Apart from being an interesting hobby, distro hopping sometimes
is of great necessity … like when you get a new computer, and your
favourite distro stubbornly refuses to recognize the GFX, or to let
you use openCL, or when an automatic update renders your machine
unbootable, &c, &c, &c.
There is a splendid way for you to check whether distro X would work
for you, your GFX, and openCL. It is also a safe way, since nothing in your
current set-up will be distroyed.
However, the method does have one drawback:
you most certainly will not win any speed tests with this setup.
All you need are two USB sticks, the faster the better, as well some
time to experiment. The initial procedure is described here:
How to Install Linux OS on USB Drive and Run it On Any PC.
I made the experiment with Garuda linux in the XFCE flavour,
and installed it onto a 16GB USB stick (using a 4GB stick as installation
medium). After installation, I booted from the 16GB USB.
Then it was a simple matter to install any additional software that I
wanted to test, like darktable, and The Gimp.
Yes, it worked quite fine, in my case it recognized my Nvidia GFX,
dt honored openCL, and behaved the way it should.
[it needed ages to load, though, but that is only natural.
Compare the difference in speed between a USB stick and a built-in
SSD, and you will see why.]
if my choice of distro would not work, for one reason of
another, I could try other settings, add modules – or simply
switch to another distro. Or even change desktop environment,
if I didn’t fancy the one I originally picked.
And when I am happy with the result, I could make the install
onto my machine, content that it would work…
Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden