Docker images should really be distroless most of the time. There’s way too much junk in the majority of Docker images when in most cases, you really just need your app and whatever dynamic libraries or runtimes it requires (if you can’t statically compile it). You don’t need an OS in there!
Also there’d be way more servers running Debian compared to Ubuntu.
You often (if not most of the time) need some infrastructure in OCI containers (while we’re at it, let’s get rid of the misnomer Docker image). And that’s going to be some subset of a distribution hand-crafted for that purpose. Most of the time, that should be Alpine, because they provide the slimmest base image.
Most of the time, that should be Alpine, because they provide the slimmest base image.
Distroless containers (e.g. github.com/GoogleContainerTools/distroless, Chiselled Ubuntu, etc) are often smaller than Alpine ones. Google’s smallest Debian-based one is around 2MB.
I have a Dockerized C# app… I’m going to try .NET Native AOT (which was improved a lot in .NET 8, released today) to compile it into a self-contained binary, and see how well it works with a distroless base container.
I’m curious to hear how that works out. I’m a big fan of C#; not so much the Microsoft ecosystem. I’d say for maximum scalability you’d want languages which compile to small binaries. So, Go, Rust, C++, C, and theoretically some others. The approach with Java and C# to bundle the framework, JIT, etc, and then try to shave off as much as you can get away with feels kind of backwards. And I get the excitement of the Java folks when they manage to create a self-contained binary with GraalVM and co of 12mb. Like, that’s impressive, but had you developed the same thing with Go it would be .5mb. Curious to see how .NET fares in that comparison to Java.
I’d love to agree but unfortunately with them pushing snaps I can’t. When I used snaps I found them to be extremely buggy and if I didn’t already know there were other distributions with other better package managers I would’ve straight up assumed it was a Linux problem and I’d just have gone back to windows. If there was no other Noob-friendly distro out there I could say “sure it’s an ok distro” but there are better alternatives that don’t do the same shitty decisions as canonical (like Linux Mint which is the one I recommend to every noob coming from windows or Pop_OS! for those who want something similiar to MacOS).
Just because it’s Lemmy, I’m gonna share my “shitty Ubuntu” story, which is less about Ubuntu being shitty and more about me being a noob.
I had a 2004 MacBook that my grandmother gave me for college when she upgraded. I didn’t hate it, but this being my first experience with a laptop, when the bottom 2/3 of the screen started blinking in and out, I thought maybe it was a software problem, so with the help of an SD card and my buddy’s old CRT setup I downloaded Ubuntu onto a thumb drive. When I went back to my parents’ place I decided that that was the moment to install, because my dad was really into jailbreaking his iPhone at the time, so I thought it’d be cool if we did kinda similar things together. Unfortunately because I couldn’t see the bottom of the screen, I had no idea about the progress of the install, got impatient, and just decided to turn the thing off. This had the effect of deleting the partition tables, and it would have been like $200 to get a new hard drive. I would have paid it, but before I could, the guy I had helping me fix the thing moved away and took my lappy with him.
I’d have gone with a spork. Not particularly good at anything it was built to do, but functional enough to get the job done, and pretty straight forward to use.
Telemetry is significantly less invasive than on windows or Mac, and is completely optional during installation, after which you will never be asked to turn it on again
Some futuristic scifi-ish thing that is also a factory with a pocket dimension allowing you to easily morph/replicate it and pull previous versions from that pocket dimension if something went wrong… But the orders are given in some alien dialect, and from time to time you have to check how others have managed to convince it to do parts of the job you want and stitch together a solution while listening to it cursing at you cryptically
I disagree with the premise, but even if it’s true that people stay with Windows because it sucks less, that’s still a success story for Linux. External comparative pressure leading to more end user freedom. Think of where it could go next!
I’ve been considering dipping my toes in and trying to learn Linux for the first time recently, having seen a couple screenshots from Mint that look approachable and not intimidating… Can somebody tell me how Mint would fair if it was included in this comic so I know what I’m getting myself into (or if I should try Fedora or something…)
Mint is hands down the easiest and most stable distro I have ever used. You don’t need the terminal at all. Comes with everything necessary preconfigured and if you need any tutorial you can use any Ubuntu tutorial (its based on Ubuntu).
Mint is a based on Ubuntu, which is based on Debian, so the guy on the left. The comic implies that it’s easy but not quite as easy as Fedora. I would say that it is easier to use than Fedora.
Setup is simple and unless you’ve got something unusual going on on your computer, then everything will just work. Since it’s based on Ubuntu, most Ubuntu information will also apply to Mint, and that’s nice because there is a lot of information about Ubuntu.
Not everyone would care about this, but I personally don’t like chasing updates and constantly installing the latest versions of things. All Debian distributions favor stability over cutting edge features, whereas some distributions are set up to try to get the latest changes quickly. Ubuntu leans very slightly toward cutting edge compared to stock Debian, but Ununtu has Long Term Support (LTS) releases which are supported for, I think, 5 years. Ubuntu also have other releases with shorter support times. If you’re using Ubuntu and favor stability, you need to pay a little attention to what you’re installing. Mint is based only on Ubuntu LTS releases, so Mint favors stability.
Not to ambush you into tech support, but I decided to take your advice and try that, but I’m instantly stopped and trying to google the answer for myself is just leading to vague powershell language and I’m fully unfamiliar with powershell. I installed WSL and Ubuntu, but when I attempt to open Ubuntu I’m getting:
“Installing, this may take a few minutes… WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80004002 Error: 0x80004002 No such interface supported”
Any idea what I’m doing wrong? The site I’m following (your link) doesn’t mention this error or how to overcome it, unless I’m just to dumb to decipher it.
If you’ve got a spare USB stick laying around then you could install Ventoy on it (www.ventoy.net/en/index.html) and run Linux in a live environment. Just (1) install Ventoy on the USB (this will wipe it, btw) (2) download any live Linux ISO (Mint has one of these) and put it on the USB (3) change your BIOS boot order to USB first (4) reboot and select the Linux you want to test drive from the Ventoy menu. (5) When you’re done, just shut down, unplug USB and reboot normally.
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl.exe -l -v Windows Subsystem for Linux has no installed distributions.
Use ‘wsl.exe --list --online’ to list available distributions and 'wsl.exe --install ’ to install.
Distributions can also be installed by visiting the Microsoft Store: aka.ms/wslstoreError code: Wsl/WSL_E_DEFAULT_DISTRO_NOT_FOUND PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl --set-default-version 2 For information on key differences with WSL 2 please visit aka.ms/wsl2The operation completed successfully. PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl.exe -l -v Windows Subsystem for Linux has no installed distributions.
Use ‘wsl.exe --list --online’ to list available distributions and 'wsl.exe --install ’ to install.
Distributions can also be installed by visiting the Microsoft Store: aka.ms/wslstoreError code: Wsl/WSL_E_DEFAULT_DISTRO_NOT_FOUND PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>*
Still getting this when I try to open Ubuntu:
*Installing, this may take a few minutes… WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80370114 Error: 0x80370114 The operation could not be started because a required feature is not installed.
Press any key to continue…*
I did make sure the subsystem feature in windows features was turned on, btw
If you just want to get to using and enjoying an operating system without reveling in nerdery (which can be fun!), Mint is fantastic. Just make sure you understand partitioning basics if you want to install alongside Windows.
You can’t go wrong using something like VirtualBox to try the install process without touching your actual system :).
If it were depicted in this comic, it would be even easier than Debian because it doesn’t lean toward any particular extreme, it just goes for being usable.
I’m pretty sure there’s a simple check box to include proprietary codecs and things that are commonly used, so you can still watch Netflix or open .mp4s and stuff.
Wide variety of drivers. Should just work on most systems. Friendly community if it doesn’t!
That said sometimes the applications feel a bit old, and you’re looking over at people playing with shiny new features in something like Blender or Krita…
Well, Mint has flatpaks built into the software store! Flatpak is basically a self-contained app that can be the latest version so it doesn’t care about the rest of your system and “just works.”
What’s the process of switching distros? If I start with Mint but do decide later I’m enticed by those shiny new features, will switching over be akin to starting entirely over and learning a whole new system, or is it gonna more similar to just like reinstalling windows for a clean install (to use an analogy situation I’m familiar with)?
edit: wrote dispo instead of distro, goddamn stoner brain
Create a separate partition for /home so you can change distro without having to backup and restore the files in your home directory. Just be sure to NOT format that partition in the installer for your new distro. Take a backup anyways.
It’s mostly a clean installation. You can copy the contents of your home directory, which is where personal configuration files are stored, in the hopes that some stuff will transfer, but surely that won’t be complete.
You could also try dual booting, installing two OSes and you’d choose which to run at start up. You can configure these so that files on one are accessible from the other. This is pretty easy to do if you’re even slightly tech savvy.
I’ve found that the shiney new features are usually buggy. If you’re into helping improve things, using and fixing the new stuff is a great way to contribute. If you’re reasonably tech savvy, you’re going to be able to figure out any distribution. With few exceptions, they’re all easy enough to use. I even doubt the portrayal of Arch in this comic. If you’re not into developing stuff or just want to get your feet wet before diving in more, starting with Mint is easy. And it’s also easy enough to switch or expand if you decide to try something different later. There’s not a lot of lock in with Linux stuff.
The only thing I really have to add regarding “shiny new features”, is you can fire up something like VirtualBox and make “virtual” installs of other distros on your current machine.
A virtual machine or “VM” is basically running an emulated computer on your currently running computer, just like it was a program or game. But everything is self-contained in that emulated system.
So in Mint for example, you can still download other distro ISOs, get used to running the install process, trying out new things, basically just playing around and experimenting, because if you bork the whole thing it won’t affect your working “bare metal” system you’re using. You can just delete the file and start over as if it were a brand new computer! It’s strangely fun and has a lot of practical uses. (You know, like seeing what all this fuss is about with Temple OS for instance lol)
You can find a ton of interesting distros to play with on Distrowatch.com for instance, from stuff that’s meant to run on embedded devices to stuff that’s straight up memes. Lol
If you decide to actually switch your bare-metal system using the advice above, you’ll have a lot more experience then. :)
As for other distros, distro-hopping can be a lot of fun, but just remember in the end, there’s not as much difference between distros as it seems.
Mostly it’s about whether it’s rolling release or LTS, the desktop environment it starts with, and the packages / package-manager it ships with, aside from different specific customizations that team might have done.
Essentially Linux is Linux, but different distros cater to a certain kind of use case, audience, community, and so on.
The beauty and fun of Linux is choice and always having more you can learn!
Also Mint is often touted as a “beginner distro” but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a main driver for pros! There’s nothing wrong if you find you enjoy sticking with it in the long run. :)
It’s more of a joke. The tank in the picture is a T28 Super Heavy Tank . It was developed in the US and was ludicrously large. Not being ready for serial production at the end of WW2 the project was canceled. Only two prototypes were ever built.
I’ve used cat to actually concatenate files a lot to re-assemble old Wii games once they were copied to a SIM card, less than using it to see inside a file though. Maybe cracked isn’t the correct word I’m not English lol.
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