The Linux/BSD Thread: Arch for Clankers

[Coregia]

Seriously? When I switched from Kubuntu to Debian, I briefly tried GNOME; I sorely missed a lot of the functionality that KDE Plasma and its default applications had, which GNOME and its default applications did not have. It's more like KDE is unquestionably superior to GNOME in functionality, rather than similar... But different people will have different opinions depending on what exactly they're looking for in a desktop environment and its default applications.

I don't use GNOME, I only know that GNOME is the loveless child of the american linux community while KDE gets the benefits of having a further major ecosystem of developers and artists behind it that GNOME never bothered to develop.

Also, I'm already glazing KDE like crazy, there has to be a limit Y-Y.

GNOME kinda sucks in all honesty :L
Not customizable enough for my liking. Sure, extensions exist, but I've heard tales of instability regarding that and I'd rather have the customization built into the DE rather than some third party thing. If I want something from that general side of DE's (And not just KDE) I tend to go with Budgie, Though its more or less in a waiting period till Budgie 11 comes out, which will get it Wayland only (instead of X11)
Sure, it needs some time, but I think once it comes around Budgie will be a pretty good option in due time. As for GNOME, I say let it be that DE for servers and such.

PS: Its very hard to over-glaze KDE, its pretty good afterall!

[Armeattla]

I don't use GNOME, I only know that GNOME is the loveless child of the american linux community while KDE gets the benefits of having a further major ecosystem of developers and artists behind it that GNOME never bothered to develop.

Also, I'm already glazing KDE like crazy, there has to be a limit Y-Y.

GNOME kinda sucks in all honesty :L
Not customizable enough for my liking. Sure, extensions exist, but I've heard tales of instability regarding that and I'd rather have the customization built into the DE rather than some third party thing. If I want something from that general side of DE's (And not just KDE) I tend to go with Budgie, Though its more or less in a waiting period till Budgie 11 comes out, which will get it Wayland only (instead of X11)
Sure, it needs some time, but I think once it comes around Budgie will be a pretty good option in due time. As for GNOME, I say let it be that DE for servers and such.

PS: Its very hard to over-glaze KDE, its pretty good afterall!

Issue is: even as a DE for servers it sucks… because servers don't need DEs, you are doing it on terminal anyways. The closest you need to a "DE" on a server is YAST (fucking bless suse), or maybe it's successor cockpit.

And it's not like KDE got not only its own VNC+RDP client, it also got its own RDP server.

[Valentine Z]

On the thing about glazing and stuff... yeah, I will genuinely glaze for Fedora KDE too. I absolutely get it, that may not be your favorite distro or flavor, everyone has their own. That is the beauty of Linux!

For me, it's simply that it works. Well I mean yeah, I do need to tweak quite a good number of stuff, but if you have the luxury of time, say maybe a few hours a day, for like 2-3 days... you are absolutely set for life, more or less.

I have not booted to the Windows partition on my laptop in so long. My desktop is another thing (I am too lazy to troubleshoot other bits and just need to get my games and audio working), but on my laptop? Fantastic little thing. There may be better options for me, but for now - I am genuinely very happy with it. ♥

[Coregia]

GNOME kinda sucks in all honesty :L
Not customizable enough for my liking. Sure, extensions exist, but I've heard tales of instability regarding that and I'd rather have the customization built into the DE rather than some third party thing. If I want something from that general side of DE's (And not just KDE) I tend to go with Budgie, Though its more or less in a waiting period till Budgie 11 comes out, which will get it Wayland only (instead of X11)
Sure, it needs some time, but I think once it comes around Budgie will be a pretty good option in due time. As for GNOME, I say let it be that DE for servers and such.

PS: Its very hard to over-glaze KDE, its pretty good afterall!

Issue is: even as a DE for servers it sucks… because servers don't need DEs, you are doing it on terminal anyways. The closest you need to a "DE" on a server is YAST (fucking bless suse), or maybe it's successor cockpit.

And it's not like KDE got not only its own VNC+RDP client, it also got its own RDP server.

Eh, theres gotta be some reason why its the big thing with "corporate" distributions though (Red Hat and such)

[Nilokeras]

i really like gnome but i hear it has terrible ux. is there anything else like it

COSMIC is probably the single closest DE to GNOME. It’s made by System76, the creators of the gaming distro Pop!OS and afaik was begun as a project because the GNOME developers were so inflexible in working with the System76 people that they decided to go their own way. It’s now the default DE of Pop!OS and had its 1.0 release in I think January of this year.

It feels a lot like GNOME, as someone who uses and likes GNOME. Similar defaults and general design language, but a lot more customizable. It’s also been written from scratch in Rust with the intention of being lean and efficient, so it’s pretty snappy in general. It also has some tiling features you can enable, but my brain is too smooth for tiling WMs so I haven’t used them personally.

Only downside is that is in very active development, and it’s not as feature-rich or stable as KDE or GNOME. For example I tested it out and was about to switch when I discovered that remote desktop applications just don’t work on it yet. At all. And it still uses a fair number of GNOME apps while the devs put together their own ‘native’ versions of things, which can create headaches when it comes to theming and behaviour.

If you can tolerate that sort of active development it looks like a very promising project and the System76 people seem to be all in on it, which is encouraging. I’m keeping an active eye on it and plan to check back in in like six months time to see if it’s stable enough for my purposes.

[Zantalio]

KDE is one of the best desktop environments out there. When I tried Artix-openrc with the KDE desktop environment, it was really damn good. Only issue was adding users and maybe some NetworkManager errors but that was kind of an Artix problem and not a KDE problem. I also use the Gentoo LiveGUI environment to set up Gentoo, with KDE, Firefox, and LibreOffice already installed on it, which is a nice feature to have. It was really nice. Only problem was that it did occasionally slow down, but not too badly. That is a Gentoo compile problem that exists when your RAM is only 4GB DDR3L.

[Nilokeras]

Issue is: even as a DE for servers it sucks… because servers don't need DEs, you are doing it on terminal anyways. The closest you need to a "DE" on a server is YAST (fucking bless suse), or maybe it's successor cockpit.

And it's not like KDE got not only its own VNC+RDP client, it also got its own RDP server.

Eh, theres gotta be some reason why its the big thing with "corporate" distributions though (Red Hat and such)

I suspect its the simple reason that GNOME is very stable in its unextensioned state and difficult for the average non-tech inclined user to break. its kind of what you need in an environment where you're managing potentially hundreds of machines.

[Armeattla]

Eh, theres gotta be some reason why its the big thing with "corporate" distributions though (Red Hat and such)

The reason it's a big thing with Red Hat is because Red Hat is american and so is/was GNU/GNOME, so they are involved as a major Dev.
KDE was originally german, and so Suse and TUXEDO both support KDE – and it's also default for both.

[Kractero]

Can ANY other TWM render and send frame events to windows not on screen/windows in the background? Is every single Linux user on laptop or a 1080p monitor? Why can only Hyprland do this? Wlroots, Niri, hello? Literally the only thing keeping me on Hyprland.

KDE is an inevitability. Maybe I go back to Siduction/OpenSuse as well (probably not). Abandon this NixOS Hyprland charade.

There are scripts for autotiling KDE such as Polonium/Bismuth. (The former is built specifically for KDE Plasma 6, while the latter is for previous KDE versions.) Depends on what you wish to use.

Kwin scripts are so chopped, I would just go back to as vanilla as possible KDE.

[Zantalio]

There are scripts for autotiling KDE such as Polonium/Bismuth. (The former is built specifically for KDE Plasma 6, while the latter is for previous KDE versions.) Depends on what you wish to use.

Kwin scripts are so chopped, I would just go back to as vanilla as possible KDE.

Fair.

[Zantalio]

Neovim is honestly one of the best text editors out there. I might need some plugins if I ever am going to code more in C, but it's just a lot more convenient than something like Nano. Using it with GCC basically makes it an IDE.

And yes, I've begun to learn C. Always learn new things.

[Kractero]

I can't do Neovim, I can NixOS I can Hyprland I can't finish the trifecta. Skill issue on my part.

[Agandur]

it's just a lot more convenient than something like Nano

honestly nano is the worst i have ever used. like what the actual fuck. i know all the memes about exiting vi(m). and yes i know that nano technically provides hints on what buttons to press at the bottom. but i just cant get those. i have litteraly been stuck inside nano for half an hour. its my most dreaded editor when i install a new os that uses nano only as its editor. give me my vim, i also take vi, or even ed, which are all sane editiors normaly thinking people can use, unlike this nano stuff. there is a reason ed and vi are part of the standard, why deviate??? come on.

I can't do Neovim, I can NixOS I can Hyprland I can't finish the trifecta. Skill issue on my part.

try vim instead than. less of this fancy useless stuff, but same power. also shouldnt the trinity in that case be arch (not that it matters to me as i use both)? not big on hyprland though, im still sticking with the traditional x server and i3 combo. have tried sway some time ago, didnt quite like it yet back than, been a few years now, so maybe its time for a revisit.

[Valentine Z]

I mayyyy have found a workaround for my NVIDIA GPU just crapping out whenever I want to sleep.

Turn off and exit as many apps/programs as possible. At this point, it does seem like leaving Firefox, 3 terminals, EasyEffects, and the Task Monitor will not trigger it. More VRAM heavy stuff like MiniMeters (audio analyser) and everything else may need to be turned off.

I am just spitballing because the forums and folks have helped but still no dice for me.

Yeah this is working so far. It's not so much that I'm afraid of shutting down my laptop, it's just a nice little feature to have. Basically close aot of things that you believe may cause VRAM issues.

And to glaze again, yes it is a lot better than Windows in terms of power management and resuming. I have managed networking sessions and seminars with it, lasting 3-4 hours (genuinely impressive track record given the age and power of the not so lightweight device), and it just works without delays, ramped up background tasks, etc.

Funny though, how life can change like that. As a perspective, I was a HEAVY Windows fan. Like, I got out of my way to get a Windows Phone, and I thought Windows 8 was the hot stuff. Well, things change, don't they?

[Zantalio]

I can't do Neovim, I can NixOS I can Hyprland I can't finish the trifecta. Skill issue on my part.

I'm the exact opposite, I can Neovim but I can't Hyprland or NixOS. It's also a skill issue on my part.

[Aligned American Republics]

I tried to install Arch on a VM to probe if it was actually that hard and it's surprisingly easy if you use the guided installer. Which I guess it's like saying "actually riding a bike is really easy if you just keep the training wheels" but still it's gotten surprisingly simple I always had the idea you needed to be some sort of master hacker with 40 kilograms of estrogen in veins and 5 degrees to be able to actually install the thing.

Still staying in Mint tho bc I got used to it and I'm still scared of terminals.

[Agandur]

I tried to install Arch on a VM to probe if it was actually that hard and it's surprisingly easy if you use the guided installer. Which I guess it's like saying "actually riding a bike is really easy if you just keep the training wheels" but still it's gotten surprisingly simple I always had the idea you needed to be some sort of master hacker with 40 kilograms of estrogen in veins and 5 degrees to be able to actually install the thing.

oh, yes, arch is and has always (well probably not, but for as long as i remember at least) been easy. at least as long as you install it on supported hardware (x64 only currently). and i dont mean the install script, which im guessing your refering to right now, that thing was a broken pice of crap either way last time i checked. instead all you have to do is just follow the wiki, there is a dedicated install page with everything you need in the oreder you need it for your first install. just follow it like a brainless moron and youll be fine. (https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide) i still use it when i set up a new arch system, as its not something you have to do too often.

there is a reason the arch wiki is loved and a place a lot of non arch users eventually land on. however while it is a good encyclopedia of "i forgott how exactly it works let me refresh my memory", and a great place for "i dont care how it works, just give me the magic code to make it work" kind of people, it is a verry bad place to actually learn. for that you should at bare minimum look at the gentoo wiki. than you might become that master hacker eventually, just following the arch one will leave you staying a mindless but linux using zombi, which is nethertheless enough if all you want is to use it just like windows and dont care about why it works. arch is my favourite head empty no thought system for that verry reason.

Still staying in Mint tho bc I got used to it and I'm still scared of terminals.

you can install a DE on arch as well. noone will stop you, in fact its quite common, not everyone uses window managers or no gui at all.

[Zantalio]

Gentoo wiki is indeed best wiki. It is a well written wiki, which can be used as a companion to the Arch wiki. Although, obviously, the two operating systems are different.

I only really use Arch right now since it is somewhat easier on my potato computer. And for me, personally. I liked Gentoo more, when it came to learning about systems. I'm also apparently back on KDE again, which makes me feel a bit happy again. Although, I'm installing KDE for my mother, and not for me, personally. I am going to use something else, although KDE is a pretty damn sexy DE. I do have KDE already set for my user profile though.

I was kind of surprised to learn Gentoo was the basis for ChromiumOS and ChromeOS. I used Gentoo at home and, apparently, at school for a while too. Although, I've found Gentoo to be the superior operating system, over ChromeOS.

[Aligned American Republics]

I was kind of surprised to learn Gentoo was the basis for ChromiumOS and ChromeOS. I used Gentoo at home and, apparently, at school for a while too. Although, I've found Gentoo to be the superior operating system, over ChromeOS.

I mean, being better than ChromeOS is not really the achievement imo.

[Zantalio]

I was kind of surprised to learn Gentoo was the basis for ChromiumOS and ChromeOS. I used Gentoo at home and, apparently, at school for a while too. Although, I've found Gentoo to be the superior operating system, over ChromeOS.

I mean, being better than ChromeOS is not really the achievement imo.

It's also better than Arch if it weren't for the fact my system sucks.

[Kractero]

I swear I'd be so off Nix if I had a separate /home (totally not a grass is greener on the other side moment)

I haven't used my laptop in like 2 years, I use my work VM only when I need to full tunnel VPN in which isn't much, and my secondary PC hasn't been used since I moved. NixOS reproducibility for one device.

[Zantalistan]

I swear I'd be so off Nix if I had a separate /home (totally not a grass is greener on the other side moment)

I haven't used my laptop in like 2 years, I use my work VM only when I need to full tunnel VPN in which isn't much, and my secondary PC hasn't been used since I moved. NixOS reproducibility for one device.

NixOS is probably a better thing for servers.

[Merethin]

I was running NixOS until like last month, was cool in concept but I never managed to make sense of flakes and I didn't have much to do with the reproducibility either. Shared libraries are a pain with any kind of precompiled libraries or non-packaged programs, nix-ld solves the problem partially but it's still a headache. Have been back on Fedora for a bit, with Niri as per usual (favorite WM) and the setup for it was simpler, especially since I can actually install the Noctalia shell which has been awesome (couldn't figure out the setup for it on NixOS).

[Llan]

Can Linux support .bat files without emulation or workarounds? Like windows can out the box with command prompt.

[Kractero]

I swear I'd be so off Nix if I had a separate /home (totally not a grass is greener on the other side moment)

I haven't used my laptop in like 2 years, I use my work VM only when I need to full tunnel VPN in which isn't much, and my secondary PC hasn't been used since I moved. NixOS reproducibility for one device.

NixOS is probably a better thing for servers.

Oh right, I run Nix on my home server. I never really notice the benefits, managing my containers as systemd services is cool I guess.