Fri 02 December 2016
| tags: linux
At some point I may get around to an article describing how/why I run multiple Linux distros across my various
gadgets/hardware, but if I waited to write this article then frankly I'd stall. So, it'll have to suffice that
multiple posts of mine will simply refer to this as yet unwritten article.
For now, I'd like to jot some notes concerning how I've evaluated distros in the past, as much as I can recall them
from memory, and also to delineate planned benchmarks. All of the items I'm now posting have been scattered in my
brain over a fairly long stretch of time, so it is mighty fulfilling to capture them more concisely and spatially.
Perhaps the following conditions/features can be scripted one day for quick reporting in tabular form...maybe even
wrrapped into some more tinkering with databases for data capture - a skill that I'd enjoy learning. Ahhh, reference
to another article.
Here are some stock feature of Linux distros that I've previously jotted down as worthy of consideration for
evaluation. Most of these features are customizable, so most are not show-stoppers. However, since I've found that the
main difference among distros is the suite of stock packages included with the Linux kernel, these features rather
define a distro from the beginning, so in the end they can make or break a distro for me. After all, if I simply
wanted to pick ALL my own packages, I'd just start with Arch. Who has time...
Terminal
File Explorer (especially network discovery, including Samba shares)
Document Viewer
Test Editor
Image Editor
BitTorrent Client
E-mail
Video Player
Package Manager
The choice of display manager is inexorably tied to the features above for most distros, and I've found that I usually
prefer bits and pieces from different display managers (e.g. Gnome, Cinnamon, etc.). For instance, my favorite
terminal is yakuake. However, installation of yakuake comes at a price - installation of dozens and dozens of KDE
packages I simply do not use. Thie could belie inexperience on my part (i.e. knowing how to not install recommended
but unrequired packages), but what I wind up with is bloatware to the max. As I test and/or evaluate these features
more formally across distros, I'll take some more time to see if installation of new packages is loaded with
unncessary software.
Here are some additional considerations which I'll most leave here for future description and amendment.
Expertise level assumed (i.e. does the distro assume I need to be protected from myself?)
R: ease of installation of packages (i.e. are paths available to R or, as in above, as I assumed to need protection
from myself?)
Chroot-ability: any issue chrooting into other filesystems?
GUI system configuration (related to package management). I don't want to be protected from myself, but I also don't
really know how to configure the system in /etc for most settings, so leave me alone but come here...that's a totally
reasonable attitude, right?
Overall speed. Plasma 5 just simply DOES NOT WORK (except in CentOS, I've found). openSUSE seems to be faster than
Linux Mint. Stuff like this.
Does Samba configuration work out of the gate? Usually not. I spent WAYYYYYY more time on Samba than I really needed
to, getting sucked down that rabbit hole on far too many occasions. Yet I can't let it go.
I'll follow-up with an article about development setups I'd like to evaluate/try/learn (e.g. Anaconda, Docker), and
with those considerations plus these I can map out a factorial evaluation for multiple distros.