Distro Fever XI: Midwinter Spring

Lounge
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How are you, @Brian_Innes? If you do not mind, I think it is time for another Distro Fever :star:. If you are up-to-date with my detours, you would know that I just procured a new Lenovo laptop to succeed my ancient, low-powered entry laptops, which will still be in use, but for more dedicated roles.

I call this edition “Midwinter Spring” because it is a new start for me, and perhaps other PIXLS friends. I want to enlist you all to help configure a system that would make the most out of what we discuss and do here.

For me, Windows will still be a part of the solution — at least for now, one of the following:

  • Windows + VM Linux
  • Linux + VM Windows
  • Dual boot
  • Something else
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Clonezilla failing to download… anyone know a fast, reliable mirror or method? Alternatives for imaging/cloning default factory disk?

PS. I acquired it via torrenting and then checksummed it. I do not think I need a backup anymore as I can download a Lenovo recovery tool in case I want to go back.

Back to deciding how I would like to configure the device for PIXLS-friendly fun:

And which distro.

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How comfortable are you on Linux? What windows only software do you need? Does it run OK in a VM?

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Average, I suppose. Linux is however my version of doomscrolling. I spend more time reconfiguring and trying new things than doing fun things.

MS, Adobe and less used apps such as for taxes. Others just help ease my computing and user experience, which I have not yet found equivalents to in Linux.

No idea. Last serious use of VMs or Wine and friends was almost two decades ago. Likely, things are much better now than they were way back when.

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I would not recommend dual boot on the same drive. There is a risk with corruption of the Grub bootloader with Windows Update. If you have two drives then it is less of a concern.

https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/08/a-patch-microsoft-spent-2-years-preparing-is-making-a-mess-for-some-linux-users/

I have a couple of Windows apps that I use infrequently, so I have a Win11 VM that I spin up when needed. I’m running Zorin OS, based on Ubuntu.

One issue with VM’s is memory allocation. Win11 is a bit of a resource hog, so I run my VM with a stripped-down version of Windows.

If your use-case is more towards Windows, then you can run Linux as a VM. If that is how you plan to run darktable, remember that it uses a fair bit of memory.

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Ubuntu, with Windows in a VM. Save a snapshot of Windows, so you can roll back to a good state.

I actually have such a setup, it’s just that I haven’t had to boot up windows in years.

It’s your choice. I prefer to keep this part of my life simple.

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I have Windows as host ATM. What are good modern day VM options for Windows and Linux, respectively?

MS still up to no good? :face_with_monocle: More than a decade ago, I used Window’s bootloader to launch Linux. I wonder if I should do that again.

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Well, I am not the best coach for you here. You could try running Linux apps under WSL:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/tutorials/gui-apps

Or if you prefer to distro-hop you could try VirtualBox.

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I’ve been pretty busy working at my new job. which I can’t believe I’ve been in for 16 months! Since I’ve been doing plenty of extra shifts down t’ mine, I’ve had less time for Distro Hoping (despite the itch for it still being there). I’m still mostly on Kubuntu 24.04 LTS, although I am intrigued with Debian 13 KDE.

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January 2026, and I’m still unsettled about which distro to hop to next.

I’ve read less than positive reviews about the new release of Mint 22.3, plus Kubuntu 26.04 more than likely being Wayland only.

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I am not in the Linux head space so I have not decided where to go. Right now, I am depending on Windows binaries, which are plentiful nowadays.

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If you want some different and challenging, NixOS or GUIX

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