What Linux Distro do the Linux users of GH use?

[xtrafrood]

Ah, so now I know why it looks familiar. I've seen it outside!

Lucky doggo

edit - Finished a ~2hr Arch/Plasma VM install with the latest Arch Linux image (seems aight in a basic VM)

To me it looked like some packages were removed from base (kernel, man page stuff, network stuff, filesystem utilities..), and perhaps some from base-devel as well.  The .iso has bash, vi, and grep still *phew*

[carlos.elegado]

CENTOS 7.  Redhat is used extensively in a lot of the systems we work on. Even though other distros have features that make them more user-friendly, I find not having to keep straight what is distro-specific works better for me. 

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[valkyr1e]

Anyone know a good way to keep up with security updates in LFS? I know many uses Slackware changelog

Wow, you're one of those still doing this...?
I think this is perhaps your answer: https://serverfault.com/a/2098

I did something from source for the kernel and modules and some parts of the system in 1996-98 on my Laptop with a Pentium II processor.
I want an easier life, right now using [Debian - Systemd = Devuan 2.0 ASCII] and I am glad there are more and more options without Systemd out there.

Wanted to try ArchLinux and some of those cool Tiling WM, but keep getting back to my Emacs and its packages.

That's not an answer. I can easily say "just buy a production keyboard - why build it yourself", but we are not in this hobby for that. We are building keyboards because we enjoy the process. Same thing with Linux. I am running Debian because it's easy, but LFS is where I take the joy in customizing, writing my own scripts and doing things my way.

[jacethesaltsculptor]

I use Windows 10 on my main station at home, but my workstation at work runs the latest version of Ubuntu.

My servers at home run Ubuntu, with the exception of my Hypervisor server which runs Proxmox.

I've had my various dalliances with other Linuxes, and started once upon a time on Mandriva.

But I always came back to Ubuntu.

[sth]

as soon as openbsd gets a good hypervisor i'm never looking back.

until then i'm stuck using ubuntu derivatives for work machines these days

and i made the stupid decision to buy a brand new X1 carbon and really don't feel like going through the effort of getting all of the newer hardware working by hand so... pop_OS has actually been kind of nice in terms of not having to worry about every little thing. it works pretty well, but it's taking me a while to get used to GNOME.

[jacethesaltsculptor]

I recently got a co-worker who exclusively uses pop and he speaks very very well of it. I've poked at it and it looked just like a superfriendly Ubuntu.

I can't hate that hardware is getting easier to setup. I remember that my first Linux machines were repeatedly borked by me attempting to install graphics drivers, and not having any idea how to do that properly, and there not being the most documentation on that.

We live in much nicer times for getting graphics drivers working.

[sth]

I recently got a co-worker who exclusively uses pop and he speaks very very well of it. I've poked at it and it looked just like a superfriendly Ubuntu.

I can't hate that hardware is getting easier to setup. I remember that my first Linux machines were repeatedly borked by me attempting to install graphics drivers, and not having any idea how to do that properly, and there not being the most documentation on that.

We live in much nicer times for getting graphics drivers working.

it's definitely not 'cool' by masochistic standards but tbh, it takes very little time to install and tweak to my liking and does everything I need it to with minimal fuss, once you get used to GNOME.

[jacethesaltsculptor]

it's definitely not 'cool' by masochistic standards but tbh, it takes very little time to install and tweak to my liking and does everything I need it to with minimal fuss, once you get used to GNOME.

I'm in the same place, I distro hopped, and explored, and now I just want something that works, I'm a big linux proponent, but I don't have the time to configure everything, I do if I need to, otherwise I stick with something that works and works well.

[Leslieann]

Pop! isn't just super friendly, it's better equipped out of the box for gaming.
If you want to game on Linux, it's the easiest place to start, followed, surprisingly, by Arch based distros, which have also been gaining traction.

Unfortunately Pop! is still a Debian/Ubuntu derivative and after a few bad upgrades on Ubuntu/Mint in the past I'm of firm belief that their "rolling release" method of updates is a broken system. Which is the other reason Arch based distros have been gaining traction, there is no major upgrades, it just smoothly moves forward.

[Surefoot]

there is no major upgrades, it just smoothly moves forward.

This is why Linux is still not gaining any traction on the desktop. No stable platform and version to build on, from a software editor point of view is a no-go. Ubuntu with their LTS system had the right idea actually.
This is also why servers are all using older RHEL / Ubuntu LTS distros...

[iri]

Which year was the Year Of Linux Desktop for you? 2007 here.

[jacethesaltsculptor]

my year of the desktop was 2008, I got one of those ubuntu CDs:


I had installed Mandriva before that, but had no end of trouble getting it running stably, because of graphics drivers, but I had learned enough to work with.

Ubuntu was a surprise, it just worked for me.

I didn't keep it on my Desktop for longer than perhaps half a year, but I went back to it quickly as a server OS for Minecraft as that was exploding at the time.

After this I distro hopped on and off ubuntu, but always came back. Eventually I settled down into Ubuntu full time around 5 years ago, and never looked back. I still run other Linuxes from time to time, but Ubuntu has my heart.

[Leslieann]

there is no major upgrades, it just smoothly moves forward.

This is why Linux is still not gaining any traction on the desktop. No stable platform and version to build on, from a software editor point of view is a no-go. Ubuntu with their LTS system had the right idea actually.
This is also why servers are all using older RHEL / Ubuntu LTS distros...

Linux on desktop has nothing to do with stability or even software development and it has everything to do with marketing and availability.
There is no company pushing it like MS does. Ever see/hear a  commercial for Ubuntu or Arch? You see them for Microsoft and Apple. Without marketing there's no demand without demand there is no market. All other points are irrelevant, it's all about marketing and knowledge, just look at Android and ChromeOs for examples of this working.


Servers use Redhat and Ubuntu LTS not so much for stability, but one very important reason. Support.
They don't use Windows because Linux is WAY more efficient but they still want a company who is required to fix it when there's a problem. You can put any update system you want, develop any software you like, it's not going to gain traction if they have no recourse when something goes wrong. This is why companies pay so much for Oracle, there's plenty of far cheaper of alternatives.

[fohat.digs]

All other points are irrelevant, it's all about marketing and knowledge, just look at Android and ChromeOs for examples of this working.

I remember a brief period (about 10-15 years ago?) when a modest but sizable portion of entry-level desktops and laptops were being sold by 2nd-tier economy manufacturers with Ubuntu pre-installed as the OS to save the $100 (which would have been a major chunk of the final price) that Windows cost.

My recollection is that it was slowly gaining a bit of momentum until Android came along, and then it just withered away.

[jacethesaltsculptor]

I remember a brief period (about 10-15 years ago?) when a modest but sizable portion of entry-level desktops and laptops were being sold by 2nd-tier economy manufacturers with Ubuntu pre-installed as the OS to save the $100 (which would have been a major chunk of the final price) that Windows cost.

My recollection is that it was slowly gaining a bit of momentum until Android came along, and then it just withered away.

I remember that period, where netbooks were all the rage, and were coming out with Linux on them because Vista couldn't run on them comfortably, so Microsoft Extended XP's life, and eventually built a Starter edition of Windows 7 just for them. I loved those little guys, even if the build quality was almost never any good.

I used a small white Acer aspire from that time for years.

[Surefoot]

Linux on desktop has nothing to do with stability or even software development and it has everything to do with marketing and availability.

It has a lot to do with platform stability, from a software editor point of view. You actually further my point in your post by mentioning support, which is paramount when trying to sell to enterprise. Stable distros are the only way to be able to train support teams and provide proper service to companies.
For the same reason all "more serious" pieces of software are only developed for IOS leaving the fragmented Android platform behind.
The inability to understand realities of market from linux community is what is keeping it behind.

[Leslieann]

I remember a brief period (about 10-15 years ago?) when a modest but sizable portion of entry-level desktops and laptops were being sold by 2nd-tier economy manufacturers with Ubuntu pre-installed as the OS to save the $100 (which would have been a major chunk of the final price) that Windows cost.

My recollection is that it was slowly gaining a bit of momentum until Android came along, and then it just withered away.

Netbooks, loved the form factor, hated the speed.

Android didn't kill them, Intel and Microsoft took over the market with the intention of destroying it from the inside. They were low profit and instead of trying to figure out how to make it profitable, they chose to simply destroy it. Intel saddled them with a 10 year old single core cpu that they refused to update, while they did eventually upgrade it to a dual core in most situations the processor was actually slower. Microsoft, fearful of it eating into future Vista sales offered them Windows XP at a discount, but with the stipulation it be unable to use any more than 2gb ram and uses a 10in(?) or smaller screen. Vista wouldn't run on them with so little ram and computing power and MS knew this when they did this, they just needed them to last long enough to self destruct. This stipulation remains in place today for low cost Windows, which is why the (new) Atom powered Windows tablets that debuted when Android tablets came out as well as the new netbooks like HP Stream never have more memory. These were further gimped with low storage.

$100 is the retail cost for oem without a volume license. Suppliers such as Dell have a volume or reseller license and only pay about $50, at one time you could actually call Dell and get a refund for the Windows License, which amounted to $50.

It has a lot to do with platform stability, from a software editor point of view. You actually further my point in your post by mentioning support, which is paramount when trying to sell to enterprise.

No one, from end users to the corporate C.E.O. care about the issues on your end when it comes to choosing an OS. That's a you problem, not theirs. If you say you support then as far as they're concerned that's the end of it on their end.

If people cared about the developer side no one in their right mind would be using MacOS or Android.

IOS is a whole other story, but one that has fallen from grace in many sectors, Apple's shenanigans with repairs has cost them dearly. Software support doesn't help when half your devices are out of service waiting on repairs.

[Surefoot]

No one, from end users to the corporate C.E.O. care about the issues on your end when it comes to choosing an OS. That's a you problem, not theirs. If you say you support then as far as they're concerned that's the end of it on their end.

Not only you totally misunderstood what i've written, or didnt read it at all.. but you are mentioning the opposite of what i said. I am talking about the point of view of a software editor or publisher that would consider Linux as a platform for distributing their product. The reason why it's still left alone (despite considerable market penetration in some specific sectors) is no support, and fragmentation.
Also when addressing the community, they tend to have answers similar to yours, which prompts an immediate big "NOPE" from any sound business.

[Leslieann]

No one, from end users to the corporate C.E.O. care about the issues on your end when it comes to choosing an OS. That's a you problem, not theirs. If you say you support then as far as they're concerned that's the end of it on their end.

Not only you totally misunderstood what i've written, or didnt read it at all.. but you are mentioning the opposite of what i said. I am talking about the point of view of a software editor or publisher that would consider Linux as a platform for distributing their product. The reason why it's still left alone (despite considerable market penetration in some specific sectors) is no support, and fragmentation.
Also when addressing the community, they tend to have answers similar to yours, which prompts an immediate big "NOPE" from any sound business.

I stand by what I said.

Don't confuse Linux penetration on servers for penetration on desktop. Completely different market, completely different needs. If it translated easily, Microsoft would own the tablet and phone sector and we all know how that turned out.

[iMav]

I first installed Linux in 1994.  It was an early version of Slackware...on, what seemed to be, a million floppy disks (for the installation).  I dual-booted slackware and Windows 3.1 on an 84MB hard drive.  LOL

I got serious with Linux on the desktop when Redhat 3.0.3 was released. 

These days, I run Manjaro with cinnamon. 

[romevi]

I first installed Linux in 1994.  It was an early version of Slackware...on, what seemed to be, a million floppy disks (for the installation).  I dual-booted slackware and Windows 3.1 on an 84MB hard drive.  LOL

I got serious with Linux on the desktop when Redhat 3.0.3 was released. 

These days, I run Manjaro with cinnamon.

I was thinking of running Manjaro with Xfce. I'm so sick of fixing Arch every update because something breaks, but I like Arch's KISS ideology; Manjaro seems like a good bridge.

[Surefoot]

Don't confuse Linux penetration on servers for penetration on desktop.

I do not. Please quote where i made any confusion here.

Completely different market, completely different needs.

Wrong. Platform fragmentation and lack of support = no market. I simplify a lot here but obviously you didnt read longer posts..

If it translated easily, Microsoft would own the tablet and phone sector and we all know how that turned out.

That turn out catastrophically because MS went in very late to a saturated market, with a non-competitive product, and mosty importantly, poor software support (undocumented APIs, terrible OS choices) and no support from software editors ! Back to square one, see above.
I stand by what i said = no adherence from market forces means no penetration. Platform fragmentation and lack of support is always, always the first reason invoked by CIOs when asked why they would not invest on linux platform.

[jacethesaltsculptor]

I was thinking of running Manjaro with Xfce. I'm so sick of fixing Arch every update because something breaks, but I like Arch's KISS ideology; Manjaro seems like a good bridge.

Most of the new guys I'm seeing get into Linux in my job, seems to be coming now from Arch and Manjaro. I'm honestly impressed as they seemed at the time not like the easiest point of entry, but that didn't stop people.

I run manjaro in a virtualized instance on my Proxmox server, I do enjoy it, and poke at it from time to time. I do think it's one of the more interesting distros nowadays.

[Leslieann]

Back to square one

I've read everything you wrote, 5 times now... So yeah, I read it.
Took me that long to realize you were presenting a chicken or egg situation (I think) and arguing egg (or chicken, doesn't matter).

You are right developers may stay away because fragmentation (false) but I'd argue so long as there's enough users there to make money from some CEO will try to find a way to capitalize on it. Unfortunately even if Linux was 80% easier to support than Windows, it only has 3% the users. Don't forget, it's an established ecosystem with lots of free software you have to compete with. Worse, Linux users are known to shun paying for software. It's the complete opposite of MacOs where users will actually tell you it's better to not only pay for software but beneficial to pay more than you would for Windows programs*.

As annoying as it is, marketing almost always wins.
Look back at history and rarely does the first or best product win, it's almost always the mediocre one with the better promotion and modest cost. Apple was better, Microsoft Windows had better promotion and lower cost. IOS is (arguably) better, Android came from behind due to better promotion and lower cost. You can apply this to movies, politics, almost anything.


*You pay extra to avoid spying and ads, such as tracking and ads.

[Surefoot]

You are right developers may stay away because fragmentation (false)

Here we disagree strongly. I am a software dev. I did talk to quite a few software publishers. I stand by my point of view and the answers i've been given by those publishers.

Linux users are known to shun paying for software.

Wrong, it's a common misconception. So yeah the handful of neckbeards that inhabit the forums will cry outrage but the vast majority of people who i have talked to actually, do not care at all (to be polite) about the OS, i'll further it, they have NO IDEA of what OS they are running and they do NOT want to care or know about it. Can they buy Photoshop and run it ? Yes or no, there you go, their choice is made. If they can run the available software (like Chrome, Thunderbird, etc.) then they'll be fine and actually do not even notice they switched away from Windows.

It's the complete opposite of MacOs where users will actually tell you it's better to not only pay for software but beneficial to pay more than you would for Windows programs*.

Again, generalizations lead nowhere, also it's a quite obvious tangent. We are talking Linux on the desktop...

As annoying as it is, marketing almost always wins.

And look, Ubuntu do have a lot of marketing...

Android came from behind due to better promotion and lower cost.

Definitely not promotion, actually most people have no idea they are running android. What made the platform so ubiquitous was its relatively lax distribution model that allowed armies of chinese clones to flood the market.

[el_murdoque]

I grew up on Debian and have one or two machines still running it (smoothly, of course).
When I took over IT at work (nothing much, just supervising half a dozen machines and two servers),
I switched all the machines to Ubuntu. In my experience, users coming from Win/Mac have an easier time transitioning to Ubuntu than to Debian (at least they had back then, when I made the leap). I also switched my main machine at home to Ubuntu at the same time, to get more hands on experience.
Can't say I have anything to complain about. 

[snozberries]

My usual flavor is Ubuntu, but I'm always open to try others. I need to reinstall it on my home setup.

[equalunique]

At work I get involved with RHEL and Tiny Core Linux.

At home I have Ubuntu for general tasks and NixOS for any kind of systems and/or programming.

Also am pretty happy with my FreeBSD-based NAS. From time to time I spin up a FreeBSD Jail (like a Linux container) for small unix-y tasks. The Bhyve virtualization helps me with visualizing Windows VMs if I ever need one, mostly for work. While Ubuntu and NixOS offer ZFS support, I'm a lot happier with the stable ZFS support on FreeBSD. I've also had a great time with ZFS & virtualization on the Illumos-based (successor of OpenSolaris) SmartOS - but the virtualization component there is overblown for my needs at home. Eventually I want to try Hammer2 on DragonFlyBSD.

[tp4tissue]

bah... mah old laptop won't install linux in uefi

[Leslieann]

bah... mah old laptop won't install linux in uefi

Secure boot?
Or is it one of those bastardizations where Intel and MS conspired to use a 32bit efi with 64bit OS (Baytrail/Cherrytrail)?

Secure boot can sometimes be disabled, even without the option for it by using a bios hack, which is not quite as hard as people think. Though it can be a hassle, I had to do it years ago on an laptop to get virtualization working.

If it's a 32bit bios, there are patches for some OS, Ubuntu variants will work, and probably Arch.

[tp4tissue]

it's one of the earlier efi bios solutions. it just flat won't work with some stuff.

installed in legacy mode.

[Leslieann]

Ah okay.
Yeah, some early EFI has all sorts of quirks, had all sorts of weird hardware problems with it. Seen problems with Windows with it but never Linux.

[tp4tissue]

Ah okay.
Yeah, some early EFI has all sorts of quirks, had all sorts of weird hardware problems with it. Seen problems with Windows with it but never Linux.

Linux can work with it, if you're one of those super genius hax0r guyzus. But when they build the auto installers, over time, general compatibility inevitably drifts away from older hardware.

[yui]

Ah okay.
Yeah, some early EFI has all sorts of quirks, had all sorts of weird hardware problems with it. Seen problems with Windows with it but never Linux.

Linux can work with it, if you're one of those super genius hax0r guyzus. But when they build the auto installers, over time, general compatibility inevitably drifts away from older hardware.

If you want to run a linux on a very old machine and do not mind it being out of date, there is damn small linux
And yeah i have not tried installing anything out of legacy mode since those out of spec efi era, i had much more trouble with installing windows on most of those machines than linux though.
and the era of the haxor linux guru is long gone, it has become quite easy nowadays

[Leslieann]

Linux can work with it, if you're one of those super genius hax0r guyzus. But when they build the auto installers, over time, general compatibility inevitably drifts away from older hardware.

Someone probably makes a distro specifically to work with it, they have distros for Chromebooks, Baytrail, Pis, and more. No need to hack anything.

What computer is it?

[yuppie]

I mainly work with containers -- Kinda makes the underlying distro practically disappear. Distros don't matter anymore.

[meiosis]

sabayon

[audiosl4ve]

sabayon

that thing is still alive? I remember using it ages ago 

[nathanchere]

arch btw

[romevi]

arch btw

Same tbqh.

[epicfacethe3rd]

Ubuntu. easier to play games on and there's enough software to do a lot of useful things with. package manager may suck according to other people but tbh i'm fine with apt
only downside is there's zero cad programs because according to autodesk fusion 360's web client is "good enough" lmao

[Leslieann]

Been playing Borderlands 3 since it's on Steam now and while not officially supported it does work in proton.

It's not perfect, but is very playable. 
First issue is a Linux one, it has micro stutters, it's not bad and after a few minutes it's almost unnoticeable, this will get ironed out soon most likely.

The second issue is actually due to Windows and 2k Games, it seems they used a video codec (Media Foundation) that is only included with some versions of Windows, why is a video codec in one version of Windows and not another? This was an issue for Pc Build Simulator and Resident Evil, so it's not unheard of. Unfortunately this problem if you encounter it is a show stopper as you can't progress in the game.

It's an easy fix, though the documentation of it is terrible, so here it is step by step what worked for me.

This should work on pretty much any distro.

More

Obviously you need Steam and the game, my understanding is that you will also need Wine to assist in this install (any version) but it can be removed later.
Download this and this (github) as a zip to your downloads folder, then extract both to their own sub folders.

In terminal go to the first directory then run:
WINEPREFIX="/home/{username}/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/{folder number}/pfx" ./mf-install.sh
(use the path above to find out which is the correct folder you need, and note that there may be an extra steam in there, just follow as best you can, you will get there)

Then go to the second folder and run:
WINEPREFIX="/home/{username}/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/{folder number}/pfx" ./install-mf-64.sh

Copy mfplat.dll from cab installer folder into the directory where Borderlands3.exe resides:
/home/{username}/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Borderlands 3/OakGame/Binaries/Win64/

Now give it a go, mine is using Proton 5.
Of you see Claptrap dance across the screen during intro, it worked.

[fohat.digs]

Slightly off-topic but tangential:

The fingerprint reader on my Thinkpad T440P works great under Windows 10 but is pretty much useless in Mint 19/Cinnamon. Sometimes it will finally register after swiping the finger a dozen times, but usually not at all.

Is there some software fix for this problem?

PS - I am an old man with dry skin and my fingerprints are probably "weak"

Thanks!

[monteyalps]

Arch on my laptops (although my work laptop is a mbp).
Proxmox server with a couple different VMs (CentOS, Debian, PFSense).

Jod: Linux admin & Webdev

[sth]

Slightly off-topic but tangential:

The fingerprint reader on my Thinkpad T440P works great under Windows 10 but is pretty much useless in Mint 19/Cinnamon. Sometimes it will finally register after swiping the finger a dozen times, but usually not at all.

Is there some software fix for this problem?

PS - I am an old man with dry skin and my fingerprints are probably "weak"

Thanks!

Fingerprint reader support in linux is practically nonexistent even to this day. There are some drivers out there but no real unified effort has been made to implement them as an authentication system platform-wide.

[Leslieann]

I don't think the tech community trusts it so they've not bothered putting in the effort into making it work.

The problem is that unlike a password, once it's compromised there's no way to change it. You may wonder how can it be compromised? It's surprisingly easy, you leave your prints all over the place and duplicating it and fooling the technology has proven surprisingly easy. Even the good ones are merely okay at the task and the ones in laptops are  CHEAP, CHEAP sensors.

[jseyfert3]

I've been running Mint Cinnamon for the few years now. I'm not remotely a Linux expert, I just want an OS that's easy to use and Mint has fit that bill wonderfully.

I was introduced to Linux in my early teens (so around 2004) with Knoppix. I'd use it to get in and fix Windows XP machines that wouldn't boot cause some driver got corrupted. Never used it beyond that for a while. Eventually got Ubuntu as a dual boot. Tried to use it as my primary OS for a while but I gamed more back then and eventually gave up when Ubuntu went with the "touchscreen style" desktop as default (was that Unity, back in 2010?) and went back to only using Windows. Stuck with Windows 7 through the whole 8 fiasco, eventually upgraded to 10. A little while later after installing 3D modeling software for school (roundabouts 2015) Windows crashed on me. "No problem" I thought, "I'll just use the new restore mode from the recovery menu." Well, that failed. I swore off Windows 10, found and installed Linux Mint, and it's been my primary OS every since.

I've kept Windows 7 as a dual boot (this past year changing that to Windows 10 finally), but only use Windows the few times I actually do some gaming or need to remote into my work computer from home. And of course I use Windows 10 at work. My work would be okay with me using Linux (it's extensively used by certain teams) but I need to use SolidWorks on a semi-regular basis for looking at 3D models so Linux is pretty much a no-go.

[Bot Hack Berlin]

Arch for almost a year now. After the sixth broken install of Windows 10 I had enough of the Windows experience and jumped staight into Arch and haven't looked back.
I'm currently switching back and forth between GNOME and BSPWM and am trying to fully switch to BSPWM.

[dddeeaatthhh]

been running manjaro/plasma on both my work computer and the "throw-around" laptop and i love it. last week i tried out a few distros i had never used on the raspberry pi, but nothing really jumped out at me like manjaro has. i've got ubuntu on there now and it's basically just a qmk config/flasher setup

[suicidal_orange]

Seeing this thread in Spy reminded me that I've not messed with my OS in a long time and on checking it's been nearly two years since I installed Arch, most of that running XFCE.  That has to be some kind of record and I've not had any problems so it will be extended.