What do you with your Linux Distro ? Do you hop around ?

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jaffafa

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With so many distro's to choose from and one gaining more popularity than the next what are you guys doing ?

Are you deleting the existing distro you have and installing the new latest most popular distro from scratch ?
or are you just hopping around from one distro to another testing each of them out or
do you stick with the one you have ?

I recently came from a Windows 7 background and I tried a few distros in VM's, now i have decided to go for with Deepin (at the moment i just surf the net and socia media) but i still feel like installing the others on my hardware (not VMs) and try them out (such as: Manjaro, Mint, Arch, Debian, SuSe, etc) just to get a feel what they're like.

Thats why i wanted to know how the rest of you guys are going about...
 


well for me if slackware was stuck at 14.2 i would probably be forced to try something else since it didn't get wifi up on new HP laptop and of course there would come a point where i probably couldn't see video due to flash or something out of date.

However there is current. Since its the oldest Linux distro its got a fairly good ( although touchy and fire from hip) support on forum. Also probably one of the biggest choice of packages available via repos

So the choice is this: spend more time with a satisfying distro and get to know it even better or jump to another & have to learn Yum syntax or something .

I did once see though a suggested time line :
Windows-> puppy-> a few other distros-> Arch
 
I'm always trying new Linux releases / versions to see what's new or better however I do have my favorite Linux distros which are regular drivers.

I have a half dozen different desktops connected and ready for use so distro hopping isn't any problem.

For the most I've found most mainstream Linux distros to be the same except a different user interface from one to another.

Since I use desktops from 2007 / 2010 I prefer lightweight small footprint Linux distros without all of the bells and whistles and eye candy.

New to Linux or seasoned Linux user distro hopping is part of being a Linux user and it's just plain fun.

Enjoy your Linux whichever Linux you're using.
 
captain-sensible said:
well for me if slackware was stuck at 14.2 i would probably be forced to try something else since it didn't get wifi up on new HP laptop and of course there would come a point where i probably couldn't see video due to flash or something out of date.

However there is current. Since its the oldest Linux distro its got a fairly good ( although touchy and fire from hip) support on forum. Also probably one of the biggest choice of packages available via repos

So the choice is this: spend more time with a satisfying distro and get to know it even better or jump to another & have to learn Yum syntax or something .

I did once see though a suggested time line :
Windows-> puppy-> a few other distros-> Arch
Click to expand...

doesnt slackware interface look a bit basic ?
 
poorguy said:
I'm always trying new Linux releases / versions to see what's new or better however I do have my favorite Linux distros which are regular drivers.
Click to expand...
what is your main/favorite distro where you do all your work from ?

poorguy said:
I have a half dozen different desktops connected and ready for use so distro hopping isn't any problem.
Click to expand...
Thats what im thinking of doing. Are all your distros on VM or is it hardware ?
At the moment i gotta dual boot, but if i go down the hardware route it could get triple or quad boot and might get messy specially uninstalling and if the bootloader gets messed up unless im really careful

poorguy said:
For the most I've found most mainstream Linux distros to be the same except a different user interface from one to another.
Click to expand...
I agree with that.

poorguy said:
Since I use desktops from 2007 / 2010 I prefer lightweight small footprint Linux distros without all of the bells and whistles and eye candy.
Click to expand...
Yeh, i will go back in time a bit. Some of the distros look plain with grey borders like windows95 and mint a bit like seasoned XP

poorguy said:
New to Linux or seasoned Linux user distro hopping is part of being a Linux user and it's just plain fun.
Click to expand...
So, i am on the right track, thats what I have in mind but doesnt it get messy ?


Enjoy your Linux whichever Linux you're using.
 
Linux is my "daily driver". I have one windows laptop in my house, (rarely powered on)
All other computers are linux. Games, documents, web browsing, .. all the things I did before...
I just do on Linux.
 
arno said:
As others have said, there's not really any reason to get hung up on which distribution you pick out for your first stab at Linux -- the main differences in distributions are:
What are they based on?
What package manager do they use?
What packages do they come with?
What are you looking to do with it?
For most end-users, just about any relativly modern distribution will be more than adequate to start with. Pretty much all software is, in one way or another, usable on most distributions--though some make it easier than others, for sure.
Click to expand...

I dont look at it like that about what its based on, the package manager, etc. Also i dont wanna keep on tinkering with the system for hours every day. Just want a system/OS that when you turn on the machine, just works and i can do my stuff.

However, trying out all the distros sounds fun.
 
jaffafa said:
what is your main/favorite distro where you do all your work from ?
Click to expand...

I don't really have a favorite Linux distro.

I use Antix Linux / MX Linux / Ubuntu / Arch / OpenSuse / Debian.

I'm still learning Arch and OpenSuse as neither of these are user friendly imo.

jaffafa said:
Are all your distros on VM or is it hardware ?
Click to expand...

Nope no VM each Linux distro is on an individual computer.

jaffafa said:
So, i am on the right track, thats what I have in mind but doesnt it get messy ?
Click to expand...

Since I only install one Linux distro per computer ain't nothing to get messy.
 
ive only been on linux fro a few months but im running mint dual booted with macos sierra on a 2009 applemackbook). I only use linux now ive pretty much dumped mac and windows. I have about 10 linux iso distros downloaded to my mint desktop (slackware, debian, ubuntu,gentoo,arch,mxlinux,kali and a few others) and i run them in virtual box. I was distro hopping around but quickly realised that doesnt really teach you as much as sticking with one distro and simply using it as your daily operating system. I find i learn the most when i come up against problems or issues i have to solve with daily usage.

Virtual box is very fun to explore other distros without commiting to a full install. You download linux iso's and have alittle play with them, it also gives you practice at installing more trickier distros that require more setup than say ubuntu or mint which are relatively easy installs.

i do have a little plan laid out as i want to learn the system and how it works. my plan is as follows:

1.install and setup Archlinux -->2. install and setup Gentoo--> 3.install and setup slackware -->4.linuxfromscratch!!!!!
 
At the end of the day, I use Linux to get stuff done, live my life and have fun.
I'm not interested in trying each new distro, or the latest shiny desktop. I just want to install it and then be able to use my computer for whatever I need! Preferably without the OS, the desktop, or other software getting in my way, or costing me money.

And GNU/Linux and free software fits that bill nicely!

When I first started with Linux I did a bit of distro-hopping to work out what I liked and settled on Debian.

The only other time I distro hopped was when gnome 2 was phased out and that gnome 3 abomination was prematurely foisted on us.

Then I went back and forth between kubuntu, crunchbang and Arch for a while before I discovered the dwm window manager and the debian minimal net install...

Since then, I've been using Debian testing via minimal net install, with dwm instead of a traditional desktop.

Debian minimal net install is like installing Arch, but with less manual configuration required!
I can install the bare bones, text only version of debian, then add X, dwm and my other preferred software. Once my environment is set up the way I like - I can just work.... It's great!
 
FWIW.

SparkyLinux

SparkyLinux. Installed OOTB without any problems on this 2007 desktop computer pieced together from spare parts. All software additional software installed from Debian Buster repository's with the exception of Firejail which I downloaded from Sourceforge. Take a look and decide for yourself.
www.linux.org www.linux.org
 
I have decided to go on mission to try out every distro there is and see what its all about. I am on a 7 day challenge to get know a distro and learn as much as i can using it before i settle for my final distro, should be fun :D

So, far I have a triple boot system with the old Windows7 sitting in a little corner in the hard drive while I have a Deepin and Manjaro Xfce which I am using now. I kept Deepin because its nice and I like it. I installed Manjaro KDE and ran into a few problems so I overwrote it with Manjaro Xfce which i find better. So, in this 7 days I would use it as i would normally to get my stuff done, live my life and also have fun. Its a trial to find out what best works for me, what I like and feel comfortable with.

After that I am think of doing the almost impossible. Formatting a MacOS and putting it on there so i have the best hardware.
 
Has anybody had a go at making their own distro???? i know there are various sites that allwo you to do it . Would love to hear if any of you have had a go at making or cutomizing your own distro.

heres 8 sites i found that allow you to customize your own linux

  • Linux Respin. ...
  • Linux Live Kit. ...
  • Ubuntu Imager. ...
  • Linux from Scratch. ...
  • Slax Modules Tool. ...
  • Live Magic. ...
  • Instalinux. ...
  • SUSE Studio
 
that looks pretty cool i dint realise there was a ubuntu minimal install. i think ima give this one a go!

Ive got a little plan set out to help me learn more about linux and its innner working and it goes :
1.install arch
2.install gentoo
3.install slackware
4.have an attempt at linux from scratch (more about the process and willn ot be using linux from scratch as a working os)

i think ima put installing ubuntu minimal before i attempt these 4 ive laid out. How did you find the setup and install of ubuntu minimal???
 
smooth_buddha said:
How did you find the setup and install of ubuntu minimal???
Click to expand...
You'll have to research how to install and start the desktop although once you have a working desktop than the rest is easy using synaptic package manager.

It's a great learning experience if you are will to learn by trial by error as it took me several attempts to get a desktop up and running.

Installing bits and pieces of software from here and there.

It's like creating a Frankenstein monster It's alive It's alive.
 
smooth_buddha said:
that looks pretty cool i dint realise there was a ubuntu minimal install. i think ima give this one a go!

Ive got a little plan set out to help me learn more about linux and its innner working and it goes :
1.install arch
2.install gentoo
3.install slackware
4.have an attempt at linux from scratch (more about the process and willn ot be using linux from scratch as a working os)

i think ima put installing ubuntu minimal before i attempt these 4 ive laid out. How did you find the setup and install of ubuntu minimal???
Click to expand...

im gonn do the same

1.install arch
2.install gentoo
3.install slackware
4.install freebsd
5. install redhat 4.0
 
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