobile yet still manage to use them for their intended purpose. Learning to service a vehicle yourself in order to perform maintenance or repairs is to develop a technical skill that many if not most people will never do. For most, the computer is a technical tool fit to facilitate achieving an objective. They don't fancy taking on the role of the mechanic any more than they see themselves becoming a veterinarian to provide care for Fido or Spot. Until Linux's user-experience can be as guided and polished as the simpler alternatives, it will remain the technical user's OS, primarily used by enthusiasts and programmers/developers.
sammiev said:
Arch will be a walk in the park for you after learning Manjaro. You'll find that it's also more stable than Manjaro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate that. Hopefully before summer ends, I can get started on it
Clamtacos said:
Until Linux's user-experience can be as guided and polished as the simpler alternatives, it will remain the technical user's OS, primarily used by enthusiasts and programmers/developers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the number one reason why I use Linux in the first place. I stopped compiling ROMS with the HTC-Evo - which was the first time I set up a Linux build. The first computer I ever bought was a Win 95 Machine (I actually had an old DOS machine with Win 3.1 on it for a short time) and from the beginning, I jumped right into being "the Mechanic"
I JUST started with Ubuntu the other day. I am finding getting connected to my NAS devices takes a LOT of time. Wondering what I need to change/do to make it as fast as Windowz. Just a 2X click and I'm there.
I also can't seem to find a setting for how I want to have my desktop. I don't want a wallpaper just a solid color background.
I'm 70 and it's like starting all over again with a PC. I KNOW my way around Windowz, after all been on it since 1988 and MS DOS before that. So I'm somewhat savvy but this is a whole new world.
flhthemi said:
I JUST started with Ubuntu the other day. I am finding getting connected to my NAS devices takes a LOT of time. Wondering what I need to change/do to make it as fast as Windowz. Just a 2X click and I'm there.
I also can't seem to find a setting for how I want to have my desktop. I don't want a wallpaper just a solid color background.
I'm 70 and it's like starting all over again with a PC. I KNOW my way around Windowz, after all been on it since 1988 and MS DOS before that. So I'm somewhat savvy but this is a whole new world.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, which Distro are you using and second, Google/Bing/Duck are your best friends. On almost any Distro there are packages you can install that will allow you to tweak your settings, download other wallpapers, fonts, etc. That;'s one of the best parts of Linux - it's customizable to anyway YOU want
Over the years I've kept looking at using Linux instead of Windows. But every time I go back to Windows for the following reasons:
I find the Linux system management arcane. I don't want to be a systems manager. I want something as "easy" as Windows' Control Panel/Settings
I use Microsoft Office products and OpenOffice is, for me, not a suitable alternative, especially not for Excel
I use iTunes for my music
I've tried Wine but found it clunky and slow.
I really like the scripting Linux has (I use lots of shell scripts to get certain tasks done) so I use Windows Subsystem for Linux. But that's a far cry from a full-fledge PC.
Clamtacos said:
Much emphasis has been placed on open-source, and I think each person approaching the use of Linux on their PC should consider unpacking this angle because there's lots to think about here. For instance, open-source doesn't necessarily mean free, and neither does it mean best in practice. Nvidia may have refused to release open-source drivers for their GPUs, but they're also spent the last year and a half working with Valve and a number of large hardware manufacturers to make their tech accessible as well as viable for gaming in Linux. Without these two companies providing this support, and the updates they continue to provide, this latest push, the most advancement made towards Linux becoming a viable platform for gaming, would not exist. And their software remains proprietary still. So does the open-source philosophy really provide much draw for non-Linux users to take the plunge?
On the note of users coming from other operating systems, I think it's perfectly reasonable to consider anybody in this group the same as drivers who don't know anything about the mechanical workings of an automobile yet still manage to use them for their intended purpose. Learning to service a vehicle yourself in order to perform maintenance or repairs is to develop a technical skill that many if not most people will never do. For most, the computer is a technical tool fit to facilitate achieving an objective. They don't fancy taking on the role of the mechanic any more than they see themselves becoming a veterinarian to provide care for Fido or Spot. Until Linux's user-experience can be as guided and polished as the simpler alternatives, it will remain the technical user's OS, primarily used by enthusiasts and programmers/developers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I Agree with U.
Non-Commercial licenses have its own limitation too.
But, commercial and non-commercial licenses have given us "a color" in our life!
HipKat said:
First, which Distro are you using and second, Google/Bing/Duck are your best friends. On almost any Distro there are packages you can install that will allow you to tweak your settings, download other wallpapers, fonts, etc. That;'s one of the best parts of Linux - it's customizable to anyway YOU want
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I WAS using 20.04 but got so frustrated I had to give up. I couldn't figure out how to add a folder to the desktop and then put shortcuts in it. Made a folder but I couldn't put anything into it. Then I played some STEREO 2CH videos and only the left side would be audible. Sound settings are so minimal....using the slider for L/R balance did nothing to change it. I guess I'm just too dang stupid to figure it out.
I'm not bad mouthing it, believe me. It's just not the right distro for me, I guess.
flhthemi said:
I WAS using 20.04 but got so frustrated I had to give up. I couldn't figure out how to add a folder to the desktop and then put shortcuts in it. Made a folder but I couldn't put anything into it. Then I played some STEREO 2CH videos and only the left side would be audible. Sound settings are so minimal....using the slider for L/R balance did nothing to change it. I guess I'm just too dang stupid to figure it out.
I'm not bad mouthing it, believe me. It's just not the right distro for me, I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey i get it too. But, I can say, depending on where you are at with updates, 20.04 has been getting many updates over past few weeks.
i can say gamers and audio files are folks that use a program for the needs. should look at snaps for a Real Hi-Fi player. (Some browsers and some players are just not good enough)
Hang in there... from what I have been reading, the next Ubuntu LTS seems to be rather nice, right from the start. Just need the right software for what you want to do
I JUST started with Ubuntu the other day. I am finding getting connected to my NAS devices takes a LOT of time. Wondering what I need to change/do to make it as fast as Windowz. Just a 2X click and I'm there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Ubuntu from time to time. For mounting nas shares I use a script file with mount points which I execute after boot. Example line for the script below. Make sure you create mount points first (for example /media/Tv-shows)
sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.1.123/data/TV-Shows -o uid=1000,username=admin,password=password,rw,nounix,iocharset=utf8 /media/Tv-Shows
I'm sure there is more (maybe easier) ways but this is how I do it
I guess I'm just spoiled. I don't feel I should have to do a script to access my NAS. They showed up but were not accessible in Mint or in Ubuntu. I installed Zorin? and access to them and could make book marks. Somehow, I still felt limited. So I just threw in the towel and went back to Windowz. Too old to give a dang and too set in my ways I guess. Thanks for the info and the help but it's just not gonna be an OS for me.
I just dual boot so I can have the best of both worlds. Thanks for sharing.
sammiev said:
Arch will be a walk in the park for you after learning Manjaro. You'll find that it's also more stable than Manjaro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um no
Arch is obviously more stable then manjaro, but it definitely won't be a walk in the park (especially the installation) after using an OS with pre-included apps
I'd suggest using Arch after mastering the Debian based distros (like ubuntu or mint) or experiment with manjaro in a vm (better in my opinion)
NullCode said:
Um no
Arch is obviously more stable then manjaro, but it definitely won't be a walk in the park (especially the installation) after using an OS with pre-included apps
I'd suggest using Arch after mastering the Debian based distros (like ubuntu or mint) or experiment with manjaro in a vm (better in my opinion)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm long past Ubuntu and Mint and I've watched a few walk-throughs for building Arch from code. It'll be a project but one worth taking on
Hello World , I am most definitely not the best person to be writing this but somebody's gotta.This will be my best attempt to create and maintain an ongoing description of different Linux Distributions, starting with the most popular and branching out from there. If you're new to Linux, or are interested in using it, practically the first thing you are expected to do is choose a Distro (shorthand for distribution) of GNU/Linux to use. Well if that's where you're at, or are looking to find out more about Linux distributions in general, I'm here to break down the pieces and start a tour of distros so you can find what beckons to you. This part can get a lot of people caught up thinking there's a right/wrong answer, really though, the joy of Linux is making it your own and once you know what you're doing, the make and breaks of a distribution will mostly be their software manager and it's repositories (database of applications). Unless otherwise noted, be aware that practically all distros are designed w/ daily use in mind and will likely come with or be easy to install a basic suite of software to meet those needs.
Spoiler: More About
Most beginner guides and resources for Linux are around Ubuntu and if you want things to be easy, just go download that and be gone, but what I've learned, and hope to share in these posts, is that Ubuntu isn't perfect for everyone, and much of the support for Ubuntu also works on other distros, maybe with a few different keywords. The out of the box experience of other distros may be more or less to your taste, and exploring what you do or don't like by jumping distributions is known as distro hopping. This thread may both be a resource for hopping as well as finding the single right distro for you right now.
I am not an authority on Linux nor would I consider myself an "expert," this isn't a complete guide to distibutions either. Anyone with more experience or knowledge than I is free to correct me or add info and I'll do my best to acknowledge and update. I'll also do my best to refrain from speaking too much on things I don't know about, and will denote when I'm unsure. Also stars will be placed like *Distro Names* to deote I know about but do not have firsthand experience with them. I'm writing this post as I have a slightly above average knowledge and understanding on the world of Linux and would like to share what I can for those just starting their journey, as well as take this experience to expand my own knowledge base. If you want more info on each and every distro, check out something like distrowatch.
1. A Dirty Introduction to Linux For those regular to the XDA forum, a good point of comparison for a Linux distro would be the custom ROM scene for Android, where we have the OEM stuff like OxygenOS, OneUI, but then we see the custom scene starting from AOSP, and derivative Lineage, AOKP, and more complex derivatives like crDroid and Dirty Unicorns (RIP ). But there is a distinct difference in practice between custom Android ROMs and Linux distros, which is binary (application) compatibility. Just because an application was written/compiled for one version of Linux doesn't mean it won't be compatible with others, but generally speaking, that is not the expectation with pre-compiled apps for Linux. All the major distributions simplify getting the right version of the app through the package manager, the Linux equivalent of the Play Store or F-Droid, unlike Android though, everything is typically free .
For one reason or another, you may find an application is not available, or maybe it's outdated/doesn't work. The good news is because most Linux software is open source, you can just compile the source code within your distribution to make it run. Whereas with Android, there is platform uniformity through unified app stores like the Play Store, Linux is a bit more fragmented, but not in a way that has to affect your usability. It is in part due to the variety in Linux distributions that we find them to be more secure than their closed source conterparts, malware written for Ubuntu for example would have to be re-written to work on or sometimes be completely ineffective against say Fedora- or Arch-based distros.
Spoiler: Overview
If you're interested in just seeing what some of the distros have to offer, jump to part 2, but this is where I'd like to break down the different pieces to a GNU/Linux system so you will have a better understanding what's actually going on between distributions hopefully. Unlike a platform like Windows where different functions in the system are all tied to one another in ways we can expect only Microsoft devs to truly understand, and Android where the majority of the what you the user interacts with is designed by Google while using proprietary drivers pre-baked into your handset, Linux can be (and often IS) built piece-by-piece. I'm sure there is better language to describe the difference in philosophy but the words escape me. But from here, we'll be breaking down the bigger pieces distributions will customize and include to make the full experiences we expect from them. Keep in mind this is my best to give an overview of these different parts, but is by no means all that can be said. Every section and subsection following here until part 2 is a deep enough topic to make it's own post, or several posts on, describing the pros and cons, gives and takes of each component choice, and the actual user experience some of these components provide are best experienced firsthand. Just know these are where you find many of the similarities and differences between distros.
1.1 Fixed vs Rolling If there's one difference between two distros you should be keenly aware of, it's gotta be distinguishing distributions by their release patterns. Many distros release on a fixed cycle. They'll push out individual and important updates on a regular basis, but will wait for major releases to make large changes. That's where we see things like new features and user interfaces updated on these, when they have a new version release. Compare that to a rolling distro where each component of the system is updated as soon as an update is ready, meaning you may have a major version change to a component months before someone on a fixed distro, but you may get a major change that changes your workflow with little to no warning when running system updates. They both have their gives and takes, but basic rule of thumb is Fixed distros for reliability, Rolling distros for cutting edge features. Standard individual apps, like Firefox, or LibreOffice will update on regular cycles with fixed distros still, maybe not as immediately as a rolling distro usually though, we're mainly talking about OS level updates being either fixed or immediate.
1.2 The Kernel (GNU, and the Bootloader too ) The heart and soul of Linux, the Kernel itself. Developed by Linus Torvalds, the Linux kernel is essential to the OS, and is what provides the most basic functionality of the computer past the BIOS and bootloader. You may have noticed people (including myself0 using Linux and GNU/Linux interchangeably, there's a very quotable meme here to summarize what this means:
Spoiler: CopyPasta
I'd just like to interject for moment. What you're referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called Linux, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.
There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called Linux distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux!
Put briefly, the Linux kernel handles many system level functions, while user commands and most other basic system level functions are built into what's known as the GNU corelibs and shell utilities, open source projects initially developed separately but are now essential to using a Linux system on a PC. And this right here is what makes desktop Linux (GNU/Linux) different from Android, which is only Linux based and uses many fewer GNU tools. The GNU Project itself is massive (and we'll touch on more applications later) it, includes the essentials for not only GNU/Linux but for any operating system trying to get off the ground. Sure, you can develop your own functions, but if they achieve the same thing as a GNU tool, why not use the tested and trusted libraries/programs that already exist?
Leading us to the most essential GNU tool when starting up your PC, essential to getting an OS up and running, the Bootloader. Android users who root or do any customization will already know a little what this is, but like most things for Linux, is typically GNU and open-source on a PC. There are non-GNU alternatives, but the most common Linux bootloader is GRUB (the GNU GRand Unified Bootloader). So why am I mentioning this? Well coming from any recent Windows PC, the only part of a bootloader you've seen would be maybe a Windows icon or your motherboards OEM icon as Windows is getting ready, on older PCs, you might have gotten a couple lines of text after your BIOS completed post (first part of turning on a PC, sometimes adjustments need to be made to BIOS for new OS and bootloaders to install), but nothing like GRUB. Sure, you can have it only flash on the screen but upon turning on, you need something that tells the computer where an operating system is and loading the initial programs that will allow it to start running and take the reigns from there. GRUB is compatible with practically all operating systems and will be essential if you intend to dual-boot with Windows still installed or if you have multiple distros on your machine. It loads the Kernel, required drivers, and initial system services needed to make everything else work, and once past the bootloader, with a standard distro, you'll be put into userland, where you can sign in, start programs, , do your computing things. There's very little difference between versions of GRUB besides visual, though there are ways you can customize it.
The Kernel which the bootloader loads is where we see the first main thing that vaaries between the distros, as there are different optimizations, behaviors, or even drivers within the kernel itself that need the distribution writers to configure for the best experience possible. For the most part though, even though the Kernel including with a distro is tuned for it, most Linux kernels can be used across distros, or the one's included in a distro are based off of forks of the Kernel for specific things.
Common non-distribution specific versions/forks are: - Linux Stable (All the standard kernel stuffs, with maybe a couple tweaks applied by the distribution, typically loading modules [extra instructions needed for different use cases])
- Linux LTS (Long Term Support, may be missing newer edge features but will get essential updates for years to come, may be missing some security patches, but more stable, and less attack vectors afaik)
- Linux Hardened (making changes that may slow down or otherwise negatively impact performance, but overall make the system less susceptible to attacks)
- Linux Zen (focused on making the user experience the best possible with improvements to memory management and resource management as a whole)
Exactly which kernel options will be available to you out of the box will depend on your distribution, but most will install a standard or LTS kernel and then give official options in settings, with unofficial options able to be installed by other means, often the package manager.
1.3 Free vs NonFree Drivers (Not related to money) This section can be summarized with this: Do you have a Nvidia GPU you need/want to use? Do you intend to watch copy-protected media? Then you need proprietary drivers, written and maintained by organizations that don't support the open source agenda but know their products must work with open source software due to it's prevalence in certain industries and product types. At least for the Nvidia driver, there is an open source alternative, but do not expect it to do anything besides the barest of basics when it comes to visual effects and performance. AMD and Intel both have open source drivers that are on par with their closed source Windows counterparts to my understanding.
1.4 The Package Manager (and Daemons incl. systemd ) This is one of the more critical aspects of different distributions, how you get your applications, and how they are managed. Any component to a Linux system, whether it be a the settings menu or Firefox, is considered a package, and the package that handles other packages on a system level is the package manager. While many package managers exist, there tend to be the primary ones for a distribution base like Ubuntu/Debian has DPKG, Fedora has RPM, and Arch has Pacman. Some more universal package manager formats exist, like Snap, but they aren't ideal as they may lack the system integration expected of repository hosted packages.
A background application is typically denoted as a service, though in Linux a service specifically interacts to requests from other programs and the user, while a daemon typically handles only system level functions, which includes monitoring hardware and keeping services alive. The initialization of these daemons is done through the init system loaded at boot after the kernel. The most commonly used init system is systemd right now, but used to be sysv. The exact functions of these systems are too complex for me to go more in detail here, and would require I learn more than I already do, but what I can say is that systemd does much more than what sysv did and in doing so, has many more problems including reliability and security issues that other init systems do not have, though is used for the same reasons that it has problems: it's complex but handles a lot of functions you'd need more daemons, services, and packages to achieve otherwise.
1.5 The Desktop Environment (Including the Display Servers and Window Managers) Now we're in the territory of aesthetics and software suites, this is where we'll find both the most and least change between distributions,, at least from a beginner's perspective. Once you have a booted computer, you're typically greeted by a login screen, but even this is a variable your distribution chooses for you by default. Once your system initializes, it needs to communicate graphical information to you but that's not part of Linux or the GNU corelibs. Remember, when this stuff was developed originally, computers were more text than graphics, so a service was developed to display graphics, the Xorg server, evolving into modern X11, was the primary backbone of graphical UIs until a modern replacement known as Wayland began development. It's a server because it handles services, though is itself a type of service. Both have ongoing development though Wayland fixes many problems a 30+ year old program is bound to contain for compatibility. In creating a new standard though, Wayland has split development of the other key ingredient to a real graphical user interface. That said, as a user, typically it won't matter which you choose, but may find some oddities between the two in terms of display scaling and some display features working better in one or the other. I'd say though stick w/ what the distro recommends unless you have a specific issue, just trying to cover the differences.
Moving on, I said before Xorg (or Wayland) is the initial service so your computer knows hot to draw graphics, but it's a type of service known as a server waiting for other services to interact, so then loads a fully fleshed out library (either GTK or QT) to determine styling and such. Once the display server and library are designated and loaded comes the Display Manager, or in other words, login screen. From there one more major piece, the window manager, determines how you can actually manipulate the stylized applications. Other UI services will also be loaded such as system bars, docks, and universal menus. The combination of these things into more complete software suites is what's known as a desktop environment (or DE). All those details are picked out for you when you download a distribution, which will have a default flavor (the primary Desktop Environment they develop for and expect you to use) and flavors w/ other desktop environments that another internal team may maintain to assure compatibility and consistency between updates and versions. There's a lot of Desktop Environments and Window Managers, but they all do the same types of things and have some commonality between them between their QT or GTK origins and their reliance on Xorg or Wayland.
Some common desktop environments and window managers include: GNOME - (Premier GTK environment, many forks and derivatives exist, but is good for both touch and traditional mouse/keyboard, but doesn't function like most people expect at first. It can be used similarly to Windows or Mac, but isn't designed to and is best learned correctly before applying too many customization, otherwise why not pick a better fit?)
KDE - (Arguably the most advanced in terms of overall features and customizability, at least of complete DEs. Functions similarly to Windows, w/ some Mac like configuration options. More extensible than GNOME, but also less stable in my experience)
OpenBox - (A completely customizable window manager many other window managers are based on. Does not include all components of a DE, instead giving the bare basics for handling many windows, and leaving the DE experience down to additional packages and/or customization of OpenBox itself)
i3 Window Manager - (A favorite Tiling Window Manager. Always want to lock sections of your screens for specific apps, it may take time to get acquainted but this is for you)
1.6 Gaming (and Windows App Compatibility) Despite what many distributions claim, or how this information gets presented, you can expect nearly all distros to have similar compatibility save for the pre-configured programs to help with this. This is due to the same core component(s) across the board for this, Wine and Proton. These are compatibility layers, made to provide the necessary instructions to run binary applications with Windows specific instructions and using Linux/Unix/GNU functions instead. This is done by interpreting the DLLs or Dynamically Linked Libraries which are different app to app and may need different settings to work correctly. Using Wine (or gaming focused Proton), most programs will run without too much hassle but where distributions differ are in their included tools to simplify this such as WineTricks or PlayOnLinux.If you need Windows apps on the daily, and if those apps are reliant on peak performance as much as possible, Linux may not be right for that, not right now at least. But if you're willing to troubleshoot and compromise, you'll find that almost everything can be run in Linux with some tweaking. The worse case would be to look into Virtual Machines, or sandboxxed operating systems created, and with the right configuration and additional features, can be used in ways that make the apps run almost natively, though you are running Windows to maintain it so is only feasible on powerful enough computers, and will hamper battery life if used on a laptop in most scenarios. With this said, I don't recommend "gaming" distros of Linux unless there is something particularly special about gaming on it (there are a couple, but none meant for daily use). If a good distro has a seperate gaming version, I'll try to mention it, but keep in mind, most of the time you'll be installing bloat and you just need PlayOnLinux and WineTricks to get what you want out of it.
2. The Classics When getting into Linux, you'll likely find a few very commonly recommended or mentioned distributions, and nearly all other distros are based on these, or based off of the same base in Ubuntu's case. If you're new to Linux, you don't have to use these, but start here so the rest of the distro descriptions make sense.
Spoiler
2.1 Ubuntu
Spoiler
The tried, the true, you can't go wrong when going with Ubuntu. But what makes Ubuntu so ubiquitous in the Linux community? From their regular long-term support distributions and wide range of utilities included with it, Ubuntu is the go-to fixed distribution for anyone looking for ease of use in Linux. They offer both an LTS version for users not wishing for regular upgrades, with every other version being a standard release, updated for a little while, but phased out much more quickly for each new release. The default flavor of Ubuntu has for some time now come with the GNOME Desktop Environment, pretty much the standard for Linux desktops. Due to it's size and corporate backing, you'll find prorgrams are easier to find, download, and sometimes even use on Ubuntu. This has the downside of including many more nonfree proprietary pieces of software, as well as less care put in to user privacy. That said though, more things work out of the box, and you'll find it comes with a simple to use graphical package manager which allows you to find and install applications with ease though. If you're still afraid of touching a computer terminal, Ubuntu is a safe choice as you transition away from propietary computing.
As will be the case with many of these distributions, Ubuntu isn't entirely responsible for it's non-GNU/Linux pieces, particularly, it used the Deb package format through installed through DKPG (the Debian Package Manager) usually using APT (Advanced Package Tool). Or in simpler terms, it's based on another Linux distro, Debian Linux. We'll give some more info on that later, but what that means here is that Ubuntu is built on top of what's come before, and has integrated what has come after for a feature-rich experience w/ consistent theming. In addition to the Debian package base though, there are also Snaps which are sandboxed applications that can be updated directly without the need of Ubuntu pushing out an update, but are not popular among many of the users. My understanding is that this is due to it being sandboxed, thus may behave different or not fit in as thematically as apps maintained by the official repositories.
On top of it being a well-themed, reliable OS, it comes in both user and server oriented releases w/ many official and unofficial flavors existing including:
Kubuntu - Ubuntu w/ KDE, or the K Desktop Environment. More Windows like, but also more customizable than the default GNOME
Ubuntu Mate - Created when GNOMEwent from version 2.x to 3.x, Mate (pronounced mah-tay, like Yerba Mate) is a more traditional desktop that can look and feel like Windows or Mac, but is a continuation of what GNOME 2.x was, a good looking, performant desktop environment
Xubuntu - Ubuntu using Xfce, a well rounded, simple desktop manager that's always felt like a bit of Windows XP and 7 combined to me, leaning more on the XP side. Primarily used as a stable desktop environment that uses minimal resources while including the features expected, like window snapping, animated window resizing, and a navigation bar.
Ubuntu Budgie - Using the Budgie DE, this is often considered to be closer to a Mac-like experience, but besides the central dock, has a lot going for it distinctly un-Apple like. The programs menu and widgets it includes makes this DE feel like it's own thing
Plenty more flavors exist but these felt like the most critical to mention. As we'll get to later, many distinct Ubuntu-based distros exist too, but just because it is based on Ubuntu doesn't make it a flavor of Ubuntu, which I hope to illustrate when comparing to Linux Mint later on.
Examples of
App install
Code:
sudo dnf install xxx
App Update
Code:
sudo apt update
System Update
Code:
sudo apt dist-upgrade
2.2 RHEL/Fedora
Spoiler
Doing business w/ Linux? Well then this is probably the Linux distro most recommended for this. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a commercial Linux distro aimed at the business market currently maintained by IBM. For those reasons, you'll find it's likely easier to get business oriented software on here as companies have come to trust Red Hat to make some of the most stable and secure software you can get out of the box with few compromises. Fedora is the open source free version of RHEL maintained by the community. You'll find more features and user centric programs with Fedora, but are binary compatible, or programs will work across the board. That said, even though RHEL is sold for real money, these distros are much stricter in regards to what's included being open-source and you won't be getting perfect hardware support out of the box if you have something like a Nvidia GPU or software needing proprietary drivers, and is probably the least recommended distro here for gaming on Linux. There's less customizations done than say Ubuntu as well, but you may find it more performant and reliable than Ubuntu partly due to this. These distros are released on a fixed cycle as well but unlike Ubuntu, there isn't a long-term support version, instead, to stay up-to-date, you must be willing to upgrade every 9 months or so. For this reason, Ubuntu server is much more popular for server situations.
Inside of RHEL/Fedora, you'll find the RPM package format with the DNF package manager to install. This is a package format incompatible with Ubuntu, Arch, and other distros not based off the same source code, but the visual package manager will appear quite similar between it and Ubuntu. If you're willing to download Fedora instead of Ubuntu, I'd hope you are a little more inclined to use the Terminal for package management as you'll find it's a lot easier to type a couple words than open a program, type, search, read description, click multiple times before finishing an install. One other interesting thing to note that's different between Ubuntu and most other distributions is that Fedora uses BTRFS by default for it's file system. This is in regards to how it stores and manages files, on Windows, everything is exFAT or NTFS usually, but in Linux, you'll find the most common is called ext4. Consensus seems to be that BTRFS is the best of these options, but ext4's limitations haven't been met and has been stable for longer, so we will not see BTRFS as the default all too often.
Examples of
App install
Code:
sudo apt install xxx
App Update
Code:
sudo dnf upgrade
System Update (multi-step via command line)
Code:
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh
##restart PC, REQUIRED STEP BEFORE ALL UPDATES##
Code:
sudo dnf system-upgrade download --releasever=xx ##WHERE xx IS THE VERSION NUMBER##
sudo dnf system-upgrade reboot
Similar to Ubuntu, there are flavors here, maintained directly by the main dev team instead of individual devs though, known as Fedora Spins. Similar to Ubuntu, you'll find both a KDE and Xfce spin, as well as many others. And like Ubuntu, there exists distros based on Fedora but distinctly different, though due to it's relative simplicity in presenting itself, there are far less of these. Because both Ubuntu and Fedora have a lot of money backing them, they are some of the best distributions for anyone new to Linux, but maybe you're not wanting some corporate entity in charge of maintaining your software. Maybe you're more inspired by the community co-creation aspect, or want to have more control over the fine details of how your PC works. If so then read on.
2.3 Arch
Spoiler
Got that DIY attitude with the time and patience to learn new skills? Well Arch might be right for you. It's not building Linux from the ground up (we'll get there) but it has usually required you (the user) to not only configure your hard drive and manually copy files and such, though there are automated tools to help, and as of recently, now includes one of these. It sticks to the principles of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid), which is to say it has all the simplest necessities out of the box, unfortunately not the simplest to install. You get a terminal interface, a rolling linux system, some networking tools, and that's about it. If you want a GUI, you have to install the GUI, if the default config of the GUI doesn't work for you, you have to customize the GUI. While this may sound daunting, it's not as bad as you think, partly due to my favorite package manager here, PACMAN! As will be the case with basically all the package managers here, it will help you get all the dependencies required to install and run an applications correctly.
On top of having this standard package manager, Arch users have another goldmine of applications you don't get any where else, the AUR, or Arch User Repository. While AUR apps are not installable the same way through pacman as other apps, you'll find many apps here that otherwise claim to only work on Ubuntu or Fedora, as well as many gits for programs that wouldn't make it into standard repositories. The up to this is you can almost always get something working on Arch with little trouble, the downside to this is that the AUR needs to be maintained, and sometimes you may find an out-of-date AUR listing and not realize you'd be better off cloning and compiling the git yourself. Or in the worst case, they may be pre-compiled or need PGP keys that the maintainer has not maintained, making it uninstallable. Luckily, it's really only apps that aren't necessary where this happens, but it's still frustrating nonetheless.
Because of it's barebones nature but wide compatibility, you can use Arch however you please, but you have to know the different pieces to make it work how you want. For example, do you want it to be a file server? Well, if you know what apps would make it a non-graphical file server, you can do that. Want it to be a network logger? Download the right applications again, and let it do it's thing. Because there's so little extra, you are less likely than on most other Linux platforms to run into performance issues, and can have servers with extraordinarlily long runtimes. But you can also bring it all down a lot more easily if you don't know what you're doing and either have incompatible packages or configuring them in ways that crash your PC, so user beware.
Examples of
App install
Code:
sudo pacman -S xxx
Package Update (since this is a rolling release, this will update both user and system apps)
Code:
sudo pacman -Syu
Package Search
Code:
pacman -Q "xxx"
An AUR helper (not recommended by devs, though used by many, including most Arch based distros including these
Code:
sudo pacman -S yay
##Once installed##
yay "xxx"
##enter your sudo password to proceed)
2.4 * Gentoo (More info in Section 6) *
Spoiler
While Arch Linux is about keeping it simple while making you do a bit of the work, Gentoo is a distribution with an even more hardcore DIY philosophy having you make many more conscious decesions about your Linux. A big theme in the Gentoo community is building and compiling one's own software, this is not a beginner's OS by any means, and a solid, working knowledge of Linux and terminal navigation will be required. Due to this, details will be discussed much later on.
2.4.1 ChromeOS/ChromiumOS ChromeOS and ChromiumOS are linux distributions based off Gentoo designed for simplicity with the Chrome (or Chromium) browser taking center stage. If you're interested in Linux though, you'd be looking at ways to remove ChromeOS from your machine, not add it typically.
3. Debian-based? Debian based So none of the above caught your attention? Maybe you want the compatibility of Ubuntu but don't want as much proprietary software, or are not comfortable with a large company like Canonical creating and maintaining Ubuntu as they please. Well as stated earlier, Ubuntu is derived from Debian, which provides the base for packages and binary applications to run, meaning anything else based on Debian should have similar compatibility.
Spoiler
3.1 Debian (Buster)
Spoiler
Starting off strong is the og, Debian itself. Currently on Debian 10, codenamed Buster, it is fast and reliable, with a focus on LTS (long-term support) rather than bringing cutting edge features. Similar to Ubuntu, it is easy to use proprietary drivers as needed, and is also released on a fixed model. That said, we haven't seen a major release in years, but many new features do eventually get added through incremental updates and you can use Debian Testing if you'd like to get some of the newer features you might find in something like Ubuntu or Mint
3.2 Linux Mint
Spoiler
Based off Ubuntu (which is Debian-based, so is Debian-based in a sense), Mint is a popular choice amongst people distrusting of Canonical but wanting a stable OS with intercompatibility basically guaranteed. The default Desktop Environemnt is one of the devs own creation, being a modified version of GNOME 3.x known as Cinnamon. It has a glassy almost Win7 look to it, but has evolved it's own design language as it's matured. That said, Mint is a little more privacy focused, and do a good job maintaining their repository to avoid the use of the oft-maligned SNAP package format Ubuntu pushes.
While the DE Cinammon is GNOME based, it offers greater customizability than GNOME while taking less resources. It has many of the same elements as GNOME but presented in a way that desktop users will feel more at home such as the navigation bar at the bottom and the start menu being much closer to Windows than GNOME 3.x it's based off of.
3.2 Deepin (I'd urge you to look at alternatives, maybe ok if you live in China but still better alternatives)
Spoiler
You may find Deepin in your search for a Debian or Ubuntu OS that looks nicer, and by all means, Deepin is a beatiful system, originally based off Ubuntu and KDE, they moved to a Debian base and have developed their OS to so it's not just some souped up KDE on here, but it's own Desktop Environment. It has it's own dock, settings menu, terminal, text editor, etc. with KWin being the only part of the DE distinctly KDE. But even then, that's more in a technical sense than a usability sense as Deepin looks more like a Mac than anything we've discussed so far. That said, Deepin isn't completely open source though and was created and is most used in China. Due to the CCP, many are skeptical of this distro, though the main dealbreaker comes down to the repos being Chinese based so downloads are slow and unreliable.
The good news and why Deepin get's its own listing here is that it's DE is so striking, it's been brought to the other Linux distros including Ubuntu and Arch so you can get all the eye-candy with your favorite distro and none of the potential spying.
3.3 Raspberry Pi OS (NOT YOUR ONLY OPTION)
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Based on Debian, this is the official OS that the Raspberry Pi team maintains and recommends. If you have a Pi 3 or 4, feel free to use this, but a none GUI OS will probably be better for performance and storage space. Basically Debian with some Pi tools built in
3.4 SteamOS (DEAD)
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Valve's (1st) attempt at making a Linux OS for their licensed Steam Machines. SteamOS was available to download and install on other systems and was based on Debian as well, with Steam Big Picture taking control of the interface. It is not well maintained now and is not recommended, even with it's Steam integration. A new SteamOS could come up but the same thing could be achieved with any of these distributions w/ Steam installed.
3.5 * Kali Linux *
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Many know this as the hacker's Linux. It is based on Debian and comes with tools designed for penetration testing as well as a lot of other cybersecuirty software. More could be said, but if that's what you're into, I don't think you need me to tell you more, do your own research how to use this OS, it is not recommended for new users.
3.6 * PopOS! *
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An Ubuntu derivative gaining a lot of traction lately, PopOS! is created by System76, the largest Linux specific computer company targeted at individul consumers. It is another user-friendly OS to operate and install, but unlike Ubuntu, doesn't want your data, and is more privacy centric. In addition though, there are performance centric features pre-configured here like having the Vulkan GPU drivers installed out of the box, but not much you can't do w/ Ubuntu as well, though they claim to have many other under the hood improvements. User satisfaction w/ PopOS! seems to be higher from my experience. Same can be said of Linux Mint though.
4. Pacman? Waka-WakaSo a fixed release cycle isn't right for you. Maybe you want all the cutting edge features Linux can offer and you want it now. Or maybe you want the endless user repositories of the AUR without the trouble of setting it up from scratch. If that sounds like you but Arch is still a bit above your head to setup and maintain, well then an Arch-based distro might be for you
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4.1 Manjaro
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Based on Arch, but is much more like Ubuntu in terms of set goals and presentation. This is a highly recommended distro if you want the customizability of Arch, but aren't quite confident enough to format your own harddisks and initialize your bootloader/EFI partition.
4.2 Garuda KDE Dr460nized
Spoiler
Like Manjaro, but a greater emphasis on aesthetics and performance. Uses the Linux Zen Kernel and BTRFS for optimal performance. These features do not reflect well in vitual machines, as compared to running on real hardware. While I don't specify flavors too often, this is their customized KDE flavor that is potentially on it's way to being it's own DE. While it combines many open source programs not exclusive to this styling, it's custom configuration of the Latte Dock makes it look extremely Mac like, while it's custom KDE Sweet theme put's it in a style category that's hard to match out of the box with these other distros. And one of the best parts is it's ability to pre-configure and add apps from the repo of our next distro
4.3 BlackArch
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Work in Progress, check back later
5. Grab Your Hats Stability and reliability is the cornerstone of the workstation orriented distributions based off the same base as RHEL and Fedora.
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5.1 CentOS
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Work in Progress, check back later
5.2 openSUSE
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Work in Progress, check back later
5.3 * Rocky Linux *
Spoiler
This was created by one of the people behind CentOS, and my understanding is this will replace CentOS when that stops receiving updates (which is in the near future unfortunately)
6. I Don't Need You, I'll Do It MyselfIf you don't want anybody telling you what you can or can't do with your computer and you're not afraid of getting your hands dirty, check these projects out.
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6.1 * Gentoo *
Spoiler
Work in Progress, check back later
6.2 * Linux from Scratch * A true DIY Linux project, requiring you to download, configure, and compile source code to build a Linux system from the ground up. Beyond just compiling a git, or choosing some of the package options, Linux from Scratch will guide you from beginning to end making your own one of a kind distro, though with enough uniformity as to be a proper guide and having compatibility with the greater Linux ecosystem.
7. Wait... This Isn't What I Signed Up ForOS Projects that are open source, potentially POSIX compliant, but aren't Linux. This is by no means complete and be aware many other interesting OS projects exist not listed here
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7.1 * OpenBSD *
Spoiler
Not Linux, but still like-Unix, openBSD is the continuation of BSD, a unix derivative. It is POSIX compliant and has runs GNU corelibs as well, but has a kernel all it's own. If you're looking for something different but still getting decent support, look into openBSD.
7.2 Haiku
Spoiler
An open-source OS meant to be reminicent of BeOS, an OS developed through the 90s and was ahead of it's time. I'm unsure of the capabilities of a system like this in 2021 even if it were fully compatible on hardware, but an interesting project nonetheless. And if there are more practical applications of Haiku or BeOS, please tell me.
7.3 ReactOS
Spoiler
Meant to be binary compatible with Windows, it's a clean room project designed to reverse engineer Windows. Still has a long way to go before being a usable OS for daily use, but is able to run on real hardware and run many applications up to the XP-era of Windows
Final Note:
I'm new to this type of writing and as said a few times, this is a work in progress, so feedback is appreciated. That said, I know this post is a little barebones for now, I intend to flesh it out with pictures, a list of typical unique (or distinct) packages each distro contains, and more. Also be aware I may not be able to update daily as I'd like to, but will do my best to have this fleshed out completely within a couple weeks.
Suggestion: add MX Linux (Debian-based) and openSUSE (Tumbleweed and Leap)
Good post @thats_the_guy, this will surely be helpful to Linux newbies (if there are any...)
thats_the_guy said:
Hello World , I am most definitely not the best person to be writing this but somebody's gotta.This will be my best attempt to create and maintain an ongoing description of different Linux Distributions, starting with the most popular and branching out from there. If you're new to Linux, or are interested in using it, practically the first thing you are expected to do is choose a Distro (shorthand for distribution) of GNU/Linux to use. Well if that's where you're at, or are looking to find out more about Linux distributions in general, I'm here to break down the pieces and start a tour of distros so you can find what beckons to you. This part can get a lot of people caught up thinking there's a right/wrong answer, really though, the joy of Linux is making it your own and once you know what you're doing, the make and breaks of a distribution will mostly be their software manager and it's repositories (database of applications). Unless otherwise noted, be aware that practically all distros are designed w/ daily use in mind and will likely come with or be easy to install a basic suite of software to meet those needs.
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Outstanding post!!!
Superb Post Bro !!
This help me alot to understand more of this "Realm"!
I think, you should add more explanations regardling of Apps inCompatibilites on several Distros----how & why ? or create a section about that.
Thanks!
can you make a list of distros that arent ubuntu based... All I see is some flavour of ubuntu kubuntu, lubuntu etc.
Dhairy said:
can you make a list of distros that arent ubuntu based... All I see is some flavour of ubuntu kubuntu, lubuntu etc.
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He did touch on that a little bit but I'll list then for you
Debian based:
Debian
Ubuntu (and it's derivatives kubuntu, Lubuntu, etc.)
Mint
Pop!_os
MX Linux
Elementary
Zorin
RHEL based:
RHEL
fedora
CentOS
Arch based:
Arch
Manjaro
EndeavourOS
Then you've got independent ones that are close to the ones that are mentioned above like
OpenSUSE
Slackware
Alpine
Gentoo
A good place to see distributions and more specific information about them is https://distrowatch.com/
Hopefully that helps
This:
thats_the_guy said:
a lot of people caught up thinking there's a right/wrong answer, really though, the joy of Linux is making it your own
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Exactly!
Try, break*, tinker, start again! Just do it!
* but do make backups!
SigmundDroid said:
Try, break*, tinker, start again! Just do it!
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This is the way.
I use debian sid as my daily driver
Good post. I have used several dristo in the last few years and the only one I haven't tried is Fedora. Actually I run MX Linux, it's a compromise but it's good for me and it's good for my family.
Now i use Debian 11 bullseye btw
iamshubh69 said:
Debian 11 bullseye
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What desktop do you use primarily?
SigmundDroid said:
What desktop do you use primarily?
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You mean specs of my desktop or anything else?
iamshubh69 said:
You mean specs of my desktop or anything else?
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Pretty sure he means Desktop Environment, like XFCE, etc
HipKat said:
Pretty sure he means Desktop Environment, like XFCE, etc
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Then i use kde plasma
Yes, thanks for pointing it out @HipKat
Me, too
I just wonder what will be in 2023 with KDE and Debian 12 when no maintainer is found for QT6...
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Debian-Needs-Qt6-Maintainers
...but then Plasma 6 doesn't seem a pressing mattter yet:
https://community.kde.org/Schedules/Plasma_6
SigmundDroid said:
Yes, thanks for pointing it out @HipKat
Me, too
I just wonder what will be in 2023 with KDE and Debian 12 when no maintainer is found for QT6...
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Debian-Needs-Qt6-Maintainers
...but then Plasma 6 doesn't seem a pressing mattter yet:
https://community.kde.org/Schedules/Plasma_6
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Lmao
iamshubh69 said:
Lmao
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Better don't laugh your ass off so quickly... Srsly, am I overlooking something here? Wouldn't that pose a problem?
Eh, but you're probably right, why should we worry about the tomorrow-worries of other people Besides, unlike windows or mac, we can switch to anything and/or use things together...
SigmundDroid said:
Better don't laugh your ass off so quickly... Srsly, am I overlooking something here? Wouldn't that pose a problem?
Eh, but you're probably right, why should we worry about the tomorrow-worries of other people Besides, unlike windows or mac, we can switch to anything and/or use things together...
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I've used XFCE for so long but I loved KDE-Plasma when I used it, too