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linux
Apr 22, 2020 13:20:30 GMT
Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2020 13:20:30 GMT
I like the concept of using simple window managers under linux, I had a chance to play around with IceWM and Fluxbox in MX Linux and Openbox in Slackel and Manjaro. Really like the oldschool looks. But yeah, they do require some config editing compared to desktop environments. But if I ever go back to linux again, I think I'll set up an IceWM desktop for myself... I actually like customizing things, but it looks like all the major DEs are now leaning towards modern design, hence WMs may be the only option. Window managers also conserve a lot of system resources, which is very nice!
I think you might have a good experience with linux in such case, man. Try some distributions from LiveUSB, this is the best way to test the system, since you can look around without being afraid of breaking things. The ones I recommend are MX Linux and Manjaro Xfce. MX was the one I installed on my hard drive. Slackel is very good but it requires manual dependencies resolution and compiling things, so it's not for beginners (but you can do many basic things in it out of the box as well).
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linux
May 9, 2020 13:42:07 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 9, 2020 13:42:07 GMT
Some useful links: linuxcommand.org/ - the basics of terminal usage (still can't live without it in Linux, unfortunately) www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/ - this is for FreeBSD, obviously, but since it teaches you the basics of UNIX command line (both BSD and Linux are built on it), it's essentially as helpful as the first link forum.mxlinux.org/ - MX Linux forums, very nice community, you can get quick answers to a lot of questions there www.itvision.altervista.org/why.linux.is.not.ready.for.the.desktop.current.html - a comprehensive list of what's currently wrong with linux. I do not agree with all this stuff (for example, the author is an avid supporter of systemd and corporate centralization), but still I highly recommend reading it. www.itvision.altervista.org/best-linux-distro-this-year.html - another article by the same author, aimed specifically at beginners with description of various caveats. distrowatch.com/ - a site where most of linux distributions are listed and ranked according to discussion popularity (and not actual rating, which you can instead see on each distro's individual page). You can leave some feedback on the systems there, but they often censor your reviews if you tell about spyware, for instance. Reading the user reviews can be very confusing, as there are completely polar opinions present everywhere. Still, good to learn more about the flavors of linux that are currently available. wiki.archlinux.org/ - ArchWiki, but it's generally useful to any linux user as well. You can find some info on various software and hardware issues here. www.slackel.gr/forum/about.htmsalixos.org/These are Slackel and Salix, two less popular, but great distributions. rufus.ie/ - Rufus, a windows program for making linux LiveUSB drives. From my experience, it's the best of its kind, and most distributions recommend using it. You can also flash other OS images with it. www.balena.io/etcher/ - Another similar program, Balena Etcher. It's simpler to use, but watch out for the spyware (can be disabled in the settings). It also only works with linux ISOs, and only in dd mode. i suspected it contains nasty spyware, and it's true: forums.balena.io/t/serious-privacy-concerns-with-etcher-1-4-4/4103digdeeper.neocities.org/ghost/salix.htmldigdeeper.neocities.org/ghost/ninja.html#osdigdeeper.neocities.org/ghost/linux.htmldigdeeper.neocities.org/ghost/windows.htmldigdeeper.neocities.org/ghost/software.htmlDig Deeper's texts about linux, some of it is fairly advanced stuff though.
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Deleted
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linux
May 10, 2020 12:31:30 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 10, 2020 12:31:30 GMT
I don't think that Linux is bad, geeky or unusable. Actually it is for most users. Linux is a great thing only if you have enough experience in using it. As for me, I use Arch Linux. Arch is greatest Linux distro, but... It's EXTREMELY not user-friendly. Average user won't be able even to install it. I use it because only in Arch I can customize system completely for myself. There are no annoying shitty programs that you'll never use. Fresh installed Arch contains only package manager and some necessary utilities, other packages you have to install by yourself.
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linux
May 10, 2020 14:18:49 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 10, 2020 14:18:49 GMT
If we take an entirely casual user, they will probably be put off even by the stage of creating the bootable installation media ...Well, I am aware of the infamous user-hostility of Arch Linux (and ostensibly of Arch community, though I sincerely hope this isn't entirely true). There are several distributions which also allow a good degree of customization, most of them are very traditional and equally, if not even more unfriendly: the original Slackware, Gentoo, all *BSDs. Raw Debian can be pretty nasty too, as Linus Torvalds himself revealed: invidious.tube/watch?v=qHGTs1NSB1s . Recently I discovered KISS linux too (you might find it interesting, dezzev, if you've never heard about it before of course): k1ss.org/Took a look at Anarchy Linux too, a curses interface frontend for Arch installer, looks like it makes things pretty feasible at intermediate level (though I can see how it might limit the user's choice in some ways, compared to CLI install). Freedom comes at the cost of high responsibility. Generally. Which is great, I don't have anything against it. However, as I pointed out earlier, there are still some things that no amount of experience can help with - because the support of some crucial hardware simply isn't there, for instance. You can't solve such problems unless you become the developer yourself, and often even that is not enough - you need finances, connections, etc. One of the reasons I'm not using linux is because my laptop has Nvidia Optimus, and the prospect of linux support for this technology is very grim - though it's Nvidia's fault: invidious.tube/watch?v=i2lhwb_OckQThe more classic of the unix-like systems also really don't like mobile broadband connection (3G/4G USB modems), a common way of connecting to the internet in some areas. Painy and tricky manual setup is mandatory if no xorg and DE with networkmanager/sakis3g are preinstalled - which is the case with FreeBSD and Arch. You can't just figure out the workaround all by yourself, another device with internet access is needed to look up these tips. Linux far too often assumes that the user has constant access to wired internet or wifi. And being left with no internet on a linux machine is completely debilitating - you're pretty much stuck with the bare-bones system where you can't configure even the most basic things. At the same time, I really dislike the approach taken by Ubuntu. I would never, ever recommend that system to anyone (sorry if someone is using it, feel free to debate). It's bloaty, slow, ugly, buggy and it's probably spying on you. (By the way, isn't Arch largely a systemd-only distro? Can you replace it with other INITs? Just curious.) It's good to have beginner-friendly environments that still allow you some room for experimentation, but linux doesn't seem to offer anything like that. There's no middle ground - either it's the absolute hand-holding of Ubuntu and its derivatives, with all the awful consequences of it, or the heavy CLI usage in practically all other distros. Well, MX Linux still comes pretty close to aurea mediocritas - it's quite appealing to the power users and general public alike. But still, it's far from perfect. Learning Linux helps make the most out of it, of course. But I feel some things will still have to be sacrificed, as there are problems without the solution even in linux world. So I think that those who are ready to make such sacrifices because they have no need for some pretty much windows-only features, will find linux their OS of choice (if they are also willing to learn it, of course). And for people with minimal demands, like having access to the internet and office applications, friendly distros, surprisingly, can be quite sufficient and are adequate replacements for Windows 10. So the way I see it, the situation is kind of absurd really - linux works best either for the extremely tech-oriented people, or the common folks who need only one or two things from their computer. Everyone else, between these two ends of the spectrum, is very likely to return to windows or mac
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linux
Jun 30, 2020 14:22:05 GMT
Post by softest on Jun 30, 2020 14:22:05 GMT
Arch Linux community is like 50% nice people 50% wankerdickheads, in my experience. Still my distro of choice. You _can_ run it with different init systems, and there are Arch-based distros based round this like artixlinux.org/ that make it much easier too
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Deleted
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linux
Jun 30, 2020 21:40:55 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2020 21:40:55 GMT
Thanks for the info. Artix reminds me of Devuan, which is an alternative for Debian with similar goals. It's great that such distributions exist for people who want other init options.
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linux
Jul 1, 2020 4:34:18 GMT
Post by softest on Jul 1, 2020 4:34:18 GMT
Yeah. I've only ever used Systemd, but would like to mess with some others at some point, just for Fun.
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