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Old and Boring


raymac46

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That probably describes me pretty well. At least it does in my choice of Linux these days.

I have switched my test Thinkpad to Debian Stretch from Debian Sid. Honestly I got tired of updating 70+ packages every day with the attendant uncertainty. Debian Stretch will work just fine for what I want to do.

On my VM in Windows 10 I have gone with Ubuntu 17.10 GNOME. It seems to give me less issues than any other VM. I like Mageia 6 a lot but it's just not stable in VBox.

Oh I am still living close to the edge on Mr. Slow - my old netbook. It runs Arch Linux well and stably with Xfce. And Arch is a true rolling release distro so I get some experience there. I suppose I could install Arch on the Thinkpad but that is something for future consideration (after my holiday cruise.)

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I don't think that the purpose of Sid has ever been for it to be used as a rolling-release distro. To me, it's just part of the process that results in Debian Stable. However, Ubuntu uses mostly packages from Sid, I think, and that works out quite well, seems to me.

 

Arch has held up much better over time here than any other rolling-release distro I've used. With the others that I've run for more than a few months or so (PCLOS and Sabayon), I eventually ran into issues that forced me to either reinstall or quit using them. Arch just keeps on working; I've never felt like I needed to reinstall an Arch system. The Arch-based distros I've used have been great, too. I don't think Manjaro is for me, but Antergos has been very nice. I got rid of Pamac in Antergos as I'd rather just use pacman, so basically I use Antergos just like I use Arch.

 

I have a lot of different installations -- too many, I guess. But mostly I'm using either Stable, Arch, or Ubuntu repos. Kubuntu and Lubuntu have worked out very well here. I really like Ubuntu "flavors" and derivatives better than Ubuntu itself. I like the Ubuntu repos. Ubuntu gets a bad rap, for various reasons, but for me it's all about the repos, the documentation, and the development team. It's about what you can do with it.

 

If I ever get around to it, I'd like to install CentOS. I know that it wouldn't be as easy as openSUSE, but I'm sure CentOS would be a good learning experience for me. I ran Fedora for a few years but I don't want to go back to that one. openSUSE is great (that's certainly one of the best distros I've used here) but the lifetime cycle of openSUSE releases isn't to my tastes. I've never run Tumbleweed. Mageia sounds like another nice option as far as .rpm distros go, but I think it's about on the same level as openSUSE. Sounds like Mageia, like openSUSE, is great for those who want to use GUI instead of CLI for just about everything. I'd prefer to struggle with CentOS and get that up and running, if I ever get back to using an .rpm distro.

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If I ever get around to it, I'd like to install CentOS. I know that it wouldn't be as easy as openSUSE, but I'm sure CentOS would be a good learning experience for me. I ran Fedora for a few years but I don't want to go back to that one. openSUSE is great (that's certainly one of the best distros I've used here) but the lifetime cycle of openSUSE releases isn't to my tastes. I've never run Tumbleweed. Mageia sounds like another nice option as far as .rpm distros go, but I think it's about on the same level as openSUSE. Sounds like Mageia, like openSUSE, is great for those who want to use GUI instead of CLI for just about everything. I'd prefer to struggle with CentOS and get that up and running, if I ever get back to using an .rpm distro.

 

CentOS is very simple to use, probably just as easy to run as openSUSE. You do not even need to open up a terminal to use it if you do not want to. CentOS is essentially RedHat without the paid support. That is really the only difference between the two.

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CentOS is very simple to use, probably just as easy to run as openSUSE.

 

Wow, that surprises me.

 

Interesting info about the various images here:

 

https://lists.centos...ber/022532.html

http://mirror.centos...64/0_README.txt

 

8.1G for the "Everything" image!!! I'll pass on that, but maybe I'll download one of the live images and poke around a bit.

 

From https://wiki.centos.org/:

 

...Each CentOS version is maintained for up to 10 years (by means of security updates -- the duration of the support interval by Red Hat has varied over time with respect to Sources released). A new CentOS version is released approximately every 2 years...

 

CentOS 7 is supposed to be supported until 2024. That's very attractive to me.

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The everything image is sort of like the one for debian where you get every package that is available for the distro. Like an offline installer but with everything.

 

As long as you have broadband, just get the minimal one as it pulls the application groups that you choose for the default.

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I run Windows on my desktop so that I can use my train sims which although are Steam apps only run on Windows. I have a VM there to run Linux and use Ubuntu.

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I like Mageia a lot. Problem is that it does not get a new release all that often. It runs fine on real hardware but it can be problematic if you do a kernel upgrade in VBox. The guest additions get borked and maybe it won't boot.

Train Simulator is not available on Linux and it's a bear as far as graphics goes so it's best to run natively in Windows.

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It runs Arch Linux well and stably with Xfce.

 

I think this is the way to go when using a rolling-release (or semi-rolling-release) distro. With KDE or GNOME, there's a lot more to download during updates, and more potential for breakage. Something like Xfce or LXDE (or, only a window manager) for rolling-release. I was using KDE with PCLOS and Sabayon, and that was probably the main reason why I ended up having problems with those distros.

 

I suppose I could install Arch on the Thinkpad but that is something for future consideration (after my holiday cruise.)

 

I want a Thinkpad!

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For the money (at least in Canada) a Thinkpad is the way to go if you want a used machine to run Linux. There are plenty of off-lease models in bricks and mortar stores like Canada Computers so you can see what you are getting in person.

My model is from 2013 and is in pristine condition.

  • Ivy Bridge i5
  • 8 GB RAM
  • Samsung SSD
  • All Intel technology

I made sure to get simple Intel graphics - no hybrid graphics like Nvidia Optimus which might give problems with Linux. You need some Intel wifi firmware to get the adapter working but otherwise everything worked great out of the box.

Edited by raymac46
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I made sure to get simple Intel graphics - no hybrid graphics like Nvidia Optimus which might give problems with Linux. You need some Intel wifi firmware to get the adapter working but otherwise everything worked great out of the box.

 

For hybrid graphics, I usually just go into the bios and disable it. Then the laptop will use the nvidia card and not the hybrid intel/nvidia solution.

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