what linux distro do you use?

[IncongruousGoat]

I've used Mint and Ubuntu at several points in the past, but for now both my desktop and laptop are running Debian (dual-booted with Windows 10). I might be switching to Kubuntu at some point, though, since I've been having problems with just how conservative the Debian apt repository maintainers are. Either that, or move to Testing (though I'm wary to do that since it could break things).

 

[Cydonian Monk]

Gentoo on my fileserver at home. Gentoo on my "netbook" (which is a 64-bit AMD K8 and so not really underpowered like most Netbooks were), but I never use it anymore and just occasionally boot it up to update software. And I have a handful of Ubuntu installs on a variety of RasPi, but I'm working on a Gentoo base image for those as well since Ubuntu is horrid on the RPI. My fileserver has flipped between Gentoo and Arch over the years (and I briefly dabbled with CentOS at home), I just prefer Gentoo as I've worked with it since 2002 (even in the dark years of 2007-08) and it's generally very malleable. 

I have no idea if what's running on my network equipment counts as a distro for these purposes. It's really just a bare kernel + BusyBox + some router software running on top of it.

I haven't used Linux as a primary desktop OS since 2013. I also don't dual boot with MacOS (or Windows) anymore. I still have a few different distros I boot up in VMs when I need to test something in a "pure" environment... those are mostly Fedora or some flavour of Ubuntu. 

I can't disclose what Linux distros I use at work, but you've heard of them. 

[daniel l.]

On 12/12/2018 at 3:26 PM, Cydonian Monk said:

Gentoo on my fileserver at home. Gentoo on my "netbook" (which is a 64-bit AMD K8 and so not really underpowered like most Netbooks were), but I never use it anymore and just occasionally boot it up to update software. And I have a handful of Ubuntu installs on a variety of RasPi, but I'm working on a Gentoo base image for those as well since Ubuntu is horrid on the RPI. My fileserver has flipped between Gentoo and Arch over the years (and I briefly dabbled with CentOS at home), I just prefer Gentoo as I've worked with it since 2002 (even in the dark years of 2007-08) and it's generally very malleable. 

I have no idea if what's running on my network equipment counts as a distro for these purposes. It's really just a bare kernel + BusyBox + some router software running on top of it.

I haven't used Linux as a primary desktop OS since 2013. I also don't dual boot with MacOS (or Windows) anymore. I still have a few different distros I boot up in VMs when I need to test something in a "pure" environment... those are mostly Fedora or some flavour of Ubuntu. 

I can't disclose what Linux distros I use at work, but you've heard of them. 

Ah. Gentoo, the distro that makes even Arch users shrivel up in fear. The end of the tech-tree for any Linux afficionado's progression -- or is Linux From Scratch the end, I don't know.

[Cydonian Monk]

On 12/13/2018 at 6:31 PM, daniel l. said:

Ah. Gentoo, the distro that makes even Arch users shrivel up in fear. The end of the tech-tree for any Linux afficionado's progression

Sorta, yes. Could argue that creating your own distro is the real end of the tech tree (aka Linux from Scratch plus all the management headaches you could ever ask for), but if I've done that I can't disclose it. (Hint: I haven't.)

Considering when I started into Linux your options were RedHat and SuSE, and that after six years I jumped from SuSE to Gentoo, I must be playing on an older version with a greatly simplified tech tree. (Though I really started out on Solaris, so..............)

Edited December 15, 2018 by Cydonian Monk

[daniel l.]

2 hours ago, Cydonian Monk said:

Sorta, yes. Could argue that creating your own distro is the real end of the tech tree (aka Linux from Scratch plus all the management headaches you could ever ask for), but if I've done that I can't disclose it. (Hint: I haven't.)

Considering when I started into Linux your options were RedHat and SuSE, and that after six years I jumped from SuSE to Gentoo, I must be playing on an older version with a greatly simplified tech tree. (Though I really started out on Solaris, so..............)

I envy you. My first foray into linux was Opensuse 11.3 in 2009. I was only a kid then, with no experience outisde of windows. So as you might expect I fell flat on my face many, many times -- which probably wasnt helped by the fact that I was using the KDE4 variant, and the Gnome alternative refused to play any kind of video. Luckily, I got an Ubuntu 10.10 install cd and havent stopped using linux since.

I very much wish I had been born in the 90s or earlier so I could experience the height of the computer revolution firsthand, perhaps even participate in it. Also, anyone else think the modern flat design styles are terrible?

[Lapis]

@Geonovast I tried installed q4os in my laptop it's minimum requirements(for trinity) is around 500MB of ram so even 2GB like I have is overkill, unless you use kde.

It has a nice nostalgic feel

[0111narwhalz]

2 hours ago, lapis said:

it's minimum requirements(for trinity) is around 500MB of ram so even 2GB like I have is overkill

Generally speaking, your system should usually be well over minimum requirements for the operating system alone. If, that is, you intend it to do anything but boot.

[Lapis]

I know that, I should have chosen my wording better. I meant that it runs on my laptop without any hiccups

[GeneCash]

I just recently converted from Debian to Devuan, to get away from systemd and all its braindamage. I already had sysvinit installed, but Devuan does things the right way.

My first install was from Slackware in the very early '90s, and my first not-from-CD custom build was Linux 0.99pl13 in '93 or so. I switched from RedHat to Debian Woody in '02 or so to get away from "RPM dependency hell" which was a situation where you had RPMs to install but the interlocked dependencies meant there was a required install order, but there was no easy way to figure out that order. Debian apt was smart enough to do that, in addition to automatically downloading from a repository. I remember the first time i installed an apt package, and it said "you also need these packages, and I will download and install them for you!" - SOLD!

Yes, I've had to calculate modelines, and yes, I've had friends that smoked expensive monitors because they screwed that up :-(

As a matter of fact, I migrated from 32-bit to 64-bit Debian specifically to play KSP 0.20.2.0... boy, I remember the "am I going to trash my box?!" terror, but I followed the HOWTO and it went without a hitch.

I have a Android Moto G6 phone, which is Linux based, and my garage door runs Rasbian because it's controlled by a Raspberry Pi.

I have an official RedHat red hat, that I bought with RedHat 1.0, a stuffed SuSE chameleon, an "Intel Man" doll, and a row of KSP Shapeways figures.

And, no, I don't dual-boot Windows. Linux only.

[steve_v]

On 12/15/2018 at 9:24 PM, Cydonian Monk said:

creating your own distro is the real end of the tech tree (aka Linux from Scratch plus all the management headaches you could ever ask for), but if I've done that I can't disclose it. (Hint: I haven't.)

Then I guess I've beaten the tech-tree
Ran LFS for a while, even built an LFS install with rpm for package management... before I learned that rpm was the devil.

 

On 12/20/2018 at 1:05 PM, 0111narwhalz said:

Generally speaking, your system should usually be well over minimum requirements for the operating system alone. If, that is, you intend it to do anything but boot.

The biggest problem with limited RAM (and 2GB is not much these days) isn't the OS, it's running a modern web-browser. I have a 486DX4-100 with 21MB of ram, and Linux (DSL) runs fine on it. Firefox not so much.

That said, GNU/Linux isn't the primary OS on that box, OS/2 Warp is.

 

3 hours ago, GeneCash said:

I just recently converted from Debian to Devuan, to get away from systemd and all its braindamage.

Champion. My servers all run Devuan now, for the same reason.

3 hours ago, GeneCash said:

My first install was from Slackware in the very early '90s

Same distro, late '90s for me.

3 hours ago, GeneCash said:

I switched from RedHat to Debian Woody in '02 or so to get away from "RPM dependency hell"

I switched from Redhat to Gentoo in '03 to get away from redhat in general. Then LFS for fun. Then Debian when compiling wasn't fun any more. Back to Gentoo again recently, to escape the systemd insanity.

3 hours ago, GeneCash said:

Yes, I've had to calculate modelines, and yes, I've had friends that smoked expensive monitors because they screwed that up

Likewise on the modelines, not so much the smoke. I remember kernel patches to get more than 16 colours on my GD5426 VLB GPU though.

3 hours ago, GeneCash said:

And, no, I don't dual-boot Windows. Linux only.

That's how it should be.

As for my current desktop distro:
 

         -/oyddmdhs+:.                steve@perdition
     -odNMMMMMMMMNNmhy+-`             OS: Gentoo 2.6
   -yNMMMMMMMMMMMNNNmmdhy+-           Kernel: x86_64 Linux 4.14.83-gentoo
 `omMMMMMMMMMMMMNmdmmmmddhhy/`        Uptime: 23d 9h 19m
 omMMMMMMMMMMMNhhyyyohmdddhhhdo`      Packages: 1538
.ydMMMMMMMMMMdhs++so/smdddhhhhdm+`    Shell: bash 4.4.12
 oyhdmNMMMMMMMNdyooydmddddhhhhyhNd.   Resolution: 1920x1080
  :oyhhdNNMMMMMMMNNNmmdddhhhhhyymMh   DE: KDE 5.52.0 / Plasma 5.14.3
    .:+sydNMMMMMNNNmmmdddhhhhhhmMmy   WM: KWin
       /mMMMMMMNNNmmmdddhhhhhmMNhs:   GTK Theme: Breeze [GTK2/3]
    `oNMMMMMMMNNNmmmddddhhdmMNhs+`    Icon Theme: breeze
  `sNMMMMMMMMNNNmmmdddddmNMmhs/.      Font: Noto Sans Regular
 /NMMMMMMMMNNNNmmmdddmNMNdso:`        CPU: Intel Core i7-4960X @ 12x 4.3GHz [43.0°C]
+MMMMMMMNNNNNmmmmdmNMNdso/-           GPU: GeForce GTX 1070
yMMNNNNNNNmmmmmNNMmhs+/-`             RAM: 11347MiB / 32110MiB
/hMMNNNNNNNNMNdhs++/-`               
`/ohdmmddhys+++/:.`                  
  `-//////:--.

Gentoo is nice, it felt like coming home. .

Edited January 14, 2019 by steve_v

[linuxgurugamer]

Slanted poll, no mention of Red Hart or it's  derivatives 

33 minutes ago, steve_v said:

3 hours ago, GeneCash said:

And, no, I don't dual-boot Windows. Linux only.

That's how it should be.

As for my current desktop distro

And thus you are now identified as either a fanboy or an evangaligist.

The OS is nothing more than a tool.  You should always use the best tool for a job.  For example, you wouldn't use a roofing hammer to put together picture  frames.  Likewise, you wouldn't  use a framing hammer to put in a roof.

Always going to be exceptions to the rule, so don't quibble with the basic premise

[steve_v]

6 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

And thus you are now identified as either a fanboy or an evangaligist.

The OS is nothing more than a tool.  You should always use the best tool for a job.

Right. So not having Windows installed makes me a fanboy? Or running Gentoo? Either way your definition is rather different from mine.
I'd say the user name "Linuxgurugamer" is more an indicator of a fanboy than anything I have said here.

I might be considered an evangelist at times, but it's not for GNU/Linux, it's for free software and end-user empowerment. That's an ethical stance, not fanboyism.

I have tried many 'tools' in my ~25 years of using, building, administering and tinkering with PCs, from DOS and OS/2 to Windows 7, Solaris, BSD, and various GNU/Linux distributions.
I haven't used Windows willingly in years, because that hammer is currently incompatible with my nails. Gentoo GNU/Linux is, so that's what I use.
If what you have does what you want and you like the way it does it, why waste disk space with dual-boot?

Why would anyone want to dual-boot these days anyway? VMs are a thing. The only exception I can think of is Windows games. Fair enough perhaps,  but everything I want to play runs natively or perfectly well in wine.
High-end CAD might be better on Windows too, but that's a niche application and calls for (what is to me) a niche OS.

As far as I know nothing at all works better on Red Hat except commercial support, so I'm not sure what that tool is for at all. Maybe it got better since I last used it. Each to their own I guess.

[linuxgurugamer]

1 hour ago, steve_v said:

fanboy? Or running Gentoo? Either way your definition is rather different from mine.
I'd say the user name "Linuxgurugamer" is more an indicator of a fanboy than anything I have said her

It was the "That's how it should be" which I was referring to.

And, my day job is a sysadmin/developer for linux systems.  I've been doing it for a long tim.

And if you ever watch me stream,  you will see that I'm using Windows.  I've been using linuxgurugamer for many, many years.  Its unique. And I like  it.  Doesn't make me a fanboy.

Where did the dual-boot come from?

And, commercial support, is WHY I like RedHat.  All I said was it was slanted because it was missing one of the biggest and best supported distributions. 

[Guest]

deleted

Edited March 29, 2020 by Guest

[steve_v]

22 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Where did the dual-boot come from?

"That's how it should be" was in response to "And, no, I don't dual-boot Windows." I don't see any point in dual booting these days and not doing so is, IMO, how it should be  unless you have special requirements, which I later covered.

 

22 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Doesn't make me a fanboy.

You started it.

 

22 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

All I said was it was slanted because it was missing one of the biggest and best supported distributions.

It doesn't include Slackware either, one of the oldest and most reliable distributions, nor Gentoo, one of the most flexible. I'm not complaining, it's slanted like all Linux polls because there are too many to list.
It should probably have included Fedora, but Redhat itself wasn't particularly common as a home desktop OS last time I checked. Common on servers and business workstations due to the commercial support, but you don't generally play KSP on those.

 

10 minutes ago, said:

A VM can not do anything 3d without some next level dual gpu set up magic bs, native app or not.

A native application doesn't need a VM, and PCI-passthrough  isn't magic. You not knowing how to do it doesn't make it bs either.

10 minutes ago, said:

try running KSP_linux in a VM and see what happens.

Why the hell would I do that? I run KSP_linux on my Linux desktop. For KSP_win, see my comment on windows games and high-end CAD above.

10 minutes ago, said:

Can't mess up a working and stable installation if the cables are unplugged on the drive or drives.

The only time you'll mess up a working GNU/Linux installation (without gross user-error) is installing Windows for dual-boot, in which case definitely unplug the other drive if you use one.
In other news, one of the main reasons for using VMs is that the guest OS can't mess up the host.

Edited January 14, 2019 by steve_v

[linuxgurugamer]

14 minutes ago, <noname> said:

But yeah, try running KSP_linux in a VM and see what happens. But even the need for testing gpu driver's with 3d apps doesn't justify a typical dual boot install IMO. I prefer physically swapping drives. Can't mess up a working and stable installation if the cables are unplugged on the drive or drives.

I have, and in one of the Linux thread is a complete set of instructions on how to run KSP in Linux in a VM.  Not too difficult to do, and the performance was acceptable.

Swap your drives enough and you can wear out the connectors.  They aren't designed for frequent swaps.

15 minutes ago, steve_v said:

It should probably have included Fedora

It does include Fedora.

As an aside, I may have been too harsh by using the word "fanboy", so I apologize for that.  It was the assumption by the comment that irked me.

And, I'll also concede the point that RH & CentOs aren't the top desktop Linux distros.

17 minutes ago, steve_v said:

"That's how it should be" was in response to "And, no, I don't dual-boot Windows." I don't see any point in dual booting these days and not doing so is, IMO, how it should be  unless you have special requirements, which I later covered.

Well, I'll disagree with you here.  There are times when dual booting makes sense.  After saying that, I'll confess to not having dual booted my system for at least 4 years, to the point that last month I pulled the old drive since it wasn't being used anymore

[Guest]

deleted

Edited March 29, 2020 by Guest

[steve_v]

33 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

in one of the Linux thread is a complete set of instructions on how to run KSP in Linux in a VM. 

I forgot all about that.
 

33 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

They aren't designed for frequent swaps.

The specification on many common connectors is surprising to say the least. Last I looked, for a common SATA connector the mechanical durability spec is 50 cycles.

 

33 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

It does include Fedora.

And I missed that too. Oops.

 

 

28 minutes ago, said:

I get the feeling you are just wanting to argue for the sake of arguing, but I ain't doing anything right now, so let me indulge you. KSP_linux was crashing my desktop. See this thread if you want.

I argued because running KSP_linux on a Linux guest VM on a Linux host is a bizarre thing to do, and I had already covered games.

As for the crashing, Unity's "Screenmanager" is dodgy as all get out, and it's been known to interact rather badly with certain window-managers in the past.
I see you never tried another WM and just reinstalled the OS. Why? You'll never know what the problem was, "it was my GPU driver" is likely but hardly definitive given your lack of troubleshooting.

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by steve_v

[Mrcarrot]

My machine primarily runs Windows 10, but I have partitioned off about 200 GiB to run Ubuntu. I also have a Raspberry Pi, which used to run Raspbian but now is set up for Windows 10 IoT core(it was for a specific project).

[GeneCash]

On 1/14/2019 at 9:22 AM, steve_v said:

Why would anyone want to dual-boot these days anyway?

Yeah, unfortunately VM graphics suck. For example, I want to run the tool to import craft files into Blender, so I can convert them to STLs and 3D print them, except this tool doesn't work under Linux. I intend to try to fix it but I don't really know how it works, so I want to see it run in Windows.

Unfortunately Blender dies in VirtualBox even with the crappy Direct-X "support" so I will probably have to cobble up a drive to boot Windows natively. One of these days.

[SpaceMouse]

I've messed with it a bit in the past, but i primarily just run Windows now. I was fairly regularly running X-Plane 10 in Ubuntu early in its life when it ran marginally better than in windoze.

I ran a ultralight distro on a ancient laptop for a few weeks until its ancientness annoyed me enough to just shove it in a desk.

1 hour ago, GeneCash said:

Yeah, unfortunately VM graphics suck. For example, I want to run the tool to import craft files into Blender, so I can convert them to STLs and 3D print them, except this tool doesn't work under Linux. I intend to try to fix it but I don't really know how it works, so I want to see it run in Windows.

Unfortunately Blender dies in VirtualBox even with the crappy Direct-X "support" so I will probably have to cobble up a drive to boot Windows natively. One of these days.

I have to access the state through a Virtual interface in Chrome for work. Works fine for office tasks but i wouldn't try to run anything complex in it.