Re: [trinity-users] Advice for distro without systemD - my list

On Friday 18 October 2019 20:01:17 Larry Stotler wrote: Hi there. Here is a list of those of which I have at least some experience. I hope this helps. Bill I went through several attempts, none totally successful, to run TDE with Debian on an old machine. There is a whole list of them here: https://devuan.org/os/partners/devuan-distros 1. ExeGnuLinux - TDE is the default The first no-systemd OS I heard about was ExeGnuLinux, based on Devuan. They say all the right things, and their installer *seems* to work pretty well (although it is quite different from the minimalist "classic" Debian-type installers); however, I never could get it to run properly, or even to boot up at all after installation. http://exegnulinux.net/ 2. AntiX - TDE is the default Also, AntiX was pretty good, and I believe I remember that it is no-systemd. It was small, fast, not unattractive, seemed stable, etc. However, it would not let me configure internal SATA hdds on a Frankenstein desktop that I build out of spare parts; I might have been able to do that using gparted or parted, etc., after installation, but that's a bother. It seems that this distro was developed by, and for, people who run laptops or similar setups, who maybe cannot imagine anybody out there who is still running a desktop. And last, it changed the permissions in my home folder; perhaps for the better, but again, I like to be in control, even if I sometimes mess it up. https://antixlinux.com/ 3. Devuan NETINST - no TDE choice in menu - I use MATE during installation. I tried Devuan as soon as it came out, but it wasn't until I tried the NETINST CD that everything seemed to click, and I haven't had any major problems for a year or more. For me it works best when I install TDE later, after pretty much everything else. https://devuan.org/os/ https://devuan.org/os/documentation/install https://files.devuan.org/?ref=/os/download I have almost no complaints, as it is a very stable system. I would like to see a Devuan installation disc (esp., a NETINST CD), so that I could have my TDE desktop right away, then continue with installing the rest of my packages. When I upgrade my distribution, as just recently, some of my personalized configurations are changed; for example, my customized login screen, as well as some other niggling but nagging quirks or maybe bugs. I am forced to bounce back and forth between using tdenetworkmanager and wicd-gtk as to control my network connection and settings. For some reason, about every third time I reinstall, I have to change from using one or the other. There are a few other weird things that I am trying to figure out, but they are not irritating enough that I should tell all the readers on the TDE mailing list. Over all, this has been my choice now for quite a while, and it has been maybe 6 months since I've had to reinstall my system or deal with any major problems. 4. Linnix - based on Devuan, no TDE, but supposed to be for users who "like to customize" their desktops. I have a disc of the latest release. Again, it sounds good; but I only sort of half-remember booting it up, then going back to my stable Devuan system. https://sourceforge.net/projects/linnix/ https://sourceforge.net/projects/linnix/files/ 5. Heads - the Devuan version of Tails I tried out Tails a few years ago, and it worked pretty well. I would hope that the Devuan version, Heads, works as well or better. I don't have a system to set up with Heads at the moment; I don't know if it's possible to install Heads or Tails in the way of most Linux systems. I did try booting it up, but I would have needed to change my partitions, etc., so I didn't continue. I was thinking of giving it another try, once I manage to put together a few other machines into a network. Seems to work like Tails, though. https://heads.dyne.org/