[sf-lug] SF-LUG meeting notes + abt some lightweight distros

Tue May 8 11:57:27 PDT 2018

no worries aaron [re: t-61] happy hardware hacking...

i mentioned this before when it was first put 'up' as a complete distro so,
a little redundant but hits on some of your overview(s)..."Artix Linux _64"
= <https://artixlinux.org/>.
this was 'morphed' from the discontinued :-(( Manjaro-openrc [systemd
version still coded and more popular by the week].

i think if you go to the site and look @ some of the commands they posted
for 'manual intervention'
right on the front page of the site it will help you with some of your
'tasks'...
if not it won't take much of your time.

additionally,
i am contemplating loading it [Artix] and Void Linux on the SSD [separate]
drive of my laptop [if she lives...???] so we can
play with them...

message ends.
__________________

On Mon, May 7, 2018 at 9:56 PM, aaronco36 <aaronco36 at sdf.org> wrote:

>
> Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever at dslextreme.com> wrote at [01]:
>
> Ken was working on a member's laptop but was unable to get
>> results and it was passed on to Aaron. Then after that he
>> sat down next to Jackie B. and attempted to help her with
>> the Ubuntu on her Toshiba.
>>
>
> Thanks, maestro, for the ThinkPad T61  :-) -- see [02].
> Gives me a chance to see if I could revive this laptop or else salvage it
> for needed parts.
>
> That "he" who "sat at down next to Jackie B. and attempted to help her
> with the Ubuntu on her Toshiba" was Ken, not me. As per the below, I did
> arrive very late.
>
>
> Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever at dslextreme.com> wrote at [01]:
>
> Aaron came in very late but was there to get back the modem
>> he had loaned me and to pick up the Bunsen Labs 32 bit
>> version of their late release of Helium based in Debian.
>>
>
> Arrived at Cafe Enchante around 12:15.
> Thanks Bobbie, for that DVD copy of i386 BunsenLabs Helium[03], which is
> based on Debian Stable/"stretch" :-)
>
>
> There was a bit of discussion at the tail end of the meeting about various
> lightweight distros and their Desktop Environments (DEs) and/or their
> Windows Managers (WMs). Don't wish to get in too elongated a discussion of
> differences between DEs and WMs (because that's been done already over the
> last several years ;-) ).
>
> I *will* mention, though, that I've artificially grouped some of the
> discussed distros into the two init classes of
> A. With systemd
> B. Without systemd or systemd-disabled
>
> DistroWatch writeups referenced next to each distro below.
>
> A. systemd-containing distros mentioned were
> - BL Helium [03] (just as above)
> - Lubuntu [04]
> - Bodhi Linux [05]
>
> B. systemd-free or systemd-disabled distros mentioned were
> - antiX [06]
> - Void Linux [07]
> - MX Linux [08]
>
> What was *not* mentioned during Sunday's SF-LUG mtg while I was there was
> the systemd-free Devuan; the official release of Devuan "asci" testing came
> out this past Sunday -- see [09]
>
>
> BunsenLabs Helium [03].
> BL Helium is lightweight with its Openbox WM, and it follows the tradition
> of being super lightweight started by its predecessor CrunchBang Linux.
>
> Lubuntu [04].
>
> Lubuntu is essentially Ubuntu with the LightweightX DE.  Ubuntu/Lubuntu
> came out with version 18.04 "Bionic Beaver" within the last two weeks as
> Bobbie S specifically mentioned a week ago last Monday [10].
> The Lubuntu 18.04 System Requirements were bumped up a bit compared to
> previous versions of Lubuntu, as noted within Simon Quigley's Release
> Announcement [11]:
> ~~~~ quoting ~~~~~
> Lubuntu is a good operating system for many old computers, but not for all
> of them. Some computers have too little horsepower or memory. A rule of
> thumb is that the computer should not be more than 10 years old (although
> some older computers are known to work as well).
>
> Memory (RAM): Your computer needs at minimum 1 GB of RAM to use Lubuntu,
> but we recommend 2 GB or more for better performance (with web-based
> applications).
> ...
> ------------------------------
>
> That release announcement soon resulted in this revealing exchange of
> comments at [12] :
> ~~~~~~ quoting ~~~~~~~
> ~
> Simon Quigley   - April 28, 2018 at 1:48 am
>
>> Minimum memory requirements jumped up twice in compare of 16.04. Why?
>>
>
> Computers have evolved.
>
> Can we install snaps in Lubuntu via GUI now?
>>
>
> Probably using the Ubuntu Software Center.
> ~
> ~
> BornRetarded    - April 29, 2018 at 2:33 pm
>
>> Imagine if your car used twice the gasoline because cars have evolved.
>>>
>> ~
> ~
> Simon Quigley   - April 29, 2018 at 6:05 pm
>
>> It's not the same thing.
>>>> Please stop complaining about a number that we just bumped in the
>>>>
>>> release announcement.
>
>> The goal is to make sure people know that things like Firefox will need
>>>>
>>> a couple of GB of RAM.
> ~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> I sense that Simon is/was a might snippy now that Lubuntu might not be the
> lightest mainstream version of Ubuntu on the block. Note that I previously
> made an inquiry about the slightly lighterweight LXLE Linux [13] about
> three months ago here [14].
>
> Bodhi Linux [05].
>
> That's the lightweight Ubuntu/Debian-based distribution featuring Moksha,
> an Enlightenment-17-based DE, which Rick M has advocated in the past in at
> least the bottom of [15]. While I still don't like Bodhi and its Moksha DE
> -- having actually tried it out -- maestro was praising Bodhi Linux at the
> end of Sunday's meeting for its lighweightedness. Certainly lightweight
> compared to Lubuntu 18.04 "Bionic Beaver", I think.
>
>
> While the above three Debian/Ubuntu-based systemd distros *can* have their
> init's and other integrated components teased out as per Rick M's and
> maestro's postings from the past on such -- see refs [16] through [19] --
> at the same time I found it much easier not having to take the more
> extensive after-the-fact steps to purge systems from systemd as described
> at ref [20]. Instead, it's much easier to start-off with one or more of the
> systemd-free distros listed in ref [21] from the get-go.
>
> antiX [06].
> That super lightweight systemd-free distro with all those WMs which I
> *very specifically*mentioned 1 2/3 years ago within ref [22].
>
> Void Linux [07].
> First mentioned in Bobbie S's Meeting notes from Monday December 19, 2016
> in ref [23], and more recently mentioned in my posting of last November
> 'Installing Void, C.E. Sign-in at SF-LUG mtg of 2017-11-05' in ref [24].
>
> Some recent intriguing news about Void Linux is from one of its most
> recent 'Serious News' news story as quoted in ref [25]:
> ~~~~~~~ Quoting ~~~~~~~~
> The current project leader has disappeared. We have had no contact with
> him since the end of January, and no meaningful contact for well over a
> year.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> MX Linux [08].
> It's integrally related to antiX as previously mentioned above, it uses
> the XFCE DE, it's intended as a "mid-weight operating system", and it seems
> to currently be very popular at number 7th in DistroWatch's Hits Per Day
> ranking. What might be unique about MX Linux, as quoted in its 'Systemd'
> wikipage of ref [26], is that "MX Linux ships with systemd present but
> disabled by default. The MX Linux team strongly urges users to remain with
> this configuration which uses sysvinit instead." This 'Systemd' wikipage
> makes a good read for understanding what the MX Linux developers face and
> what choices they ended up making with the distro.
>
> If I gather this correctly, the MX Linux developers still left-in the
> "hooks" for systemd, but these "hooks" are disabled by default.  The
> 'Systemd' wikipage (ref [26] again) shows that taking steps seemingly
> similar to those in ref [17] for Debian 8 "Jessie" OpenRC Conversion can
> remove MX Linux's reliance on systemd and some of (all of?) systemd's
> various "hooks".
>
>
> As before, Rick M, maestro, Michael P, Bobbie S, Akkana P, Daniel G, Jim,
> and really anyone else reading this are definitely invited and completely
> welcome to provide more complete information and advice on what I've
> written above :-)
>
> -Aaron
>
>
> ========================
> References
> ========================
>
> [01]http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2018q2/013227.html
> [02]http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:T61
> [03]https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=bunsenlabs
> [04]https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=lubuntu
> [05]https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=bodhi
> [06]https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=antix
> [07]https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=void
> [08]https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=mx
> [09]https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=devuan
> [10]http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2018q2/013216.html
> [11]https://lubuntu.me/bionic-released/
> [12]https://lubuntu.me/bionic-released/#more-3008
> [13]https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=lxle
> [14]http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2018q1/013079.html
> [15]http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2016q4/012326.html
> [16]http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2016q4/012277.html
> [17]http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Debian/openrc-conversion.html
> [18]http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2017q4/012899.html
> [19]http://without-systemd.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
> [20]http://without-systemd.org/wiki/index.php/Alternatives_to_systemd
> [21]http://without-systemd.org/wiki/index.php/Linux_distribu
> tions_without_systemd
> [22]http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2016q3/012256.html
> [23]http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2016q4/012373.html
> [24]http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2017q4/012941.html
> [25]https://www.voidlinux.eu/news/2018/05/serious-issues.html
> [26]https://mxlinux.org/wiki/system/systemd
>
> ========================
>
>
> aaronco36 at sdf.org
> SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.org
>
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-- 

*~the quieter you become, the more you are able to hear...*
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