Post 9xcY03RJBtWVZ2LDf6 by philipwhite@functional.cafe
(DIR) More posts by philipwhite@functional.cafe
(DIR) Post #9xcY03RJBtWVZ2LDf6 by philipwhite@functional.cafe
2020-07-30T18:45:54Z
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Distro hunting: I am trying to choose a good first Linux distro for a friend. I'm planning to set it up for them, so I'm not worried about having "batteries included".I would like to go with #Alpine, since it seems to be small and simple, and I might eventually switch to it myself. However, I'm concerned that it might be too idealistic for someone who just wants to use a computer. Does anyone have an experience report from that perspective?An example of what I'm talking about is with Wayland vs. X. I'm use to fiddling around with newer technology until I get things to work, so I don't mind dealing with the current shortcomings of the Wayland experience. However, I'm more wary of putting a first-timer on Wayland, since occasionally weird things happen.
(DIR) Post #9xcY03iKAd8OPoIoBU by 361.xj9@social.sunshinegardens.org
2020-07-30T19:06:22.976517Z
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@philipwhite alpine is nice, but the desktop experience is a little bit rough because a lot of free desktop stuff has a hard time with musl.
(DIR) Post #9xcb1gxo1gdwIY0vse by paul@post.lurk.org
2020-07-30T19:33:53Z
2 likes, 0 repeats
@xj9 @philipwhite Alpine does have less packages than your more mainstream distro (largely due to the musl incompatibilities), but the it's definitely improving all the time.I'd recommend figuring out what your friends needs are and seeing if the software is available as a package. Be sure to look for things in the "community" repo: https://pkgs.alpinelinux.org/packagesFWIW, I've been using Alpine Linux as my main distro for almost two years now on a few laptops (and a surface tablet too!). it may take some additional configuration and tweaking (depending on your hardware), but once you get past all that, it just turns on and works. it's quite refreshing.
(DIR) Post #9xcbGondAtqawcT3FQ by icedquinn@blob.cat
2020-07-30T19:43:06.884121Z
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@paul @xj9 @philipwhite opensuse if you just want to use the computer and not think about it too hard. they have yast, open build service and you can install the majority of your shit through their web page that just triggers yast to do the install.alpine is all console tweaking but it works fine. anything exotic will be suffering (i had to replace chunks of the seadrive build scripts to run it on my alpine raspi) for a normie.
(DIR) Post #9xcbVNuFRggfsdVaQi by icedquinn@blob.cat
2020-07-30T19:45:44.963380Z
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@philipwhite XFCE works fine though. @xj9
(DIR) Post #9xeBpydeNOrN6Rp75M by philipwhite@functional.cafe
2020-07-31T13:32:47Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@icedquinn @paul @xj9 Thanks for the recommendations and perspectives. Sounds like the concern about Alpine is not entirely unfounded, but it might not be enough to prevent going for it.
(DIR) Post #9yLJno1JF9vkCvg2sa by josias@theres.life
2020-07-30T18:56:58Z
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@philipwhite First GNU/Linux distro? Always something Debian/Ubuntu based in my opinion. Everything works on it, and newcomers are especially welcome.Alpine has a different goal than to "get Linux newbies to use it". MX-Linux, Linux Lite, etc., are all good options in my opinion.
(DIR) Post #9yLJnoOhqAe5NUcjLc by philipwhite@functional.cafe
2020-07-30T19:41:17Z
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@josias I might agree if I were just recommending a distro and leaving this person to themselves. However, I anticipate having a very active role in their linux experience, which makes me want to be more adventurous than choosing the default of Ubuntu. The things I'm looking for in this distro are the same things I want for myself (minimalism, reliability, and lots of packages), with the added requirement that there are no cases of "you can't do this ordinary thing yet."The concern I have about Alpine is that it uses busybox and no systemd, which might mean that some things just can't work yet. It's a catch 22 though, because if possible, I would like to pick something with busybox and no systemd.
(DIR) Post #9yLJnpI0WYsi90UtXs by hund@fosstodon.org
2020-08-21T08:43:34Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@philipwhite @josias How about Artix Linux? It's based on Arch Linux but with a sane init system.