Changing Distributions
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1. A new distribution
1.1. The problems I have
I have always been a fan of RedHat, Fedora Core and Fedora. However,
I am becoming more and more frustrated with Fedora. My main problems
are
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the quick release cycles
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systemd
-
complexity
I am more and more depending on my computer. It must work, otherwise
I have a problem. And I do not feel like updating this often anymore.
So I need a more stable distribution.
There is a lot of controversy about systemd. Proponents say it is the
future and that anyone avoiding systemd is stupid. The only argument
that proponents uses and that has any substance is that it should
speed-up boot times by starting things in parallel.
My observations about systemd are, that boot-times are significantly
longer with systemd.
In additions, from Fedora23 on, I have all kind of problems (most of
the system hangs, devices are not recognized when plugged-in,
NFS troubles,
etcetera), and the solution is always
systemctl --system daemon-reload
, which works, but if I have to reload systemd more often than I had
to reboot Windows, something tells me that this is not the way to go.
What annoys me the most is that the
vast majority of pro-systemd arguments are ad-hominen arguments. People
that don't like systemd are "Luddite", they "are afraid to learn",
"go away, you’re clueless, we know better than you, and besides,
we have commit privs and you don’t, so go away", while the vast
majority of the anti-systemd arguments are based on technical content
(except, possibly, for the
rants directed at
Poettering/Sievers).
The reason whys, for example, Archlinux went to systemd is even worse:
"We had problems and we stopped thinking.`"
Another thing is security. In the discussions about systemd, it is often said
that systemd is less secure because it is more complex. For me, the
complexity is not
really an argument; complex systems may be secure.
However, if we compare the number of CVEs in the last 10 years,
we find that systemd has 27 CVEs and, for example, SysV init has 0.
In stead of the simple logic of Unix-like systems, Fedora is apparently
seeking to make things a complex as possible. Many undefined inter-dependencies
make it, at least for me, harder and harder to get things done. For example:
I have not been able to make the combination of Dracut, systemd and the
propriety NVIDIA drivers working consistently. For me, it meant going
back to the Nouveau-drivers and booting in text-mode.
1.2. Selecting a new distribution
So, a new distribution.
I have used many different distributions: Debians (x86, NSLU2, Pi), Fedora, Mint,
Puppy, Slackware. I have even used Soft Landing and a version that needed to
be cross-compiled (ACME's Foxboard). I have a slight preference for the KDE-desktop.
The table below is my short-list of Linux distributions. The short-list is, admittedly, a bit
arbitrary. But also the criteria "complexity" and "desktop use" are more
my personal opinion than an objective criterion.
distribution
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release
cycle
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systemd?
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KDE?
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complexity
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desktop
use
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Arch
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rolling
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yes
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yes
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high
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yes
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SUSE
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12 months
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yes
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yes
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high
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no
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Ubuntu
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6months/2yr LTS
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yes
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yes
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high
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yes
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Mint
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6months/2yr LTS
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yes
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yes
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high
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yes
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Fedora
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6months
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yes
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yes
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high
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yes
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Puppy
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2yr lts
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no
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possible
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low
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yes
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Salix
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long/rolling
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no
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yes
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low
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yes
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Slackware
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long/rolling
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no
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yes
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low
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no
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PCLinuxOS
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rolling
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no
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yes
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low
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yes
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The results of this table are that I should give Salix and PCLinuxOS a try.
It is worth noting that Salix is basically Slackware with a user-friendly sauce
over it.
Looking at PCLinuxOS, I did not like it. I don't know why. No technical reason, just
my preference.
So, Salix it is.