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1 • Building (installing from source) (by Tux Raider on 2017-07-17 00:20:03 GMT from United States)
i have debian 9 and it runs great and has a lot of packages to select from, and i have a hobby of listening to hf radio (shortwave) i have a KiwiSDR, SDRPlay, and a couple of rtl-sdr dongles, and CubicSDR is not available as a package on debian (not yet anyway) so i built it from source code as per the developer's instructions and it works quite good, i also run OpenWebRX and i had to build a library to get it to run,
2 • Error Fedora 26 when upgrade from 25 (by Joana Puig on 2017-07-17 00:56:11 GMT from Spain)
Everything works Ok except only one thing. On startup appears this error related to bluetooth:
FAILED TO APPLY NETWORK SETTING
YOU MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO CONNECT TO THE BLUETOOTH NETWORK VIA THIS MACHINE.
EXCEPCION: g-io-error-quark.......(10 lines)...
I do not use bluetooth on my laptop, close the window and everything runs ok like fedora 25.
3 • Why I install source packages (by Mauro Shaw on 2017-07-17 01:21:59 GMT from United States)
I do install packages from source occasionally, but here is the reason: some programs simply haven't been packaged for Debian. Take, for example, the GNU talk filters (http://www.hyperrealm.com/main.php?s=talkfilters) and the Wikipedia tool Huggle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Huggle).
That's all.
4 • I only build the kernel from source (by Matt on 2017-07-17 01:48:23 GMT from United States)
Kernel bug fixes and security packages are released in source files well before binary packages are released by distributions. The kernel is usually the only thing compiled from source on my computer. In fact, I am posting this using Kernel version 4.9.38 (source code released just yesterday).
5 • @4 (by mandog on 2017-07-17 03:21:22 GMT from Peru)
Kernel version 4.9.38 (source code released just yesterday). wow that's old?
I'm on arch stable Linux 4.11.9-1 that is a binary stable
6 • Fedora 26 (by Andy Prough on 2017-07-17 03:26:20 GMT from United States)
Not sure this is a ringing endorsement for Fedora. Night Light came out with Gnome 3.24 in March - it's now July. By the time you upgrade, you're already falling behind again.
7 • ports (by Trihexagonal on 2017-07-17 03:49:19 GMT from United States)
I have always used ports exclusively on my FreeBSD boxen.
8 • kubuntu 26 live (by Bobbie Sellers on 2017-07-17 04:14:14 GMT from United States)
I was very disappointed in the Live DVD performance,
The Office software was strictly KDE,no LibreOffice.
Multimedia lacked VLC.
Utilities lacked Konsole and Kate.
I was going to try an installation then try to get the missing
software on my test bed,. a Dell Latitude e6420,
The installer was not flexible enough to let me do that it
never let me get to the partitioning.
So I went back to the weak KDE Partitioning Tool and
it was so weak that I threw up my hands(figuratively)
and gave up.
Also the KDE System Setting tool could not be
configured to provide the Tree view..
On the other hand it is just about as boring as
possible.
Now on the other hand Mageia despite using the same
sort of KDE has all the software one could hope for..
I just updated the Mageia 6 RC and am pretty sure it
is up to the Mageia 6 final release.
bliss
9 • Fedora 26 total fail (by hobbitland on 2017-07-17 04:53:27 GMT from United Kingdom)
Tried to boot Fedora 26 in VirtualBox and black screen. Its a total failure but Fedora 25 boots.
10 • Compiling from source? No! unless ... (by LiuYan on 2017-07-17 05:27:07 GMT from China)
A normal user without computer knowledge would/could not install from source. Countless people ask technicians to install software even if they have binary package.
Compiling/Installing from source happened on me when I have no choice, such as
(1) There's no samba-ad-dc in Red Hat family linux.
(2) vmnet & vmmon module of VMware. This one could be nightmare if you often upgrade linux kernel -- change of API of linux kernel often caused vmnet&vmmon compilation failed.
(3) dahdi-linux driver from Asterisk project
11 • Compiling from source - not if I can help it (by rdaniels on 2017-07-17 06:15:00 GMT from United States)
I ran LFS once upon a time, so it's not like I can't do the compiling. It's just that at this point I want things to install and run without futzing about with that part of the process.
I did have to compile a kernel on OpenSUSE Leap for Skylake support before I switched distros, and I have installed one or two things from the AUR until the main repos caught up, but that's about all the compiling I've done in years.
12 • @ 4 & 5 newer kernel (by kaczor on 2017-07-17 07:49:47 GMT from United States)
I am using kernel 4.13.0-rc1 on Ubuntu 17.10, the mainline kernel from http://kernel.ubuntu.com. Its compiled, so the need to compile by yourself is gone. The stable kernel is 4.11, though.
13 • @ 8 (by murphy on 2017-07-17 07:56:13 GMT from United States)
Leave Kubuntu alone, please.
14 • Fedora (by Fernando on 2017-07-17 08:29:51 GMT from Spain)
What I most like about fedora 26, actually gnome 3.24: three fingers pinch shows the overview.
15 • Poll (by a on 2017-07-17 09:36:53 GMT from France)
Poll needs a "I install almost all software from source packages". While technically that falls inside the "several" category, I feel that "several" means something like "half a dozen" and not "99.5%", so I didn't (again) answer the poll.
16 • Using Sources (by John on 2017-07-17 09:41:09 GMT from United States)
Hi All,
Recently I compiled Kicad from sources so I could view some recent schematics and PCB designs.
It was MUCH too difficult. Things needed that were not documented, etc.
So it was a real trip, but eventually it did work.
I could not compile on 2 laptops due to thermal overload. They quit half way through. I finally was able to compile on a desktop computer.
Once done, KIcad still had several obvious bugs to work around. eeschem and pcbnew had to be started from the command line.
Why oh why is the recent version of Kicad not available as a Debian package. Loading a predone Debian package is so much easier.
:) :)
John
17 • binary/source packages (by me2 on 2017-07-17 10:36:37 GMT from United Kingdom)
Even when I am using freebsd I install as many binary packages as possible - if not all. I generally use slackware though; but still binary as much as possible. Compiling from source is time consuming, and on freebsd you seem to need to be there constantly holding its hand.
18 • @8 kubuntu 26 live (by Marco on 2017-07-17 10:53:50 GMT from United States)
Perhaps you meant Fedora 26 KDE Spin instead of Kubuntu, because Kubuntu absolutely ships with Lbre Office, Kate, and Konsole, and has done so at least since Ubuntu switched to Unity, and probably before.
Briefly, a couple of years ago, during testing, Kubuntu considered Calligra but reverted to Libre Office before GA, and is currently considering VLC (as a potential replacement of Amarok, which still relies on Qt4, IIRC), but the live ISO has always had a reasonable suite of software. The community has preferred to let the ISO size grow rather than arbitrarily remove software.
19 • !@ 12 New kernels (by OstroL on 2017-07-17 11:06:18 GMT from Poland)
I also use kernel 4.13.0-rc1 on my Openbox + Ubuntu 17.10.
I don't compile anything as my laptop gets too hot and shuts off.
20 • Opinion Poll (by Kevin on 2017-07-17 12:44:06 GMT from United States)
I couldn't answer the opinion poll. There wasn't an "I install most software from source packages" option. I run FreeBSD on my web/mail server and Gentoo at home on my desktop PC. Between the two boxes I have four binary packages installed. Everything else is from source. I do have two Raspberry Pi's at home running Arch Linux and Kodi. Most software on those are from binary packages, but there are a few packages on those from the AUR that were installed from source. Still overall I think I have enough packages built from source to say I install most software from source packages. With all of the above being fact, not opinion, I guess this week is another week where the opinion poll is actually a fact poll.
21 • binary packages (by dogma on 2017-07-17 13:18:35 GMT from United States)
Although I somewhat like the idea of compiling software for my processor and trimming down dependencies, in my circumstances I can’t justify the compilation effort and time spent fixing problems with ports.
22 • Installing source based packaged (by Kennedy on 2017-07-17 13:21:55 GMT from South Africa)
I use slackbuilds in Slackware. That's compiling yes but most of the job has been done by the contributor of the slackbuid. In fact I don't know what I am doing I just follow the instructions on the Howto at slackbuilds.org. For some packages like webkitgtk it takes too long but I don't mind.
23 • More now than previously (by azuvil on 2017-07-17 15:46:31 GMT from United States)
Well, I recently got into the "Gentoo way" and compile pretty much everything, though portage makes that a much more streamlined process than the usual method. I'm under no delusions that it makes overall operation significantly faster or anything like that. It also doesn't mean I'm somehow more technically adept than others (I'm probably not). I just like the fine-grained control and variety available to me, plus the documentation that makes it easy to get what you want out of the system. It's nice to finally have a machine that generally compiles source code at very acceptable speeds too, often not much slower than fetching and installing a binary (unless it's building something like WebKit, ugh).
I'll be the first to admit though, plenty of people will get by if they're given pre-compiled packages with sane defaults. Living in that part of the world, though, becomes less appealing when you have built up strong preferences or have specific needs.
24 • Source Install Poll (by cykodrone on 2017-07-17 15:48:15 GMT from Canada)
Github is my new friend. :D
Actually, it has been for quite a while, I've even scooped cosmetic (GUI) elements from there. Github has save my rear or had my what I needed so many times, I lost count.
25 • Fedora 26 (by Tim on 2017-07-17 16:27:43 GMT from United States)
I'm running F26 on my HP notebook PC. As far as I'm concerned, it is an excellent release. New updates are still coming, daily (more than seems usual, that is), so it's still improving.
26 • Compiling (by Bonky Ozmond on 2017-07-17 18:18:10 GMT from Nicaragua)
I still compile things even though i really don't have to.. I use Gentoo.and Slackware and derivatives of I still usually do Kernel every now and then though its getting less and less
I Tried Fedora a long time back and liked it though i dont think ive had that experience again.....there is always some problem comes up... the last release i had an issue with touchpad like it didnt work at all ever, one before installation problems, ....so far this wont install off my USB...maybe ill burn a disc later
The best Fedora based distro i ever used was Fuduntu though
I have never found the Fedora forums too willing to help either....
27 • The opinion poll (by Alexandre Dumas on 2017-07-17 22:23:48 GMT from Australia)
@20 'I couldn't answer the opinion poll. There wasn't an "I install most software from source packages" option.'
+1
28 • FreeBSD ports (by Trihexagonal on 2017-07-17 22:26:57 GMT from United States)
@17 "Compiling from source is time consuming, and on freebsd you seem to need to be there constantly holding its hand."
Compiling from source is without a doubt time consuming, the difference in building Xorg on a machine with an Intel Dual Core T2060 @ 1.60GHZ with 2GB RAM vs one with an Intel Quad Core i7-2820QM @ 2.30GHz with 8GB RAM being several hours.
However, if you use portmaster you can set all your variables at the beginning and walk away to let it do the job with no further intervention on your part.
29 • Use cases (by azuvil on 2017-07-17 23:16:19 GMT from United States)
It's funny how opinion or fact polls always seem to miss something. Maybe the option "I compile almost everything" is not quite an edge case, though I don't know what would be more on the fringe...
Something like "I compile everything that can be successfully offloaded to my second positronic grid, whose power consumption is partially regulated by an intelligent gerbil-like life form running on a tritanium wheel".
... I've been watching way too much Star Trek lately.
30 • Installing source-based packages (by kaczor on 2017-07-18 16:36:16 GMT from United States)
Most probably, we who come here don't care much about installing packages from source or don't know how or why. If we did, we won't be distro hopping. We'd all have our own distros made from scratch. We are here, because we use mainline distros (or other remixes) and use their repos to install applications. Then, who is goingt o read Distrowatch?
31 • Poll (by Chris on 2017-07-18 19:55:05 GMT from United States)
I selected, "I install one or two source-based packages." For my standard use, normally everything I need and want is available through my chosen distribution's binary repositories, and using such is far more efficient for me (especially with my preference for older hardware). However, I will occasionally need to compile a newer than available in the repository kernel or driver (i.e., hplip) for a new peripheral or such.
Seperately, I have continued (albeit slowly) with my customized Minimal Linux Live project, which I commented about in a recent DWW Comments section. Through my extensive trial and error process, I have been compiling a lot lately, obviously 100% source-based for that project.
32 • @31 (by kaczor on 2017-07-18 20:28:49 GMT from United States)
Once you finish your project successfully, you'd stop coming here. The need to distro hop would stop.
33 • Distrohopping (by Doug M on 2017-07-18 22:33:55 GMT from United States)
Distrohopping isn't the only reason to visit distrowatch.
I have settled on LM 17.3 for quite awhile now, but I keep a partition open for new and interesting distros. I just like to check them out. But I stick with Linux Mint.
I also like to see the tips and tricks section.
And reading DWW comments is just enjoyable.
34 • @32 & @33 (by Chris on 2017-07-19 00:24:56 GMT from United States)
Funny enough, I have never been a true distro hopper, yet I still come to DistroWatch.com ("DW") frequently. I have been using my preferred distro for many, many years (flaws and all), and am unlikely to ever change it; however, I will load an occasional distro into a VM, which looks like it could teach me something. Such only happens once or twice a year, if that much.
I come to DW for its excellent, continuously improving central repository of information, to "feel" the pulse of the overall FOSS community, and to get educational glimpses into new ideas/ways of doing things.
Even if I could someday turn my Minimal Linux Live project into my personal perfect distro, I cannot see myself not coming to DW.
35 • Compiling (by pepa65 on 2017-07-19 02:47:02 GMT from Thailand)
My days of running Gentoo are many years past, but nowadays I find myself compiling more and more, mostly because the software I want hasn't been packaged (yet). Often I get things from github, although source packages from a project's download page are a second.
36 • Source based... (by kaczor on 2017-07-19 09:53:38 GMT from United States)
One might get some satisfaction, when one compiles from the source code, that is, if one has lot of free time, or free computer for that alone. In today's fast spaced life, people simply don't have time to play the "pioneer."
Taking Gentoo as an example, you can install it by the Gentoo way keeping one (or two) day free to do that, or use an readymade Gentoo based distro such as Calculate or Sabayon in a few minutes. When yu use the readymade distros, you might be bored and distro hop, but if you spend quite lot of time and nerves to install Gentoo the Gentoo way, most probably you'd stay put with it.
37 • @36 (by azuvil on 2017-07-19 15:40:25 GMT from United States)
I reckon them's fightin' words, pilgrim. Hope ya brought a six-shooter and a long wooden box.
Nah, I'm only kidding. Really, you have some valid points - Gentoo isn't aimed at people who want the ready-made, very quick solution. But that's perfectly alright. Gentoo users often know what they're after and are able to get it without much fuss.
To be perfectly fair, whether I'm using a more common pre-packaged distro or Gentoo, the total setup time isn't something I bother to calculate, because I'll often add software on an as-needed basis over the course of days and weeks in either case. Getting the basic environment, including a GUI, surely doesn't take 24 hours or longer though.
38 • Slackware package-building (by davidnotcoulthard on 2017-07-19 16:11:36 GMT from Indonesia)
@22 there's always the Slackonly repo if you want the packages but not the building (dependencies get resolved with slapt too).
39 • Installing Source based packages (by alexis on 2017-07-19 16:18:02 GMT from France)
I run Archlinux and am a web programmer. As such I often pull packages from the community-driven AUR repository, and pretty often that just pulls the sources and builds the package.
Also I (rarely) run in to a app that isn't in the repo or not in the right version, in which case I have to build from source myself.
But most of the time I'm just installing pre-compiled binaries, and I don't see any reason to do otherwise unless you are targeting some low-end or specialized hardware (such as a Raspberry Pi), where the potential gain in performance and overall footprint could make a significant difference.
On a modern computer, sporting at least a quad-core i5, 1To hd and 8 G Ram, the gain will be totally insignificant whereas the hassle of configuring/maintaining custom compiled software will quickly become a pain (not to mention the time it takes as compiling a fully-fledged modern desktop environment with a decent array of software can easily take up to a week counting the inevitable dependence problems that will arise).
40 • Installing Source based packages (by DaveT on 2017-07-19 20:08:22 GMT from United Kingdom)
I like using NetBSD pkgsrc on linux. Install the most minimal working version of your favourite distro and then install pkgsrc. Ideal for any hardware that suffers from any 'that bit doesn't work on BSD' problems, usually WiFi or sound, or both if you are 'lucky'!
41 • Source Packages and Gentoo (by Andy Figueroa on 2017-07-20 03:10:10 GMT from United States)
The answers for the poll were not sufficiently fine grained for my answer, so I selected that I compile everything from source, but I don't quite really. I use Gentoo and usually install LibreOffice, Firefox and Thunderbird from binary.
Installing from source is not that time consuming. Compiling runs in the background while I do other work. It's not really not that healthy or edifying to watch your programs compile.
42 • @6 Fedora 26 and Night Light (by David on 2017-07-20 13:58:29 GMT from United States)
"Night Light came out with Gnome 3.24 in March - it's now July. By the time you upgrade, you're already falling behind again."
If you are saying that Night Light is not included, see Fedora 26 Workstation: Settings --> Displays to turn on Night Light.
43 • dubious search result (by tim on 2017-07-20 17:14:21 GMT from United States)
CoreOS (Container Linux) and Scientific Linux ~~ both are listed in the DistroWatch "distributions without systemd" search results... yet both seem to utilitze systemd init (contrary to their individual DW pages, which state "init:other")
44 • systemd-less (by Doug M on 2017-07-20 22:08:09 GMT from United States)
Those 2 distros aren't listed here.
45 • @42 Fedora and Night Light (by Andy Prough on 2017-07-21 02:18:48 GMT from United States)
No, I'm saying that Fedora users are getting Night Light 4 months after it was released. And soon after installing Fedora 26, they'll fall behind on other new features. It's not really a great way of running a system anymore.
46 • DW search results (by tim on 2017-07-21 02:41:12 GMT from United States)
Doug, I see those listing pages are corrected now (subsequent to my post), so they're now absent from the search result. I'm guessing that some distros haven't stated which init in their DW submission, or that their init has changed across releases; either way, explains why they wind up marked "init:other"
next up, #8 in the search result: "OpenMandriva Lx"
https://wiki.openmandriva.org/en/2014.0/Release_Notes https://wiki.openmandriva.org/en/3.0/Release_Notes
Again, clearly using systemd init
47 • dw search results (again) (by tim on 2017-07-21 03:29:20 GMT from United States)
#9 in the search results "Oracle Linux"
https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E52668_01/E54669/html/ol7-systemd.html https://oracle-base.com/articles/linux/linux-services-systemd
again, clearly using systemd
#10 "AryaLinux"
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/aryalinux-120/systemd-or-not-4175600785/ "Aryalinux is based on the systemd builds of LFS and BLFS"
#11 "OpenELEC"
http://openelec.tv/news/22-releases/184-stable-openelec-8-0-released
"...Apr 9, 2017 - ... systemd updated to 233 (229)"
#30 "ALT Linux"
http://without-systemd.org/wiki/index.php/Talk:Main_Page
"ALT Linux is derived from Mandrake. Prior releases did use PID1 systemd, but does the "Jan2017 Sisyphus" release have systemd as default init?"
#37 "Clear Linux"
https://clearlinux.org/documentation/clear-linux/bundles/os-core.html
"os-core. This bundle contains the basic core components of the operating system. Clear Linux* OS for Intel® Architecture relies on systemd to provide the basic ..."
#42 "Fermi Linux"
Fermi Linux LTS (Long-Term Support) is a distribution based on Scientific Linux, which is in essence Red Hat Enterprise Linux, recompiled.
redirects to http://www.scientificlinux.org/at-fermilab/
and here we can read their "systemd security and bug fix update"
http://www.scientificlinux.org/category/sl-errata/slsa-20162610-1/
I didn't check further in the search results. Would be nice if folks can pitch in, citing references to clear up the remaining listed distributions marked "init=other"
48 • It's Komplicated (by Kragle von Schnitzelbank on 2017-07-21 07:10:50 GMT from United States)
Some distros provide for more than one process-management system (systemd, openrc, runit) with varying levels of support for each option.
It's simply not binary.
(O_o - is this an opportunity to demonstrate dextrous database design?)
49 • systemd distros (by Jesse on 2017-07-21 13:40:22 GMT from Canada)
@47: Thanks Tim, I appreciate the assistance. I don't always have time to hunt down the relevant links and some stuff does get filed under "other/misc" until I have time to deal with it. Having direct links to the information is a big help.
50 • re: It's simply not binary (by tim on 2017-07-21 14:11:23 GMT from United States)
Of course it's not binary (nor ternary, your post mentioned three), but "other" is analagous to "unknown". It fails to convey useful information. Perhaps by tweaking, any init can be used with any distribution but... obviously, the immediate question for someone searching is this:
Which init should I expect will be PID1 when I boot the current version of a given distribution?
For LFS and other source-based distributions which incur manual configuration prior to first boot, search results would be more enlightening if the value/label displayed "various" rather than "other:
51 • @17 FreeBSD ports. (by Eamonn on 2017-07-22 11:34:33 GMT from Ireland)
I compile everything from source on FreeBSD using the poudriere package building system on my main workstation. I can then install those packages on my home theatre pc, laptop and vps webservers. You set your options once then just update the ports tree regularly and recompile what has been updated, all easily automated with a few cron jobs.
52 • Installing from source via packages (by Alan on 2017-07-22 18:29:05 GMT from United States)
Because I have a specific range of software that is not all available all the time on binary distros.
I have used Gentoo, but eventually tired of constant compiling. After some distro hopping, I have more or less settled on Arch Linux. An important reason for using Arch is AUR, which seems to mirror Gentoo's portage/ports, and for which almost any software I need is available. I like Arch for other reasons as well: it is solid, and even with many, many packages and DEs, I seldom experience problems. I think the developers are careful and persistent: most packages are up to date, and it is easy enough to rewrite a PKGBUILD for a newer version if it's out of date, though not always.
I am attracted to the concept of compiling software from source; it was a core feature I came to know and love from early GNU/LInux days, as I often had to compile applications for Slackware. That has always been my inclination; I had wished Debian had been centered on that concept. I would probably be using Gentoo today if it were not so easy to install binary based distributions, though, compared to compiling everything. Now that I have a reasonably fast machine I am considering whether I have time and sufficient grit to try it again. I would avoid KDE in that case, as updates to KDE always got me into trouble on Gentoo---that was almost always the source of inconsistencies, but that was nearly a decade ago. Arch demands less tweaking, by far, the USE flag idea is excellent, but required a thorough understanding of all the parameters.
Emacs is another reason. I still do not understand why it is onboard on OS/X out of the box, but not on GNU/Linux distros, which owe much more to it. (Or why emacs keystrokes *just work* on OS/X, but not with GNU/Linux most of the time.) Each distro has its own unique approach to providing emacs packages. Arch linux has a git package in AUR that works nicely. AUR woirks seamlessly, and the Emacs install adheres to the canonical Emacs way, without extras that I might have to keep track of.
53 • Systemd-free / Updating Distrowatch info (by Pestokiwa on 2017-07-23 08:08:29 GMT from Sweden)
Please take note that as of this summer, Archbang have kicked systemd off their distro and switched to OpenRC. http://bbs.archbang.org/viewtopic.php?pid=33401#p33401
Aside of not being listed on Distrowatch's respective search page, also on AB's overview page it is still marked as: "init: systemd".
54 • Compiling from source (by Maudib-insight on 2017-07-23 12:57:02 GMT from United States)
I always install from packages(Debian). After reading everyone's comments about compiling from the source I am very compile curious. This box is an intel I7 (6 as 12 processors). I am confident it could handle the job of compiling code but this system is the home utility system. My life's responsibilities are done via this box so I don't want to permanently screw it up. The first rule of rural mechanics is, "If it works then don't fix it." The system has been up for 206 days and counting. Now I do have some old, but still serviceable, [3,4,5]86 machines in the house. I can probably fire up one these old guys and use it for a "test" system for getting my feet wet with learning to compile code. Maybe do that Linux From Scratch thing if it still comes in a 386 flavor. Maybe install a standard Linux addition system and try compiling a single application. There are those guys in the above comments that keep their kernel bleeding edge up to date. Maybe I can be so bold?! (Famous last words.) So now I am inspired. Uhmm, wish me luck.
55 • be inspired - but on an old machine (by nano-me on 2017-07-23 13:34:04 GMT from United Kingdom)
@55 If you depend on a computer for everyday work, be guided by your instincts and don't touch! Your old x86 computers should be powerful enough for playing with source builds. If you are tempted to touch your everyday computer, at least set it up as a "dual boot" system with old and new distros on separate partitions so that you can switch between them by using GRUB. You can, of course, learn about using GRUB in this way on an old [aka disposable] machine.
56 • ArchBang (by Jesse on 2017-07-23 13:39:17 GMT from Canada)
@53: Thanks for pointing that out. I'll update the ArchBang page. Looks like they're 64-bit only now too so I'll update their architecture tags.
57 • Compiling from source (by Bloody on 2017-07-23 15:17:52 GMT from Germany)
As a Gentoo user, i got used to compile everything from source, obviously.
Some packages are a bit annoying, such as llvm, firefox, webkit etc., but with a fast enough machine (i5 or some AMD octacore) it's at least no longer as nerve-wrecking as it's been in the past, with 1 GHz 'machines' clustered together via distcc... i'm just glad that these days are over now.
I only use Gentoo because of the enourmous, unmatched flexibility. If there ever is any problem arising with Linux, Gentoo is the most likely distro to provide the solution. For example, flexible downgrading of any package within the stable or testing branch, always with multiple versions to choose from in case the latest version doesn't work for me.
I've gotten used to this flexibility so much that other distros are no longer an option for my desktop workstation. It's Gentoo or die. ;)
The only thing one shouldn't do with Gentoo is to upgrade only very rarely, like only every couple of months, as the number of packages to be upgraded simultaneously often creates minor problems to be fiddled with. Upgrading every few days or maybe every 1-2 weeks is far less annoying.
58 • curisoty killed the cat but satisfaction brought him back (by Trihexagonal on 2017-07-23 19:05:47 GMT from United States)
@54 I am very compile curious. - Now I do have some old, but still serviceable, [3,4,5]86 machines in the house...
I recommend you consider FreeBSD. You start with the base system, a terminal and install 3rd party programs as you see fit. All my machines are Win7 vintage or older and FreeBSD has breathed new life into them.
If you have a question about how to set it up I have a tutorial that targets people who have never used UNIX or the command line that spells it out step-by-step to from beginning to end using portmaster to compile from source which was linked to by FreeBSD News,
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| • Issue 1159 (2026-02-09): Sharing files on a network, isolating processes on Linux, LFS to focus on systemd, openSUSE polishes atomic updates, NetBSD not likely to adopt Rust code, COSMIC roadmap |
| • Issue 1158 (2026-02-02): Manjaro 26.0, fastest filesystem, postmarketOS progress report, Xfce begins developing its own Wayland window manager, Bazzite founder interviewed |
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| • Issue 1141 (2025-09-29): KDE Linux and GNOME OS, finding mobile flavours of Linux, Murena to offer phones with kill switches, Redox OS running on a smartphone, Artix drops GNOME |
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| • Issue 1139 (2025-09-15): EasyOS 7.0, Linux and central authority, FreeBSD running Plasma 6 on Wayland, GNOME restores X11 support temporarily, openSUSE dropping BCacheFS in new kernels |
| • Issue 1138 (2025-09-08): Shebang 25.8, LibreELEC 12.2.0, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, the importance of software updates, AerynOS introduces package sets, postmarketOS encourages patching upstream, openSUSE extends Leap support, Debian refreshes Trixie media |
| • Issue 1137 (2025-09-01): Tribblix 0m37, malware scanners flagging Linux ISO files, KDE introduces first-run setup wizard, CalyxOS plans update prior to infrastructure overhaul, FreeBSD publishes status report |
| • Issue 1136 (2025-08-25): CalyxOS 6.8.20, distros for running containers, Arch Linux website under attack,illumos Cafe launched, CachyOS creates web dashboard for repositories |
| • Issue 1135 (2025-08-18): Debian 13, Proton, WINE, Wayland, and Wayback, Debian GNU/Hurd 2025, KDE gets advanced Liquid Glass, Haiku improves authentication tools |
| • Issue 1134 (2025-08-11): Rhino Linux 2025.3, thoughts on malware in the AUR, Fedora brings hammered websites back on-line, NetBSD reveals features for version 11, Ubuntu swaps some command line tools for 25.10, AlmaLinux improves NVIDIA support |
| • Issue 1133 (2025-08-04): Expirion Linux 6.0, running Plasma on Linux Mint, finding distros which support X11, Debian addresses 22 year old bug, FreeBSD discusses potential issues with pkgbase, CDE ported to OpenBSD, Btrfs corruption bug hitting Fedora users, more malware found in Arch User Repository |
| • Issue 1132 (2025-07-28): deepin 25, wars in the open source community, proposal to have Fedora enable Flathub repository, FreeBSD plans desktop install option, Wayback gets its first release |
| • Issue 1131 (2025-07-21): HeliumOS 10.0, settling on one distro, Mint plans new releases, Arch discovers malware in AUR, Plasma Bigscreen returns, Clear Linux discontinued |
| • Issue 1130 (2025-07-14): openSUSE MicroOS and RefreshOS, sharing aliases between computers, Bazzite makes Bazaar its default Flatpak store, Alpine plans Wayback release, Wayland and X11 benchmarked, Red Hat offers additional developer licenses, openSUSE seeks feedback from ARM users, Ubuntu 24.10 reaches the end of its life |
| • Issue 1129 (2025-07-07): GLF OS Omnislash, the worst Linux distro, Alpine introduces Wayback, Fedora drops plans to stop i686 support, AlmaLinux builds EPEL repository for older CPUs, Ubuntu dropping existing RISC-V device support, Rhino partners with UBports, PCLinuxOS recovering from website outage |
| • Issue 1128 (2025-06-30): AxOS 25.06, AlmaLinux OS 10.0, transferring Flaptak bundles to off-line computers, Ubuntu to boost Intel graphics performance, Fedora considers dropping i686 packages, SDesk switches from SELinux to AppArmor |
| • Issue 1127 (2025-06-23): LastOSLinux 2025-05-25, most unique Linux distro, Haiku stabilises, KDE publishes Plasma 6.4, Arch splits Plasma packages, Slackware infrastructure migrating |
| • Issue 1126 (2025-06-16): SDesk 2025.05.06, renewed interest in Ubuntu Touch, a BASIC device running NetBSD, Ubuntu dropping X11 GNOME session, GNOME increases dependency on systemd, Google holding back Pixel source code, Nitrux changing its desktop, EFF turns 35 |
| • Issue 1125 (2025-06-09): RHEL 10, distributions likely to survive a decade, Murena partners with more hardware makers, GNOME tests its own distro on real hardware, Redox ports GTK and X11, Mint provides fingerprint authentication |
| • Issue 1124 (2025-06-02): Picking up a Pico, tips for protecting privacy, Rhino tests Plasma desktop, Arch installer supports snapshots, new features from UBports, Ubuntu tests monthly snapshots |
| • Issue 1123 (2025-05-26): CRUX 3.8, preventing a laptop from sleeping, FreeBSD improves laptop support, Fedora confirms GNOME X11 session being dropped, HardenedBSD introduces Rust in userland build, KDE developing a virtual machine manager |
| • Issue 1122 (2025-05-19): GoboLinux 017.01, RHEL 10.0 and Debian 12 updates, openSUSE retires YaST, running X11 apps on Wayland |
| • Issue 1121 (2025-05-12): Bluefin 41, custom file manager actions, openSUSE joins End of 10 while dropping Deepin desktop, Fedora offers tips for building atomic distros, Ubuntu considers replacing sudo with sudo-rs |
| • Issue 1120 (2025-05-05): CachyOS 250330, what it means when a distro breaks, Kali updates repository key, Trinity receives an update, UBports tests directory encryption, Gentoo faces losing key infrastructure |
| • Issue 1119 (2025-04-28): Ubuntu MATE 25.04, what is missing from Linux, CachyOS ships OCCT, Debian enters soft freeze, Fedora discusses removing X11 session from GNOME, Murena plans business services, NetBSD on a Wii |
| • Issue 1118 (2025-04-21): Fedora 42, strange characters in Vim, Nitrux introduces new package tools, Fedora extends reproducibility efforts, PINE64 updates multiple devices running Debian |
| • Issue 1117 (2025-04-14): Shebang 25.0, EndeavourOS 2025.03.19, running applications from other distros on the desktop, Debian gets APT upgrade, Mint introduces OEM options for LMDE, postmarketOS packages GNOME 48 and COSMIC, Redox testing USB support |
| • Issue 1116 (2025-04-07): The Sense HAT, Android and mobile operating systems, FreeBSD improves on laptops, openSUSE publishes many new updates, Fedora appoints new Project Leader, UBports testing VoLTE |
| • Issue 1115 (2025-03-31): GrapheneOS 2025, the rise of portable package formats, MidnightBSD and openSUSE experiment with new package management features, Plank dock reborn, key infrastructure projects lose funding, postmarketOS to focus on reliability |
| • Issue 1114 (2025-03-24): Bazzite 41, checking which processes are writing to disk, Rocky unveils new Hardened branch, GNOME 48 released, generating images for the Raspberry Pi |
| • Issue 1113 (2025-03-17): MocaccinoOS 1.8.1, how to contribute to open source, Murena extends on-line installer, Garuda tests COSMIC edition, Ubuntu to replace coreutils with Rust alternatives, Chimera Linux drops RISC-V builds |
| • Issue 1112 (2025-03-10): Solus 4.7, distros which work with Secure Boot, UBports publishes bug fix, postmarketOS considers a new name, Debian running on Android |
| • Issue 1111 (2025-03-03): Orbitiny 0.01, the effect of Ubuntu Core Desktop, Gentoo offers disk images, elementary OS invites feature ideas, FreeBSD starts PinePhone Pro port, Mint warns of upcoming Firefox issue |
| • Issue 1110 (2025-02-24): iodeOS 6.0, learning to program, Arch retiring old repositories, openSUSE makes progress on reproducible builds, Fedora is getting more serious about open hardware, Tails changes its install instructions to offer better privacy, Murena's de-Googled tablet goes on sale |
| • Issue 1109 (2025-02-17): Rhino Linux 2025.1, MX Linux 23.5 with Xfce 4.20, replacing X.Org tools with Wayland tools, GhostBSD moving its base to FreeBSD -RELEASE, Redox stabilizes its ABI, UBports testing 24.04, Asahi changing its leadership, OBS in dispute with Fedora |
| • Issue 1108 (2025-02-10): Serpent OS 0.24.6, Aurora, sharing swap between distros, Peppermint tries Void base, GTK removinglegacy technologies, Red Hat plans more AI tools for Fedora, TrueNAS merges its editions |
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