Opinions on Linux Distros i've tested.

[DoodMann]

Yeah, typing currently at Manjaro, enjoying so far.

Little update: currently installing Arch alongside Mint and windows. Enjoying so far, but what could be the best DE for this? I 'm thinking of Cinnamon, GNOME, or Deepin. Byt never tried Deepin, so I might try the 2 first.

[Barbados99]

Yeah, typing currently at Manjaro, enjoying so far.

Little update: currently installing Arch alongside Mint and windows. Enjoying so far, but what could be the best DE for this? I 'm thinking of Cinnamon, GNOME, or Deepin. Byt never tried Deepin, so I might try the 2 first.

I really enjoy XFCE with Arch... right now I am using the Arch derivative, EndeavourOS, and I really really like it a lot with XFCE. It is wicked fast. I did the "live" install (it gives you two ways to install the OS) and this method lets you do a minimal installation, and then install XFCE from the command line. The result is that it only used about 250mb of RAM memory when you first boot up. Then you can be very selective in what you load as far as your software. You avoid the bloatware stuff this way. Just like Arch, but it is a slick way of getting the same Arch install but it's an easier way I think.

I like the fact that XFCE is light, fast & powerful - yet it can be configured to be a beautiful interface once it's customized. It has a simple clean look that I think is very elegant. LOL, at least I think so. I realize beauty is in the eye of the beholder

[BG405]

I realize beauty is in the eye of the beholder

... in my case, beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder

I do like the clean Xfce interface but haven't tried the current offering yet, no any of the Mint 20 series.

[witzel]

Zorin is a good distro, but I wish it updated more frequently, they're still based on dated Ubuntu 18.04.

When 20.04 gets older and 22.04 gets closer to be released then they will make a version based off 20.04 /just kidding

Dude, they're slow as hell. I think I'm actually getting the feeling of users of rolling-release distros.

[BG405]

I think I'm actually getting the feeling of users of rolling-release distros.

There certainly seem to be a few of us on here!

Great for having the latest & (hopefully) greatest, as long as you're happy with the regular rafts of updates .. and doing the occasional "fix" when something goes belly-up.

[MurphCID]

Anyone try or use Slackware?

[BG405]

Not yet! But now I have space on the HDD for a few VMs ... (yes, I know, the easy option)

[blackcarajillo]

Anyone try or use Slackware?

Yes, I tried it and also one derivative, Salix.
Slackware is great and stable like Debian but the installation process..., even Arch is easier to install. The package manager does not resolve dependencies either. But as I said, once configured it is just like any other distro.
For my personal taste it is just too old regarding the packages and software in general. Debian has newer stuff. But I like the Slackbuilds and you can compile every package known to mankind on Slackware because it comes with everything included.

Salix comes with a nice installer and slapt-get, that says everything and is minimal and not like Slackware where you would end up with KDE and Xfce at the same time if you take the default.

[mr_raider]

Yeah, typing currently at Manjaro, enjoying so far.

Little update: currently installing Arch alongside Mint and windows. Enjoying so far, but what could be the best DE for this? I 'm thinking of Cinnamon, GNOME, or Deepin. Byt never tried Deepin, so I might try the 2 first.

Deepin is a pig. It makes gnome 3 look light. If you want a full featured DE, KDE is still top dog. Its configurability is unmatched.

[DoodMann]

Huh, for what I found, it looks promising. I actually didn't know it's a whole new distro. I thought it's just a Desktop Environment. Have you also known Sugar? It looks promising and ugly at the same time. Don't know why my bank of emotions feels that.

[MurphCID]

Anyone try or use Slackware?

Yes, I tried it and also one derivative, Salix.
Slackware is great and stable like Debian but the installation process..., even Arch is easier to install. The package manager does not resolve dependencies either. But as I said, once configured it is just like any other distro.
For my personal taste it is just too old regarding the packages and software in general. Debian has newer stuff. But I like the Slackbuilds and you can compile every package known to mankind on Slackware because it comes with everything included.

Salix comes with a nice installer and slapt-get, that says everything and is minimal and not like Slackware where you would end up with KDE and Xfce at the same time if you take the default.

Most newer users have never met dependency h*ll. It is an ugly place.

[mr_raider]

Huh, for what I found, it looks promising. I actually didn't know it's a whole new distro. I thought it's just a Desktop Environment. Have you also known Sugar? It looks promising and ugly at the same time. Don't know why my bank of emotions feels that.

I tried Ubuntu DDE in a VM. It looks pretty (very windows 10) but it idles at 1gig of RAM out of the box. That's 400 more than KDE neon. As soon as youa ctivate desktop effects it starts to chug.

[DoodMann]

DISGUSTING! I only have 4GB of ram and that would give me like 10 seconds of just starting Firefox. Thanks though.

[Barbados99]

DISGUSTING! I only have 4GB of ram and that would give me like 10 seconds of just starting Firefox. Thanks though.

You may enjoy EndeavourOS with XFCE. It was only using 250mb of RAM after the install. It's Arch based. And I don't see it using a bunch of Internet bandwidth at all. They have (I think) 9 different desktop options... in fact I also have an i3 boot option that I can use instead of the XFCE. For a computer with 4gb of RAM I'd think it would fly. You do a minimal install and then you only add what you truly need as far as software, so no bloatware is added at all. It is wicked-fast for me. I think I will be installing it on my older computer now too. I just finished rebuilding an older desktop computer and it's already running well on it. But it has plenty of memory and it should be running well. But for a lower RAM situation I'd think EndeavourOS would be a good match.

[DoodMann]

I might try dual-boot it at my other system when I got time. Currently, configuring my Arch Installation as I'm having a hard dingus time. Remember when I posted another thread where is it worth it? The login credentials? Lucky me as I forgot to install a Web Browser. What I did was install a temporary Manjaro in there, give it the same desktop name, then get back to Arch, then install it. It tooked me 2 days to figure it out. But, totally worth it! 26 seconds of boot time!

[BG405]

If you want a full featured DE, KDE is still top dog. Its configurability is unmatched.

I wholeheartedly agree. I really love the configurability. Not sure if in Cinnamon you can set preferred dimensions & position etc. of not only main but also child windows, individually? Or Wobbly Windows?

[mr_raider]

If you want a full featured DE, KDE is still top dog. Its configurability is unmatched.

I wholeheartedly agree. I really love the configurability. Not sure if in Cinnamon you can set preferred dimensions & position etc. of not only main but also child windows, individually? Or Wobbly Windows?

I'm thinking of trying Manjaro kde in dual bootm. What version of KDE is Manjaro using these days?

[BG405]

What version of KDE is Manjaro using these days?

I have this one & the system is kept up to date:

Code: Select all

[brian@BG-T440-MANJARO Downloads] $ inxi -S
System:
  Host: BG-T440-MANJARO Kernel: 5.7.9-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64
  Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.19.3 Distro: Manjaro Linux

Plasma 5 has come on a lot since it first appeared, but there are still a couple of things I'd like to fix, like the start of week (which could be set in Plasma 4).

[mr_raider]

What version of KDE is Manjaro using these days?

I have this one & the system is kept up to date:

Code: Select all

[brian@BG-T440-MANJARO Downloads] $ inxi -S
System:
  Host: BG-T440-MANJARO Kernel: 5.7.9-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64
  Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.19.3 Distro: Manjaro Linux

Plasma 5 has come on a lot since it first appeared, but there are still a couple of things I'd like to fix, like the start of week (which could be set in Plasma 4).

Not bad. Neon is 5.19.4.

I'm running kernel 5.7 and mesa 20.1 anyway due to having a newish GPU. Manjaro would have it all out of the box.

How does pacman compare to apt?

[Barbados99]

I might try dual-boot it at my other system when I got time. Currently, configuring my Arch Installation as I'm having a hard dingus time. Remember when I posted another thread where is it worth it? The login credentials? Lucky me as I forgot to install a Web Browser. What I did was install a temporary Manjaro in there, give it the same desktop name, then get back to Arch, then install it. It tooked me 2 days to figure it out. But, totally worth it! 26 seconds of boot time!

Good luck with the Arch. I tried it a few months back. Regarding my earlier post to you regarding EndeavourOS on an older computer, I did go ahead this afternoon and installed it on my old laptop... I tried it with i3 WM, and then tried it with an XFCE desktop. It was a real disappointment. That surprised me because it runs great on my newer computer. On that older computer I've found that Mint XFCE runs better than any other distro that I've tried on it (and I've tried a lot of them on it over the years). The Mint XFCE hits a sweet spot between lightweight performance (on an old machine) and also gives a pleasant user experience too. Both. I don't enjoy running a lightweight distro on it that is a pain to live with. XFCE runs as fast as any I've tried on that machine - and - it can be configured to where it is a nice experience to use. It's not my daily driver but it is one I do use as my "road" computer on trips... if it gets banged around a bit it's okay.

Anyway I thought I'd better pass this on to you. Maybe you'll have a better experience than I did. Good luck on the Arch though.