I found the distro that I love. Artix Linux. I'm running it with the Xfrce desktop and OpenRC init system. You can also use it with Runit or System V init.
It also can come with Mate or Cinnamon (Gnome before it was ruined) and KDE.
Basically it is the non-systemd fork of Arch. Packages are done with Pacman and you can use the official repo's or AUR using Yay. Since it is derived from Arch, it has everything you can imagine. However you pick what you want, it comes very basic, which I love. For example, I had to install the archive manager for zip and tar. Didn't come with it, but installed in a few seconds with Pacman.
I'm also really liking Xfrce. Seems to do everything I want with a lot less bloat.
Only real problem I had was installing Libre Office. A library dependency was not available. I used Git and compiled it myself. No problems after that. By the way the non-linear solver in Calc is pretty slick. Already used it on a project.
Anyhow, if you are looking for a non-systemd Linux, take a look at this distro. Insall was fast and easy.
But I need Microsoft to know how many photos I look at per day.
I would like to take the OP back to the 1950s and see if the could make head of tail of it.
QuoteI would like to take the OP back to the 1950s and see if the could make head of tail of it.
TL;DR version:
Many people come to LInux to escape the bloat, spying, and instability of Windows. Not long ago Linux was infiltrated and systemd was added. Systemd basically turns Linux into Windows and is a security nightmare. I'm discussing a new version of Linux that goes back to the pre-systemd days, i.e. a return to the Unix philosophy: each part does something simple and does it well.
Quote from: Greg on September 26, 2020, 09:47:28 PM
I would like to take the OP back to the 1950s and see if they could make head or tail of it.
I put MX linux (https://mxlinux.org) on my laptop a couple of weeks ago. It's my current favorite linux distro.
Quote from: maryslittlegarden on September 28, 2020, 12:12:49 PM
I put MX linux (https://mxlinux.org) on my laptop a couple of weeks ago. It's my current favorite linux distro.
I have a spare laptop now that I could/should convert to Linux. Maybe now's the time!
Quote from: Lynne on September 28, 2020, 12:16:09 PM
Quote from: maryslittlegarden on September 28, 2020, 12:12:49 PM
I put MX linux (https://mxlinux.org) on my laptop a couple of weeks ago. It's my current favorite linux distro.
I have a spare laptop now that I could/should convert to Linux. Maybe now's the time!
You can download the os if you are really tech savvy - and burn it on a cd or thumb drive. I buy from this placehttps://www.shoplinuxonline.com/ - much easier. :):):)
Quote from: maryslittlegarden on September 28, 2020, 12:19:17 PM
Quote from: Lynne on September 28, 2020, 12:16:09 PM
Quote from: maryslittlegarden on September 28, 2020, 12:12:49 PM
I put MX linux (https://mxlinux.org) on my laptop a couple of weeks ago. It's my current favorite linux distro.
I have a spare laptop now that I could/should convert to Linux. Maybe now's the time!
You can download the os if you are really tech savvy - and burn it on a cd or thumb drive. I buy from this placehttps://www.shoplinuxonline.com/ - much easier. :):):)
I love easy. ::)
Quote from: james03 on September 26, 2020, 07:45:40 PM
Basically it is the non-systemd fork of Arch.
My hat's off to anyone that's willing to go through the trouble of avoiding systemd, but for me it's just too easy to use ubuntu/debian/fedora to justify it. I also like being able to install spotify, slack, vs code, postman, telegram, etc.- it's nice to have parity with windows.
You might give Artix a try. If it's on the Arch or AUR repository, it will be on Artix. I don't use any of the programs you list, so don't know.
Another thing, you can use a program called debtap to convert a deb package to an arch package. I recently did this for a third party engineering package that was only available in a deb package. I'd bet you can run all of your programs on Artix if you are currently running them on Ubuntu.
Just checked on some of them. It's there: telegram-desktop 2.4.2-1. Spotify is on the AUR. yay -S spotify will give you the program.
QuoteI have a spare laptop now that I could/should convert to Linux. Maybe now's the time!
Probably start with MINT linux. I've never run it, but supposedly it is crafted for people used to windows.
Put on your slippers and sit by the fire
You've reached your top and you just can't get any higher
You're in your place and you know where you are
In your Shangri-la
Quote from: james03 on October 03, 2020, 08:22:45 PM
QuoteI have a spare laptop now that I could/should convert to Linux. Maybe now's the time!
Probably start with MINT linux. I've never run it, but supposedly it is crafted for people used to windows.
Mint is very user friendly if you are used to windows. Elementary linux is supposed to be good for people who are used to macs.
Quote from: TheReturnofLive on October 04, 2020, 12:01:55 AM
Put on your slippers and sit by the fire
You've reached your top and you just can't get any higher
You're in your place and you know where you are
In your Shangri-la
Lost Horizon (1973) Opening Theme
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btYfSAcEyNs[/yt]
Quote from: james03 on September 26, 2020, 07:45:40 PM
I found the distro that I love. Artix Linux. I'm running it with the Xfrce desktop and OpenRC init system. You can also use it with Runit or System V init.
It also can come with Mate or Cinnamon (Gnome before it was ruined) and KDE.
Are you still using it?
Also, it is "XFCE" I think, unless 2020 Artix was vastly different and using some unknown ghost project.
GNOME 2 was the peak.
Quote
I'm also really liking Xfrce. Seems to do everything I want with a lot less bloat.
Well, it has bloat, an "r".
I don't use a DE, but I keep one around just in case. I don't have the rodent infested one though.
.
QuoteAre you still using it?
No. Computer crashed. I got it repaired and had Artix with Cinnamon installed to try it out. I've been on my old trusty Linux laptop and haven't gotten the Artix box set up the way I want it yet.
Quote from: james03 on December 24, 2021, 10:55:16 AM
QuoteAre you still using it?
No. Computer crashed.
I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure you know all about backing things up (if not then, now).
Quote
I got it repaired
Really? How? What was wrong with it?
QuoteI've been on my old trusty Linux laptop and haven't gotten the Artix box set up the way I want it yet.
What do you have running on the laptop?
Backed up files on a thumb drive. So I survived, but that reminds me of a post I have to make.
Don't remember what the cause was, but it's fixed. I have a Linux friendly computer shop I deal with and he got me straightened out.
I think the trusty lap top is running some ancient Suse and KDE for the desktop. It works fine, so I'm using it for now.
Quote from: james03 on December 27, 2021, 01:30:09 PM
Backed up files on a thumb drive. So I survived, but that reminds me of a post I have to make.
That is good.
I have backups myself, but also for extra security, I have a tiny flash drive with the most important documentation and files on it that I keep in my wallet on my person.
Quote
Don't remember what the cause was, but it's fixed. I have a Linux friendly computer shop I deal with and he got me straightened out.
A computer shop. How quaint.
I used to do a little work for one. The owner called me for the more complicated jobs on higher end computers.
QuoteI think the trusty lap top is running some ancient Suse and KDE for the desktop. It works fine, so I'm using it for now.
A stable Linux installation can really last a long time. When I built my computer, I had plans to use it for as long as possible, but the original operating system has been continuously updated all this time with no issue. Considering it is Fedora based, not some ultra-stable tested and verified system, it is quite remarkable.
QuoteA computer shop. How quaint.
He's a good guy. Has a shop and he'll build you a box like you want it. Very affordable. He also maintains networks at small businesses in town, like law firms, so he's actually doing very well. But he really loves building computers and talking to me about Linux, so I get good service from him.
That is great.
The shop that I did some work for mostly did fixing up people's Windows issues and then Apple with a standard system. He could do more, but the business has changed a lot, so it was mostly getting money from older people with old computers.
I only did things like custom builds and fixing people's failed builds. He called me when he had something like that which wasn't in his normal workflow.
Quote from: james03 on December 27, 2021, 01:45:03 PM
Has a shop and he'll build you a box like you want it. Very affordable.
The last few years must have been interesting for him.
I build my own computers, so paying someone else to do it wouldn't be my thing. But he sounds like a good person. It is rare I think that someone with that kind of care and interest in computers has a public business fixing other people's computers these days.
I would introduce a following analogy:
- Conciliar Church of New Advent is like MS Windows
- FSSPX - OSX (they do have Unix kernel)
- SSPX R&R - Ubuntu
- Sedes - all non systemd distros
- and prots like Chromebooks
- east religions would be iPads
- Islam is more less mainframe computing - they still rule in certain industries
Having said that, i do use OSX and Ubuntu simultaneously. Started using Linux back in 1995.
Seriously though, why people have that big of a problem with systemd.
Security concerns. Eventually I'm moving over to Tails.
Quote from: james03 on December 27, 2021, 09:18:21 PM
Security concerns. Eventually I'm moving over to Tails.
I have a drive with Tails on it.
I used to have a lot of live tools like that, but my life is much simpler now.
But keep in mind that Tails isn't really designed for a daily operating system. It can be used that way, but you'll find it was designed specifically for a use that makes it somewhat awkward at best for regular computing needs.
If systemd is a security concern, you must have a pretty advanced threat assessment for a specific situation. I wonder how posting on a forum using your real name and location squares with this kind of security need?
Are you a man of mystery and intrigue?
Quote from: james03 on December 27, 2021, 09:18:21 PM
Security concerns.
While I dislike certain design decisions in systemd, security is probably least of my concerns. They patch it really fast, as it is the most popular middleware in Linux world. Not to mention, that it really takes a lot to take advantage of those vulnerabilities. The carrot must be big enough, to attract hackers. Well, I do not know how valuable or secret is data you keep on your machine, but if you do backups on thumb drives or off the shelf NAS ...
Also, Linux as such, even a most refined distro, does not guarantee ultimate security. A chain is as strong as the weakest link - the software we use and trust is so complex, that there is absolutely no guarantee that there are no backdoors in what we run.
Quote from: andy on December 28, 2021, 11:53:35 AM
A chain is as strong as the weakest link -
And almost always, this is the user.
PICNICs are the most common errors.
For systemd, I'm a philosophical person myself, but I try not to let the Unix Philosophy get in the way of getting things done. Sometimes, a monolith that works that I have no developmental role in creating is what we have.