*or distribution

Having been a (GNU-)Linux user since 2006 (desktop only), I have done what many Linux users have also done: hop around from one thing to another.

That all stopped a few years ago when I decided that I would just stick with Debian. I was happy and comfortable. It worked. I used Stable, Testing, Unstable… no issues.

That is until about 4 months ago I was cleaning and found an older laptop and decided to try something different on it: Alpine Linux.

I even wrote about it on my blog. It was such a nice installation and process that I decided to put it on my main personal laptop.

Since April I have been using Alpine and I must say I am pleased. Differences from one Linux to the next aren’t much to write about. With Alpine however, I finally experienced another part of Linux that I hadn’t had the opportunity to enjoy: the community.

Package requesting? Easy. Asking for help? No shame. Patience and help provided? Excellent.

None of those comments are to disparage other OS communities. It is simply that I had only ever used popular distros (Debian- and Arch-based) so I never needed to ask for help. Either way, I am still using Alpine.

So, just to repeat the titular question: what have you tried out this year? What are your impressions?

  • @ciko22i3
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    411 months ago

    If you want something obscure barely anyone heard about try eComStation. Unfortunately you’ll have to pirate it, but its really easy to find.

    • @deksesuma@reddthat.com
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      211 months ago

      If you’re not the pirating type, you can buy a license for ArcaOS to get something still supported.

      It’s a bit pricey though.

      • @ciko22i3
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        111 months ago

        it’s 130 bucks for a kinda useless, novelty OS.

    • @sin_free_for_00_days
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      111 months ago

      That’s a good find. I’d never heard of it. I always thought OS/2 was pretty great, although I only got to mess around with it a few decades again. Looking up eComStation led me to ArcaOS, which seems like a more updated eComStation. OS/2, Amiga, BeOS and NeXT should have been more popular.

      • @LeFantome@programming.dev
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        311 months ago

        I think MorphOS is considered the up to date Amiga.

        For BeOS, Haiku is pretty great.

        ArcaOS is literally OS/2.

        There is no modern NeXT OS but there is a recent DE effort if all you want is the user experience.