Hello form a distro-hopper

2Karl · 2012-03-25 19:31:10

Hi All, thought I'd just introduce myself. My name's Karl, a high school computing teacher by trade, and I'm considering hopping to Crunchbang. I'm no strnager to linux; I've been using it since 1998. I've been through many different distros, and I've switched as my needs have changed. Recently however, I've been very restless.

I was fairly settled with Ubuntu a few years ago - it was reasonably stable, had a lot of support. But recently it's been taking a worrying stance when it comes to limiting user choice. I like to be able to tinker with things, I don't expect to be told what I can and can't do with my own OS. Goes against everything FOSS is about in my opinion. So when the Ubuntu devs started putting unnecessary limitations on various programs in order to "make it more user friendly", I naturally go annoyed and left.

I went across to Debian. I ran squeeze for a while, but then took the plunge and upgraded to Sid. I was sort of anxious to try out Gnome 3 of all things. While I did rather enjoy the gnome shell, I eventually hit som brick walls when it came to support for certain packages. A friend of mine rcommended Mint, so I switched again.

I've been running Mint for a few months now, but the Ubuntu trappings are really starting to show, and so I'm thinking of moving on again. I've been playing around with Openbox on my current install for a while and I really like the minimalist approach. The problem I have at the moment is that my install feels weighted down with the ghost of gnome. I need to trim the fat.

so currently I'm looking at two options: Crunchbang and Arch. I'm downloading a liveimage of Crunchbang to give it a whirl. My goals are:

To set up a minimalist system which does what I want and no more
To start with a minimal set of applications and expand outwards as necessary
To make my system LOOK as elegant and efficient as it PERFORMS.

So if anyone has anything good to say about #! (and I'm guessing most of you do), I'd love to hear from you. How efficient is the system? Does it have a hassle-free install process? Which sound system is installed by default? What are the default apps? Are packages drawn from the Squeeze or Sid repos? And importantly: Will I see any benefit switching from Mint?

Thanks guys.

vicshrike · 2012-03-25 19:47:50

Welcome to #!, what can I say....#! rocks! Just hop in and join the fun! big_smile

snowpine · 2012-03-25 19:52:54

Welcome to the forums, it is a friendly place for distro-hoppers! We have plenty of Debian/Ubuntu/Fedora/etc. who hang out for the community vibe. smile

To answer your specific question, #! is based on Squeeze, but we have a fair share of users who upgrade to Testing or Unstable. If Mint+Openbox runs well on your setup, then I anticipate #! will run equally well (but using older, more stable apps).

I don't, however, understand your comment about "ghost of gnome." A CrunchBang user could easily install Gnome and choose between Openbox/Gnome with each login. Having the option of Gnome will not slow down the Openbox session; they exist in parallel. smile

2Karl · 2012-03-25 20:02:08

snowpine wrote:

I don't, however, understand your comment about "ghost of gnome."

I was referring to the fact that no matter how I try, there still seems to be some residual gnome-configs and applications left hanging around after setting up OB.

snowpine · 2012-03-25 20:12:33

2Karl wrote:

snowpine wrote:
I don't, however, understand your comment about "ghost of gnome."
I was referring to the fact that no matter how I try, there still seems to be some residual gnome-configs and applications left hanging around after setting up OB.

By "hanging around" do you mean "actively consuming CPU and RAM according to my system monitor" or "passively occupying a tiny corner of my hard drive"? smile

If it's the latter then my advice is to adopt a zen mentality and let go, because once you start down the road of questioning "do I need this? do I need that?", it never ends... for example even a lightweight distro like #! has hardware drivers for thousands of hardwares I don't even own, oh no!!! smile

damo · 2012-03-25 20:12:46

@2Karl

Similar story to you: ubuntu, then with fluxbox, then CB for a while (but I couldn't get wifi and tablet working), then Mint, then pined for Crunchbang again for the same reasons as you (It now gets everything working out of the box, which ubuntu and mint no longer do btw!)

Plus this is a much nicer place to hang out smile

dubois · 2012-03-25 20:18:51

Nice introductory story. Pull up a chair, stay awhile. There's gingerbread muffins and lemonade in the kitchen. Help yourself. big_smile

rhowaldt · 2012-03-25 20:28:29

hi Karl, welcome to the community.
from your description of what you're looking for, i'd say #! is the perfect distro for you. it is minimalist while still being accessible. it is inviting to customization without forcing you to set everything up for yourself. it doesn't have too much nor too little in the default install.

the install is fairly hassle-free. at least hassle-free enough that i didn't mess anything up on my first Linux install ever.
i think the default soundsystem is simply alsa.
i don't know about the difference from Mint, as i never used that.
it is using the Squeeze repos by default, but switching to Sid is only a forumthread away (i promise to look it up for you once you decide to switch to #!... how's that for a welcoming gift? big_smile )
the main apps that make up #! are Openbox as a WM, tint2 as a taskbar and Conky for a system monitor.
it is elegant, beautiful, perfect.

can't say much about the decision between #! and Arch. i liked Arch too, but i liked #! better, maybe because i'm used to it. you'd have to see for yourself.

i think, besides all of the stuff i said above, the community here is this distro's major selling point. we're an assortment of weirdos, wackos, freaks, imbeciles, and generally happily insane people. you'll be offered food and coffee soon no doubt.
and just a reminder: even if you decide to move to Arch in the end, please feel free to stay in this community. using the distro is in no way a requirement for being part of the awesomeness that goes on around here smile

i hope you decide on using #!, it sounds like the distro you're looking for. good luck.

2Karl · 2012-03-25 20:35:57

Wow, really nice to get such a great response from everyone. I fluffed the burn on the first run of this live cd so I'm going to give it another go. Easter break is coming up, so that's when I'll be looking to fully switch if I decide to go ahead.

rhowaldt · 2012-03-25 21:04:52

i'll have my fingers crossed, hoping you'll join in. you seem like a good guy to have around, like i said, even if you don't choose crunchbang.

let us know what you think when you get it up and running!

2Karl · 2012-03-25 21:13:19

Well, I'm posting this from the live-CD of #!.

I really like the GTK theme. I'm going to have a play around and explore a little wink

VastOne · 2012-03-25 21:21:40

Welcome to CrunchBang 2Karl, grab a chair a sit a spell... You will not be disappointed..!

snowpine · 2012-03-25 21:25:01

Welcome to #! smile

doxanthropos · 2012-03-26 00:07:54

Welcome here 2Karl!
If #! means the end of your distro-hopping you could join the crowd on a new addiction: wm-hopping.

disfarmer · 2012-03-26 01:51:10

The food's delicious here. And the servings are generous. Enjoy!

sqlpython · 2012-03-26 05:41:32

Welcome 2Karl 2#! smile

Like you, I have been Distro hopping since 95. I just keep coming back to Debian since 2002.
Can't find anything significantly better...
So, to satisfy a need to Distro experiment..
What he said,

If #! means the end of your distro-hopping you could join the crowd on a new addiction: wm-hopping.

mikhou · 2012-03-26 06:01:21

@2Karl: Most of us have probably had a similar journey to yours. I personally started with Mint Gnome, then LMDE, then Debian Testing XFCE. I stayed with Debian Testing longer than the others, but when I had to purchase a new laptop, I looked around again and found that #! XFCE was almost EXACTLY like my Debian XFCE setup and it worked outta the box without any tinkering whatsoever. (Not that I don't still tinker.) I also realized the need for me personally to stick with Stable as my internet connection is less than reliable and this particular install has to work as this is my work laptop. So here I've been for almost a year now.

As others have said, if you don't stick with #!, stick with the forums. There's a heckuva knowledge base here, and the coffee's always free!

mikhou

Last edited by mikhou (2012-03-26 06:03:41)

cJones · 2012-03-26 06:59:46

Welcome to #! 2Karl

iMBeCil · 2012-03-26 08:10:55

Hi 2Karl, I am new here as you, but I already enjoy using #! and configuring it according to my preferences (plus migrating from stable to sid). I come from several years of Ubuntu experience. And, although confrontation to Ubuntu was fruitful, it merely made me ready to embrace truly cool distro like #!: minimalist, config-files configuration with ability to adjust minute details of your system ...

As a bonus, there is very picturesque bunch of forum users, who are willing to discuss anything you want. And, of course, there is a beer ... Have fun smile

nore · 2012-03-26 10:00:09

Welcome, colleague! Your path here has been stomped through by many, many others before. You will find out that CrunchBang is not actually a minimalistic distro (minimal meaning short of stuff), it´s choices of WM, applications etc. are functionalistic. It will change your workflow permanently.

fortyseven · 2012-03-26 10:46:45

I've been using #! since November and I absolutely hate it. It's one of the most bloated OS's out there and runs horribly on most hardware, especially older machines. It comes with tons of useless, unwanted apps that are difficult to get rid of, it has a login manager that eats your music (I kid you not), the menu's are confusing as hell and aren't in the least bit customizable, openbox is uselessly slow and unattractive, there's this stupid thing called Conky which demands so much attention all the time that you end up selling your soul just to please it; don't even get me started on the repo's... I mean come on, 29,000 packages or something like that? Ridiculous! Oh yes, no software center to make your life easy; you'll be forced to use the damned cli. On top of everything else, #! is unattractive and ugly. You will, as I do, hate every minute you spend using #!; I recommend you stay as far away from it as possible.

Of course I am kidding. You know the feeling you get when you get good news and you just want to tell everybody you know about it? That's how I feel about #! all the time! After using linux for something like 15 years, #! is the distro I'm sticking with for a long time to come.

2Karl · 2012-03-26 11:20:09

The ethos behind the distro is definitely one I can get behind. Assuming all of the debian repos are available it also means I have access to as plethora of apps I need. If I do replace my current install it's highly likely that I'll be using the Sid/Unstable repos.

So the question now becomes: #! or Arch?

doxanthropos · 2012-03-26 11:57:18

In my opinion the difference could be this:
- #! lets you customize everything and has a comunity that encourages such behaviour, but you don't have to do anything. It is very functional and beautiful out of the box and very stable on the long run.
- Arch lets you customize everything and has a comunity that encourages such behaviour and you have to do so, because you get only a rudimentary system without anything by default and if you might run into problems you have to solve more often.
- Concerning the packages you will be much more up to date with Arch, especially if you use the Arch User Repository, that is quite a point for using Arch at all. #! uses Debians Repos, so you won't be on the newest level, even if you use Sid, but the strength of debian is being Stable and that is true even for it's unstable branch.
That' how I see it after much use of #! and debian based distros and only some dips into the deep water that is Arch.

Last edited by doxanthropos (2012-03-26 11:57:44)

VastOne · 2012-03-26 13:13:58

^ Thanks for that explanation, I have a few questions.. smile

How far ahead is Arch User Repository of Sid in newer packages? Is it based on Experimental? Does it have equal amount of packages as Debian?

doxanthropos · 2012-03-26 15:19:38

Arch allows their registered users to commit packages direct to the repository, while debian has a complex process a package must pass to come even into the unstable branch. This is for example explained in the wikipedia article about Debian-Package-Management. Of course with such a liberal system (Arch) it is possible that a package has no one interested in updating it, so it might grow older than its debian counterpart. How often this happens, I do not know, maybe some Arch-User here might share some insight about it. Every time looked for specific packages the Arch-Version was newer, like this example:
Luakit as of now in
Debian Testing/Wheezy is Version 2011.07.22-r1
Debian Unstable/Sid is Version 2011.07.22-r1
Arch Community is Version 2012.03.25-1
On the Luakit Hompage: 2012.03.25
I think the difference is obvious.
A good comparison between the two is among many other helpful things to be found in the arch-wiki.

CrunchBang Linux

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#1 2012-03-25 19:31:10

Hello form a distro-hopper

#2 2012-03-25 19:47:50

Re: Hello form a distro-hopper

#3 2012-03-25 19:52:54

Re: Hello form a distro-hopper

#4 2012-03-25 20:02:08

Re: Hello form a distro-hopper

#5 2012-03-25 20:12:33

Re: Hello form a distro-hopper

#6 2012-03-25 20:12:46

Re: Hello form a distro-hopper

#7 2012-03-25 20:18:51

Re: Hello form a distro-hopper

#8 2012-03-25 20:28:29

Re: Hello form a distro-hopper

#9 2012-03-25 20:35:57

Re: Hello form a distro-hopper

#10 2012-03-25 21:04:52

Re: Hello form a distro-hopper

#11 2012-03-25 21:13:19

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#12 2012-03-25 21:21:40

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#13 2012-03-25 21:25:01

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#14 2012-03-26 00:07:54

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#15 2012-03-26 01:51:10

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#16 2012-03-26 05:41:32

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#17 2012-03-26 06:01:21

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#18 2012-03-26 06:59:46

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#19 2012-03-26 08:10:55

Re: Hello form a distro-hopper

#20 2012-03-26 10:00:09

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#21 2012-03-26 10:46:45

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#22 2012-03-26 11:20:09

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#23 2012-03-26 11:57:18

Re: Hello form a distro-hopper

#24 2012-03-26 13:13:58

Re: Hello form a distro-hopper

#25 2012-03-26 15:19:38

Re: Hello form a distro-hopper

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