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Where my Linux people at

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It’s time to do what we do best - ramble on about Linux. 


What distros and desktop environments you running? What’s your favorite FOSS? What’s your story?

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Forgive me for saying the U word, but I had to use Ubuntu as my main OS for a previous job. 

It was surprisingly easy to get everything working. I almost miss it. Almost.

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I've used Slackware Linux since 2002, and now it's the only OS I have installed on all of my machines.  I use Sawfish for my window manager, together with fbpanel for some panels to make it look a bit like AmigaOS.

 

Desktop screenshot from a few days ago (behind spoiler because lol it's huge):

Spoiler

desktop.png

 

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20 minutes ago, vyruss said:

Who needs a GUI

nogui.png.2939892576c91a7294dac84a83b7a948.png
Exactly :-P

Truth be told, I do most of my file management and program launching from the command line.  Not because "IT'S FASTER!!11!1" or anything, but just because I'm so used to it.  Even with Doom, I just launch everything from the command line, and use Makefiles/custom tools to manage my projects.

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The laptop I'm on right now is a ~2016-2017 HP product that I ripped the Windows 10 out of and originally replaced with Mint running Cinnamon as a DE, I eventually replaced Cinnamon with XFCE and that's what I've been using for the past year. Windows 10 was an absolute disaster of an experience when I got this thing, and it made me ditch Windows for Linux for good sometime in..... late 2017, early 2018, I think.


I've actually got a new System 76 laptop ordered that's arriving today, I plan on running it with Ubuntu and replacing the GNOME setup with XFCE as well, but I might cave in and give Pop OS a real shot.

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Spoiler
29 minutes ago, Remilia Scarlet said:

nogui.png.2939892576c91a7294dac84a83b7a948.png
Exactly :-P

Truth be told, I do most of my file management and program launching from the command line.  Not because "IT'S FASTER!!11!1" or anything, but just because I'm so used to it.  Even with Doom, I just launch everything from the command line, and use Makefiles/custom tools to manage my projects.

 

Beautiful.

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Am always around three distros: Void Linux, Arch Linux, and NixOS. Currently using the first because its pretty slim (no systemd and dash for init scripts) and am on a machine with 2GB of ram, so I need all things to be lightweight.

 

Am using bspwm with lemonbar and urxvt, though am very LAZY to really learn any of it, I learned enough to subscribe to bspwm events, filter the output with perl, and send it back to lemonbar. On my panels I just need two things: an overview of all desktops (or tags or whatever) and a clock.

 

Overall, am thinking of replacing lemonbar with polybar. I like how simple lemonbar is, but man, working with FIFOs is stressful! I need to update text at random intervals and it seems to be only way but it's always full of bugs.

 

Random thought: I want to support AMD every time. Their support for Linux is always > than the competition.

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I think Doom appeals to people who like to tinker and make things their own. It also appeals to lifelong computer geeks. GNU/Linux seems quite popular with Doomers.

 

I have a Pi 3b+ with Debian and an x86 laptop running Lubuntu. But the overwhelming majority of my 'computing' time is on my Android.

 

Check out UserLAnd, which lets you use a very-nearly full-featured Linux terminal or desktop on your phone. Lately I've been using Calibre to strip the DRM from my Kindle purchases and convert them to EPUB. Or sometimes a mobile website will still give me a reduced-feature version even though I check 'Desktop Version'. It's nice being over to bounce over to a full OS for stuff like that. I could even theoretically use Eureka to do Doom mapping on my phone. I'm also working on some hobby games in C and Python, which with a few limitations (mostly related to hardware video surfaces) compile and run perfectly.

 

I try to get into Lynx and Gopher every once in a while, but the world seems to be firmly against me there.

Edited by Aaron Blain

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I used Ubuntu for years for everything dev related, but when I got a new computer a few weeks ago I just couldn't be arsed with setting up dual boot again, copying settings etc, trying to get Ubuntu to not devour my battery like a starving pig, disable the DGPU etc.

 

Hence, when setting up my new computer, I decided to give Windows Subsystem for Linux a go and just have a single OS for everything (except deploying iOS apps of course...). And fuck me, if you have the RAM for it, it's excellent. I can boot up Ubuntu within Windows in a few seconds. I pasted my Ubuntu home folder from the previous computer into WSL and everything just -worked-. Apparently you can even run Linux GUI apps in WSL now, but terminal's all I need.

 

Since Microsoft STILL give you no good options for copying your shit from one computer to another, I love that I get to keep Ubuntu and yet be just one disk clone away from set next time I get a new machine.

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Debian GNU/Linux is my current and preferred distro. Very robust and easy to configure, and also gives me full control of how free/libre I want the system to be. I switched over to Linux Mint back in 2015, and distro-hopped for a long time. To some extent I still distro-hop, but Debian has long been one distro that I keep coming back to.

 

Currently I'm using KDE Plasma, but I've been DE-hopping more than I've been distro-hopping; when I get my next computer I'll start out with GNOME, and I also like LXDE a lot (a shame it's basically dead).

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btw I use arch (and unironically like it, and in addition do note that I'm very self-aware when it comes to the distro's infamy, so thankfully I'm no elitist)

 

On top of that, I'm just rocking a plain openbox setup. No desktop environment, no display manager, nothing. Just jumping straight into an openbox session from a tty, the way I like it.

 

I haven't touched Windows in several years. Hell, I've gradually been forgetting how to use it, which is nice. More free space to remember other things that matter.

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I discovered Linux when learning about coding and systems administration and was intrigued because it was exotic and supposedly better. I tried it, became my main OS and several years ago I just wiped out the Windows installation and now I don't bother keeping a dual boot anymore. Linux may break and do weird things sometimes, but so does Windows, so I would rather run a OS that I actually like using. Plus, the more of a commie I become, the more important I think software freedom is.

 

I settled on Debian Stable because it uses sane defaults for everything taking care of the boring stuff without trying to automagically do more than what I asked it to do. A pretty smooth experience for me. Here is my desktop under the spoiler, fake busy and clean versions. The window manager is AwesomeWM.
 

Spoiler


NPJmby2.png

 

GjIufot.png

 

 

4 hours ago, Remilia Scarlet said:

Truth be told, I do most of my file management and program launching from the command line.  Not because "IT'S FASTER!!11!1" or anything, but just because I'm so used to it.  Even with Doom, I just launch everything from the command line, and use Makefiles/custom tools to manage my projects.

 

Gosh, I know, right? I use the command line and write custom scripts a lot because I already learned it and therefore it's comfortable and easy for me. There's no sense on trying to be extra-hardcore or whatever.

 

3 hours ago, Aaron Blain said:

I try to get into Lynx and Gopher every once in a while, but the world seems to be firmly against me there.

 

 

Using text browsers is pretty much going against the grain, but you know those newspaper sites that hide most of the article asking you to register to see the full version and whatnot and are covered by banners asking permision to store cookies? Lynx, elinks and the like don't give a damn about that noise and let you read the full article comfortably. There's still some use for them in a heavily javascripted world.

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Mint with the default Cinnamon DE has been serving me well for the past couple of years. Since I don't really play AAA games and have no interest in subscribing for Adobe or Microsoft Office, I haven't really considered moving back to Windows.

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I have used various flavours on and off since 1993 and a few unix-like console tools on Windows, but only switched fully in 2020 when Windows 7 finally died. Linux Mint for me on my 2008 Dell 490 workstation, does mostly what I want and at least kinda resembles Windows 7; I do like the W7 GIU though and wish there was something that looked a nice for Linux; a slightly-customised XP skin was the nearest I could get. I write a lot of bash scripts for daily use and especially to manage my DooM projects and source ports. I do keep a W7 VM just in case and an old Advent PC with W10 for things that even that won't do. I also toyed with WSL just for shits and giggles :)

 

On my vintage AlphaServer (dual EV56's) I am running a very old (Lenny) Debian as there's no other GUI Linux available for it, though right now I'm spending most time in the command line with ssh into it from the Dell with the exception of ssh -X and gedit now and then. I'm compiling gcc 4.9.1 as that's what CMake needs and a lot of Doom source ports require it, have  5.11 kernel working on it and a few other bits.

 

The idea is to get the kernel fully working then modernise the userland piecemeal with compiled-from-source components until I can get a reasonable GUI experience and hardware accelerated graphics. I have an 8400 GS but will need to get Nouveau working on AXP and it's only meant for x86, ARM and PPC; however I can't think of a theoretical reason why I cant drive a GeForce from an AXP, especially as EV56's have support for byte, word and dword memory access.

 

I have had ZDoom, Woof! and Chocolate on it in software only mode with the pitiful Permedia 2V it came with, but by 'eck it's slow :)

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I began to seriously consider switching over to Linux shortly after Microsoft started forcing people to upgrade to Windows 10. That was back in October 2015, I believe. I figured out how to avoid the forced upgrade and keep using Windows 7, but the fact that Microsoft was forcing people to use a product they didn't want left a really bad taste in my mouth. I then learned that Windows 10 spies on you to a terrifying degree, which gave me even more of a reason to not use it. I tested out several Linux distros in virtual machines over the years and I've taken the greatest liking to Manjaro. I still use Windows 7, but I know that support for it has ended, so when the time finally comes for me to get a new computer, I'm switching to Linux in a heartbeat.

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I decided to switch to Ubuntu when Windows 10 became a pain in the butt for me, a lot of notifications, the license, absolute lag, overheat... I first dual booted both operating systems until I messed up Ubuntu (I don't remember what I did, it was like 4 months ago), so I installed it again, and this time I deleted Windows 10. So far, it hasn't had any problems, the only thing I don't like that much is building stuff from source, but, runs a lot better, and I have WINE in case I need to use a Windows app (Yeah, yeah, I know, it's not fully reliable, but, meh, it's close enough).

 

Spoiler

In case you wonder, my computer is a Dell XPS L502X with an Intel® Core™ i5-2430M CPU @ 2.40GHz.

 

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3 minutes ago, Lol 6 said:

only thing I don't like that much is building stuff from source

 

Generally, I can find something in the software repositories that does what I'm looking for, so I don't have to build from source often. I think the only thing I've recently had to build was Eternity Engine.

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Slackware GNU/Linux for more than 20 years now. DE? who need DEs! fluxbox as window manager, alot of opened terminal windows. using DIY: terminal emulator, Tox client, XMPP client (well, psyc, not XMPP), IRC client, email client, and alot of smaller things i wrote for myself too.

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Arch with Xfce at the minute. Though I spend most of my time in Windows because of some software for Uni seemingly not playing nicely with Linux (well, more that I just haven't bothered going through the headache of trying to get it to work), and usually by the end of a day of study if I still feel like being on the computer it's usually just to watch YouTube or something so I can't be bothered switching over. 

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9 hours ago, ketmar said:

fluxbox as window manager, alot of opened terminal windows.

I used to use Fluxbox, and would probably go back to it should Sawfish ever stop compiling for me.  It's a very nice WM that stays out of the way, but it'd take me a while to configure it to my liking again since I never saved any of my old configs :-/

I also used to use Xfce and remember when the default looked like a CDE clone.  Ahh my youth :')

 

Anywho, thinking about what I usually have open... I usually have Firefox, Discord, a ton of urxvt terminal windows (used to use Terminology), Emacs (which I use for music and other stuff, not just editing), and gkrellm for a basic monitor all open.  Gkrellm also lets me know when I get an email, and I can open mutt, my preferred email client, inside of a terminal window directly from it.

 

As far as hotkeys go, I have Urxvt set to Meta+F1 and Emacs to Meta+F3 since I use those so much.  Super+Space opens up Xfce's Application Finder, which is what I use when I don't launch something directly from a terminal.  Ctrl+Meta+Space switches on and off Fcitx so I can type in Japanese.

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8 hours ago, almostmatt1 said:

Arch with Xfce at the minute. Though I spend most of my time in Windows because of some software for Uni seemingly not playing nicely with Linux (well, more that I just haven't bothered going through the headache of trying to get it to work), and usually by the end of a day of study if I still feel like being on the computer it's usually just to watch YouTube or something so I can't be bothered switching over. 


I’m also in arch/xfce but am forced to use Windows for work software on my main device. Are you dual booting? I’m thinking about setting that up. 

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I'm a recent convert to Linux, after distrohopping settled on Manjaro KDE on my PC and XFCE on the laptop, both dual booted with Win10 (still need it for gaming or some school related stuff). So fun to poke around in the system, might sound stupid but I'm finally starting to feel interested in computer science a few years into my degree thanks to this experience.

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I only recently started using Linux with Linux Mint on my old computer, but I switched it over to Debian with the xfce desktop environment. I figured Arch was too complicated and anything else I would use would be based on Debian, so I might as well just use Debian.

 

I'm currently fumbling around with the awesome window manager and have had some success changing very minor aspects of the system, like changing my default wallpaper. It's a pain in the neck, but I enjoy screwing around in Lua as a hobbyist. I'm keeping my Windows computer for gaming, but I don't game as much as I used to, so we'll see how long Windows stays on that one.

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Hi, my System76 laptop came in, I've been using it for a few days now, and I figured I'd write about it in the dedicated Linux nerd thread.

Here's the configuration I went with for my gazelle and a neofetch of the specs:

Spoiler

2021-06-01_18-27.png.03a589f7dd37cb7ec9b7acf0f637c0ab.pngimage.png.263f3e4b855583d06a0154c13e766eff.png

 

As you can see, the cpu is a different one than I ordered, but.... personally I don't mind. I actually like having more cores, the very slight processing power loss isn't an issue for me personally. I can imagine others might be upset about not getting what they ordered, and I must admit that I wish that System76 would update their order pages... they seem to have been swapping out some parts with others. I'm not sure if it's by their own choice or if they're just taking whatever they can get due to shortages and whatnot, but all the other people I've seen mention they've had swapped out parts from their orders have gotten something of very very similar or slightly greater quality than what they ordered, so I'm not upset personally. The GPU is the same as specified on the order (shows up weird like that in neofetch because nvidia i guess), the SSDs are as advertised, everything else was as ordered, EXCEPT the display, which actually supports 144hz instead of just 120hz, which is cool with me.


I've been using xfce on it and I'm pretty pleased in general. It runs well, some people might consider the fans to be slightly louder than desired when you're doing something intensive, but I largely use this thing with headphones so I'm not bothered by it. Have no issues with GPU drivers, etc. The color profile for the screen IS a little bit warm compared to my last one, not by much, but noticeable. I've been meaning to see if I can tweak it a bit with DisplayCal or something but I haven't gotten around to it yet. In terms of stress testing, I've mostly been emulating PS2 and PS3 games on it and it far exceeds the ability of PS2 and runs very very well for compatible PS3 games. I know that's not a very specific benchmark, but I haven't been interested in much else recently. For anyone interested in money figures, I paid $2,025.00 for it, not including tax, but the 2nd SSD and 32gb of RAM rather than 16 is what drove it up that high. I'm pretty satisfied, I needed a new laptop and this greatly exceeds the one I've been using for the last 4 years.

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I had one of the first generation system76 laptops and it was quite a nice little machine. If it wasn't for a broken power socket, I would have used it for quite a few years.

 

I visited their offices once (they're local for me). They were really nice there.

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