Distros

NixOS is a Linux distribution based on the Nix package manager. Nix has been trending lately so there’s a good chance you’ve heard of it. But if you went to do some research about Nix you might have gotten a bit lost in concepts like dependency trees and the Nix programming language. The good news is that you don’t need to understand how Nix works in depth or know any programming to enjoy the benefits that it brings. Nix has a repo of about 80,000 packages, which puts it up there with the Arch Linux AUR as a contender for the largest in the Linux ecosystem. You can actually use Nix on top of any distro and even MacOS, but today we’ll be focusing on NixOS specifically. First, I’ll tell you a bit about what makes Nix special, and then I’ll demonstrate a basic server installation to show how it works in practice. ...

This is my first look at the upcoming Linux desktop developed by System76. For many, desktop Linux has felt stagnant over the past year. Major distribution updates have been largely uneventful, and many distros seem to release gimmick features that aren’t particularly useful. However, there’s a fresh wind of excitement in the air with the upcoming alpha release of the Cosmic desktop environment. Here’s a dive into why Cosmic might be the breath of fresh air that desktop Linux needs. ...

It’s been a while since we over-viewed some of my top Linux distributions. Creating top lists for anything is difficult to do, as leaving out bias and opinion is near impossible. An actual top or best Linux distro list would probably have Debian at the top and include OpenSUSE, RHEL, and distributions like that. This list is my favorite Linux distributions I’ve used on physical hardware in the last year and find myself returning to. ...

Near the end of 2020, Red Hat decided to kill CentOS as we know it—kind of. We’ll get that a bit later. But for now, let’s examine Red Hat Enterprise Linux and all of the clones and forks that we have available. So, let’s get to it. Red Hat Enterprise Linux Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or RHEL for short, is a Linux distribution developed by, believe it or not, Red Hat. RHEL is an RPM-based distribution that uses the DNF package manager and follows a more LTS-like release cycle with an older package base. RHEL’s package base actually comes from earlier versions of Fedora, making Fedora a testing ground for different changes that may come to Red Hat. For example, the latest version of RHEL 9.0 is based on Fedora 34 from March 2021. Do note, though, that while Fedora is sponsored by Red Hat and uses some Red Hat infrastructure, Fedora is still its own project that may make decisions against Red Hat. Another thing that makes Red Hat special is that a lot of modern technology in the Linux world is either significantly funded by Red Hat or run or heavily contributed to by Red Hat developers, A bunch of examples of this include GNOME Shell, SELinux, SystemD, PackageKit, Wayland, D-Bus, and many other projects. However, another thing that made Red Hat different is that it’s a paid Linux distro, but paying for it gives you support and docs from the Red Hat company. ...

Pop!_OS is one of, if not the best, distributions based on Ubuntu to date. It has sparked the interest of the dedicated Linux community and new users alike. Dual-booting has helped with this! One major hesitation of the new Linux user is wiping Windows from their life completely. Luckily, this is not a necessity. In this guide, we will go over step-by-step instructions on how to install Pop!_OS alongside Windows and update the bootloader. ...

This is a simple installation script written in bash by the developer MatMoul 2. It allows you to install Arch by selecting various options and packages instead of running commands. https://youtu.be/u2l54FMgWq4 Installing Arch Linux is an effort especially if you’re new to the whole process. If you don’t feel like jumping back and forth between the Arch wiki and spending hours just to not have a system that boots this guide is for you. I would still recommend running through the official ArchWiki and learning the proper installation process. Doing this will help you understand what archfi is doing in the background. ...

So, you run Windows, which does everything you need. But you’re done with relying on something so limited and corporate. But you aren’t ready to switch to Linux fully yet. There may be some application or game that you want to keep running. But now it is time to move your primary workflow to Linux. So, let’s dual-boot the worst with the best (in my opinion). Please backup all important data before continuing! We highly recommend doing this on two different drives instead of just one; however, this guide still covers it on one drive. If you are using one drive, note that Windows may not play well on Linux and has been known to wipe Linux partitions during updates. Also, before you do anything, we highly recommend backing up your data. Below is a video guide that will go through everything step-by-step with additional detail. ...

A few weeks ago, I made a YouTube video on risiOS, and a lot of people were surprised that it was Fedora-based because most distros are based on either Debian, Ubuntu, or Arch. Well, there are quite a few other distributions based on Fedora, so let’s go through some of them, specifically the ones mentioned on Fedora’s list of Fedora remixes wiki page. https://youtu.be/stIndl1YuIg Nobara Nobara is a distribution that is designed specifically for gaming. It is made by a Red Hat Engineer who is also the Proton-GE contributor’s maintainer and a Lutris developer. Booting into it, I noticed that its flagship version has a customized version of GNOME, although there is also a vanilla one. Some of the extensions the non-Vanilla version installs include ArcMenu, Blur my Shell, and Dash to Panel. This gives it an overall setup similar to Windows 7. It also comes preinstalled with many gaming-related tools, including Steam, Lutris, Wine, ProtonUp, and GOverley. ...

Many people love Manjaro as a clean and easy way to get into Arch or even Linux in general. But many people claim that Manjaro has diverted too far away from Arch to consider it. So, let’s compare both Arch and Manjaro, how they are different, and why more people might need to distinguish that Manjaro isn’t Arch. https://youtu.be/VzAw8a3Jx-k So first, what is Arch? Arch Linux is an independent rolling release distribution that is known for being very customizable and bleeding edge but not for being easy to install. Your hand isn’t held at all when you install Arch. You are forced to either learn how to install your system manually from scratch, including partitioning through a terminal, installing the actual Linux kernel, and setting up your bootloader and DEs. Basically, the customization isn’t an option. It’s a requirement because you’re building it. ...

Linux is open-source software; however, most Linux distributions usually include some non-free software. Whether it’s proprietary blobs or drivers for running certain types of hardware, or it’s a distribution that ships Google Chrome by default for some reason… While the core of a distribution is usually FOSS software, there are still proprietary elements on most Linux distributions. So, let’s see what running a fully open-source system is like and look at the distributions that the Free Software Foundation recommends. ...