What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

Vernon · 2020-08-24 19:15:47

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

EDIT: for a rough example of this compare OpenBSD's grep.c (487 sloc) with GNU's grep.c (2177 sloc).

First, let me say that I have never used any of the BSDs and know very little about them. Although I disagree with the BSD license which allows entities to take BSD code without contributing any changes back, I have the utmost respect for Theo de Raadt who is largely responsible for a tool I use every day - OpenSSH.

I learned of BSD grep performance issues when I wrote a script on my netbook using grep to process a large data set. When I gave the script to an Apple Mac user, I got a complaint of slow performance. This puzzled me because the Apple Mac had a much more powerful CPU than my netbook. Then I came across a thread similar to this one here and it all made sense.

The only reason I can think of to encourage BSD grep usage over GNU grep is if you are a cloud operator billing by CPU usage

Last edited by Vernon (2020-08-24 19:17:58)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2020-08-25 15:16:23

OpenBSD is always going to be slower than Linux because the developers prioritise security over features — for example their kernel is still mostly big-locked[0].

F_Sauce · 2020-09-15 14:49:09

I have two computers running Devuan and one very old one running SuSE 9.1; the SuSE one is for nostalgic reasons, I was on SuSE for 13 years or so.

zapper · 2020-09-15 17:10:43

Hyperbola and thats about it.
My Devuan laptop is an x230 thinkpad with intel me disabled and coreboot on it.
The laptop i using now is a thinkpad x200 with libreboot. Hyperbola is on it.

Voidlinux is good except for one thing... I don't like that they have a very new kernel. Also, no linux-libre option.

Devuan at least has that option thanks to jxself.org

Unrelated to devuan, but it is an option.

I now use i3-wm for most of my laptops, except the x230 thinkpad which I use xfce4 on.

Debuser2018 · 2020-10-06 07:17:53

From past weeks, I'm also using FreeBSD-12.1 on my desktop. It is a very interesting OS, and unlike last time, they have packages available and a nifty tool - pkg to install & manage packages. Gnome 3 is old at 3.28.3 and uses Consolekit2.

I have also seen Gnome-3.34 is working fine in OpenBSD with Consolekit2. Will Devuan Gnome-3 works with Consolekit/2.

pj1967 · 2020-10-06 18:33:08

I've diddled with Void and Miyolinux, but Devuan is my "serious" use distro. For my companies back office stuff, I have a mix of Devuan, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD. We do have a Windows 2012 server running our SolidWorks Vault as well as hosting MRP and QB.

For our companies products, I'm still in a pitched battle to rip RHEL from the hands of our software engineers and force them to drink from the cool chalice of Devuan...in a manner of speaking.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2020-10-06 18:52:00

zapper wrote:

Voidlinux is good except for one thing... I don't like that they have a very new kernel. Also, no linux-libre option.

Void have an LTS kernel metapackage which is currently tracking the 4.14 branch and also offer 4.4, 4.9 & 4.19. Their kernels are already de-blobbed.

zapper wrote:

Devuan at least has that option thanks to jxself.org

Devuan's kernels are also de-blobbed, no need to rely on third-party repositories.

zapper · 2020-10-06 19:58:12

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

zapper wrote:
Voidlinux is good except for one thing... I don't like that they have a very new kernel. Also, no linux-libre option.
Void have an LTS kernel metapackage which is currently tracking the 4.14 branch and also offer 4.4, 4.9 & 4.19. Their kernels are already de-blobbed.
zapper wrote:
Devuan at least has that option thanks to jxself.org
Devuan's kernels are also de-blobbed, no need to rely on third-party repositories.

Huh, didn't know that their kernels were already deblobbed, is this verifiable?

And they do have an lts package? Nice... didn't know that either. Hmm, might revisit in future.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2020-10-06 20:09:43

zapper wrote:

didn't know that their kernels were already deblobbed, is this verifiable?

Well they have separate packages for the firmware, which is a pretty clear sign

Otherwise check the source: https://github.com/void-linux/void-pack … plate#L180

dev2cosmos · 2020-10-07 12:11:00

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

zapper wrote:
Voidlinux is good except for one thing... I don't like that they have a very new kernel. Also, no linux-libre option.
Void have an LTS kernel metapackage which is currently tracking the 4.14 branch and also offer 4.4, 4.9 & 4.19. Their kernels are already de-blobbed.
zapper wrote:
Devuan at least has that option thanks to jxself.org
Devuan's kernels are also de-blobbed, no need to rely on third-party repositories.

I wonder how long they will keep those kernels around for? I need kernel 4.19 anything later on my machine as i get lockups, dont know why.

xinomilo · 2020-10-07 15:26:36

for as long as buster is supported, so will beowulf and kernel 4.19. same goes for linux-libre-4.19 kernel available from freesh repo, for debian based systems...
i think both will stop getting updates sometime around 2024. but you can always pin kernel + skip updates after that..

Head_on_a_Stick · 2020-10-07 19:38:33

dev2cosmos wrote:

I wonder how long they will keep those kernels around for?

Until they reach EOL: https://www.kernel.org/category/releases.html

dev2cosmos wrote:

I need kernel 4.19 anything later on my machine as i get lockups, dont know why.

Sounds like a regression. These are unfortunately common in Linux because the kernel developers are so keen to add new features that they keep breaking old ones. You should either attempt to find the cause yourself with a git bisect or report the issue to the kernel developers to help them fix it — they can't fix it if they don't know about it.

Using an outdated, EOL kernel is unwise. New kernel vulnerabilities are published frequently.

dev2cosmos · 2020-10-08 12:49:13

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

dev2cosmos wrote:
I wonder how long they will keep those kernels around for?
Until they reach EOL: https://www.kernel.org/category/releases.html
dev2cosmos wrote:
I need kernel 4.19 anything later on my machine as i get lockups, dont know why.
Sounds like a regression. These are unfortunately common in Linux because the kernel developers are so keen to add new features that they keep breaking old ones. You should either attempt to find the cause yourself with a git bisect or report the issue to the kernel developers to help them fix it — they can't fix it if they don't know about it.
Using an outdated, EOL kernel is unwise. New kernel vulnerabilities are published frequently.

Okay, well that good news for 4.19.

Im not knowledgeable of kernels very much but do know when i used kernels in unstable i would get lockups so better for me to stay in stable as i dont get such issue. The 4.9 kernel to me was the best for my machine although i did have to use dkms to get wifi working but this was fixed in 4.19.

dnss · 2020-11-09 20:31:56

I've been running MX on a Chromebook. This model is known to sometimes have issues running Linux, but it works flawlessly. Touchpad and keyboard work exactly as they should. Great overall distro no matter the hardware and no systemd, at least with default boot. Devuan live usb worked decent on this machine, but I couldn't get the touchpad working correctly. I may try again in the future.

swarfendor437 · 2020-11-14 17:13:03

For my current daily go to I am using FerenOS with VB of Windows 7 32-bit pro as I need it to access Outlook365 to access a shared mailbox - would love to get that into evolution (the second mailbox that doesn't belong to anyone but 4 staff can access - it's a mailbox for work request processing). I also used to run ZorinOS 15 but after all the shenanigans with Snap being as secure as telnet and finger (:->) I was attempting to try Devuan on an old drive and wiped my Zorin - all gone and with all my data too - TEst Disk could not recover as there was an overlap/misalignment of cylinders - hey ho - the price you pay when you mess with computers in an upset state and late at night. I was (am) hoping to make Devuan 3.0 (KDE Plasma) to replace FerenOS but crucial for my work is Braille Blaster whilst working from home which runs (but currently poorly) on Feren OS - I may go back to an earlier release that did not have all the latest bells and whistles but met roughly what I need. Now that Head_on_a_Stick has mentioned Alpine Linux I'm going to have to take a look!
I've installed windowsfx 10 as a vm on AQemu on Devuan 3.0 as sadly I have to use Teams at work, despite my insistence that Jitsi is superior in every way (you can't share 2 monitors in Teams!)

Last edited by swarfendor437 (2020-11-14 17:13:46)

GlennW · 2020-11-14 22:50:52

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

Debuser2018 wrote:
I would like to test FreeBSD 12 on baremetal; it's a long long time since I had used it. Doubtful about installing FreeBSD on a hard drive already containing Linux & Windows OS's. AFAIK, BSD's demand full hard drives. May not be true, if the FreeBSD installer is updated.
I don't know about FreeBSD but for OpenBSD you just need to create a partition of type a6 (in fdisk) or a600 (in gdisk) and the installer recognises it and offers to just use that and leave the other partitions alone.
Obligatory XKCD link: https://xkcd.com/349/

<- this is me (XKCD success comic) installing FreeBSD!

Last edited by GlennW (2020-11-14 22:51:44)

MiyoLinux · 2020-11-16 22:51:18

BSDs in order (according to my PPs...aka...Personal Preferences)

1. OpenBSD
2. NetBSD
3. FreeBSD (and its derivatives)

Why?

Because that's the way I roll baby!

manyroads · 2020-11-17 14:15:18

I use MX Linux regularly w/ dwm. Sometimes I use antiX, void, arch and/or manjaro. From time to time I test (play around with) Devuan.

zapper · 2021-01-17 04:25:44

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

zapper wrote:
didn't know that their kernels were already deblobbed, is this verifiable?
Well they have separate packages for the firmware, which is a pretty clear sign
Otherwise check the source: https://github.com/void-linux/void-pack … plate#L180

I didn't reply to this for a while, but I found one other new reason to use deblobbed linux kernels from jxself.org...

The mei module and the hdcp modules creep me out...

mei is some intel me management module which I have zero use for and don't know when it was added to the regular kernels...

and hdcp module is some drm like crap...

Heh so I guess unless I know how to disable that stuff, I am sticking with linux-libre. PS, I use that as a general name, Currently using LTS kernels...

Head_on_a_Stick · 2021-01-17 09:59:10

zapper wrote:

The mei module and the hdcp modules

They're both open source and they're not loaded unless you need them.

zapper wrote:

how to disable that stuff

Create a file at /etc/modprobe.d/block_nasties.conf with this content:

install mei /bin/true
install mei-hdcp /bin/true

^ That will stop the modules from ever being loaded.

EDIT: see https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/driver-api/mei/ for an explanation of the kernel interface for the management engine.

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2021-01-17 10:01:03)

combridge · 2021-01-18 06:06:12

Salix XFCE (for lazy Slackers). Slackware is OK but just don't care for KDE (I tried - kept going back to Salix).

Recently tried Ubuntu, Mint, POP. Couldn't warm up to any of them and found it all a bit confusing. Guess I like the KISS principle.

Windoze 10 (for needed software - no choice here); also using it in virtual-box with a Devuan host.

My needs are generally pretty simple.

Warming up to Devuan. I personally don't have any real gripes with systemd; just rubs me the wrong way for some reason.

zapper · 2021-01-18 11:57:19

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

zapper wrote:
The mei module and the hdcp modules
They're both open source and they're not loaded unless you need them.
zapper wrote:
how to disable that stuff
Create a file at /etc/modprobe.d/block_nasties.conf with this content:
install mei /bin/true
install mei-hdcp /bin/true
^ That will stop the modules from ever being loaded.
EDIT: see https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/driver-api/mei/ for an explanation of the kernel interface for the management engine.

Hmm, well, they try to load when I used devuan's kernel despite the intel me being disabled. And my laptop has no problem with the linux-libre kernel... so idk if what you said is accurate, but perhaps it gives some advantage.
As for if they are open source, meh... I heard bad things about both, so I see no need to keep them on.

That all being said, thanks for the info on how to disable them.

dice · 2021-01-18 13:17:30

I gave slitaz a try today, i just love how they have created such a tiny distro that can do so much for old hardware. I managed to install it to a partition on an old laptop i had collecting dust and it works perfectly, even picked up the ancient wifi dongle i used with way back.

https://slitaz.org/en/

Last edited by dice (2021-01-18 13:18:00)

vlax · 2021-01-19 19:23:19

yes, slitaz is great!

dice wrote:

I gave slitaz a try today, i just love how they have created such a tiny distro that can do so much for old hardware. I managed to install it to a partition on an old laptop i had collecting dust and it works perfectly, even picked up the ancient wifi dongle i used with way back.
https://slitaz.org/en/

Spock · 2021-04-06 16:18:05

This is a difficult question for me as I am always looking at distro's and have many I have installed on various SSD's etc. Like, yesterday I started looking at guix just to see what all the fuss is about, Before I came to Devuan I was using Void but for some reason, even though I was happy with it for 18 months or so, after the death of "pullmoll" the maintainer it dont feel right and hasnt been working right since his github last post (no pun intended). Void is great. I also have openindiana an illumos distro that I have been messing with for a few months. I like OpenBSD and mess with that a lot. Those are personal use but then in my work life I help companies use SUSE, Debian, and Ubuntu,servers mainly on a daily basis.

The officially official Devuan Forum!

#51 2020-08-24 19:15:47

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#52 2020-08-25 15:16:23

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#53 2020-09-15 14:49:09

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#54 2020-09-15 17:10:43

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#55 2020-10-06 07:17:53

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#56 2020-10-06 18:33:08

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#57 2020-10-06 18:52:00

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#58 2020-10-06 19:58:12

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#59 2020-10-06 20:09:43

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#60 2020-10-07 12:11:00

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#61 2020-10-07 15:26:36

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#62 2020-10-07 19:38:33

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#63 2020-10-08 12:49:13

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#64 2020-11-09 20:31:56

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#65 2020-11-14 17:13:03

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#66 2020-11-14 22:50:52

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#67 2020-11-16 22:51:18

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#68 2020-11-17 14:15:18

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#69 2021-01-17 04:25:44

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#70 2021-01-17 09:59:10

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#71 2021-01-18 06:06:12

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#72 2021-01-18 11:57:19

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#73 2021-01-18 13:17:30

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#74 2021-01-19 19:23:19

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

#75 2021-04-06 16:18:05

Re: What other distro are you using (besides devuan)?

Board footer