Void Linux and it's brilliant

rkelsen · 09-23-2020, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timothy Miller

Most distro's are point release. A release, minor security patches for most software, then a new release. Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Slackware, Red Hat, etc. all point releases. They're most decidedly not rolling.

Yeah, this is absolutely true. Perhaps people wish them to be so, but they certainly are not.

boughtonp · 09-24-2020, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mill J

As slackerz pointed out. It's all in how much you install. And since there is hardly any preinstalled apps you're not updating stuff you don't use.
...
Void is in fact very flexible in updating, I've regularly updated, and I've also went a long time without doing that. It's interesting that once the update size gets to a certain point it doesn't get any bigger even if you wait awhile longer.
...
About the only other time I had trouble was when I forgot to "unhold" some large apps. Don't use hold! Because the whole system is constantly be changed and all the apps need to be on the same page.

Except when you do occasionally need large packages, but don't constantly need the latest version - not being able to use hold on those is the opposite of flexible.
How many people actually need a new version of LibreOffice every month, or various other chunky packages that come with multiple megabytes of localisation files - files which may have only had a few lines changed but still seem to be re-downloaded in full, for every locale in the world despite nobody on the system using them.

Too much software is being built around the assumption that everyone has constant super fast access which it can use at any time, and the consequence of that is a reduction in usability and flexibility. Void does not seem to be fixing that problem.

Void does sound like it might be "Arch done better", but a shiny turd is still a turd, and I'm unconvinced of the suggestion that it makes Linux more usable.

rkelsen · 09-25-2020, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkelsen

Thanks for the pointer. I'll download it and give it a go.

OK. I've downloaded and installed Void. It certainly seems to have a BSD "feel" to it, except that the wifi works out of the box in Void!

I like runit. Startup & shutdown are fast. I really like the fact that it doesn't use the init-which-shall-not-be-named.

One thing I don't like right out of the box: /bin /lib /lib64 and /sbin are symlinks to their counterparts under /usr. This is a poor design choice IMO, but I guess it's not the end of the world.

The base install is quite lean, but good so far. The documentation is very good.

Another thing I don't like is having to use a binary tool to query the package database. In Slackware, I can go and browse a folder full of text files to see what's installed... I think Slackware is the only Linux distribution which has this feature, and I miss it when it's not available. Having to use a binary tool makes me feel like I'm not in full control. This is one of the major reasons that I'm not comfortable using distributions like Debian and Ubuntu. But I accept that I might be forced to get used to this eventually.

That and binary repositories... bah!

Anyhow my conclusion is that if I ever decide to switch away from Slackware, Void Linux is currently at the top of the list. I think I'd be able to adapt quite quickly.

Thanks to the OP for bringing it to our attention.

sevendogsbsd · 09-25-2020, 11:40 PM

Void also has a build system so you can build custom packages. HowTo should be in the wiki.