*or distribution

Having been a (GNU-)Linux user since 2006 (desktop only), I have done what many Linux users have also done: hop around from one thing to another.

That all stopped a few years ago when I decided that I would just stick with Debian. I was happy and comfortable. It worked. I used Stable, Testing, Unstable… no issues.

That is until about 4 months ago I was cleaning and found an older laptop and decided to try something different on it: Alpine Linux.

I even wrote about it on my blog. It was such a nice installation and process that I decided to put it on my main personal laptop.

Since April I have been using Alpine and I must say I am pleased. Differences from one Linux to the next aren’t much to write about. With Alpine however, I finally experienced another part of Linux that I hadn’t had the opportunity to enjoy: the community.

Package requesting? Easy. Asking for help? No shame. Patience and help provided? Excellent.

None of those comments are to disparage other OS communities. It is simply that I had only ever used popular distros (Debian- and Arch-based) so I never needed to ask for help. Either way, I am still using Alpine.

So, just to repeat the titular question: what have you tried out this year? What are your impressions?

  •  averyminya   ( @averyminya@beehaw.org ) English
    2•11 months ago

    Could I get some recommendations? I’m building a server with spare parts from an old gaming PC and I’m trying to decide the best OS for my use case.

    Currently my gaming PC is Windows and it’s a bit ridiculous to have it be a VR PC and a Plex Server, but due to the WMR VR device it’ll be staying on Windows. However, the server I’m leaning towards Linux due to the sheer number of services I want the server to be running, I’ll be needing to set up docker and portainer to get it nicely organized. Plus it will just be easier to install each service.

    Anyway, I’m asking for recs because I don’t want to learn windows server, I’m slightly familiar with DietPi OS (a very minimal GUI Raspbian-lite) and minimal other Linux distros like Mint and Ubuntu, but my server will be with an NVIDIA 1660 GPU which I know have some driver issues. Will that be the case for pretty much any non-Windows OS? If I want hardware transcoding with Plex will it be more difficult than it should be?

    Tomahawk B450, GTX 1660, R5 3600 leaning towards Linux Mint for Plex, radicale, a lem/kbin/libre/piped server, and then of course just regular cloud backups for my phone.

    Is there any OS that I’d be better off using that’s still mostly a simple regular experience?

    •  bbbhltz   ( @bbbhltz@beehaw.org ) OPEnglish
      3•11 months ago

      Will that be the case for pretty much any non-Windows OS? If I want hardware transcoding with Plex will it be more difficult than it should be? Is there any OS that I’d be better off using that’s still mostly a simple regular experience?

      Sounds like questions for threads of their own…

      Quite positive you will find something non-Windows that works smoothly.

    •  MiddledAgedGuy   ( @MiddledAgedGuy@beehaw.org ) English
      2•11 months ago

      I like Debian for a server OS and in fact use it for plex as well. The astute observer might go through my posts and notice I don’t use Debian as a daily driver because of it’s relatively slow release cycle, but that’s part of what makes it a great server. It’s stable and well vetted. As you may be aware it’s what Raspbian is based off of, so you’ll have some familiarity too.

      I agree with the other poster that your Nvidia hardware transcoding question might be better as it’s own post. But I’ll say what little I know and gleaned from a low effort search just now.

      If you use the proprietary drivers, you’ll probably be fine? Aforementioned search tells me you need nvenc for that, which seems to be a part of their proprietary stuff. Be sure to install from the Debian repo, not the Nvidia website. Their drivers are problematic as you pointed out. I’ve personally had issues with them and wayland, but ymmv for your purposes.

      •  averyminya   ( @averyminya@beehaw.org ) English
        1•11 months ago

        Appreciate the response! I’ll probably go with Debian then since I don’t want to have to make major adjustments to my limited linux memory :D And yeah regarding the NVIDIA drivers, I did do some searching before commenting but a lot of what I found was “oh yeah it works great” and no “here’s how I got it” lol. Mostly just needed the direction of use OS not manufacturer since I knew Linux had some issues with NVIDIA but there’s little differences.

        Thank you again! Just waiting on the CPU to make the switch and we will be rolling :D