48 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
48 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Why I left Artix for Void Linux"
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date: 2024-01-05T21:46:58-05:00
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topics: ['Artix', 'Void Linux', 'Linux', 'Opinions']
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---
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This is going to be primarily opinion based post but I want to talk about a shakeup that has happened.
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I have uninstalled Artix from all of my computers and have instead swapped them to Void Linux.
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This is the first time I have changed Linux distros in about 3/4 years and was done with a heavy heart as having to setup a new system is always a pain.
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Regardless I have been using void linux for about 2-3 months and I am finding it a much better experience than Artix, and I want to discuss the reasons why below.
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## Problems with Artix
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The biggest reason for me leaving Artix was an issue of stability/compatibility.
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I have a [previous post](/posts/valgrind-artix-linux/) describing one issue that I ran into regarding incompatibility between the Artix debuginfod server and their shipped glibc version.
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In general, after 2/3 years Artix gives me the impression of simply a patched version of Arch linux to remove systemd instead of it's own OS.
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Package compatibility sometimes has issues when Arch linux core repositories move slightly ahead of Artix linux core repositories.
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For the most part, Artix Linux ran very well but towards the end of my time with it I found significant accumulated debt on my system with mixtures of Artix and Arch packages which lead to annoying configuration problems that took way too much time to fix.
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After being unsuccessful in addressing some issues and with fresh installs for some reason having issues on my systems, I decided I need to figure out something new.
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## Void Linux saves the day
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This is when Void Linux came in to save the day.
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I find that void offers a few benefits over Artix Linux:
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- **Stability**- VoidLinux in my experience has been much more stable over updates than either Artix or Arch.
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- **Vision** - Not sure if vision is the right word, but void linux is an independent OS not forked from any other. As a result the OS feels more cohesive as it doesn't have to deal with conflicting visions.
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- **Package Manger** - XBPS is an extremely fast and easy to use package manager.
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- **Init System** - runit was my preferred init system on Artix, and finding an OS which defaults to runit is a positive indication for me.
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The obvious issues with void are:
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- No AUR
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- Less documentation, arch linux guide works most but not all of the times
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I've found that in practice, I do not significantly miss the AUR as any software I need is packaged in the void repositories.
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For the very rare cases that the software I need is not packaged, I can just clone the software repo and build/install from source.
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The documentation factor is a little bit of a bigger deal.
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There have been a few cases where I've spent far too much time trying to address some seemingly basic configuration because of lack of documentation.
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This doesn't bother me as much as the issues I had with Artix as the time I spent is learning how to use Void Linux, familiarity with your tools, as opposed to trying to bandage broken systems.
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If you install a desktop environment such as KDE or Gnome, you probably won't run into this issue as much as I did.
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## Overall I find that the following meme captures my current feelings pretty well:
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{{< img src="/img/friendship_meme.webp" width="100%" max-width="500px" >}}
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**Hopefully this is helpful to someone else as I personally have not regretted my switch for a moment.**
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