The Linux Thread - The Autist's OS of Choice

[Dread First]

Ever since my emulation issues on Windows, I've taken to booting Linux Mint on a spare external hard drive I have knocking around. I gotta say: I forgot just how pleasant Linux Mint is to use. I mean, it still has the same shortcomings as any other Linux system out there but it's still as "out-of-the-box" as I need for my purposes. Ngl I am kinda thrown off by the deprecation of "apt-get." I mean, I prefer Pacman over APT any day of the week, but I am curious: when did Debian (and its infinite number of derivatives) switch from apt-get to apt?

EDIT: Also, anyone who uses Cinnamon over Mate is a literal shit-eating cuckold. Those who identify as GNOME users, they sicken me deeply. GTK3 was a mistake, it's nothing but trash.

 

[eternal dog mongler]

Oh also just thought about something else and felt like mentioning it in the Linux thread but rimworld and plenty of mods are coded poorly an are surprisingly absolute memory hogs. Rimworld itself is also, quite surprisingly, a VRAM (yes, you read that right) hog in newest incarnations so a double whammy if you don't have a dedicated graphics card. Linux' OOM (out of memory) killer has been incredibly fragile and basically broken for various reasons since forever (there are apparently attempts to solve this in userspace now, and there are out-of-tree kernel patches to make linux handle low-memory situations a lot better, that's neither her nor there though) and the result of that is that your average linux machines usually just grind to a halt if they ever run out of memory and that the OOM killer can take literal hours to resolve this. You might want to attempt to monitor your memory usage and see if that is what happens.

Fedora has an early OOM killer enabled by default now. Or at least the KDE spin does. It works pretty well.

The default OOM killer is completely terrible though. If you start swapping it's over. Even SysRq keys usually won't get you out of it.

 

[Stasi]

Also, anyone who uses Cinnamon over Mate is a literal shit-eating cuckold.

Whats the big difference, is Mate so much better? I've used xfce for years and recently been trying Cinnamon. Its alright. Might need to do a complete purge and reinstall though. I have my machine set up so the home folder is on a separate drive and I always keep it when installing new distros but I think its fucking with my shit by having years worth of old distros' junk on there. Like I'm seeing menu shortcuts for packages that aren't even installed on my machine and sometimes newly installed stuff is borked, probably because I have old config files buried somewhere from a previous distro install.

Maybe I'll do a completely fresh install and try mate.

 

[Trans Fat 41g]

Whats the big difference, is Mate so much better? I've used xfce for years and recently been trying Cinnamon. Its alright. Might need to do a complete purge and reinstall though. I have my machine set up so the home folder is on a separate drive and I always keep it when installing new distros but I think its fucking with my shit by having years worth of old distros' junk on there. Like I'm seeing menu shortcuts for packages that aren't even installed on my machine and sometimes newly installed stuff is borked, probably because I have old config files buried somewhere from a previous distro install.

Maybe I'll do a completely fresh install and try mate.

I tried Cinnamon on that burner laptop I've been cycling through, and it's ok if you can't get out of the Windows mindset. I think the menu on the Mate edition of Linux Mint has a better implementation, since everything you do on the desktop grid can be done through there, such as emptying the trash bin. On the other hand, I feel like the scaling options for UI elements are a bit annoying to work with compared to XFCE.

 

[Dread First]

Whats the big difference, is Mate so much better? I've used xfce for years and recently been trying Cinnamon. Its alright. Might need to do a complete purge and reinstall though. I have my machine set up so the home folder is on a separate drive and I always keep it when installing new distros but I think its fucking with my shit by having years worth of old distros' junk on there. Like I'm seeing menu shortcuts for packages that aren't even installed on my machine and sometimes newly installed stuff is borked, probably because I have old config files buried somewhere from a previous distro install.

Maybe I'll do a completely fresh install and try mate.

@NumberingYourState summed up my primary argument, but there's one more thing I'd like to add: MATE has been around for an expletive decade as a continuation of the GNOME 2 codebase. Coming back to Linux Mint 20.2 and using it in a serious capacity feels 100% familiar. Everything is exactly where I remember it is. The mintMenu for MATE looks 100% identical to the mintMenu from Linux Mint 10, released all those years ago. Mint might not be exciting or fresh anymore, but it's a familiar and consistent experience when you use the MATE version.

Cinnamon is nice, don't get me wrong. However, I detest that in the 10+ years its been around as a project, they still haven't made their own start menu as robust as mintMenu on the MATE version. Not to mention that it used to require GNOME 3 as a dependency for a few years before finally breaking off. Even then, there's still GTK3 decisions that the GNOME Foundation makes that will invariably affect Cinnamon downstream.

 

[BootlegPopeye]

Going to have to simp for Cinnamon, at it's best, its like the old (good) GNOME and KDE had a bastard child. It has the features I like from both. Strangely, it has the best Hi-DPI support of any DE I've used (wtf KDE you're dropping the ball on that).

But Clem and Co really need to fix the fucking multi-monitor support on it. I don't know if MATE has similar issues as it has been awhile since I've used it, but Cinnamon has alot of trouble with monitor priority especially with games but also some other programs (ie some video players). I found a workaround, on the 2nd monitor if I make a second taskbar really tall (taller than the one on the main monitor) games and such will launch on the monitor I want them to. It's like none of the devs have a multi-monitor setup.

 

[Dread First]

Anyone here autistic enough to try and build an LFS system (hardmode: build an LFS system and set up X11 with a proper DE)? It's a project I've always been tempted by, but I almost always end up settling for Gentoo instead because dependency hell is something I'm not capable of dealing with in the current year

 

[Trans Fat 41g]

Anyone here autistic enough to try and build an LFS system (hardmode: build an LFS system and set up X11 with a proper DE)? It's a project I've always been tempted by, but I almost always end up settling for Gentoo instead because dependency hell is something I'm not capable of dealing with in the current year

No but Kiss Linux looks pretty cool, what you can do with even an older kernel and far less core utilities on hand is pretty impressive, even while limiting.

 

[Mario Incandenza]

Been using i3 for years. I'm in a committed relationship with it but beginning to wonder what else is out there. I don't even use tiling anymore except for two browser windows on the same monitor, but would still like the option to do tiling.

Also as an aside, there's a great f.lux-like called Iris that is totally worth the $15. If you don't use it, you probably should.

 

[Trans Fat 41g]

Been using i3 for years. I'm in a committed relationship with it but beginning to wonder what else is out there. I don't even use tiling anymore except for two browser windows on the same monitor, but would still like the option to do tiling.

Also as an aside, there's a great f.lux-like called Iris that is totally worth the $15. If you don't use it, you probably should.

A good substitute to a true TWM is openbox with pseudo-tiling, DistroTube has a pretty excellent config file for Openbox that includes a packed set of MoveResizeTo settings.

 

[Mario Incandenza]

A good substitute to a true TWM is openbox with pseudo-tiling, DistroTube has a pretty excellent config file for Openbox that includes a packed set of MoveResizeTo settings.

Thanks! I'll check out openbox. Using XML for a config is a bit busy but I like the customization potential. Keybinds look solid too. I have easily at least a hundred keybinds on i3 currently.

 

[Dr. Geronimo]

Going to have to simp for Cinnamon, at it's best, its like the old (good) GNOME and KDE had a bastard child. It has the features I like from both. Strangely, it has the best Hi-DPI support of any DE I've used (wtf KDE you're dropping the ball on that).

But Clem and Co really need to fix the fucking multi-monitor support on it. I don't know if MATE has similar issues as it has been awhile since I've used it, but Cinnamon has alot of trouble with monitor priority especially with games but also some other programs (ie some video players). I found a workaround, on the 2nd monitor if I make a second taskbar really tall (taller than the one on the main monitor) games and such will launch on the monitor I want them to. It's like none of the devs have a multi-monitor setup.

Of the admittedly few distros I've tested, Mint Cinnamon was honestly the one that had the most quirks. Mint was the only one that I had driver issues with and it seems to shit itself a bit on startup/shutdown. There's always some error or text that pops during those phases and while I know you're just simping for the desktop, Mint is the poster child of it so I do lump it in. Xcfe feels too antiquated to me. As I said previously I'm simping for KDE right now and I know people have issues with it too but it honestly works the best for me so far.

Just remember that the person who's saying this is an absolute tard and is still not even a novice with Linux. I'd use it more but since I mainly use my PC for (pirated) gaming, I probably won't make a major switch until repackers figure out a way to make it work.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

Been using i3 for years. I'm in a committed relationship with it but beginning to wonder what else is out there. I don't even use tiling anymore except for two browser windows on the same monitor, but would still like the option to do tiling.

Also as an aside, there's a great f.lux-like called Iris that is totally worth the $15. If you don't use it, you probably should.

Popos has a tiling window manager that works like i3. A lot of distros come with the red eye night light by default. No need to pay for that software.

 

[Considered HARMful]

Anyone here autistic enough to try and build an LFS system (hardmode: build an LFS system and set up X11 with a proper DE)? It's a project I've always been tempted by, but I almost always end up settling for Gentoo instead because dependency hell is something I'm not capable of dealing with in the current year

Started one time for fun, but never finished because I came to the conclusion that it's pointless. At that stage it's either Gentoo or write your own OS.

 

[teriyakiburns]

I'd like it if they came out with a Linux phone with a screen resolution higher than 1440x720. Is there something special about screens that specific size that makes them libre-friendly or something?

It's the most abundant, and therefore cheapest phone-sized touch screen available.

 

[419]

Been using i3 for years. I'm in a committed relationship with it but beginning to wonder what else is out there. I don't even use tiling anymore except for two browser windows on the same monitor, but would still like the option to do tiling.

Also as an aside, there's a great f.lux-like called Iris that is totally worth the $15. If you don't use it, you probably should.

I still personally vouch for dwm, and I mention it in your case because it offers both tiling and floating window functionality by default. Be warned, however, that there's a fair bit to learn and get your head around if you're quite new to it.

• It's entirely source-based, but it builds and recompiles extremely quickly whenever needed
• The config is generally fairly readable and user-friendly despite also being a C header file in and of itself
• Only comes with the bare minimum functionality by default, but has a fairly extensive list of patches to pick and choose from for any extra functionality you might want

As a starting point if you want to get into it and also get a headstart on patching and ricing dwm, I'd highly recommend using the Flexipatch build to switch between patches on the fly and get a feel for customisation that way.

 

[Never Scored]

Going to have to simp for Cinnamon, at it's best, its like the old (good) GNOME and KDE had a bastard child. It has the features I like from both. Strangely, it has the best Hi-DPI support of any DE I've used (wtf KDE you're dropping the ball on that).

But Clem and Co really need to fix the fucking multi-monitor support on it. I don't know if MATE has similar issues as it has been awhile since I've used it, but Cinnamon has alot of trouble with monitor priority especially with games but also some other programs (ie some video players). I found a workaround, on the 2nd monitor if I make a second taskbar really tall (taller than the one on the main monitor) games and such will launch on the monitor I want them to. It's like none of the devs have a multi-monitor setup.

This is virtually my only complaint about Mint Cinnamon. If I play an old low res game like Abuse or dosbox games in full screen, it mirrors the display on both monitors and when I exit the game, my system is still set at a low res with mirror displays as opposed to switching back to extended displays upon exit. When I launch a modern game, it always seems to display on the monitor with the highest resolution.

 

[Dr. Geronimo]

So honest question: should I be as salty as I am that Mint decided to I stall GRUB on my windows drive when I didn't tell it to? I'm already paranoid enough about my computer's stability and don't need external shit messing with it.

 

[PetrifiedTom]

So honest question: should I be as salty as I am that Mint decided to I stall GRUB on my windows drive when I didn't tell it to? I'm already paranoid enough about my computer's stability and don't need external shit messing with it.

You need GRUB to boot up Linux because Windows boot manager won't recognize any other OS than Microshill. I would suggest You to install something easier like Ubuntu which has most of 3rd party applications written directly for it while Mint despite being based on Ubuntu don't contain same dependencies and doesn't start with same library to start programs.

Please be aware that once you format Linux partition you need ISO with Windows to repair boot partition. Don't panic and hope that EFI privileges aren't revoked because you will need to make more magic to it than it is worth it.

 

[Dr. Geronimo]

You need GRUB to boot up Linux because Windows boot manager won't recognize any other OS than Microshill. I would suggest You to install something easier like Ubuntu which has most of 3rd party applications written directly for it while Mint despite being based on Ubuntu don't contain same dependencies and doesn't start with same library to start programs.

Please be aware that once you format Linux partition you need ISO with Windows to repair boot partition. Don't panic and hope that EFI privileges aren't revoked because you will need to make more magic to it than it is worth it.

I don't think you understand. I have 2 entirely separate drives. I didn't want anything Linux related on the windows drive. I'm not doing any partitioning and I didn't have this problem with manjaro or Kubuntu