Have you ever tried the distro called CachyOS?
#linux #distro #linuxgaming #cachyos #experience #interest
I had heard of it but I am trying to stay away from SystemD these days so if I use an Arch based distro t will be Artix.
@publiclewdness how are non-systemd distros doing these days?
Overall pretty well.
Devuan is the most user friendly option I can think of. I can run all of my normal programs on it in one way or another. It's kernel and Mesa can be quite dated on Daedalus which means using newer hardware for gaming is a no go. My RX 590 works but not my 7800 XT for instance. It is very easy to install the Libre kernel if I want to go that route. The testing equivalient of Excalibur is hit and miss as I usually get errors trying to install it still. It has three different inits and seven desktop environment options to choose from.
MX Linux is like Devuan except that it has newer Mesa and kernels so using it for gaming is a better choice if you choose their "AHS" version. It lacks the variety in inits, desktops and file sytems of the others but it is very user friendly and for those familiar with Debian you will be at home. I had a lot of issues that arose from installing multiple desktops to the point I just stuck with their default of XFCE which for some won't be a real compromise.
Artix is very easy to get setup in every way except that getting a VPN to work on it is a chore. If you are familiar with Arch based distros and the AUR then Artix will be very similar. It has 4 different inits, six desktop environment options, and four file system options to choose from.
Alpine is easy to setup. It's a text based installer which will turn some off but it isn't difficult to do at all. It does lack a lot of programs in it's repos that I use, such as Mangohud/Goverlay/Lutris/etc so Flatpak/App Images are a must still. It has a great selection of desktops with six of them and is by far the easiest install of desktops I have seen as I just had to type "setup-desktop", pick which one I wanted and the rest was taken care of. I will also say that Alpine has very good guides in it's Wiki.
Nitrux is a very inetresting distro in that it is totally based around using Flatpak and App Images. Even though it is based on Debian you can't use typical Deban commands to install programs as there is no repo to install from. It also uses a custom version of KDE which is by far the best version of KDE I have ever seen but at the end of the day it is still KDE and still gets in my way a lot more than other desktops. I count Nitrux as beautiful and promising but not something I can commit to use as my daily driver yet.
Guix was interesting but the syntax commands were so far from what I was used to that I would need to immerse myself in it and truly learn it inside and out to appreciate it. Still, it's nice to have an FSF approved option in the mix.
Overall I think there are enough good options that if one wants to ditch SystemD there is something out there for them at all skills levels.
@publiclewdness thanks for the great answer!
About artix, why is setting up a VPN so difficult? Is that related to the init system?
You're welcome ! I think a combination of the init system as well as the network manager. Artix uses ConnMan by default where most VPN's seem to like NetworkManager or are made for it. It isn't as simple as just installing NetworkManager sadly but then also a bunch of work to configure it to work with the init and get rid of ConnMan. To be fair Alpine is in the same boat but they have a very good step by step guide to get NetworkManager setup and working.
https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/NetworkManager
One day I will have to spend some time and see if I can adapt that guide to Artix. Devuan doesn't really need this they work with the Flatpak of Proton VPN and usually work with the .deb install files for Proton and Mullvad. MX Linux gets bonus points as they also go out of their way to package Mullvad in their repos.
