Devuan GNU+Linux

Reader supplied reviews for Devuan GNU+Linux Average rating 9.0 from 166 review(s) Please specify which version of the distribtion you are reviewing. Please select a rating in the range of 1-10. Please write at least a few sentences about the distribution while limiting your review to 4080 characters. What are your thoughts on Devuan GNU+Linux? Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system. Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review. Version: -- unstabletesting6.0.05.0.14.0.03.1.02.11.0.0 Rating:    -- 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 out of 10 Your review (minimum 250 words): Past reviews - sort by: DateVotes Version: 6.0.0 Rating: 5 Date: 2025-11-08 Votes: 1 As a server OS this distro is a gem, rock solid stable ever since I have been using it since version 3 Beowulf and without systemd infestation. I'm very happy in that regard. The issues arise using it as a desktop. As a passionate KDE user I wanted to upgrade my Devuan clients to plasma 6 (fresh install). I was dismayed to see the sddm white background login issue where the text isn't readable is still present just like in the previous version. Changing the background fixed this. That alone wouldn't have been so bad. However, this time there was no sound! The volume control says "Connection to the sound service lost" and I can't find a solution. It occurs on wayland and x-session. It was expecially infuriating since I only noticed it when wanting to play a youtube video after I already migrated all my data and configurations back onto the machine. I know the primary focus of this distro is removing systemd from Debian, but come on. First impressions matter a lot. You can't tell me nobody noticed this when testing the installation options. Just as a test I installed Debian Trixie and no sound issue were present. If the KDE option is this broken then they shouldn't offer it at all. I'm now considering Artix (another systemd-free alternative) for my clients (although I'm a bit afraid that bleeding edge package may break things.). This is sad because otherwise this distro has the potential to easily be a 9 or even 10 out of 10. Hope making you aware of this was helpful. Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: testing Rating: 10 Date: 2025-11-04 Votes: 18 I've been using Devuan with the runit init system for a few weeks now, and I must say, the experience has been nothing short of exceptional. It is genuinely great. Coming from a long-term relationship with Debian, a distribution I relied on and respected for years, I was prepared for a period of adjustment, perhaps even a slight step back in convenience. The reality has been the complete opposite. The system is remarkably fast, and in basic desktop use, I've observed it to be even a little bit faster and more responsive than Debian. For its sheer performance, clean philosophy, and unwavering stability, it absolutely deserves a 10/10. The performance difference, while not earth-shattering, is perceptible. On Debian, the boot process felt like a modern car with a complex electronic dashboard: lots of services initializing in a specific, inter-dependent order, which, while fast, had a certain "orchestrated" feel to it. With Devuan and runit, the boot is more like a light, precision-engineered sports car turning over. It's immediate, direct, and feels almost analog in its simplicity. The same applies to service management. Using sv commands to check the status of, start, or stop a service is instantaneous. There's no parsing through layers of journal logs with journalctl for a simple status check; the feedback is immediate and unambiguous. This responsiveness translates to the desktop environment as well. Application startup feels snappier, and the system as a whole feels lighter on its feet, even if the actual resource usage difference in a idle state is minimal. It's a feeling of direct control, of reduced latency between my command and the system's action. Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: 5.0.0 Rating: 10 Date: 2025-10-30 Votes: 13 Thanks for this review. Devuan is allowing me to do what I need on my Dell Optiplex9020 Desktop. It is a quad-core and my external drives with 14 other Linux distributions. I have used Devuan 6, code-name Excalibur, currently in testing, and I find it also to my liking. I am also tinkkrering with the Devuan 5-based Vuudo 5.03 It has an XFCE and a Mate desktop iso at Sourceforge.net. I plan to have Devuan largely fill the void left with the end of security support for Windows 10, with the end of life for Windows 11 to follow within a year. Of course I have only been am occasional Windows user for about 14 years. Plenty of exciting releases of Linux have come ut over that time.I use my computers mainly for internet, email, and fiction as well as-nonfiction reading. Often the fiction has excerpts of stories based on real events, and that's what interests me.It's a shame that schooling since the middle of the 20th century hs been light on history and social studies, but reading can help fill some of that void even if I just retain bits of information for future use.Meanwhile, I can't say that Devuan is an OS newbies should jump into, it is an improvement over some of the Linux available. It is especially strong in software management and file management. I use Caja with the Mate desktop and generally lean on PCmanfm in XFCE or whenever I need user-friendly, reliable file browsing.Sadly, I am not into programming and don't have the skillset to help in development. I really appreciate the folks who do put heavy work into Linux development and bug fixing. I use a number of Debian derivatives, mostly stable, and I have recently added Debian Forky (14) to my collection.Here's to the users who just have fun with this. Linux is busy work but not strenuous activity.I would be interested in a Devuan store or hardware with Devuan pre-installed. Hopefully that time will be down the road, when economics justify computer purchases. Was this review helpful? Yes No See all 166 reader reviews of Devuan GNU+Linux...