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1 • Video drivers (by Big Mike on 2025-11-24 01:36:41 GMT from United States)
After a bad experience with Nvidia drivers some years back, I only buy laptops with integrated Intel graphics. I have never had any problems using the stock video drivers in Linux and BSD with Intel graphics processors.
I'm looking forward to FreeBSD 15.0 at the end of this week!
2 • MX Linux 25 (by Keith S on 2025-11-24 02:51:11 GMT from United States)
Great review of a great distro. I just migrated from 23.6 to 25 today (finally got the time to do it). I installed over the the old version and all went smoothly. The utility to save a list of all user-installed packages on the old version and then download them in the new version worked perfectly. Some packages aren't available, but the utility makes it easy to save that list so they can be added again from other repos.
I agree with the assessment that MX Linux is "an unusual project which shows all the signs of having grown organically to meet the needs of its community." It really is just right for me, and the collection of tools and utilities really should be included in every other distro. It's incredibly stable; I've only had one time in six years when I had a problem, and even then it was easy to fix.
3 • Video drivers are special... especially Nvidia (by Jimbob on 2025-11-24 03:05:24 GMT from United States)
Linus Torvalds gave Nvidia the middle finger because they are the worst company to deal with for video drivers
4 • MX Tools (by InvisibleInk on 2025-11-24 03:13:44 GMT from United States)
Is it possible to add those MX Tool to another distribution, e.g., generic Debian oor Xubuntu?
5 • MX Linux (by Bert on 2025-11-24 03:45:45 GMT from Belgium)
@Jesse
Some review.
But you're right: MX Linux is a great distribution. (I can only speak for the XFCE distro.)
Fast and reliable.
And we share the same thoughts about the looks of a distro. When I install a distro, one of the first things I do, is to do away with all the animations and system sounds. A computer desktop should be practical, usable and workable. Animations and eye candy disturb and annoy me.
Ask me if I care about a desktop looking old?
Not at all.
My Win10 still looks like a WinXP (using Openshell).
My XFCE desktops also look more as a WinXP because I do not use the Whisker Menu but just the old Menu Application.
On my main Linux systems, I run the MATE desktop. Also with the Classic Menu applet.
I never use desktop pictures; I use an easy colour instead.
I just want my desktops to be practical.
Boring? Not at all.
6 • MX Linux tools availability (by Chris Whelan on 2025-11-24 04:12:06 GMT from United Kingdom)
@#4 InvisibleInk
All the 165 MX Tools are open source, and the code is available on GitHub.
https://github.com/orgs/MX-Linux/repositories
7 • Musl on systemD (by Voiding-daily on 2025-11-24 05:34:43 GMT from Denmark)
Been using musl with runit on my void laptop for almost a decade at this point, I'm glad to see it finally being adapted by systemd as well. Although I learned to find all kinds of workarounds I sure would have appreciated it back when I started and 90% tips online would be geared primarily to the systemd distributions
8 • systemd on musl (by Ghost on 2025-11-24 06:49:11 GMT from Sweden)
@7 I've also been running Void musl since 2016 but, our feelings diverge. It's sad to see that the virus is mutating and infecting another species. Nothing to celebrate here.
The day Void adopts systemd is the day I'll need to do a new installation.
9 • musl and systemd (by always_curious_about_FOSS on 2025-11-24 08:24:28 GMT from Germany)
@7 @8 On one of my Laptops i have installed Alpine Linux with musl openrc init and a JWM desktop.
This is so the greatest Distro of all I have used ever. I tested a lot of distros in many years.
Postmarked OS ( based on Alpine )going to change to Systemd init. Why ? Because Gnome Desktop will not work without systemd in future.
In my humble opinion, the logical step would have been to give the Gome Desktop a kick in the butt.
So would the Alpine Linux team doing now ?
So I hope to have in future still to chance to run alpine linux without systemd.
10 • MX Linux (by Lawrence on 2025-11-24 08:28:45 GMT from New Zealand)
MX Linux is my much preferred distro and is installed on three devices at home. It works well nearly all of the time and, as stated, has a wide range of tools to cover nearly everything.
11 • Video driver poll (by Kazlu on 2025-11-24 09:41:52 GMT from France)
I selected "I use an alternative driver from default repositories" because that's what I did on my daily driver with a specific graphics card and specific requirements. Bon on every other instance (laptop, relatives computer, etc.), I just go with the default option.
12 • Debian Libre or not? (by Kazlu on 2025-11-24 09:46:58 GMT from France)
Debian Libre: "The general goal is to provide a way to use Debian without reliance on non-free software, to the extent possible within the Debian project."
What extent? Either it is 100% libre for philosophical reasons, or it is not for practical reasons. Either path has its merits, as long as it is clearly stated. Calling a project "Libre" as a libre version of another but allowing some exceptions defeats the purpose.
13 • Video drivers (by Rufus T Firefly on 2025-11-24 11:34:23 GMT from United States)
I switched to all AMD several years ago, so now use the AMD free driver which installs automatically at installation.
I wouldn't have had this problem with nVidia video for 10 years if nouveau had added an option to turn off 3d acceleration years before they did.
And if Torvalds had approached nVidia like a professional rather than a 6 year old, maybe nVidia would have been more accommodating.
14 • Sorting OSs by average review (by Josh Smith on 2025-11-24 11:43:10 GMT from Australia)
As a distrohopper, I often come to DistroWatch to get some ideas as to which distro I should try next. I often read these weekly issues for ideas on this and perform searches as part of this. I thought it'd be great if the search page had an option of ordering results by average review. Or specifying allowed ranges for average reviews for the search results. Might even be great if we could specify a minimum number of reviews we want the operating systems in our search results to have (as an average rating of 9/10 based on 1 review seems substantially less reliable and credible than such a score based on 100 reviews).
15 • Wine (by silent on 2025-11-24 12:18:58 GMT from Hungary)
WineHQ provides customizable reports for wine bugs. So the devs could even automate rolling back if the new version has critical bugs. The downgrade script in AUR is really great, but is it really the KISS solution?
16 • Graphics Drivers (by Slappy McGee on 2025-11-24 13:13:54 GMT from United States)
Many distros offer those choices. I go with the listed repos for current drivers. I've learned to shy away from non-default repos.
17 • Sorting (by Jesse on 2025-11-24 13:18:51 GMT from Canada)
@14: "I thought it'd be great if the search page had an option of ordering results by average review. "
I think I understand the ideal here, having distributions with a lot of positive reviews show up near the top of search results. However, this won't work in practise. Widely used, popular distributions tend to get poor and mixed reviews while super obscure and lesser know distributions tend to get perfect scores exclusively.
In other words, commonly used projects like Ubuntu, Fedora, and openSUSE will always end up near the bottom and OpenBSD, Void, and Slackware will always end up at the top. Which would make the results unsuitable for the type of person who needs to use the search page in the first place.
18 • Alpine and systemd (by Patrick on 2025-11-24 13:19:26 GMT from Luxembourg)
@10 according to the devs there are systemd artefacts in Alpine Linux because of postmarketOS (both distros collaborate quite a lot). There is no plan to go systemd and openRC will remain the reference init.
19 • "looks old" (by BluPhenix316 on 2025-11-24 13:38:15 GMT from United States)
I get it that sometimes interfaces can look old. I just don't get why people think it has to change. If something is not broke then why try and fix it?
I like the older look in some circumstances. I don't need to change for the sake of change.
20 • @2 • MX Linux (by Geo. on 2025-11-24 13:56:48 GMT from Canada)
MX is like a dangerous game rifle - simple, tough, and reliable. I've loved it since Mepis. 💓
21 • Video Drivers (by John on 2025-11-24 14:03:01 GMT from Canada)
As @1 said, I avoid everything Nvidia and will continue to do so until their Drivers get the "seal of approval" from the OpenBSD folks. Selecting hardware that works with OpenBSD guarantees a very good experience with Linux and other Operating Systems.
22 • MX Linux (by Saif on 2025-11-24 14:46:48 GMT from Tunisia)
If Linux Mint give me the nostalgic vibe of Windows 7, MX Linux gave me the older nostalgic vibe of Windows XP: the looks are pleasant enough to the eye, practicallity is prioritized over everything, and the UI is designed to be simple and useful. MX Linux has always been my recommandation for my friends or relatives with older PCs.
23 • Sorting (by Josh Smith on 2025-11-24 14:51:49 GMT from Australia)
@14 Jesse, I'm not suggesting you make this the default behaviour, as I definitely acknowledge it's not for everyone. I'm suggesting it be an optional behaviour the users can opt for, if they want to. Naturally, hits per day should be the default sorting criterion, as it tends to favour more mainstream distros but this could be a second option for sorting that users can opt for. You could also add a sorting criterion of how recent the most recent release was, which would be useful for users looking for fixed released distros that get regular new releases. As for how such a search would handle rolling release distros, I guess you could categorize them as having new releases whenever a package in your database gets updated for the rolling release distro in question.
But hey, I'm not the one that'd have to implement this, so I shan't cast stones if you still don't want to add it to the site. Just thought I'd pitch the idea.
24 • MX Linux (by blzfam on 2025-11-24 14:52:13 GMT from United States)
Since MX Linux 19 the distro has been one disappointment after another. I tried their latest release MX 25 and it did not perform the way I had hoped. The following distros on my Dell Latitude are performing very well: Ubuntu 24.04 MATE with 15 years of support; Linux Mint, LMDE and openSUSE Tumbleweed. Perhaps when the MX developers get all the bugs out of MX and offer a new installer, then I will try it again. Until then I am a happy camper with the above mentioned distros.
25 • MX Linux on Laptops (by Slappy McGee on 2025-11-24 15:46:04 GMT from United States)
@24 This is an example of how varied user experiences can be with Linux distros, even on the same family of machines. Every listed distro in those examples given there by bizfam is less responsive and often even clunky on my Dell laptops, while MX Linux is quick and very much as noted point for point in this week's (spectacularly well written) review of MX Linux 25.
MX has always been quite the project with quite the pedigree: antix/Mepis. The very best on my machines beginning back when all I had was an old HP with pretty low specs.
26 • MX Tools (by InvisibleInk on 2025-11-24 16:01:07 GMT from United States)
@ 6 - Chris Whelen
So, if I add the mx.list file (from https://github.com/MX-Linux/mx-sources/blob/mx23/mx.list) to my Debian 12 configuration, then apt update, I should be able to install any or all of the various tools?
I'd prefer to download them as binaries, rather than compile each one from source....
27 • MX and XFCE x Beginners guide (by tomas on 2025-11-24 16:55:30 GMT from Czechia)
I came to Linux some years after end of support for Windows XP.
At the time I did not know which DE to choose, so I selected some distros that offered more DEs out of the box.
Luckily Linux Mint offered KDE, Mate, Xfce and Cinnamon, and I name them in the order of my preferences.
When Mint quit support for KDE I had to switch to other distros, openSUSE Tumbleweed or Artix to name the better ones.
Later I have found Q4OS with Trinity desktop.
With the move to Qt6, Plasma6 and Wayland came many bugs, so my today's preferences changed to Mate, KDE and Trinity (I still have Xfce installed but almost never use it).
Recently I have installed some distros running Plasma on Wayland as default with bad results, only to find out I have to switch to X11 to get a working system.
This is not good for anyone coming from Windows.
It would be very useful if the reviewed distros (MX) that offer also Plasma out of the box would get a look at this problem.
Do you have any idea what causes such problems (apart from saying "it is a new tech in development" or "the developers did not sufficiently test it") ?
28 • old look (by tomas on 2025-11-24 17:02:43 GMT from Czechia)
Forgot to mention my Mate settings.
I used XP in the standard (classical) setting and configured Mate as close as that.
Maybe someone would describe it as Windows 95 look (so very old looking, like me :-))).
I like it that way, everything is easy to see and navigate.
29 • MX Linux (by Quiet, Piggy on 2025-11-24 17:33:28 GMT from United States)
You did a good review of MXLinux, Jesse.
After learning MXLinux KDE is going to systemd, I am going distrohopping. I like kde over xfce and all the other DE's. I do NOT want systemd on my boxes. I have used MXLinux for the last year, and for the 20 years before that I used primarily PCLinuxOS for 15 of the 20 years and the other 5 I was hopping around...Manjaro, Slackware, FreeBSD, Gentoo. I have the latest versions of Slackware, Gentoo, Void, Devuan, and am waiting for the FreeBSD final release so I can try them all, on separate hard drives of course.
30 • MX-Linux just works, in all weather! (by SAMO on 2025-11-24 18:18:44 GMT from Sweden)
Thanks Jesse,
Great review of a distro that really works in all weather!
I have used MX and its MX-Tools which I love. You can do a lot with this Tool selection.
What is not modern look? I always auto-hide panel weather is on top, bottom or left side (as it is on MX), and I have a beautiful minimal desktop background either a solid beautiful shade of blue with minimal (or not at all) icons or clutters
MX-Tools has saved me valuable time to repair damaged boot part of my computer/laptop. It can fix bootloader problems or just start up any distro installed on the system.
Actually I like the idea of Antix handling low resource pc/laptops but it is too text-oriented-config stuff which I do not like! That's where MX comes to rescue.
Conky is great too.
I just Love MX.
31 • MX Linux (by excollier on 2025-11-24 20:44:58 GMT from Ireland)
Been on MX Linux since 17.x, still on 23.6 and will wait for 27, rather than move to 25.
Have to say I really like it and can see no reason to use anything else
32 • Debian libre (by Keith S on 2025-11-24 22:01:56 GMT from United States)
@12 You described the problem of the libre philosophy perfectly. The truth is, no distro works without some non-free software, usually binary blob drivers for hardware that is included on 99.9% of all PCs and laptops. Years ago when Debian took the position that they would not include any non-free software, I discovered Mint, which happily included the drivers with their ISO.
Funnily enough, OpenBSD has a similar stance, so if you don't install it with an Ethernet connection, you have to download the non-free drivers for your WiFi card and possibly your graphics card and then add them once you're set up.
The truly dedicated real purists like Stallman ender up using Chinese open-source hardware that was way overpriced and nearly impossible to get. Of course, again, that was years ago so maybe neither of those statements is true, or maybe there is no longer any open-source hardware to be had.
I expect the Debian libre project to die a quiet death when there is very little uptake. We all would like everything to be open-source, but even Risc-V will soon be or already is proprietary in practice. The people who have the money to develop serious hardware will always choose to protect their investment.
33 • Screenshot issues in MX review (by AdrienM on 2025-11-25 07:20:20 GMT from United States)
Jesse,
I noticed in every screenshot except one (the Whisker Menu), there are pixel artifacts around the left, bottom, and right sides of every MX drawn window. (There is a different type of window for the game shown, which does not have this problem)
Is that video problem shown on original hardware, or is this some flaw in the screenshot software? (or were these taken in a VM and the bare metal was fine?)
Also, you mentioned a Conky panel in the top right, but not a single screenshot depicts it. (no big deal to me, but new readers might be curious as to what you are describing if they can't see it.)
I tried MX a few years ago, each DE, and it was a disaster that would barely run. I'll give it another shot as maybe it is a bit more stable. Thanks for the review!
34 • Drivers (by Just4fun on 2025-11-25 11:57:05 GMT from Sweden)
My 20+ years of experience with Linux has taught me that if you want to avoid problems with drivers, stick to hardware that supports 100% open source. Therefore, when purchasing a new computer, you ensure that it does NOT contain hardware from primarily Nvidia or Broadcom, then it will work worry-free with Linux without requiring any extra measures.
35 • @33 window manager borders (by dolphin oracle on 2025-11-25 12:11:20 GMT from United States)
sharp eye!
those artifacts usually only show up on virtual machines without graphics acceleration enabled. virtualbox is one example. this is due to improper rendering of a transparent border around the windows, which helps give more border for windows for resizing efforts rather than have either huge pixel size border lines or tremendously small grab areas. gtk3/4 apps with client side directions, like the game shown, don't uses those borders. on the vast majority of hardware, those artifacts won't show up, even with a compositor disabled.
we picked this up in testing, but decided the usability of larger grab bars was worth it. if a user does need to use MX without graphics acceleration, there are other window manager borders available on disk that don't use the effect.
36 • @34 drivers (by Keith S on 2025-11-25 13:03:25 GMT from United States)
I agree with the sentiment and have avoided Nvidia and Broadcom for a long time. I forgot to mention though another major category of non-free software, which is media codecs. Back when Debian had their hardcore stance against non-free software, the other major reason to use Linux Mint was that audio and video just worked. It might be less of a problem now since Adobe flash has been mostly abandoned.
37 • Window borders (by Jesse on 2025-11-25 13:47:59 GMT from Canada)
@33: "Is that video problem shown on original hardware, or is this some flaw in the screenshot software? (or were these taken in a VM and the bare metal was fine?)"
I had no idea what you meant until I went back and zoomed in on a couple of the screenshots. I think I see what you mean, a little jaggedness to the window borders? I hadn't noticed, probably because I mostly used the distro on my laptop.
I checked and this seems to show up in the virtual machine only (where these screenshots were taken).
@35: "those artifacts usually only show up on virtual machines without graphics acceleration enabled"
It happens with and without compositing and it happens whether hardware acceleration is enabled or not. Acceleration doesn't make any difference to the artifacts in a virtual machine.
38 • Debian libre (by Sven on 2025-11-25 18:55:22 GMT from France)
@32: "The truth is, no distro works without some non-free software, usually binary blob drivers for hardware that is included on 99.9% of all PCs and laptops."
No, all the FSF-endorsed distros don't contain non-free software, and they work just fine on PCs with integrated Intel graphics or with old enough Nvidia cards.
39 • @38 Debian libre (by Keith S on 2025-11-25 20:37:03 GMT from United States)
I did some research and admit that I was wrong about no distros working without binary blobs. Here's what I found from the Distrowatch database, using the list of approved distros from the FSF website.
Dragora -- dormant
Dynebolic -- beta released 3/24, last release before that was 2008
Guix -- great reviews from true believers though they admit it is for very advanced users and requires some programming knowledge in Guile (a variant of Scheme). Also mentioned that the IRC channel is great but warned not to mention unfree software. Still actively maintained.
Hyperbola -- last release January 2024. Most recent review from 2022 indicated that pacman keys had expired. Based on Arch.
Parabola -- also Arch based, most recent update February 2024, one review mentions that he installed Gnome Web to read pages that don't work on IceCat (the browser that ships with this distro and also Guix).
PureOS -- dormant. Reviews seem to indicate that it is not very useful because of the extreme restrictions based on their libre guidelines. Also apparently this company sells very expensive hardware, presumably libre. Based on Debian.
Trisquel -- has the most reviews, recently updated release in August 2025. Based on Debian.
UtutoOS -- discontinued, last release was in 2011.
Two that are designed for embedded systems, libreCMC and ProteanOS, are not in the Distrowatch database.
So, of the list from the FSF, three look like maybe they might work as daily drivers, Trisquel, Parabola, and Guix, though Trisquel seems like the only one with real possibilities to me. I am sympathetic to the idea of free (as in freedom, as the adherents always insist must be stated) software. I wish the Debian libre people the best in creating what they want.
40 • Systemd plus Musl libc (by Nate on 2025-11-26 00:02:17 GMT from United States)
I've been running Void for quite a while, and I have also been maintaining a hobby Linux distro based around Musl libc. I see the move to support Musl by the Systemd devs as a good thing for the following reasons:
1. If you're worried that Alpine or Void are going to switch to Systemd, forget it. Not happening.
2. The amount of effort required to port software so that it will run when compiled against Musl libc (let alone compiling successfully in the first place) is going to go down because of this. That can only be a good thing for Musl and Musl-based distros.
Without casting shade on anyone in particular, your average software developed for Linux contains so many unnecessary GNUisms that it provides a serious impediment towards the large scale adoption of Musl (or other alternative software, such as alternative coreutils causing configure scripts to fail because various tests rely on GNU coreutils extensions beyobnd POSIX). It's bad enough that NetBSD's Pkgsrc maintainers consider Linux with Musl to be an entirely different compilation target than Linux with Glibc, and an unsupported target at that. This from what is supposed to be a "universal" packaging system. Ask me how I know, LOL.
Anyway, don't spread FUD. This is good. Portability is good.
41 • @38 • Debian libre, Intel (by Tasio on 2025-11-26 00:25:30 GMT from Philippines)
"they work just fine on PCs with integrated Intel graphics" My problem with Debian and Intel, albeit minor, has not been graphics, but WiFi. I still have the Intel WiFi driver in a USB stick for when the Debian installer asks for it. Otherwise it would be Ethernet only until the driver is installed.
42 • MX Linux (by Hank on 2025-11-26 09:31:42 GMT from Germany)
Re negative comments with older versions supposedly slow or nor running well.
In a school setting it performed near perfectly on a multitude of different devices.
Reason that systemd is only option with some MX Desktops.
Breakage of alternatibve init support by systemd evangelist devs despite a
Debian Vote to support alternative inits.
Present Debian Leader does not, lead that is, and that allows bone headed persons to fsck up downstream distros and alternative init support, they wish to force a systemd only world..
43 • @39, Free is not gratis (by Tasio on 2025-11-26 00:40:36 GMT from Philippines)
@39 "I am sympathetic to the idea of free (as in freedom, as the adherents always insist must be stated) software." There's a point to the "free as in freedom" phrase. I use and enjoy free software, but I'm not a zealot about it. Just last week there was someone here claiming that because the first letter of FOSS stands for "free", no one should charge money for it. In Spanish, there are two words for "free": "libre" as with no restraints, and "gratis" as in no charge. Thus: "Free as in freedom, not as in beer." And the reason for the word "libre" being used for clarity.
44 • @43 Freedom (by Keith S on 2025-11-26 15:24:25 GMT from United States)
I understand. It's an old argument. I've generally leaned toward the MIT/2-clause/3-clause/ISC license "free as in beer" side. Libre does not mean there are no restraints. The GPL has restrictions (many, sometimes, depending on which version of the GPL), but as a practical matter the billionaires take what they want and use it anyway. At least when they take BSD code there's less dishonesty involved.
45 • Debian Libre (by Kazlu on 2025-11-26 15:42:07 GMT from France)
@32: Well there are 100% libre distros out there. Look at the ones listed as free by the FSF (some are discontinued though): https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html
These do not include the binary blobs you mention bacause they target users that are ready to do the sacrifice of this functionnality. It usually means no Wi-Fi and standard graphics for example. But it is possible, especially if this is important enough for people ready to chose their hardware so that it will be compatible with a free distro instead of looking for a distro that works with their hardware.
In this context, I think it is not right to call this project Debian Libre if it is Libre "to an extent".
46 • @43 Freedom revisited (by Keith S on 2025-11-26 17:07:08 GMT from United States)
Having said that I generally lean toward "free as in beer" licenses, I have been reading up on NixOS because it sounds interesting and I was thinking of trying it out. I just spent an hour reading about the serious controversies within the NixOS community and have to say that there may be very good reasons to use GPL licenses -- like keeping defense contractors from taking over your open-source, free software project and injecting proprietary code into the release without disclosing that fact to everyday hobbyists like myself.
47 • @40 systemd + musl (by Ghost on 2025-11-26 19:38:44 GMT from Sweden)
"Ask me how I know, LOL."
Are you the person behind Oasis Linux? Then I don't need to ask, LOL.
48 • @47 Oasis Linux and Musl (by picamanic on 2025-11-27 11:56:51 GMT from United Kingdom)
@47 I liked the ideas in Oasis Linux: Static Linking, Sinit, MUSL, BearSSL, but also Wayland and Netsurf. Maybe it was too radical to survive.
49 • Debian Libre (by dragonmouth on 2025-11-27 12:03:41 GMT from United States)
"Libre" in this context is like being pregnant - either you are or you aren't. There is no being "pregnant to an extent." There is also no "Libre to an extent."
50 • MX and KDE (by tomas on 2025-11-27 13:29:51 GMT from Czechia)
I have downloaded the KDE Plasma ISO of MX to try it and hit a problem.
I cannot even boot from it.
51 • @50 MX and KDE (by Chris Whelan on 2025-11-27 14:28:50 GMT from United Kingdom)
Please ask for help on the MX Linux forum. You will find them friendly and helpful.
52 • Debian Libre (by Sven on 2025-11-27 14:56:49 GMT from Sweden)
@49:
I disagree. Freedom is comparable, it has degrees. Real life imposes certain tradeoffs and constraints. However, Debian Libre images don't contain any non-free software whatsoever. They may not qualify for FSF endorsement because they may contain references to or suggestions for non-free software, making it possible to inadvertently install such software.
@50:
Did you try booting in UEFI or legacy BIOS mode?
53 • MX Linux Screenshot (by Tyler on 2025-11-28 07:08:12 GMT from Canada)
The MX Linux screenshot captioned "A tool to repair and re-install GRUB" is pretty funny. It makes it look like solving a puzzle is a part of repairing the boot loader.
54 • Debian Libre (by Kazlu on 2025-11-28 13:24:05 GMT from France)
Wait a minute... Reading the messages from @52 Sven, @49 dragonmouth and myself, I realize we don't have the same interpretation of the words in the Debian Libre announcement. I went to read it again and... I find it not very clear.
"The general goal is to provide a way to use Debian without reliance on non-free software, to the extent possible within the Debian project."
I thought "to the extent possible within the Debian project." applied to "without reliance on non-free software", but maybe it applied to "use Debian"... In other words, I am now unsure if they meant "we try to use Debian without non-free software, but when there is no choice we include some non-free software" or "we use non-free software and we try to be as close as possible to the standard Debian usage". Non native english speaker here, maybe I hit my limits...
55 • Choice Leader Artix and systemd in Void (by Carl on 2025-11-29 00:01:51 GMT from United States)
@8 The init choice leader is Artix, which decouples apps from init scripts. It's good seeing antiX copy this approach. Of course, Artix does not support systemd, but systemd is more OS than init.
RedHat's musl push may aim at Alpine for its sway in Docker world and the orbiting Internet-cloud businesses. Alpine runs on musl.
Void runs on musl and glibc. It has a history with systemd. I am already planning an exit strategy around Artix. Artix supports runit, but dinit is probably the new shiny for me.
Void began with systemd, but dropped it over musl. Every Void package must build in both glibc and musl. While systemd refugees use Void, the core team shouts them down. So when musl systemd happens, I expect Void will package it. In other words, Void devs *like* systemd. The users don't.
Expect hard dependency of Void's GNOME suite on systemd in the long run. Void ported GNOME to runit. Yet just as it did with LibreSSL, Void will dump its unique porting effort. Void has lost its way in repo upkeep, too. A large fraction of packages are out of date and/or unmaintained.
@32 The real hope is open-source hardware along the lines of Pi boards with newer, open chipsets.
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ALT Linux was founded in 2001 by a merge of two large Russian free software projects. By the year 2008 it became a large organization developing and deploying free software, writing documentation and technical literature, supporting users, and developing custom products. ALT Linux produces different types of distributions for various purposes. There are desktop distributions for home and office computers and for corporate servers, universal distributions that include a wide variety of development tools and documentation, certified products, distributions specialized for educational institutions, and distributions for low-powered computers. ALT Linux has its own development infrastructure and repository called Sisyphus, which provides the base for all the different editions of ALT Linux.
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