What Linux Distro do the Linux users of GH use?

[robotmaxtron]

Fedora user here. I always run the latest stable version, both for work and home user for the last few years. I moved over to Fedora full time during the Windows XP to Vista transition but well before Windows 7 was available.

I'm probably one of the few, but I really like Gnome 3, I've themed it a bit using a material-esque design theme and even do a fair amount of gaming on Linux (though I do have a PS4 for the occasion game I really want to play without Linux support).

I suspect within the next few months or so I'll finally cave and buy a secondary ssd for my main rig and install Windows 10 on it. There's a few games I'd like to play that are PC only and the occasional issue where I need something to run but absolutely cannot run it on Linux. The idea of using Windows with a mostly complete Bash is pretty appealing to me, so I'd like to continue to see that grow as well.

I had initially stopped using Windows basically because all I had at the time was a Atom powered Netbook and XP simply became too heavy for it. Eventually working with Linux became my full time career so I'd call it a win.

[vivalarevolución]

I think that I need a Linux counselor.  I settle on a distro and/or OS for awhile, but the urge to try more creeps in and I lose hours of my life jacking around with a different distro or trying to setup a windows manager.  I have the feeling that I will never be satisfied until I've tried them all.  I know that this is not an effective or efficient way of approaching this matter.  I literally lose too much sleep and brainpower over generally trivial Linux-related matters.  I'm at the point that I get nothing done except messing around with Linux.

Don't worry, many people come through this stage.

I guess acceptance is the next step.

[vivalarevolución]

Fedora user here. I always run the latest stable version, both for work and home user for the last few years. I moved over to Fedora full time during the Windows XP to Vista transition but well before Windows 7 was available.

I'm probably one of the few, but I really like Gnome 3, I've themed it a bit using a material-esque design theme and even do a fair amount of gaming on Linux (though I do have a PS4 for the occasion game I really want to play without Linux support).

I think tweak tools for Gnome and Unity can make the DEs way more usable.  They may not have the full customization or productivity or low RAM of some options, but mostly usable.  And they look pretty!

[robotmaxtron]

Fedora user here. I always run the latest stable version, both for work and home user for the last few years. I moved over to Fedora full time during the Windows XP to Vista transition but well before Windows 7 was available.

I'm probably one of the few, but I really like Gnome 3, I've themed it a bit using a material-esque design theme and even do a fair amount of gaming on Linux (though I do have a PS4 for the occasion game I really want to play without Linux support).

I think tweak tools for Gnome and Unity can make the DEs way more usable.  They may not have the full customization or productivity or low RAM of some options, but mostly usable.  And they look pretty!

I haven't used Unity at all since I'm pretty happy with Gnome but the gnome-tweak-tool was invaluable and of course the knowledge on how to correctly manage applications/desktop launching icons and .desktopfiles to have them do what you intend. Gnome extensions is also pretty neat for a few must haves like caffeine and being able to monitor weather, proxies/vpns, system temps, etc.

[SBJ]

I'm steadily trying to learn Linux again, so I'm familiarizing myself with Ubuntu at the moment.
My goal is to get familiar enough with it that I can run debian on my server at home.
It's currently doing all kinds of stuff, but I'm saving up for a few things before I will have disposable cash to buy a machine more (would love to try a xeon build) so I can split up the tasks.

I would love to run Linux on my personal computer as well but I just like gaming too much to switch.
I am going to be so happy if there comes a day where Linux is as strong on the gaming front as Windows is today.

[vivalarevolución]

I'm steadily trying to learn Linux again, so I'm familiarizing myself with Ubuntu at the moment.
My goal is to get familiar enough with it that I can run debian on my server at home.
It's currently doing all kinds of stuff, but I'm saving up for a few things before I will have disposable cash to buy a machine more (would love to try a xeon build) so I can split up the tasks.

I would love to run Linux on my personal computer as well but I just like gaming too much to switch.
I am going to be so happy if there comes a day where Linux is as strong on the gaming front as Windows is today.

I'm a relative Linux newb, jumping in during the last quarter of 2015, so I can speak to the adjustment period.  For personal computing use, I had to become comfortable with using a package manager for software and command line for some tasks.  I was used to clicking one button in one place for all install and update tasks.  (Well, there is the Ubuntu Software, similar to the App Store, but I find that clunky to use). The other challenge was finding replacements for my usual applications and software.  Also, figuring out where everything is in the OS, but they just takes some clicking around to figure that out.  Plus, there are plenty of documentation and forums to help with a mainstream distro like Ubuntu.

And I guess it all depends on what you are trying to do with Linux to determine how long it takes for you to become familiar.  For basic personal computing, I think it takes an open mind, a willingness to deal with some frustrating moments, and less than a month of tinkering around

[SBJ]

I'm steadily trying to learn Linux again, so I'm familiarizing myself with Ubuntu at the moment.
My goal is to get familiar enough with it that I can run debian on my server at home.
It's currently doing all kinds of stuff, but I'm saving up for a few things before I will have disposable cash to buy a machine more (would love to try a xeon build) so I can split up the tasks.

I would love to run Linux on my personal computer as well but I just like gaming too much to switch.
I am going to be so happy if there comes a day where Linux is as strong on the gaming front as Windows is today.

I'm a relative Linux newb, jumping in during the last quarter of 2015, so I can speak to the adjustment period.  For personal computing use, I had to become comfortable with using a package manager for software and command line for some tasks.  I was used to clicking one button in one place for all install and update tasks.  (Well, there is the Ubuntu Software, similar to the App Store, but I find that clunky to use). The other challenge was finding replacements for my usual applications and software.  Also, figuring out where everything is in the OS, but they just takes some clicking around to figure that out.  Plus, there are plenty of documentation and forums to help with a mainstream distro like Ubuntu.

And I guess it all depends on what you are trying to do with Linux to determine how long it takes for you to become familiar.  For basic personal computing, I think it takes an open mind, a willingness to deal with some frustrating moments, and less than a month of tinkering around

Currently it's running a small website I use for some personal stuff.
It also has Kodi but I use it as an all round desktop system as well since it's hooked up to the TV in the living room.
Finding the replacement programs has been a very positive experience, had to rip som dvd's since we are moving and don't plan on having them up anywhere in the new house - found what I needed and it was extremely effecient compared to what I've tried on Windows machines.
Although the last time I tried to encode stuff on a Windows machine was a couple of years ago. - Now I just need a BluRay reader so I can rip all of our BluRay's as well.
I enjoy having one big catalog with all my stuff which I can sift through on my phone and just put on anything I feel like.

The basic stuff I think I have down, I use the terminal daily at this point and am getting alright with it.
I just don't know what I'd like to try next, ideally it'd be nice to try and configure an Arch installation myself, but it seems a bit too complicated for me at the moment.

[fohat.digs]

And I guess it all depends on what you are trying to do with Linux to determine how long it takes for you to become familiar.  For basic personal computing, I think it takes an open mind, a willingness to deal with some frustrating moments, and less than a month of tinkering around

I am delighted with Mint/Cinnamon so far.

Based on Debian/Ubuntu, most of the software is an immediate match, and if you have used Ubuntu the regular stuff like sudo and synaptic package manager is there. Also, the Cinnamon desktop is quite possibly more like Windows 7 than Windows 10 is like Windows 7.

[vivalarevolución]

Looks like I have settled on Ubuntu Mate for the time being.  Simple, configurable, attractive, lowish RAM, and x-tile allows for some modest tiling.  I am happy with it so far and will use it as my main operating system. 

In the meantime, I am experimenting with tiling windows managers and am hoping to settle upon that I like.  So far, bspwm probably is my favorite.  I like the binary space partitioning tiling system, easy-to-use keyboard commands, and also flexibility to use the mouse for some tasks as well.

[sean]

Looks like I have settled on Ubuntu Mate for the time being.  Simple, configurable, attractive, lowish RAM, and x-tile allows for some modest tiling.  I am happy with it so far and will use it as my main operating system. 

In the meantime, I am experimenting with tiling windows managers and am hoping to settle upon that I like.  So far, bspwm probably is my favorite.  I like the binary space partitioning tiling system, easy-to-use keyboard commands, and also flexibility to use the mouse for some tasks as well.

Nice choice in a distro. Gnome 2 was my first desktop environment and there really is nothing else to compare it to.

[user 18]

Looks like I have settled on Ubuntu Mate for the time being.  Simple, configurable, attractive, lowish RAM, and x-tile allows for some modest tiling.  I am happy with it so far and will use it as my main operating system. 

In the meantime, I am experimenting with tiling windows managers and am hoping to settle upon that I like.  So far, bspwm probably is my favorite.  I like the binary space partitioning tiling system, easy-to-use keyboard commands, and also flexibility to use the mouse for some tasks as well.

Nice choice in a distro. Gnome 2 was my first desktop environment and there really is nothing else to compare it to.

Desktop environments are overrated, IMO. All you really need is a good window manager.

[smknjoe]

I don't care as long as it works. I've used Gnome for probably 5+ years without trouble. I used to use KDE but it's pretty unstable for me these days.

[vivalarevolución]

Looks like I have settled on Ubuntu Mate for the time being.  Simple, configurable, attractive, lowish RAM, and x-tile allows for some modest tiling.  I am happy with it so far and will use it as my main operating system. 

In the meantime, I am experimenting with tiling windows managers and am hoping to settle upon that I like.  So far, bspwm probably is my favorite.  I like the binary space partitioning tiling system, easy-to-use keyboard commands, and also flexibility to use the mouse for some tasks as well.

Nice choice in a distro. Gnome 2 was my first desktop environment and there really is nothing else to compare it to.

Desktop environments are overrated, IMO. All you really need is a good window manager.

I agree, I think the differences between desktop environments are not that substantial:  appearance, RAM usage, the ability to tweak a few things here and there.  Windows managers have a lot more productivity value, which is why I am most interested in those

Desktops environments certainly have their value for the Linux beginner or casual user, though.  We can't all joining the tiling windows manager master race (which I hope to be a part of one day).

[sean]

Looks like I have settled on Ubuntu Mate for the time being.  Simple, configurable, attractive, lowish RAM, and x-tile allows for some modest tiling.  I am happy with it so far and will use it as my main operating system. 

In the meantime, I am experimenting with tiling windows managers and am hoping to settle upon that I like.  So far, bspwm probably is my favorite.  I like the binary space partitioning tiling system, easy-to-use keyboard commands, and also flexibility to use the mouse for some tasks as well.

Nice choice in a distro. Gnome 2 was my first desktop environment and there really is nothing else to compare it to.

Desktop environments are overrated, IMO. All you really need is a good window manager.

Windows managers are overrated, IMO. All you really need is a good terminal with Links to access geekhack

[iri]

With w3m.

[davkol]

Desktop environments are overrated, IMO. All you really need is a good window manager.

I agree, I think the differences between desktop environments are not that substantial:  appearance, RAM usage, the ability to tweak a few things here and there.  Windows managers have a lot more productivity value, which is why I am most interested in those

Desktops environments certainly have their value for the Linux beginner or casual user, though.  We can't all joining the tiling windows manager master race (which I hope to be a part of one day).

That completely ignores a large portion of modern DEs.

A window manager doesn't

• (un)mount storage devices and potentially even, e.g., turn off unmounted drives;
• provide complex screen management;
• index data;
• allow better integration of apps (see, e.g., KIO slaves);
• centralize shortcut configuration;
• …

[vivalarevolución]

Windows managers are overrated, IMO. All you really need is a good terminal with Links to access geekhack

Command line, ftw! Anything more is superfluous!

[vivalarevolución]

Desktop environments are overrated, IMO. All you really need is a good window manager.

I agree, I think the differences between desktop environments are not that substantial:  appearance, RAM usage, the ability to tweak a few things here and there.  Windows managers have a lot more productivity value, which is why I am most interested in those

Desktops environments certainly have their value for the Linux beginner or casual user, though.  We can't all joining the tiling windows manager master race (which I hope to be a part of one day).

That completely ignores a large portion of modern DEs.

A window manager doesn't

• (un)mount storage devices and potentially even, e.g., turn off unmounted drives;
• provide complex screen management;
• index data;
• allow better integration of apps (see, e.g., KIO slaves);
• centralize shortcut configuration;
• …

I never claimed to know what I'm talking about or be omniscient.  Just sharing my offhand thoughts.

[zcmy]

I use Mint/Cinnamon on my 10 year old laptop. It runs perfectly fine so i'm happy with it. I'm OS agnostic, it just takes me a couple minutes to get used to the changes on different distros. The only thing I'm not used to is a no DE distro, since I'm too lazy to setup.

[SBJ]

Windows managers are overrated, IMO. All you really need is a good terminal with Links to access geekhack

Command line, ftw! Anything more is superfluous!

Hehe I am actually trying this. I have a VPS that runs a website and I use it for other fun projects, like setting up a VPS and stuff. It's running debian server and all I have is command line.
You learn a lot of the commands really quick by just using it.

[dante]

Does anybody have anything nice to say about PC-BSD?  (I know it's not Linux)

[iri]

Does anybody have anything nice to say about PC-BSD?  (I know it's not Linux)

Heathen! Heathen! Go away!

I just used FreeBSD. Customised the way I want and being a pretty good desktop OS. Flash didn't work but I didn't care.

[iLLucionist]

I'm steadily trying to learn Linux again, so I'm familiarizing myself with Ubuntu at the moment.
My goal is to get familiar enough with it that I can run debian on my server at home.
It's currently doing all kinds of stuff, but I'm saving up for a few things before I will have disposable cash to buy a machine more (would love to try a xeon build) so I can split up the tasks.

I would love to run Linux on my personal computer as well but I just like gaming too much to switch.
I am going to be so happy if there comes a day where Linux is as strong on the gaming front as Windows is today.

Couple of years ago I built a server again, running Ubuntu LTS on it. It was VERY smooth. My linux was rusty back then, but I thought like well just gonna try it and reinstall and try again if I fail. But it was really easy with ubuntu, especially with the forums where I could find everything. Only thing that was REALLY difficult for me to figure out is how to properly align sectors for large (4TB) harddrives. Still don't really understand it. I have mdadm with raid6, and AFS (believe with avahi daemon) so that my Macs think it's a legit file server. Works great.

[iri]

Only thing that was REALLY difficult for me to figure out is how to properly align sectors for large (4TB) harddrives.

You don't have to understand it, just do it according to manual.

[ramnes]

Gentoo. 

[thecolorblind1]

Manjaro on my main rig and Ubuntu on my laptops. The wife needed something a bit more user friendly, so Ubuntu it is.

[smknjoe]

Debian is just as user friendly as Ubuntu, or Mint, without all of the bloatware.

[rowdy]

Does anybody have anything nice to say about PC-BSD?  (I know it's not Linux)

Heathen! Heathen! Go away!

I just used FreeBSD. Customised the way I want and being a pretty good desktop OS. Flash didn't work but I didn't care.

We were using FreeBSD for a while at work.

It performed very well, was extremely stable, but lacking a bit in hardware support, so we switched to Linux.

[davkol]

Debian is just as user friendly as Ubuntu, or Mint, without all of the bloatware.

One could argue, that Ubuntu is de facto a slightly modified snapshot of Debian testing, with a bit tuned live images (although there are other live images based on Debian).

However, there's one thing I miss in Debian: PPAs.

I could live with Arch, which at least isn't half a year (or more) behind upstream, but I'm not interested in configuring everything.

[Leslieann]

I could live with Arch, which at least isn't half a year (or more) behind upstream, but I'm not interested in configuring everything.

Try Manjaro, it gets you up and running Arch as quickly as Mint. It's not as fast as pure Arch, but still faster than Mint. You could also try Architect (sp?), which automates the install for you easily and quickly. It's very fast, but takes a bit longer to install, however, you don't have to be a Linux expert and you end up with pure Arch (or darn close).

Unfortunately, if you use Cinnamon and Virtualbox, do not use Arch, that combination crashes the desktop on boot.

[iri]

The hell is a 'faster distro'?

[SBJ]

I'm steadily trying to learn Linux again, so I'm familiarizing myself with Ubuntu at the moment.
My goal is to get familiar enough with it that I can run debian on my server at home.
It's currently doing all kinds of stuff, but I'm saving up for a few things before I will have disposable cash to buy a machine more (would love to try a xeon build) so I can split up the tasks.

I would love to run Linux on my personal computer as well but I just like gaming too much to switch.
I am going to be so happy if there comes a day where Linux is as strong on the gaming front as Windows is today.

Couple of years ago I built a server again, running Ubuntu LTS on it. It was VERY smooth. My linux was rusty back then, but I thought like well just gonna try it and reinstall and try again if I fail. But it was really easy with ubuntu, especially with the forums where I could find everything. Only thing that was REALLY difficult for me to figure out is how to properly align sectors for large (4TB) harddrives. Still don't really understand it. I have mdadm with raid6, and AFS (believe with avahi daemon) so that my Macs think it's a legit file server. Works great.

Ubuntu is great because as you said finding solutions to your problems is probably 100% easier than for some other distros.
I am planning on using it as a file server as well as a web server for some small personal website. Currently it's doing a little bit of everything. I need to figure out if you can remove the desktop environment from it and have it run as a server. (Though I'm sure looking it up will give me the answer in 2 minutes.)

[ramnes]

You can just use ubuntu-server. 

[davkol]

I could live with Arch, which at least isn't half a year (or more) behind upstream, but I'm not interested in configuring everything.

Try Manjaro, it gets you up and running Arch as quickly as Mint. It's not as fast as pure Arch, but still faster than Mint. You could also try Architect (sp?), which automates the install for you easily and quickly. It's very fast, but takes a bit longer to install, however, you don't have to be a Linux expert and you end up with pure Arch (or darn close).

I'm afraid, that it doesn't address my issue.

Last time I checked, Arch (or Manjaro) packages didn't feature ready-to-go defaults with associated scripts, that would automate configuration. For example, if I install, say, a webserver in Debian/Ubuntu, it's up and running… which is not the case in Arch/Manjaro. The result might be bloated for some, but I prefer to avoid *any* extra work.

[SBJ]

You can just use ubuntu-server. 

Sure but then I'd have to make all my customizations and settings etc. Right now it's pretty much set up as I want it, but won't be needing the GUI in a couple weeks.

[Leslieann]

The hell is a 'faster distro'?

Boot, shutdown, load times are faster, and yes, it is noticeable. It's actually quite impressive, but it's also lot of work.

I'm afraid, that it doesn't address my issue.

Last time I checked, Arch (or Manjaro) packages didn't feature ready-to-go defaults with associated scripts, that would automate configuration. For example, if I install, say, a webserver in Debian/Ubuntu, it's up and running… which is not the case in Arch/Manjaro. The result might be bloated for some, but I prefer to avoid *any* extra work.

Architech might, and it wouldn't surprise me if someone has a script to automate it. Arch users are quite creative.

But, I agree with you, it's one of two reasons I'm not running Arch. It's nice in theory, it's great, but if you want to just set it up and get on with things, Debian and derivatives are a quicker, simpler path. Mint/Ubuntu/Debian almost seem boring by comparison.

[iri]

The hell is a 'faster distro'?

Boot, shutdown, load times are faster, and yes, it is noticeable.

That hugely depends on the software and hardware setup on the machine. A 'fast' distro where more software is loaded on boot time is slower than a stripped 'slow' distro.

Also, who cares about boot times?

[ramnes]

The hell is a 'faster distro'?

Boot, shutdown, load times are faster, and yes, it is noticeable.

That hugely depends on the software and hardware setup on the machine. A 'fast' distro where more software is loaded on boot time is slower than a stripped 'slow' distro.

Also, who cares about boot times?

^ this

[algernon]

Also, who cares about boot times?

Boot times are important when you want to bring up a new machine within a second. Eg, when your allow your users to start and stop VMs an demand, boot times are very, very important. But I agree, pretty much any distro can be made to boot insanely fast, with some work, and the amount of work required is about the same across the board.

[Leslieann]

The hell is a 'faster distro'?

Boot, shutdown, load times are faster, and yes, it is noticeable.

That hugely depends on the software and hardware setup on the machine. A 'fast' distro where more software is loaded on boot time is slower than a stripped 'slow' distro.

Also, who cares about boot times?

Way to focus on one aspect.

[iri]

Well, shutdown is boot in reverse, and I'm not sure what is a 'load time' and how is it different from 'boot time'.

[fohat.digs]

Well, shutdown is boot in reverse, and I'm not sure what is a 'load time' and how is it different from 'boot time'.

The first thing I noticed with my fresh Windows 10 install a few weeks ago was how quick the boot time was, and how much slower was shutdown.

Before it had been that shutdown was much faster than startup.

The I realized that Microsoft had changed "Shut Down" to some weird hibernation, and that it took a registry tweak to make "shut down" real!

[livingspeedbump]

Currently on a Pi2 running noobs using links2.
long live the terminal!

[smknjoe]

lynx man, lynx. I still use it for diagnostics sometimes.

[livingspeedbump]

lynx man, lynx. I still use it for diagnostics sometimes.

Lynx. Links. Links2. elinks. There are more than enough to go around haha.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Findecanor]

I've got components for my next PC on back-order, but when I have built it, I will install Ubuntu Mate LTS.
Right now, I am using a really old version of Ubuntu which is no longer supported.
I did install Linux Mint Cinnamon and then Mate on my netbook to try them out but I did not like them -- they felt too dumbed down for me.

[Leslieann]

Well, shutdown is boot in reverse, and I'm not sure what is a 'load time' and how is it different from 'boot time'.

Program load times.

[iri]

Well, shutdown is boot in reverse, and I'm not sure what is a 'load time' and how is it different from 'boot time'.

Program load times.

I guess you can compile a program with bare mininum of options on any distro.

[Leslieann]

If it's not installed, it can't run.
If you have no intention of using SSH remote access, why have ssh server running or installed, it's just using resources.  Linux may handle memory better, but why manage something you aren't using in the first place. That's the idea of Arch, minimalism = speed. Can you make Ubuntu do it, yes, and while it may take as much work, removing stuff is never as clean as never having been installed in the first place.

[TacticalCoder]

That completely ignores a large portion of modern DEs.

A window manager doesn't

• (un)mount storage devices and potentially even, e.g., turn off unmounted drives;
• provide complex screen management;
• index data;
• allow better integration of apps (see, e.g., KIO slaves);
• centralize shortcut configuration;
• …

I'm using Linux back since when it came on floppy disks and I need none of these things to be managed by a desktop environment. I'm running "icon-less" Linux since as far as I remember and a tiling window manager since a few years.

I'm also running several Linux servers (and Raspberry Pis too).

For any advanced user mounting/unmounting drives/peripherals is trivially done from the command line (I've got a hard time remembering when, if worse came to worse, a dmesg / lsblk / fdisk / mount (with the correct parameters) / umount didn't work.

Regarding screen management: if anything compared to 20 years ago configuring screens from the command line, while running X (oh, yup, I also always boot my workstation in text mode first, then only startx), has become much easier. You could, say, use xrandr, choose your GPU, choose your output (HDMI, whatever...), choose your resolution and you're done.

Regarding the data indexing: I've got something like four different user accounts on my machine right now all logged in at the same time, with different data in their accounts (one user account, for example, isn't allowed to have the process he's running to connect to the Internet at all: I'm using a "REJECT" all by default firewall rule and then I'm whitelisting to whitelist user IDs / ports allowed to emit packets and there's one user that is not whitelist). I've also got VMs, tmux sessions to remote servers, etc. and often a second X session (Xephyr). All these systems/accounts have their own data. Is a desktop environment's "data indexing" going to help me there? And what does it do that I couldn't do by going the Un*x-way and piping commands to search ("don't index, search") that one user account? With 16 GB of RAM (soon 32 or 64) and now M.2 SSDs with crazy fast read speeds, it's not as if local searching was any slow.

I mean: I honestly cannot remember if I ever thought "zomg, I cannot find something, I wish I had the equivalent of OS X's spotlight indexing so that I could find it back or more easily!".

As for the shortcuts: I've got my HHKB JP configured so that one of the "switch to whatever japanese characters" key acts as an "hyper" key and that one key is dedicated to the WM's shortcuts and to the WM's shortcuts only, which is ultra-convenient. Sure it took some time to configure my VM's shortcuts and my apps' shortcuts, but it's something you do once and then go with for years (to give an idea: I think my workstation, also always doing some number crunching on two cores, is at 6 months uptime right now).

Nobody said "people using desktop environments are noobs". You may be an advanced user and happen to like to drap-and-drop icons and to visually manages your file and enjoy a desktop environment that mounts drives for you and allows you to switch screens/resolution without needing the command line (xrandr or whatever): fine.

But don't make it sound like advanced users who decides to not use a desktop environment are missing anything.