I switched to MX Linux
my first impressions
Date: 2023-10-26
Not too long ago I switched back to Slackware Linux, after more than a decade, and I was enjoying it very much. However my usecase changed, and I wanted to try out streaming, which I couldn't because of an ffmpeg issue in OBS on Slackware.
I also had a few days with a nice Logitech wheel, which I wanted to try out, so what I did, is I went back to Ubuntu (also haven't used it in 10+ years), and I enjoyed both playing with the wheel and streaming. However I still do not like systemd based Linux, as it has so many useless junk added to my system, it slows down even bspwm. If you have a not so good computer, and 8 GB RAM, a systemd based Linux is just a bottleneck.
Before I go on and write about MX Linux, one thing: I don't care if you are using a systemd based distro and you are happy with it. Good for you! If you are happy with your distro, that's good! This post is not about changing your mind.
MX Linux?
It is another non-systemd distro, based on Debian. The newest version is based on Debian 12 "bookworm".
It comes in 3 flavor: XFCE, KDE and Fluxbox, with XFCE the major version. I have to say other than a minor problem (if you have multiple monitor, they switch up monitors and your panel and windows might not appear on your usual primary monitor), I was impressed with the LIVE medium.
There are tons of MX Tools, so even the beginner user can access to features, like backup, or easily changing themes, or creating user installed packages so we can install them another computer or just creating a backup, etc. And it's easy to search for them, since it starts with "MX"
I might not use these tools as an experienced user, but I think this is a well thought out group of utilities, which can be us
The XFCE theme is fine, my major complain about the panel is that it has vertical panel on the left side, but the menu button is at the bottom, and the logout is at the top, where I would usually click, ever since Gnome 2-3, or Unity.
The installer was really fast. I wanted to go to groceries, but I couldn't because it was so fast. I also liked that certain things I could do while installing the system: create your user, and other. I also liked the partitioning it was very easy to do, as I have set number of partitions, and I only format my root partition when I install another distro.
Overall this is day 2 with MX Linux, and I have no problem with it. I use it with BSPWM, and it is so fast, I just love it.
Another problem: I couldn't add repository from command line, but I found the solution, by installing two packages:
- software-properties-common
- python3-launchpadlib
For some reason tdrop doesn't work as I expect it with kitty terminal. I might have to start from scratch. I used it for scratchpad and it works with non-terminal windows as expected.
Other than these minor problems, I have good things to say about MX. It uses a popular package format (deb), so you will probably find your favorite software either on repos or on a specific site.
I have a specific usecase, as I mostly use terminal and text based software, but if you want to try out something new, visit the MX Linux website and see if it is for you.
