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What is the best alternative to SeaBIOS & Kali Linux?
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Crouton & Kali Linux
All
4
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
2
Top
Pro
Keeps Chrome operating system
This method will keep your chrome operating system installed; so you can use both on your device.
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Con
Developer Mode
In doing this method, you will have to put your chrome book in developer mode, while not a huge downside, some security considerations will have to be given to that fact. Developer mode on most chrome books are insecure by design.
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Pro
Will not void warranty
This is a software method, no hardware will have to be modified, so your warranty will stay intact.
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Con
Ram usage
Due to the nature of Chroots (what Crouton does) you will be running both Chrome OS and your Linux operating system of choice at the same time. On lower end chrome books this may cause issues with RAM usage.
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Free
33
1
Nix
All
9
Experiences
Pros
5
Cons
4
Top
Pro
No side effects when building packages
Nix is a purely functional package management system. This means that the act of building a package does not have side effects, such as destructively updating or deleting files that may be used by other packages.
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Con
Does not work well for services on non-NixOS systems
When using Nix with anything other than NixOS you can run into difficulties with trying to start up services. For example, you can install docker with Nix, but it won't integrate with the host system's systemd leaving you to handcraft awkward workarounds in order to start the background service that docker requires. This seems like a critical flaw when using Nix on anything that is not NixOS, and it's unfortunate because this affects many of the packages many users would be most interested in using Nix to handle.
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Pro
Isolated development environments
Nix allows the creation of project-specific shell and build environments which are isolated from the rest of the system. These environments are defined declaratively to ensure reproducibility.
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Con
Steep learning curve
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Pro
Can replace docker in some places
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Con
Cannot handle filetypes that have different semantics across different versions
While the functional approach that Nix takes is great for sandboxing binary artifacts of packages, it seriously lacks any power in handling configuration files or user data. It's difficult to upgrade and downgrade files where semantics and syntax can change between versions. Especially in Debian/Ubuntu it can cause severe problems where the upgrade process blocks and the user needs to resolve the 3-way merge.
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Pro
Can use multiple versions of the same package
Because of the functional approach it takes, Nix makes it easy for systems to use multiple versions of the same package simultaneously, and ensure that updating or removing a package can't break other packages.
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Con
Feels slightly over-complicated
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Pro
The configuration works on "All machines"
No more of the traditional: "it works on my machine". When it says reproducible, this is the real deal.
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81
17
Tails
All
9
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
5
Specs
Top
Pro
Privacy focused
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Con
Not for daily use
Tails is a privacy focused Linux distro. The updates that you will receive are only for improving privacy and not for improving user experience.
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Top
Pro
Has TOR built-in
Use the Internet anonymously and circumvent censorship; all connections to the Internet are forced to go through the Tor network.
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Top
Con
You can't install it to a hard drive
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Pro
Easy to use with an USB key
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Con
Saved states are not present for security
For security reasons, saved states are not supported in Tails. Files can be stored in a separate, persistent volume which must be accessed with a root password. Personal settings (e.g. -- keyboard layout, window settings, etc.) are not saved persistently across reboots. This can be a hindrance for anyone not using English as their language, or not using a QWERTY keyboard layout.
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Con
Only GNOME desktop environment
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Con
Slow internet
Tails uses the TOR network and as a result the internet on your computer will be very slow.
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Specs
Based On:
Debian
Default Desktop Environment:
GNOME
Init-System:
Systemd
Package Manager:
Debian Package Manager
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Experiences
Free
325
54
Puppy Linux
All
12
Experiences
Pros
8
Cons
4
Top
Pro
Extremely low minimum system requirements
Puppy Linux requires 128MB of RAM and 333Mhz of CPU, although 256MB of RAM is recommended.
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Top
Con
A bit ugly
Using puppy makes you feel like you just jumped 20 years into the past. Being that the purpose of Puppy Linux is to run or really low resource machines the software used is often on the older side, which is precisely why it has a 20 year old look.
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Pro
The whole OS runs off of RAM
Since Puppy Linux is completely loaded and run off of RAM instead of HDD, it's read/write speed is not a factor.
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Con
Not as light as it used to be
It's light, but not as light as it was 1-2 years ago.
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Pro
Designed to run as a live USB/CD
A portable version, that can be carried on a thumb drive without requiring installation, weighs less than 100MB; a Live CD - less than 150MB. You can even save your settings and files for Puppy on the external device/media. Running off a live CD also has security benefits, as your system will reset to the known config after each boot.
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Con
Smallest software library ever
You can barely find any precompiled packages for Puppy.
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Pro
Different distro based versions available
Puppy Linux offers a few different releases. The first is an Ubuntu based release called Tahrpup, by using this version the user is able to take advantage of all software and support from Ubuntu. The second version is called Slacko, which is built upon the Slackware binaries. The third is called Wary and it is built to support older hardware than the rest. And the fourth is called Quirky, which is used as a base to explore new ideas.
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Con
No built in compositing
Being a low resource distro there is zero built in compositing for the JWM window manager. Though one can be added through a bit of work.
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Pro
Linux distro designed for this exact purpose
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Pro
Offers a long term support release
Puppy Linux offers an LTS release called Precise.
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Pro
It can be the only distro that works
Sometimes, Puppy Linux is the only distro that works on an old machine: all other distros are more demanding.
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Pro
JWM used as window manager
JWM is a low resource window manager that is used in most Puppy Linux installs.
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Experiences
Free
726
112
Peppermint Linux OS
All
10
Experiences
Pros
8
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
Looks great
The XFCE Whisker menus and dark theme are well designed. Easy to move the panel to the top and add plank on the bottom.
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Con
Since it is based on Lubuntu, the double click speed needs to be slowed down
It's false that Peppermint 7 is tout court based on Lubuntu. Take a look at this: "Peppermint Seven makes use of the Xfwm4 window manager and Xfce bottom panel in the LXDE desktop environment. This is unlike other Linux distributions that use LXDE as the default desktop environment where it is common to use the Openbox window manager and lxpanel." And more: "Peppermint Seven is built on the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS code base and makes use of its package repositories." Contrarily to other Linux distributions, Peppermint creators never said Peppermint 7 is based on Lubuntu, like LXLE. Using LXDE and being based on Ubuntu is very different from being simply based on Lubuntu. In fact, Lubuntu is not faster than Peppermint and has loads of lacks for a nowadays OS experience.
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Pro
Friendly and helpful forum
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Pro
Fast and light on resources
RAM consumption is the same as LxLE, but more efficient and because of Whisker Menu and other tweaks that let us feel more like we have a XFCE desktop environment, as keyboard shortcuts, for instance, it looks like we got here the fastest and lightest, globally speaking. Very good on performance. Download Respin 7 (March 2017), install Libreoffice and then compare, for example, opening Libreoffice Writer inside Peppermint 7, Extix 17.04, Lubuntu 16.10, Xubuntu 16.04, Backbox 4.7, Linux Mint 18.1 Xfce an Mate or Linux Lite 3.4 (and others). Finally, you'll find out that after opening a few apps in Peppermint it remains smooth and light. Nemo file explorer on Peppermint is incredibly faster than on Mint Cinnamon; lx terminal is very fast when opening; updating is fast. And after all this, distro keeps working and working very solidly and consistently along the time. And yet the look and feel of the environment is pleasant.
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Pro
Comes with a variety of helpful tools
Works great with Teamviewer, Synaptic, XNview, KODI, and Pdf-Xchange editor (via playonlinux). Netflix works awesome with Chrome browser. The ICE SSB tool is great for creating web apps that run as if you installed them locally. The Software Boutique (packaged with The MATE Welcome software Center) recognizes all software and installs it with one click.
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Pro
It works well "Out Of The Box"
There are enough useful back end packages installed by default to make the system useable for normal use right after the installation of the base distro.
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Pro
Peppermint 7 is stable
Peppermint 7OS (32 and 64 bit) has been updated to the Respin PPA . Kernel updated to 4.9.24 on 23-April -2017 with no issues and all software still runs great.
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Pro
Peppermint 10 is Stable
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Pro
Peppermint9 is stable
Peppermint 9OS (32 and 64 bit) has been updated to the Respin PPA.
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Specs
Based On:
Debian and Devuan
Default Desktop Environment:
Xfce
Init-System:
Systemd (not in Devuan base)
Package Manager:
Debian Package Manager
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396
86
Debian GNU/Linux
All
44
Experiences
Pros
29
Cons
14
Specs
Top
Pro
Wide choice in desktop environments
Debian offers stable and testing CD images specifically built for GNOME (the default), KDE Plasma Workspaces, Xfce and LXDE. Less common window managers such as Enlightenment, Openbox, Fluxbox, GNUstep, IceWM, Window Maker and others can also be installed.
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Con
Stable release contains extremely outdated packages
If you want the newest packages, you'll have to do a minimal installation of Debian stable then upgrade to testing or you need to install testing directly.
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Pro
Standard vanilla Linux desktop
Debian runs standard Gnome, XFCE, KDE - it doesn't use its own special desktop environment or debian specific modifications or customisations, which means that users benefit from the work of the whole Linux community, Debian developers can focus on the distribution itself, and any support for your desktop environment on other distributions should work on Debian as well.
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Con
No default support for unfree drivers
Debian does not official support unfree software so if you have a wifi card or anything elese that requires an unfree driver you will need to download the unofficial/non-advertised non-free iso image which contains all unfree driver packages.
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Pro
Wide choice of hardware platforms
Debian has the widest choice of hardware platforms, including: amd64, armel, armhf, i386, ia64, kfreebsd-i386, kfreebsd-amd64, mips, mipsel, powerpc, sparc, s390, s390x, source, multi-arch.
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Con
Ridiculous package splitting
Even though it makes sense to split devel and the actual binary of an application, the splitting has become as mess in debian and its derivates: for example the nvidia driver is splitted into over 40 different packages.
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Pro
Very stable
Debian has a Stable branch, where packages are thoroughly tested before release. Furthermore Debian is know to be the definition of stable when it comes to production systems.
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Con
Internal quarrels harm the project
Instead of working all together to provide the best Operating System, some maintainers are just ignorant and aggressive to new ideas or new maintainers. That led to many crises and controversy in Debian's history.
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Pro
Install and forget
Once installed you can almost forget about it and start to use your desktop for your daily tasks.
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Con
Systemd is everywhere
Systemd is very hard to debug by itself, and can break in very strange ways (such as not being able to mount a single partition on bootup), but the increasing number of desktops that are relying on specific functionality provided only by systemd (policy kit, dbus, etc) makes the entire system more fragile and harder to debug.
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Pro
Easy to find help with any problem
Debian is one of the oldest and most popular distros out there. Debian's popularity means that you will always be able to find a solution for your problem just by searching on Google, or if by chance nobody has had the problem you are having it's very easy to ask the community and quickly get a solution.
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Con
Outdated kernel of the live system
Since the LiveCD is based on Debian stable the kernel is old, outdated but stable.
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Pro
Comes with over 55.500 packages
Because of its popularity, Debian has a lot of applications available which range from productivity programs to business software, games and development tools. It comes with over 55.500 packages (software that is precompiled and ready to be installed on a local machine) -- all of them for free.
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Con
Not designed for general desktop usage
By default, Debian Stable is not that great of a distro for general desktop usage, since the packages are very outdated. You'll have to spend a while configuring the system in order to make it work.
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Pro
Highly secure system
Known for being consistent in maintaining a highly secure system. Several other popular distros use Debian as a base or core for their own Linux OS, the security being one of the main factors why it's so commonly used.
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Con
No choices
Debian basically doesn't give you any choices, even dpkg supports this feature with virtual packages: for example, it is very hard to use a different sound system than ALSA, like OSS4 or to use ALSA with pulse audio emulation, and the same goes for different init systems.
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Pro
Rolling or Release based
Every Debian Release can either use a Rolling or Release based model.
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Con
Inconsistent init systems
While Linux uses systemd, non-Linux ports use the traditional sysvinit.
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Pro
Well-working team
The developer works very well so the the code is one of the best written out there.
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Con
Hard to learn
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Pro
A lot of ways to install software
You can either use aptitude, apt or apt-build to install software from the Debian package archives.
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Con
Breaks if you suspend/resume
Breaks when you resume the activity on the system if you use nvidia cards.
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Pro
Great for gaming
As Debian is the base for SteamOS and because Ubuntu is based on it, it's almost certain that all Linux games will run properly and require no hacks like creating symbolic links because of some hardcoded paths.
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Con
Buggy and non-user friendly
You need to know almost as much as Arch and deal with documentation not as good as the Arch wiki in order for Debian to work.
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Pro
Big open-source project
The Debian project is one of the biggest open source projects with over 5000 active contributors.
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Con
No good choices of fresh desktop environments
GNOME is quite outdated and buggy; KDE is too old, even in Sid it is at 5.14 branch (at Jun 13 2019 Plasma 5.16 is available in many rolling/fresh distros); XFCE behaves like crooked, visual artifacts at the taskbar and so on; Cinnamon as far as I know works better in Linux Mint compared to (almost) any other distro; For other desktop environments (e.g. MATE) can't say - these are too new (as projects) and possibly incomplete, thus might have many bugs.
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Pro
Supports SecureBoot
You don't have to disable SecureBoot if you use it, which is useful for LiveUSB or dualboot setups.
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Con
Old software is not useful, but is stable
Certainly for the stable and old stable versions. But the testing version has quite up to date software.
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Pro
The Debian Social Contract
Guaranteed commitment to adherence to values, principles, priorities, requirements and guidelines by the Debian project.
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Pro
A real installer
Unlike other distributions that just extract their Live image, Debian offers a real traditional and modular installer to customize the installation.
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Pro
Strict separation of non-free software
Debian is one of the few distros that let the user choose if he wants a free system or not.
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Pro
Debconf
Depending how it is configured debconf does the most of the hard work for you and only asks you with configuration /file conflicts.
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Pro
Widely supported
Almost any software that is available for Linux provides a Debian package.
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Pro
Many ports
Debian supports almost any Kernel maintained CPU instructions set. It has also a few non Linux Ports.
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Pro
Apt-build
It is possible to rebuild the entire system and optimize it for your hardware (of course, it is not as detailed as Gentoo's USE flags).
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Pro
Unique release cycle
The most Linux distros have one or two stages before a release, but Debian has five before a new stable version is released (experimental > unstable > testing > code-freeze/bug hunting > stable).
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Pro
TUI installer
The Debian installer can still be launched as text/curses-like installer which is more compatible and keyboard-friendly than the graphical version.
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Pro
Standard archives
Debs are normal ar and tar archives with shell scripting and additional gz, bz, lzma or xz compression.
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Pro
Live install images for CDs, DVDs and USB thumb drives
Debian releases live install images for CDs, DVDs and USB thumb drives, for the i386 and amd64 architectures, and with a choice of desktop environments. These Debian Live images allow the user to boot from a removable media and run Debian without affecting the contents of their computer.
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Pro
Wise release model
Debian stable does not update a lot and instead provides stability and well tested softwares. You don't get distracted by every shiny new stuff that comes out, and focus on what matters: productivity and reliability of your system.
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Pro
Debian Fast Track for stable
Stable gets backported software from here.
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Pro
Great choice for returning Linux users
If you haven't used Linux for a long time, say 5-10 years, it's a great distro in which you can quickly get in the boat again. You don't have to worry about falling back. Everything is in its place.
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Pro
Has small amount of today's bugs (e.g. no duplicate web cameras in Skype - likely not Skype's fault)
But has quite a few bugs from 2016-2017, apparently for long term.
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Specs
Based On:
NONE
Default Desktop Environment:
GNOME
Init-System:
Systemd
Package Manager:
dpkg with apt, aptitude or apt-build
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Experiences
Free
2859
436
Slax
All
9
Experiences
Pros
5
Cons
3
Specs
Top
Con
Overly complicated HDD/SSD installation
While it has a nice layout Slax's lack of an installer tool like Tinycore's just can't be justified. It seems strange that it comes built in with programs that some users may not want, yet it doesn't have an easy way to install it. Due to its heavier use of RAM, built in software, and lack of an installer its hard to choose it over TC.
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Pro
Persistent changes
Changes you make in the configuration persist if you run from USB.
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Con
Works slowly on old computers
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Pro
Pretty fast to boot up
It was considerably fast to turn on when booting from cd.
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Con
Infrequent releases
Since Slax is maintained by only one person, releases are not that frequent. So it may take a while to get bug fixes or new features once you start using it.
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Pro
Modules
Standard tar archives plus some simple shell scripting produces modules that you can load dynamically into the OS for added apps and functionality.
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Pro
Modern desktop
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Pro
Small footprint
About 200mb, but with a full KDE4 environment and loads of useful apps.
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Specs
Based On:
Debian or Slackware
Default Desktop Environment:
Fluxbox
Init-System:
Systemd
Package Manager:
slackpkg or dpkg with apt
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224
54
Gentoo Linux
All
20
Experiences
Pros
13
Cons
6
Specs
Top
Pro
Full control of the software
You build the package from a source you can see and read. You decide which features you want to build in and which aren't needed. You can choose build options, optimisation and whatever else fancy stuff you want modified. With a binary distribution this simply isn't possible.
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Con
Not beginner-friendly
You have to read a lot of instructions to start, even if you are familiar with Linux. Furthermore, as you have to configure the kernel and init system, expect some boot failures at beginning.
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Pro
Portage's emerge is powerful
Portage is a package management system with a huge amount of options and features.
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Con
Since everything must be compiled it takes a lot longer to update
And if you have to update the kernel or some heavy software like Chromium it can takes hours if not more on weaker hardware.
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Pro
Fully customizable
The usage of advanced features like USE flags makes it more customizable than any binary distribution.
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Con
No default installer
Installation must be done manually by following instructions in the handbook.
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Pro
Freedom
You are free to do whatever you want with it. As a result, its configuration reflects your unique taste and personality.
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Con
Customized package installation can take a long time and cause installation failures
The Gentoo package management system allows you to configure what compilation flags packages should support - i.e. specific processor flag support (SSE, SSE2, etc.), -O1, -O2, -O3 optimization, etc. If you accept one of the default flags, Gentoo downloads binaries from the server. However, if you decide to optimise, it can and will download all source packages and start compiling allthe programs and libraries on your system. If your chosen flags don't work with a particular library, installation will fail.
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Pro
Great for anyone who is serious about learning the intricacies of Linux
It's useful for both beginners and professionals. For the installation, Gentoo offers various types, which are referred to as stages. Basically meaning how in depth you would want to go into the process of installation. For beginners it's useful to choose for a starting distro due to its various stages that can be very time consuming but beneficial as you learn the composition in general of Linux.
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Con
Somewhat outdated solutions
While being outdated per se is virtually impossible for a rolling-release distro with a large community, a large portion of said community sticks to outdated solutions. For example, Gentoo's primary init system is OpenRC, which is cumbersome and awkward to use and provides little control over the system. While you can just choose systemd, it will require some tinkering. Other examples include stubbornly declaring an initramfs a last resort and an "oh my god 1337 H4XX0RZ surely have nothing better to do than trying for a month to exploit some vulnerability to steal my pony art, I have to fortify so hard my performance and ease of use will suffer" 90s security mentality. Because of just how much freedom Gentoo provides you with, this usually isn't a big deal though.
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Pro
Can by optimized to any given CPU by using proper compile flags
Since everything is being built on your PC you can fine-tune the code to make use of your CPU. And all it requires is two lines of string variables in a global config.
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Con
Too hard
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Pro
Portability
There are many architectures available for Gentoo : i386, x86-64, PowerPC, PowerPC 64, sparc, DEC Alpha, ARM, MIPS, PA-RISC, S390, IA-64, sh, m68k.
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Pro
Can be officially systemd-free
Gentoo's default init system is OpenRC. Gentoo also officially supports systemd-free Gnome and udev. Users are free to choose any init system they want.
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Pro
Documentation and community are second to none
Provides a whole handbook to refer to during setup and usage.
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Pro
A very large collection of software is available
There are more than 19.000 packages available in the official repository. And even more with overlays.
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Pro
Gentoo does not impose a standard look-and-feel
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Pro
Superiority and smartness
You get superiority and get called smart daily for going through the processes of punishing yourself to a compile install you also get a cool neofetch logo.
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Pro
Live USB installation
Installation via a Live USB allows you to go back and fix mistakes from it without having to restart the whole installation process.
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Specs
Based On:
NONE
Default Desktop Environment:
NONE
Init-System:
OpenRC
Package Manager:
Portage
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1196
230
Zorin OS
All
14
Experiences
Pros
11
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Stable
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Con
Limited desktop styles in Free Version
All free editions only offer Windows XP, 2000, and 7 and Gnome 2. You have to pay $9-10 in order to get Unity (Ubuntu) and Mac OS X themes.
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Pro
Good Selection of pre-installed software
New users may be unaware of what software is available for Linux, but Zorin includes a good selection for everyday tasks out of the box.
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Con
Even with v16 Pro, zero tech support replies
Do not pay for Pro. You’re supposed to get tech support with your $39 purchase. After contacting them a few months ago about the inability to install build tools due to their wonky custom versions, to date there has been no answer. You could find a friend and get them to send you the theme and look packages. The rest is all available easily in the Ubuntu catalog.
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Pro
Windows desktop style
The desktop UI was made to resemble Windows 7, but alternative settings are available.
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Pro
Ubuntu-based
Zorin is compatible with Ubuntu's sizable repositories of Free Software.
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Pro
Bundles tools for changing the look and feel of the distribution
Zorin includes look changer and theme changer.
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Pro
Partial Windows compatibility
Zorin includes WINE and PlayOnLinux to run many Windows applications and games.
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Pro
Installer can set up dual boot
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Pro
Ubuntu got too big
Ubuntu uses too much resources, Zorin uses less.
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Pro
Accessibility features
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Pro
Zorin Connect
Allows syncing notifications with your phone.
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Pro
Low resources consumption
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Specs
Based On:
Debian>Ubuntu LTS
Default Desktop Environment:
Gnome / Xfce
Init-System:
Systemd
Package Manager:
Debian Package Manager
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Experiences
Free / paid
574
167
Kali Linux
All
5
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
2
Top
Pro
Better than ParrotOS, BackBox for hacking purpose
Contains too many tools for hacking. Those tools are not already included in BackBox or ParrotOS.
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Con
Not intended to be a daily driver
This distro was written for pen testing and security work. It is not meant to be a day-to-day OS (unless that's your job).
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Pro
Standard pentest tool set
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Con
Very old packages
E.G. Firefox's current version is 61 but Kali linux consists of its 52th version. Though kernel is not that old.
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Pro
Live session distro used for forensics
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Free
271
99
Ubuntu
All
37
Experiences
Pros
22
Cons
14
Specs
Top
Pro
Lots of support
As the most popular Linux distribution, there's a wide range of sources for support online if you ever need help, including the Ubuntu Wiki, Ubuntu Forums and the Ask Ubuntu Stack Exchange site.
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Con
No rolling release
New Ubuntu versions are released two times a year, during this period almost all software receives only security updates and minor bug fixes.
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Pro
Use it on almost any device
Not just for laptops - Ubuntu was designed with tablets and touchscreen devices in mind, and with phone support on the way. Ubuntu also has Long Term Support releases, as well as a version oriented toward servers, so you can use the same OS at work or on mobile as you do on your desktop.
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Con
Relatively high system requirements
The default GNOME desktop environment is a resource hog which requires hardware accelerated graphics rendering in order to run smoothly, making out of the box Ubuntu unsuitable for low end systems and older hardware. Even mildly aged hardware, you'll get far better performance out of a lighter desktop environment like LXDE or XFCE.
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Pro
Good PPA repositories available
PPA repositories allow you to install the latest version of your preferred software while keeping the rest of the operating system "stable".
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Con
Unstable
Some people pointed out that updating Arch is a high risk affair. And one should carefully read forums before doing it. The same is true about Ubuntu. Making system updates (like it was with 10.04 to 11.04) that screw so many things up became a routine. Even LTS releases should not give confidence that it will work.
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Pro
Simplicity
Ubuntu is designed to be used by everyday people. Because of that, Ubuntu has tried hard to make a user interface that's intuitive and looks pleasant and clean.
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Con
Binary incompatible to Debian
Ubuntu releases are based on Debian testing/unstable, however, unlike other Debian-based distributions they are not binary compatible due to different libc versions, so you can't install Debian packages in Ubuntu and vice versa.
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Pro
Great long term support release schedule (2 years)
This allows for users to always have a new supported release available without long unkown wait times in between.
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Con
Splits the Debian community
The most packages are imported from Debian but Ubuntu uses own bug trackers and develops its own patches.
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Pro
Stable
It‘s one of the most stable Linux Distros.
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Con
Snaps advertised as native packages in apt
When you try to install a normal Firefox package, it instead installs a Firefox snap.
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Pro
Just works out of the box
Lots of support for hardware, lots of pre-installed software, and a smooth install process means less time downloading drivers, less time digging through configuration files, and less time deciding on software to use just to get up and running. It also means less time digging through forums looking for support.
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Con
Extremely un-customizable
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Pro
Wide range of software out of the box
The default apps available in Ubuntu cover the gamut of most anyone's needs. From music, video or office applications Ubuntu has an app that will cover the users needs.
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Con
Doesn't shutdown/standby properly on Lenovo laptops (b, e & g series) and desktops (Thinkcentre)
Ubuntu has some serious issue with some Lenovo laptops and desktops. Sometimes, it doesn't shutdown correctly.
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Pro
Perfect for collaboration on open source projects
This is probably the best option when collaborating on open source projects in hardware. This is mostly because packages and tools are readily available via software center.
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Con
A tweaked Gnome version
Instead of original Gnome desktop with Ubuntu you get a tweaked Gnome and most of the tweaks makes user experience worse.
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Pro
Flexible
The setup for personal use is simple enough for anyone to achieve, and can easily be modified to act as a server. Programs and all features are easy to find and use, and first-timers can easily pick up on how to use it.
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Con
Redundant
With the removal of Unity, there is no point in choosing Ubuntu over Debian anymore because everything else is imported from Debian to Ubuntu.
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Pro
Dedicated software center
The Ubuntu Software Center offers a GUI interface for installing new apps which is extremely easy and welcoming for beginners to Linux. But it should not be used by more advanced users since the method of installing through the terminal is much faster and easier after one is used to it.
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Con
Systemd
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Pro
Company behind it
This means that the system must run well, otherwise they will lose money.
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Con
Not so strong at all
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Pro
Good UI for small monitors
Because the menu usually is in the title bar and the launcher auto-hides, the whole screen can be used by an application.
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Con
Company stays behind it
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Pro
Snaps
You can get up to date and stable apps right inside the snap store (Ubuntu Software). The snap store has official snaps provided by major publishers, so you can get most of the software you need without having to add third party PPAs to your system.
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Con
Native apps are still being updated
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Pro
Looks good
Ubuntu looks clean even when running from a LiveCD.
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Pro
Cares about stable drivers
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Pro
UTF-8 is the default character encoding
Beginning with Ubuntu 5.04, UTF-8 became the default character encoding, which allows for support of a variety of non-Roman scripts.
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Pro
Unified search
Type any query into the Dash Home, and search will look through files, stores and web-pages to find what you are looking for.
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Pro
Has a clean Gnome interface
Gnome has lot of extensions available and can be custmoized rather easily.
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Pro
Runs at low resources
Run far faster than Windows on Dell laptop.
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Pro
Support Active Directory
As of Ubuntu version 21.04, Active Directory is supported out of the box.
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Pro
Beautiful font rendering
Ubuntu has one of the best font rendering on Linux. It is thanks to how good the Ubuntu fonts are crafted by the Ubuntu team.
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Specs
Based On:
Debian Stable(core) Testing/Unstable(universe/multiverse)
Languages:
German
Default Desktop Environment:
GNOME
Init-System:
Systemd
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