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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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Stable, consistent workstation recommendations? (self.linux)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by BobbyShmurda to c/[email protected]

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First, thanks for reading and commenting.

I would appreciate any\all feedback from all of you, if there are recommendations for a stable, consistent setup - both hardware and OS. Or comments that I am asking for something unrealistic. Either a desktop or a laptop connected to a docking station.

a. I would like to suspend the machine at night and continue working in the morning.
b. To be able to support three monitors. c. VM app to test stuff - virt network to test varied apps\code on different clients and servers. d. Libre Office to create docs and presentations. e. LTS.

Currently using a System 76 laptop w\ Pop OS and a docking station. The first laptop was warrantied to poor construction (keyboard and bezel weren't flush, they separated and you could see the motherboard...) and now the second one is having the same issue - let alone sporadically working with suspend or the docking station (will have to reconnect the docking station, most times rebooting).

I've distro hopped for years, so I would consider myself a beginner\intermediate user. I am more than willing to pay\donate for consistency, and right now that leans towards MS and Windows (sigh).

What are corporate users using? I think that is my standard, as I've worked at places that were primarily windows shops, And it is pretty easy to come in in the morning and resume from yesterday. "RH for workstations" ?

Thank you!!

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[–] Deckweiss 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

I don't think it applies here, but I'd like to tell you my perspective in case you find it interesting anyway.

I am a developer and I often need relatively new versions of everything dev related.

Contrary to popular belief - I had the best experience in regards to stability with archlinux. I have it installed both on a PC (when I need to do some Blender or heavy Photoshop work) and on a thin and light Laptop (for a flexible work space and stuff on the go) - and I use both about 50/50 of the time.

To be fair, I am knoledgable in the Linux user libs/apps space and it took a lot of knowledge to set everything up in a reliable way just the way I want and need it. I'd say arch is extremely customizabe and there exists a narrow path where you can make it pretty reliable, but there are also many sidepaths which can be unreliable and break often.

After setting it up though, my maintenance times for archlinux were significantly lower than each of the following

Windows (Going to ~30 different websites weekly to check for new releases and manually downloading and installing them)
Mac (homebrew constantly breaking dependencies)
Debian/Ubuntu (which I was upgrading to the newest release every 6 months and it was a PAIN)

But also take this with a grain of salt, because my so. also has a pretty similar arch linux setup on similar hardware and they have more issues than I do and we don't really know why :D

[–] BobbyShmurda 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Thank you for the reply. Many moons ago I tried to spin up a Arch lappy, but failed. I haven't tried since (complaints about no free time and such), but I kinda took that fail that I always wanted to go back and try again!

[–] Deckweiss 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

There is archinstall now, which is pretty easy to use and usually just works. I recently used it again and it took me about an hour from start to fully installed, running arch with all the packages I need.

If you try again, make sure to use btrfs filesystem and set up snapper and bootable snapshots. That way you can always recover from a fuckup in a minute.