i don’t like systemd because it has a lot of stuff that i don’t think should be built-in, for example, why have systemd timer when cron already exists?
runit is nice for me because it’s simple and i like activating services by just soft-linking files to /var/service instead of using some fancy tool
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. :)
man I knew this was going to be rough when I saw him wearing a vegan shirt but god DAMN
“All Arch users are stupid vegan crossfitters who never shut up and contribute nothing to society and the only thing they ever care about is making their desktop look l33t and Arch is a horrible distro and did I mention all Arch users are stupid?”
Oh. My. Sides.
I switched from Ubuntu to Arch because I was sick of packages not compiling due to a complete lack of dependency management. I use stock KDE with zero frills and I spend most of my time hacking on open source projects. I never tell anyone what OS I use (unless they ask for recommendations for their new machine, and I’m prepared to also tell them why I personally prefer it) because they don’t care. I’m a normal guy who keeps myself to myself and hates the people who think a pretty desktop is more important than a usable system just as much as everyone else.
However, I use Arch, and Arch bad, which means I must be the most annoying person on the planet.
“All Arch users are stupid vegan crossfitters who never shut up and contribute nothing to society and the only thing they ever care about is making their desktop look l33t and Arch is a horrible distro and did I mention all Arch users are stupid?”
Spot on! You could have left out all the text after that.
You use Linux. All Linux users are elitist evangelical douchebags who make every conversation about Linux and how great it is even though it’s worse than Windows. Also you’re probably a criminal, since most Linux users are hackers, and I don’t associate with criminals.
As an open source maintainer I notice the trend that Arch uses are simultaneously the most likely to have caused the issue themselves and are always the first to blame my software.
I think these memes stem from the fact that a lot of Arch users are less experienced and spend a lot of time trying to create the “perfect” customized experience. Using Arch is a great way to get the experience, but it can be at the detriment of others sometimes.
Basically, learn to take it on the chin and move on. There’s some truth to the memes.
Fedora Silverblue enters the chat :) Haven’t had a single hiccup so far. Only ublue spins are a pain in the butt imo. That’s why I configure everything by myself.
systemd isn’t perfect, but it’s definitely a net plus for me when compared with older init system. In case anyone’s interested, this talk summarizes the key points pretty well: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_AIw9bGogo
I’m from the era of untangling hacky init scripts from every flavour of Linux to get something to work or add something new. Systemd was like coming up for air.
This was an excellent listen, thank you for the link. I had no idea what was involved in it when I started, nor the roles of initd and launchd before it and what systemd was trying to replace.
The funny thing is that the guy giving the talk, Benno Rice, is primarily FreeBSD/openRC and not Linux, so he seemed fairly agnostic in presenting the various sides, not just from Unix and then Linux but also from the Apple viewpoint, who have also been playing a kind of parallel but separate role in this.
Very cool. Not a beginner level talk, definitely, but there was nothing I couldn’t figure out coming from Windows/Mac tech. Really informative, thank you again.
Two things irritate the shit out of me. First, the “wait while we report this to Microsoft” dialog comes up and implies its transmitting immediately, even for trivial issues, without asking for your confirmation and without indicating what, exactly, it’s sending. (I guess that’s the point of this meme. But a yes/no prompt would be nice?)
Second is that it does it for absolutely trivial things. Like, the crap point of sale software we use at work can be easily and repeatably made to go into an infinite loop state if you know how to do it, and you have to kill it via Task Manager or whatever. But then this stupid “we’re reporting this to Microsoft” dialog comes up. Oh yeah? You’re reporting it, are you? What the fuck is Microsoft going to do about it, exactly? Send a helicopter so Bill Gates himself can rappel down and bust through the skylight at the office of this two-bit POS software company, guns blazing, hack into their mainframe, and fix their code?
lol, I like your way with words. and I fully agree and share the sentiment(hence the meme).
I disliked crash reporting on windows precisely because of inability to cancel it(by the time you hit cancel, it might’ve already been sent).
nowadays, I don’t use windows at all. sometimes I’m forced to use macos, and this popup comes up. I dislike this one too since I can’t really see what it’s going to send.
on my home machine I have Debian with i3 and xfce, which hasn’t crashed a single time. and even if it does in some distant future, I’ll be more than happy to send technical info to them.
You can disable error reporting on Windows, by the way. Disable the “Windows Error Reporting” service. Either via Task Manager, or services.msc, or whatever your preferred method is.
To demonstrate I got an app to crash, this is what you see when you click on the report button. The report is longer, trying to show where the app crashed, at the bottom there’s a button to send a report to apple
Installed fedora and then used distro box to have arch packages. It’s like cheating but I can run packages that aren’t in repo without the shit storm of the versioning. Is absurd how aur is so good but base configuration sucks so much 🤣
I was thinking something similar. I use Arch because it’s easy and user friendly for me. I also come from a history of using Slackware in the mid-90s, to Gentoo in the mid-00s, to Arch in the mid-teens. So whenever anyone asks how I got to where I am with Linux, I generally recommend that they don’t follow the same path of pain, and start on something that’s actually user-friendly like Mint or Ubuntu.
Glad I’m not the only one haha… I am similar to you: Started on Linux with Slackware 95 distributed via Walnut Creek publishing and mailed “gasp”. make menu;make menuconfig ftw! I still use Slack at home, but am a RHEL and SuSE guy by trade.
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