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Pandademic
Pandademic

Posted on • Updated on

Linux advice

I need advice for choosing a Linux distro. I am a intermediate Linux user , by no means a beginner.
I need :

  • To run the adobe suite on it (If this isn't possible maybe Bottles could help?)

  • Vim / Neovim

  • Lot's off kernel choices (liquorix , linux-zen , ect.)

  • Perl , Rust , Go, Ruby , Vala , and NodeJS being able to run

  • Lot's of package management options (brew , included manager , snap , ect.)

  • vagrant

  • virtualbox

  • a good wiki (Arch , ubuntu wiki's as a example)

  • Light gaming power(Minecraft java,Dont starve , ect.)

Preferences:

  • KDE plasma DE , Budgie , Gnome 40 , or Cutefish desktop are my DE prefernces
  • if I must use only a WM then i3-gaps or awesome work

  • Not a preference , but something arch based would be good (I like pacman and trizen)

  • dash or zsh shell

** Stuff I'm considering**

  • Arch linux
  • Manjaro
  • EndeavorOS
  • A custom ubuntu server install
  • Using archiso and making my own for easy setup with everything I need (Is it worth it?)

Any advice is appreciated
⚠️ DO NOT suggest Gentoo ⚠️
If I think of anything I will add it

Top comments (9)

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shirobachi profile image
Shirobachi

Tldr; you can do those staff on pretty any distro

I'm not expert but by my knowledge you can run all those staff on any Linux distro on some with one command on other this can be little more complicated.
About window manager (WM) it's just package so can be installed any distro.
Arch user's has own package manager pretty impressive one so you can install with one line, but system updates sometimes aren't stable, Ubuntu would be better if you care reliable more.
Have a look for Google phase like Ubuntu install package or Mankato install package to see how easy you can install something

GL and have fun

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pandademic profile image
Pandademic

Thank you! Great advice , but a couple of small questions: Can I run a WM alone instead of a DE? What is your advice on using only a WM?

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shirobachi profile image
Shirobachi

Not sure if I understand question
So you will install wirtual machine or other simillar program, also you can install some window managers like i3, kde or much more and when you will be on login screen you will be able to choose with window manager you want to use.
Is that answer for your question?

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pandademic profile image
Pandademic

I was wondering if you can use an Window Manager instead of a Desktop enviorment?

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shirobachi profile image
Shirobachi

So I don't know the difference, but I understood correctly this post DE you will always have with installation system after that you can add any WM you want
Sorry that I cannot help you more ;/

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pandademic profile image
Pandademic

Thank you! I understand now! Thank you!

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mirkobrombin profile image
Mirko Brombin • Edited

You can do all of this with any distro, also take a look at Fedora which have large community and good documentation. If you plan to use the kernels you listed, Arch is probably the best one, because all of these are on AUR repos.

Fedora use the dnf package manager, Debian/Ubuntu and derivated use apt, Arch use pacman plus an AUR helper to build AUR packages (e.g. yay, paru), Solus use eopkg.

Snap and Flatpak are available for all distro but sometimes need to be installed (Fedora came with Flatpak, Ubuntu with snap). Personally I’ve found better performances with Flatpak but are both good choices.

Regarding Adobe, you should check on WineDB if someone was able to make it works. Bottles is a software that help you easily configure WINE prefixes (which are Windows-like environments where you can install Win executables). Normally these environments need to be tweaked/configured to support an executable, Bottles provide some preconfigured ones but I can say that Adobe doesn’t work on these and you should try tweaking a custom environment, so if you have no experiences with WINE it’s better to use a VM, but if you still want to try Bottles I suggest to use the Flatpak which is the most completed and performant way to use it.

Ps. I’m the Bottles developer and I use Silverblue (Fedora) for most of the things you said, I’m also developing Bottles on it. Also check for toolbx that is a great tool to easily deploy isolated dev environments where you can break things without altering your system (if you need).

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pandademic profile image
Pandademic • Edited

Thanks! I will definitely check out Toolbox (The correct URL is : github.com/containers/toolbox , right?); I know how to use vagrant and Virtualbox is their something better I can use to run adobe? I like both arch and fedora , but was iffy about eopkg on solus. Is their any specific differences of eopkg? Do you have a recommendation for fedora over arch or vice verca? Regarding Bottles and WineDB , people made adobe work , but not the software I need. I don't really care too much about the kernels , I am still researching. Finally , is Fedora KDE good at all? I've heard alot about how bad it is.
Thank's for the advice!

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mirkobrombin profile image
Mirko Brombin

Ya the link is correct, they changed the project name from toolbox to toolbx but the repository name is not changed.

I use GNOME Boxes for VM management but maybe Virtualbox is better.

I’ve used solus but it’s repository is small, btw eopkg has better performances then others.

I prefer Fedora because I like the community and personally I've had fewer problems but you should try, they're both great choices. Arch is more up to date but may not always be a positive factor.

Fedora comes with GNOME by default and is the reference distribution for that Desktop Environment but I know users who use KDE without any problems.