Linux

I started using linux in the early 90s, and never looked back. Over the years, I bought a few Apple products which I enjoyed, and had to use windows for work, but never lost my appetite for linux. I'm still partial to linux, but at this point it is probably due to familiarity.

origin story

I like operating systems in general, and like to test drive them to get a feel for using them. But I alwys come back to linux, and always end up installing linux on machines that run something else. Right now I use two former windows machines and an iMac. I run void linux and parrotOS on the windows converts, and alpine linux on the iMac. This situation changes a few times a year, as I'm always curious to use some new sexy thing that comes along.

I started using linux in school, when my cool friends were using it. This ws back in the day, as they say, when windows was still trying to add networking support. There was no TCP/IP stack in windows; people used 3rd party software to connect to a network.

My first linux was Slackware, which I found to be difficult but stable. We had to use bootstrap scripts on 3.5 inch floppy disks what would bootstrap a minimal system and fetch files from the net. There was also NetBSD, and others but you had to get the initial disks from somewhere. I was already in over my head with linux.

debian

In the decades since, I've tried many distributions, but came back to Debian variants over and over. This is both because they dominate the distribution ecosystems, and due to familiarity. Of the 900 or so distributions that have come and mostly gone, more than half have been debian linux with some tweaks. To this day I keep a debian-ish distro on one of my computers,

alpine

Now I tend to have one computer where I am experimenting with an unfamiliar linux. Currently that one is running alpine linux. Alpine is a no-nonsense distro that is stable and minimalist. I believe the primary use case is on servers, but it is capable enough for home use too. This distro replaces the dreaded systemd with openrc in keeping with that spartan ideology. It does not come with as much pre-installed software as most distros, which I think is a benefit.

void

My latest crush is void linux. They do away with so many of the old and crusty artifacts of yesteryear in favor of newer, lighter choices, but most are optional. The result is a distro that is snappy and seems to have everything I need.

Void decided to abandon systemd in favor of a little-known init system called runit. If this sounds daunting, you might be surprised how simple it is. It simply reads the filesystem. To enable a service, put a symlink in a certain directory, and to disable - remove it. No databases or features that make you scratch your head and wonder why.

Void lets the user choose between wayland and X11 since going with wayland is going to lead to compatibility issues with older, intransigent software. They offer installers with each so you don't need to installa nd configure the one you prefer.

Same goes for GNU C libraries. glibc is the venerable old stalwart of most distros, but void lets you choose musl instead. I chose musl, but had to workaround some software not working out of the box.

Posts I plan to write:

• FreeBSD
• bash
• TailsOS
• package managers