this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2023
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Hey fellow Linux enthusiasts! I'm curious to know if any of you use a less popular, obscure or exotic Linux distribution. What motivated you to choose that distribution over the more mainstream ones? I'd love to hear about your experiences and any unique features or benefits that drew you to your chosen distribution.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I'd be more interested in what obscure text editors, window managers, etc people were using regardless of distro. Distro in my mind is about software release and install philosophy, any distribution that comes with a lot of preinstalled software is generally built on the back of a more skeletal distribution, and is interesting mostly for what software choices it makes.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You do have a point but distributions are not just about the package software. They are also about user experiences, workflows and aesthetics.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That's the WM or DE plus the individual programs. An i3 install with the same dofiles will have the same aesthetics on each distro.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I used LeftWM for a while, it's a window manager built in rust. One of the cool things about it was its themes functionality. You put all your dot files in a particular directory for things like your bar, and then you can save and switch multiple themes with a short command. Had some interesting community ones too like one based on the Star Trek TNG computer terminals. Ended up moving away from it after a while because it just didn't quite feel polished enough for a daily deiver yet and I got a little tired of the constant tweaking