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Add to SafariWhen comparing Void Linux vs Adélie Linux, the Slant community recommends Void Linux for most people. In the question“What are the best Linux distros that don't use systemd?” Void Linux is ranked 5th while Adélie Linux is ranked 41st. The most important reason people chose Void Linux is:
A single instance of Void will be supported forever without needing to reinstall (you can update the system every day instead of having to install one major update every 6 months or so).
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Rolling release
A single instance of Void will be supported forever without needing to reinstall (you can update the system every day instead of having to install one major update every 6 months or so).
Pro Very minimal
More minimalistic than Arch since it doesn't use systemd.
Pro Runit init system
An init system with the "do one thing and do it right" mentality. Void Linux does not support systemd.
Pro Easy to use installer
Unlike it's closest competitor, Arch, Void includes a very user-friendly and simple installer in the ISO.
Pro Runit is fast and easy to configure
Runit init system is incredibly fast to boot and very simple to use.
Pro Different DE's live ISO's are available
Arch Linux doesn't make ISO's with different DE's. One need to manually install it through CLI version. But Void which is competitor of Arch, provides a wide range of DE's ISOs.
Pro Very lightweight
Base installation can idle at less than 250 megabytes of RAM.
Pro XBPS (X Binary Package System)
A brand new package manager that is fast, full-featured, and tailored specifically for Void Linux.
Pro BSD-like improvements with Linux
Full support for LibreSSL, an OpenSSL fork focused on maximizing security. The xbps-src package builder works in a similar manner to BSD's ports collection.
Pro Musl image available
Musl libc is lighter and faster than bloated glibc. Musl has been argued to be more secure overall than glibc also but is also not supported by all software.
Pro Friendly forum
Unlike the Arch Forum, it is a friendly forum (although small).
Pro Xbps-src
Xbps-src is a source packages collection which is pretty similar to FreeBSD's ports and may replace AUR for Void users.
Pro Many packages
There are some packages in official repos, than may be found only in AUR.
Pro Cool Neofetch logo
Neofetch looks good.
Pro No systemd
Uses runit instead of systemd.
Pro Simple packaging system
Built on Alpine's APKBUILD system, which is an accessible and simple packaging system. If you're familiar with Arch's ABS or Gentoo's ebuilds, APKBUILDs are a breeze.
Pro Is pure Python 3
There is a hard and fast rule against Python 2 software in the main repositories, with efforts focused on adapting software to use Python 3 where possible.
Pro Small and performant
A standard installation takes under 200 MB. Only the bare necessities are included.
Pro Inviting and receptive development team
The people building the distro are knowledgeable and helpful when issues arise. Merge requests are actively suggested and reviewed, and the developers thank users for taking the time to learn the distro.
Cons
Con Not suitable for those new to Linux
Documentation is scarce, NTFS partitions aren't automatically mounted, etc.
Con Not popular
Void Linux is not a popular Linux distro. So, if you run into a problem then it's likely you won't find any fix except from the maintainers.
Con Manual unclear about base configuration
Manual does not explain how to fix GRUB and gives no partition hints to the available options.
Con Niche distro
Fewer developers, smaller community, fewer packages than other distros.
Con Nvidia CUDA cumbersome to setup
If your using a Nvidia card with programs that require CUDA for fast rendering (Blender), you can expect some trouble getting it to work as it's not included with the Nvidiadriver of the nonfree repo.
Con No packages
Void developers refuse to package brave.
Con Not (yet) ready for Linux newbies
As of November 2018, there isn't an installer yet. If you're familiar with installing Arch or Gentoo (via chroot, fdisk, et al) then it's no big deal. An installer framework (called Horizon) is in the works.
Con Is pure Python 3
Python 2 support is not supported by the distro, so many older upstreams who haven't adapted to Python 3 yet will need their software patched to work (this is both a pro and a con).
Con Somewhat limited package set for servers
As of November 2018, it's still missing some server software. It's primarily a desktop-oriented distribution, but accepts server packages and progress has already been made on that front, including lighttpd, apache, and php-fpm. Contributors are already bringing more server software to the distro, including certbot, cgit, and Nextcloud.
