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SandboxGeneral

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Sep 8, 2010
26,482
10,051
Detroit
I've thought about installing Gentoo, but I just don't have the time.
I hear ya.

My first time ever trying my hand at Linux about 15 years ago and not knowing anything at all about it I ended up choosing Gentoo to try installing. I have no rhyme or reason as to how or why I choose that one and didn't know that it also happened to be the most difficult distro to use. Looking back on it, that was clearly a face-palm moment for me. I haven't tried Gentoo since then, but since I've learned so much more over time, I'd like to do it once just for my own satisfaction.

But like you said, I don't have the time to manage Gentoo on a daily basis since the running joke is that users of Gentoo spend more time compiling their OS and programs than actually using it!
 

dpny

macrumors 6502
Jan 5, 2013
268
105
I hear ya.

My first time ever trying my hand at Linux about 15 years ago and not knowing anything at all about it I ended up choosing Gentoo to try installing. I have no rhyme or reason as to how or why I choose that one and didn't know that it also happened to be the most difficult distro to use. Looking back on it, that was clearly a face-palm moment for me. I haven't tried Gentoo since then, but since I've learned so much more over time, I'd like to do it once just for my own satisfaction.

But like you said, I don't have the time to manage Gentoo on a daily basis since the running joke is that users of Gentoo spend more time compiling their OS and programs than actually using it!

When it comes to Linux, I'm lazy. Ubuntu works on the Mac Pro out-of-the-box, even finding the Broadcom wifi drivers. I suppose I could try Arch, but lazy.
 

2984839

Cancelled
Apr 19, 2014
2,114
2,239
A couple more.

This one is my router/IDS. A bit noisy in the basement, but not noticeable upstairs.

router-screenshot.png



My main laptop, a T470p. I "upgraded" to a T470p from a T480 due to throttling on the T480's 15w i7-8650U. The i5-7300HQ in this is theoretically slower (barely), but in practice it's faster because of better cooling in the T470p's thicker chassis.

2019-09-06-163023_1920x1080_scrot.png


A backup server I have running FreeBSD on an HP EliteDesk.

backup-screenshot.png
 
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SandboxGeneral

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Sep 8, 2010
26,482
10,051
Detroit
@556fmjoe What is the status/menu bar you're using there?

Also, when I get around to trying BSD, since I see you run both, what are some of the main differences between OpenBSD and FreeBSD? Which one would you recommend I try first?
 

2984839

Cancelled
Apr 19, 2014
2,114
2,239
@556fmjoe What is the status/menu bar you're using there?

Also, when I get around to trying BSD, since I see you run both, what are some of the main differences between OpenBSD and FreeBSD? Which one would you recommend I try first?

The bar is xstatbar: https://github.com/ryanflannery/xstatbar

It's nice and lightweight. However, the dev is currently working on oxbar, which is more targeted to OpenBSD: https://github.com/ryanflannery/oxbar

I would recommend OpenBSD over FreeBSD in all situations unless you need software that is not available on it, have a very highly threaded/high performance server, or need ZFS. It's more user friendly, more secure, better documented, and cleaner. The networking tools in the base system are unparalleled. I run a bunch of client servers, a couple VPNs, my router, and a switch with just the base system, and my laptops are usually just the base systems plus a web browser, LibreOffice, and an email client.

Some warts are the mostly single-threaded network stack (though this is under active development), and an old and clunky, but reliable filesystem (FFS). Hardware support lags somewhat behind FreeBSD, so occasionally the newest hardware will take longer before it works in OpenBSD. But anything they say is supported actually works and is tested, so I find it more reliable if you stick recommended hardware.
 

MacUser2525

Suspended
Mar 17, 2007
2,097
377
Canada
I hear ya.

My first time ever trying my hand at Linux about 15 years ago and not knowing anything at all about it I ended up choosing Gentoo to try installing. I have no rhyme or reason as to how or why I choose that one and didn't know that it also happened to be the most difficult distro to use. Looking back on it, that was clearly a face-palm moment for me. I haven't tried Gentoo since then, but since I've learned so much more over time, I'd like to do it once just for my own satisfaction.

But like you said, I don't have the time to manage Gentoo on a daily basis since the running joke is that users of Gentoo spend more time compiling their OS and programs than actually using it!

My first time was 20 years ago using Red Hat 5.2 after hearing about this linux thing for a bit. When the "upgrade" to Windows 98 SE made my Sound Blaster AWE 64 Gold stop working. It was the best card you could buy at the time and it was left only playing a midi file in windows nothing else. Downgrading did no good it was still messed up. I was in local computer store and seen this box with the Redhat Linux and said what the hell it is worth a try. Got home installed and ran the sndconfig in the terminal put in my settings for the irq and dma channels to use and I had sound. I have never used windows on a daily basis since. I used the linux as my desktop until 2007 when I got my first Mac. It has been Mac on the desktop and linux on my servers since then, I use the Debian 9 at the moment not liking the upgrade to 10. I actually had to search for the way to find your ip and how to shutdown the machine, WTF. They changed it, first that useless systemd, then changing commands that have existed for more that 2 decades I have used them. Not impressive on the other hand I am really liking the Windows 10 on my new laptop, Microsoft may have finally got something right for a change. I do not even use the Kubuntu 19.04 I installed when I first got it or the macOS I hacked onto it.

Edit: Added picture.
 

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SandboxGeneral

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Sep 8, 2010
26,482
10,051
Detroit
My first time was 20 years ago using Red Hat 5.2 after hearing about this linux thing for a bit. When the "upgrade" to Windows 98 SE made my Sound Blaster AWE 64 Gold stop working. It was the best card you could buy at the time and it was left only playing a midi file in windows nothing else. Downgrading did no good it was still messed up. I was in local computer store and seen this box with the Redhat Linux and said what the hell it is worth a try. Got home installed and ran the sndconfig in the terminal put in my settings for the irq and dma channels to use and I had sound. I have never used windows on a daily basis since. I used the linux as my desktop until 2007 when I got my first Mac. It has been Mac on the desktop and linux on my servers since then, I use the Debian 9 at the moment not liking the upgrade to 10. I actually had to search for the way to find your ip and how to shutdown the machine, WTF. They changed it, first that useless systemd, then changing commands that have existed for more that 2 decades I have used them. Not impressive on the other hand I am really liking the Windows 10 on my new laptop, Microsoft may have finally got something right for a change. I do not even use the Kubuntu 19.04 I installed when I first got it or the macOS I hacked onto it.

Edit: Added picture.
I have Debian 10 running on a Mac mini and it's okay by me. But then again I don't really interact with it since it's merely running Pi-hole and acting as my DHCP and DNS server. All I do with Debian 10 there is run updates and that's all.

It never makes much sense to me why "they" (devs for any OS or product) change some things simply for the sake of change. Changing the commands for finding an IP is odd to say the least (I had to look it up, too). Did the change have a benefit somehow? Doubtful.

I was an early beta tester of Windows 10 and I liked it all along and for a good while after it went public. But about 2 years ago Microsoft really pissed me off on the direction they were taking it and I made the full time switch to Linux at work. It was still Mac at home, though.

Today, I'm Linux at home and work with no Mac at all anymore -just an old iPad. But I did recently rebuild my older PC and put Windows 10 back on it strictly for games now and then. Windows 10 isn't so bad right now for what I'm using it for and I was able to disable a bunch of default junk that I don't like/need and after a week or so, I'm not mad. But I'm sticking with Linux as my daily driver for the foreseeable future.

Building a brand new PC and configuring Arch Linux, both from scratch, was very satisfying for me. I really enjoy building computers and being able to customize literally everything about the OS, both of which you can't really do with a Mac anymore.
 

MacUser2525

Suspended
Mar 17, 2007
2,097
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Canada
Building a brand new PC and configuring Arch Linux, both from scratch, was very satisfying for me. I really enjoy building computers and being able to customize literally everything about the OS, both of which you can't really do with a Mac anymore.

Indeed the lockdown gets worse every new version it is no longer your computer when you buy from Apple now. It is too bad I really like the software but as it progress along I get more on the idea of switching back again.
 
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LovingTeddy

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Oct 12, 2015
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Here is mine:
Screenshot_2019-10-20_10-06-06.png



Acer Aspire 1 A114-31-C8PT. Intel Celeron N3350, 4GB RAM and 32GB eMMC. Linux Mint 19.2. Completely satfified with speed Linux run on such low end hardware. Windows 10 does struggle a bit, but Linux Mint runs perfectly. Ubuntu on othe hand, runs very slow, slower than Windows 10 sometimes.
 

Mikael H

macrumors 6502a
Sep 3, 2014
864
538
Huh? :)

Code:
                    'c.          -
                 ,xNMM.          ----------------------------------
               .OMMMMo           OS: macOS 10.15.3 19D76 x86_64
               OMMM0,            Host: MacBookPro11,3
     .;loddo:' loolloddol;.      Kernel: 19.3.0
   cKMMMMMMMMMMNWMMMMMMMMMM0:    Uptime: 7 days, 2 hours, 13 mins
 .KMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMWd.    Packages: 52 (brew)
 XMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMX.      Shell: zsh 5.7.1
;MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM:       Resolution: 2560x1440
:MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM:       DE: Aqua
.MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMX.      WM: Quartz Compositor
 kMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMWd.    WM Theme: Blue (Light)
 .XMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMk   Terminal: Apple_Terminal
  .XMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMK.   Terminal Font: SFMono-Regular
    kMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMd     CPU: Intel i7-4960HQ (8) @ 2.60GHz
     ;KMMMMMMMWXXWMMMMMMMk.      GPU: Intel Iris Pro, NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
       .cooc,.    .,coo:.        Memory: 10793MiB / 16384MiB
 

iAssimilated

Contributor
Apr 29, 2018
1,215
5,821
the PNW
Thank you @SandboxGeneral very much for the reference to Syncthing! I had been hoping for a possible way to sync my digital photos between my linux box and mac. I have photos I took with my old camera on my linux box and was planning on downloading photos from my new camera on my mac. This setup is perfect!

Also, my favorite all-time distro is MEPIS.
 
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LTENETWORK

macrumors regular
Nov 28, 2017
146
142
First Unix-like system in my life was Mandrake Linux 8.0, after I tried Redhat. But I dunno why but I loved Slacware. It was the best Linux. Sad development stoped long time ago. And yes I looked to switch to new system and FreeBSD was so good and better than expected. But as I had problems, compatibility issue, I tried OpenBSD. Yes it has some limitations, bluetooth etc. But it dkes what I need and no prob at all. So this is my OpenBSD. On my girlfriend's laptop is Redhat Enterprise Linux 8.1.
350aa758214fda7e30cecc3c55ce8b35.jpg
 

throAU

macrumors G3
Feb 13, 2012
8,817
6,985
Perth, Western Australia
First Unix-like system in my life was Mandrake Linux 8.0, after I tried Redhat. But I dunno why but I loved Slacware. It was the best Linux. Sad development stoped long time ago. And yes I looked to switch to new system and FreeBSD was so good and better than expected. But as I had problems, compatibility issue, I tried OpenBSD. Yes it has some limitations, bluetooth etc. But it dkes what I need and no prob at all. So this is my OpenBSD. On my girlfriend's laptop is Redhat Enterprise Linux 8.1.
350aa758214fda7e30cecc3c55ce8b35.jpg

Slackware was my first, back in 1996...

And yes, i like slack.
 
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iAssimilated

Contributor
Apr 29, 2018
1,215
5,821
the PNW
First Unix-like system in my life was Mandrake Linux 8.0, after I tried Redhat. But I dunno why but I loved Slacware. It was the best Linux. Sad development stoped long time ago. And yes I looked to switch to new system and FreeBSD was so good and better than expected. But as I had problems, compatibility issue, I tried OpenBSD. Yes it has some limitations, bluetooth etc. But it dkes what I need and no prob at all. So this is my OpenBSD. On my girlfriend's laptop is Redhat Enterprise Linux 8.1.
350aa758214fda7e30cecc3c55ce8b35.jpg

I started my linux adventures with Mandrake Linux 7.0 back in the day. A pic for nostalgia:
user-hat-mdk.gif
 
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