I switched to Ubuntu 22.04 on 2023-12-31. I had used a bunch of other distros back in 2008-2012, then got tired of manually tweaking things constantly. Things have come a long way and there are way more options to make things work. I don’t have to spend hours on the CLI or reboot frequently.
So yeah, I’m going to stick with Ubuntu for a bit, then switch to something else.
… which is why I’m still on Ubuntu. Debian was my first love with Linux. Still have it on a ton of servers. Also have a weird USB video card (Display Link) for my 4th monitor. So I don’t feel like switching, everything just works RN. If I was to jump, it’d be for Nix and all it’s new hotness.
Man I still suck at NixOS and it has it’s kinks/learning curve, but if you’re tired of tweaking things constantly the nice thing about NixOS is all your little tweaks get recorded into a single file which builds your base OS into your particular configuration. So after you tweak it and get it right, you’ll never have to tweak it again even if you change computers
That doesn’t sound too different from the regular Unix paradigm where all your config is stored in your home directory. I’ve wiped my root partition many times over the last decade but usually everything in my desktop environment is just the same as it was. Aside from migration of dotfiles into .config which was honestly overdue.
Unless NixOS is kind of like Ansible and is a build script for the whole system, package management and all? Haven’t tried it myself.
My concern would be slow buildup of unused packages if that’s the case. It’s nice to wipe out that junk on an upgrade.
I haven’t used Ansible but it sounds pretty much like that, basically you write out all the packages you want in a config and it builds the system from that. Very nice in terms of stability and maintainability. I’m very much an amateur so I can’t say for sure but I think the unused package issue would still exist on nix.
Unused packages aren’t typically a problem unless you imperatively change your systems state. Otherwise, If you remove it from your configuration.nix, it’s removed when you switch to your next build. Previous builds/generations keep those versions of those packages, which wastes space, but you can specify garbage collection to remove generations older than a month
My only complaint so far is the best way to properly make a development shell for a python project is either with a still somewhat experimental feature called flakes, or a 3rd party solution poetry2nix. Im probably going to switch to using docker/podman for python projects.
On the other hand, pip is the worst package manager, so being incentivized away from it is kind of a plus
I switched to Ubuntu 22.04 on 2023-12-31. I had used a bunch of other distros back in 2008-2012, then got tired of manually tweaking things constantly. Things have come a long way and there are way more options to make things work. I don’t have to spend hours on the CLI or reboot frequently.
So yeah, I’m going to stick with Ubuntu for a bit, then switch to something else.
These days, you probably won’t need all that tweaking.
I’d recommend Linux Mint.
Honestly Debian would be a better choice if you want a rock solid stable experience.
True that. However, Linux Mint may have a better out-of-box experience.
Note: Debian is my favorite distro.
Linux Mint Debian Edition looks like a common ground for you two ;)
Unless you’re using nvidia :')
… which is why I’m still on Ubuntu. Debian was my first love with Linux. Still have it on a ton of servers. Also have a weird USB video card (Display Link) for my 4th monitor. So I don’t feel like switching, everything just works RN. If I was to jump, it’d be for Nix and all it’s new hotness.
Fedora with Cinnamon desktop has been gooood to me. Admittedly it’s on a Thinkpad
Isn’t Linux Mint just green Ubuntu?
Without snaps
Entire different desktop environment+no snap+yes flatpak+nice community+light
Man I still suck at NixOS and it has it’s kinks/learning curve, but if you’re tired of tweaking things constantly the nice thing about NixOS is all your little tweaks get recorded into a single file which builds your base OS into your particular configuration. So after you tweak it and get it right, you’ll never have to tweak it again even if you change computers
That doesn’t sound too different from the regular Unix paradigm where all your config is stored in your home directory. I’ve wiped my root partition many times over the last decade but usually everything in my desktop environment is just the same as it was. Aside from migration of dotfiles into .config which was honestly overdue.
Unless NixOS is kind of like Ansible and is a build script for the whole system, package management and all? Haven’t tried it myself.
My concern would be slow buildup of unused packages if that’s the case. It’s nice to wipe out that junk on an upgrade.
I haven’t used Ansible but it sounds pretty much like that, basically you write out all the packages you want in a config and it builds the system from that. Very nice in terms of stability and maintainability. I’m very much an amateur so I can’t say for sure but I think the unused package issue would still exist on nix.
Exactly, like ansible.
Unused packages aren’t typically a problem unless you imperatively change your systems state. Otherwise, If you remove it from your configuration.nix, it’s removed when you switch to your next build. Previous builds/generations keep those versions of those packages, which wastes space, but you can specify garbage collection to remove generations older than a month
My only complaint so far is the best way to properly make a development shell for a python project is either with a still somewhat experimental feature called flakes, or a 3rd party solution poetry2nix. Im probably going to switch to using docker/podman for python projects.
On the other hand, pip is the worst package manager, so being incentivized away from it is kind of a plus