Void Linux

Discussion on Linux distributions
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tlmiller
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Void Linux

Post by tlmiller »

A partial split of another thread, also just a new thread to discuss the OS.

I actually installed it on my 3379 tonight. Install went smoothly without a hitch. Able to install plasma5 without a single issue. It does indeed boot and everything I've tested so far works (basically, display, keyboard, mouse, haven't even gotten around to testing wireless). Performance at boot is...putrid. Boots quick to a point, then takes a LONG time to start sddm, then takes a bit longer than most to log into plasma (although not horrendously longer). Still, going to continue to try it out for a bit. At the very least, I haven't had any errors yet, which is a big improvement over the LAST time I ran it on bare metal.
chris
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Re: Void Linux

Post by chris »

Have you tried the Void-MATE version? I find it quick and easy.
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tlmiller
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Re: Void Linux

Post by tlmiller »

I don't use any DE on purpose other than KDE, Trinity, and lxqt.

So have gotten some actual use in.

Pro's: It mostly works.

Con's: Slowest booting distro imaginable I think. It really is sluggish. Bluetooth not working (post in void forums to seek to resolve). Doesn't see the battery (just noticed this about an hour ago). Although it works on battery just fine, it doesn't detect it's presence and so cannot monitor it's level. It LOVES to set audio to 100% volume so that it blows your eardrums out. Not blindingly fast.

Overall, seems to still be an OS that's meant mostly for VM's. Works SOOOOOOOOOOOO well in VM's, but at least based on my testing, it's functional but definitely not pleasant to use. I'm going to give it a little more, it's possible these are all known issues with fixes, so I'll work through them if possible in the forums.
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tlmiller
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Re: Void Linux

Post by tlmiller »

Figured out the battery, Void doesn't install upower by default, installed and rebooted and now reading power correctly. Also at some point it seems to have stopped resetting volume to 100%, I've rebooted twice in the last hour and both times after a reboot it was set tot he same volume as it had been before the reboot.
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tlmiller
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Re: Void Linux

Post by tlmiller »

So, didn't even think to look at groups. You have to be in the bluetooth group. So bluetooth is working now. Oddly, since installing upower, now the laptop refuses to see when it gets plugged into usb-c power (will see when it's in the proprietary adapter). So troubleshooting that now.
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tlmiller
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Re: Void Linux

Post by tlmiller »

Did a full reset on the dock (unplug from usb-c, unplug from power, wait 30 seconds, plug into usb-c, plug into power) and now it seems to be seeing it's a PD connection again. So pretty much everything is working now. Still slow to boot. Still not the fastest OS there is. Still doesn't have a few applications I like (it's missing ksudoku!! KSUDOKU!!! This is like the most heavily used application for me after firefox/vivaldi/thunderbird!!!), not even available in xbps-src packages. Does have Vivaldi in xbps-src though, which was a pleasant surprise.
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tlmiller
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Re: Void Linux

Post by tlmiller »

Image
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tlmiller
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Re: Void Linux

Post by tlmiller »

So most everything is working now. Bluetooth all settled after some issues (both Clementine and Strawberry were set to play through a wrapper instead of thrugh Pulse...grrrrrrrr). Autofs working fine. Firefox perfect. Vivaldi running, although can't install the codecs for videos until it gets updated (the version in the xbps-src is too old and references too old a version of the chrome codecs). Printer working. VPN to work works. Thunderbird configured. While slow to boot, once it's been booted for a few minutes it seems like it runs pretty good. Just takes a while to get there. But still slow to boot.

Overall, I don't think CC would like this. Too much setup, too much handholding of the OS. Much like Arch every service that is running I had to enable. The OS didn't autoenable anything. Makes for a more complex setup as there's significantly more steps, but I really like that it doesn't just turn things on just because I install them.

As is, I think I might just see if I can stick it out with Void on here for a while. I think if I can get EITHER FreeOffice or OnlyOffice I'll be able to. But I'll need one of the 2, I don't want to have LibreOffice be my only choice, as it plays havoc with the formatting of a lot of the files I use at work.
chris
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Re: Void Linux

Post by chris »

" The OS didn't autoenable anything. "

That's one thing I really like about it - c.f. Slackware
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tlmiller
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Re: Void Linux

Post by tlmiller »

Yeah, if Slackware had dependency resolution out of the box, I'd actually probably like it. But I hate having things installed that I don't want/need, so I'd remove 3/4 of Slackware then start installing my packages, and it takes FOREVER because of dependencies. Slacks a great OS for those who want a very unix-like experience, but it's not for me at all. One of my absolute least favorite linux-based OS's (being above only OpenSuse) to use personally. Although as far as it being the basis for a server, it's quite a bit higher up there, and falls only under Centos/RHEL and Debian for me, and above Ubuntu (I really don't think Ubuntu makes a good server).
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