Restarting my Linux Desktop Journey

dcbrown73

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Alright. I know I intended to install Linux on the desktop after I built a new PC. I haven't built the PC yet, but I've decided to just try out a few desktops in Virtual Box for now.

Long term, I may just leave my Linux in Virtual Box too. It depends on how things go, but at least I get to try them out for now.

Today, we will start with OpenSUSE. My first choice is the desktop interface. I have an option of KDE, Gnome, Xfce, or Generic lol. I used to Gnome, but switched to KDE and liked KDE except the fact that it had a few annoying attributes and it was... umm. Buggy. That was years ago though. The last desktop I used was Cinnamon and I actually liked it. I would try it again, but it doesn't appear to be an option.

I will start with KDE and see how things go.

Any JetBrains owners here? One concern I have is if I end up installing my Dev environments over and over in new VMs will be a problem. Hmm, or wasn't there a way to uninstall the license before wiping. I don't know. I usually just install it and it's good for years before I buy a new PC.

Oh, and at least I'm in the right spot for Linux (desktop) support lol.
 


Alright. I know I intended to install Linux on the desktop after I built a new PC. I haven't built the PC yet, but I've decided to just try out a few desktops in Virtual Box for now.

Oh, and at least I'm in the right spot for Linux (desktop) support lol.
I hope your experience this second time around as GNU/Linux on the desktop will be better than your first experience. Although with your years of GNU/Linux server experience I you will be able to figure out most desktop things yourself and maybe have a few questions about how something is done in desktop use and then be able to figure out the rest yourself :)
 
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Welcome back to Linux Desktop. Hope it is a long and good relationship. OpenSuse is a good distro and KDE has come a long way in the last few years, enjoy!
 
Status update lol.

So, last night I ended up with four different issues.
  • Couldn't change the desktop resolution from 600x800.
  • No sound
  • Couldn't install the mlocate utility and being told there was no default mlocate for OpenSUSE! lol
  • The GUI utility continuously stalled while trying to install the Chrome browser. (ended up using cli rpm command)
I resolved each issue, but man. That is Linux on the desktop that I remember lol. Wack 'O Mole in getting it to work!

Now, I haven't done a lot with it yet, but I used it to surf the web, check emails and stuff like that. The GUI is actually very responsive. I did notice a slight lag while typing, at one point, but that went away. That could have been Linux, the VM, or even my host PC doing something that caused that slight delay. Right now I am not experiencing any lag.

I switched to the dark interface which I prefer. Hopefully I will have some more time to get it setup for my use. I may even try to expand it to full screen on three monitors so I can use it as if it was my default OS install.

Currently I gave it 8g of memory and there is still about 1.6g free. (the rest in use or used as cache) I may need to boost that up if I really start to use it. That shouldn't be an issue though as I have 32gb on the host PC and never even remotely use that much in Windows. If things go well, I may split it at 16gb each.
 
OpenSUSE Tumbleweed has Cinnamon as an option. I'm pretty sure you can also install Cinnamon on the 'regular' version of OpenSUSE.

I'll get a link...

 
Thanks @KGIII I will try it if I don't stick with KDE.
 
In most distros plocate has replaced mlocate.
 
Linux.....
  • Couldn't change the desktop resolution from 600x800.
  • No sound
  • Couldn't install the mlocate utility and being told there was no default mlocate for OpenSUSE! lol
  • The GUI utility continuously stalled while trying to install the Chrome browser. (ended up using cli rpm command)
Welcome to the real world.

LAUGH.gif
 
Couldn't change the desktop resolution from 600x800.

They're in VBox, last I knew. I managed to get Tumbleweed to work in VBox, but I think it required installation of the VBox tools. So, tell it to mount the drives and then run the right .run file and it *should* be good to go with screen resolution issues. I never bother with sound, etc...
 
They're in VBox, last I knew. I managed to get Tumbleweed to work in VBox, but I think it required installation of the VBox tools. So, tell it to mount the drives and then run the right .run file and it *should* be good to go with screen resolution issues. I never bother with sound, etc...
Yep, that is how I resolved it. Google Fu is your friend :)
 
Google Fu is your friend

That and man pages save me so much time/effort.

Many questions can be answered just by having some patience or knowing which terms to use at a search engine. That and RTFM.
 
Uh oh. I found a very ignorant bug in OpenSUSE that seems to have existed since at least March 2017!

Their repo doesn't even contain the right libraries for proper debugging using the standard gdb debugger!

Code:
user@opensuse:~/CLionProjects/nettrace_test/cmake-build-debug> gdb -q nettrace_test
Reading symbols from nettrace_test...
(gdb) break main
Breakpoint 1 at 0x4007cb: file /home/user/CLionProjects/nettrace_test/main.cpp, line 4.
(gdb) run
Starting program: /home/user/CLionProjects/nettrace_test/cmake-build-debug/nettrace_test
Missing separate debuginfos, use: zypper install glibc-debuginfo-2.31-7.30.x86_64

Breakpoint 1, main () at /home/user/CLionProjects/nettrace_test/main.cpp:4
4           std::cout << "nettrace starting up..." << std::endl;
Missing separate debuginfos, use: zypper install libgcc_s1-debuginfo-10.3.0+git1587-1.6.4.x86_64 libstdc++6-debuginfo-10.3.0+git1587-1.6.4.x86_64
(gdb)

There their is a website dated March 2017 which establishes this issue.

Given's SUSE reputation, how is hell can this still be an issue in August 2021? It's almost as if SUSE doesn't use SUSE for their own software development! lol

1631474324610.png
 
LOL I only use OpenSUSE Tumbleweed in a VM, largely for testing and verifying answers.

I'm a Lubuntu kinda guy, though I do have LMDE on one device that gets frequent use. I like Cinnamon as a DE, but I am really an LXDE kinda guy. LXDE is pretty much dead, so now I'm an LXQt kinda guy. It's a solid DE.
 
Actually, I just realized. I didn't install Tumbleweed, I installed Leap lol.
 
Actually, I just realized. I didn't install Tumbleweed, I installed Leap lol.

LOL The differences are that Tumbleweed is a rolling release, though you probably already know that.

Also, earlier I typed that I had Cinnamon with Tumbleweed. No, no... That was the wine talking. I have *Manjaro* with Cinnamon. You can install Cinnamon on OpenSUSE, 'cause I've done so before. But no, no my current VM has KDE installed.
 
So far, I'm not disliking KDE. It's actually similar to how I remember it back when I was using it.

Obviously, I will likely spin up some other distros. The only downside I found to SUSE so far is that annoying fact that gdb complains about missing debuginfo libraries even though I see some installed. (versioning issue I think)
 
I'd suggest trying Lubuntu, but I admit my bias.
I've ran it in the past. I think my next one will be something with Cinnamon because that is the last one I definitely liked. I hear a lot of good things about Manjaro and I hear it has Cinnamon, but I've also heard on multiple occasions that some updates / upgrades go very badly requiring a complete reinstall.

An out of the blue complete loss of my OS would evoke quite a bit of hostility from me. Enough to ditch a distro because of it.
 
My suggestion if you want to go with Cinnamon would be Mint 20.2 as the Mint team develops Cinnamon if the first place. And Mint is very stable. I have had problems with Manjaro in the past but they often fix the problem is just a few days. So it's not as bad as some make it out to be.
 
My suggestion if you want to go with Cinnamon would be Mint 20.2 as the Mint team develops Cinnamon if the first place. And Mint is very stable. I have had problems with Manjaro in the past but they often fix the problem is just a few days. So it's not as bad as some make it out to be.
Funny thing, Cinnamon is one of my favorite flavors and Mint is one of my most disliked flavors.

I use cinnamon Crest toothpaste and citrus flavored Listerine for mouthwash because of how much I dislike mint.
 

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