Linux Distro suggestions request

[Aereto_Compuru]

It's 2022 and I am looking back at my failed Linux transition project, which distros from Ubuntu to Arch failed to pass mission-critical tasks back in 2017, at which I purged all pattitions and Windows 7 is the Winner Takes All survivor of the project. If people are still saying good things about Linux distros, this is test if they are good or not for my use case.

 

It became mildly infuriating to spend $200 just to get the same functionality in Windows 7 Ultimate (License key provided back in my university days), and even then by using my secondaries and tertiaries among my computer inventory, I find Windows 10 to be worse functionally than even Vista at its current state, making it impossible to run with the same efficiency that the i7 6700 will suffer once I subject it to the real workloads in a windows 10 environment. Upgrading to Windows 10 at the time would result in software and unacceptable data losses as I have tested from non-critical PCs

 

Considering paying off $51,000 in student loans loans, $200 does not justify the headache that is Windows 10 that keeps breaking critical software every update and make me waste internet data cap fixing things. (Hence why Windows 10 is more unstable than 7 contrary to what people say, and that's the Pro version compared to the even more unstable Home version that has been my tech support nightmare since its existence)

 

I've been significantly speaking against Linux since they can't really solve problems without having a college degree in Computer Science, particularly with extremely diverse roles my build has been subjected to, including ones I can't really mention in detail.

 

To put it simply, I am going to need a distro that can replace the role the Windows 7 Ultimate the master PC of the fleet has been performing. In short, all storage device ports are populated with a maximum storage capacity of 12 TB. The myriad of roles necessitated having mostly powerful hardware in a single build instead of having multiple builds that waste more power and space doing so, especially with an RX 6900XT to perform non-gaming tasks as part of my game development projects and CAD experimentation

 

If the replacement software exceeds $250, the project is dead before it starts (again), and recurring costs are under zero-tolerance policy. Windows counts as recurring because of intentional obsolescence, especially when Microsoft decided to go start replacing 10 with 11, which doesn't work with 32-bit software as far as I researched. The CPU would be replaced in the future to be able to keep up with additional duties.

Spoiler

Current Mission-critical:

• Art software (Current: Clip Studio Paint EX)
• Audio Workstation Software (multiple due to testing phase)
• 3D modeling (Blender)
• Video Editing (Vegas Pro)
• Synchronizing hobbyist projects by peer to peer protocols (Tixati, keeping integrity of several terabytes worth of work; other users and PCs access that data storage remotely through p2p and they push updates to the system)
• Synchronization via Git
• Video recording (OBS intentionally borks GPU encoding because it's Windows 7, forced me to revert to previous version)
• Drive level backup and recovery (Macrium Reflect Paid Home due to complex tasks)
• Thrustmaster T 16000 m flight set (used in flight games and game dev alike)
• Huion Drawing Tablet 
• PC Gaming (video recording often used as testing bed)

Planned Uses

• Multiple server hosting (paying for game servers is too extra, in addition to database development related to things I cannot talk about)
• CAD software (once in possession of resin 3D printer for prototyping and part fabrication)
• Isolated VPN for remote operations from my fleet (removed when a previous project was completed and sanitized of information)

 

Edited February 28, 2022 by Aereto_Compuru
grammar and spelling checks

[HeroRareheart]

Unfortunately Linux is plagued with issues that make it hard to use as an average user, see the entire LTT Linux challenge video series, but at the very least distros like Ubuntu are easier to use and you're very likely to find a guide on how to do something with it. If you're not comfortable with Linux start with something Ubuntu based like Pop!_OS and see how it goes.

[Needfuldoer]

If I'm messing with a Unix-like OS and for whatever reason it's not Mac OS X or FreeBSD, I'll just run Ubuntu MATE LTS. I'm lazy, I just want my PCs to work, and I think the Linux desktop experience peaked with GNOME 2.

 

(Honestly I don't have a problem with Windows 10, it 'just works' once you've got device drivers installed. I don't know why it seems like such a huge problem for others.)

 

13 minutes ago, HeroRareheart said:

Unfortunately Linux is plagued with issues that make it hard to use as an average user,

Even more unfortunately, some of those deficiencies are by design, or a side effect of the "run your favorite flavor of X" freedom of choice, or the xkcd 927 phenomenon.

[HeroRareheart]

2 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

Honestly I don't have a problem with Windows 10, it 'just works' once you've got device drivers installed. I don't know why it seems like such a huge problem for others

I see this exact thing to. Windows works fine 99% of the time for me but some people just ALWAYS seem to have an avalanche of problems with Windows that I've never even heard of before. It's like some kind of tech curse...

[Aereto_Compuru]

5 minutes ago, HeroRareheart said:

I see this exact thing to. Windows works fine 99% of the time for me but some people just ALWAYS seem to have an avalanche of problems with Windows that I've never even heard of before. It's like some kind of tech curse...

I would have kept XP and its install disc 20 years ago, personally, but I was not in the authority to do so. I actually tried to virtualize XP and 7 with sample games as my first project before the actual transition project. Ubuntu if I recalled. Resulted in objective failure when PCIe passthrough just doesn't seem to work to test the instance with a discrete GPU.

 

I guess 2022 is still a Linux fail in the meantime (SteamOS evaluation pending).

 

[HeroRareheart]

2 minutes ago, Aereto_Compuru said:

I would have kept XP and its install disc 20 years ago, personally, but I was not in the authority to do so. I actually tried to virtualize XP and 7 with sample games as my first project before the actual transition project. Ubuntu if I recalled. Resulted in objective failure when PCIe passthrough just doesn't seem to work to test the instance with a discrete GPU.

 

I guess 2022 is still a Linux fail in the meantime (SteamOS evaluation pending)

Just pray to some entity and throw a clean install of Windows at it and hope for the best in the meantime I suppose

[MrXeno]

I personally use Ubuntu for my everyday computing, IT devolvement work etc. 

So it all depends on what you need, if you need CAD, there is FreeCAD (which imho works fine for 90% of everything you need)

 

If you need it to be stable, Debian or Ubuntu would suit you the best. 
I do use Sweet Home 3D personally and it works great.

 

But again it depends on your need. WHat programs do you use right now?

[jde3]

14 hours ago, Needfuldoer said:

If I'm messing with a Unix-like OS and for whatever reason it's not Mac OS X or FreeBSD, I'll just run Ubuntu MATE LTS. I'm lazy, I just want my PCs to work, and I think the Linux desktop experience peaked with GNOME 2.

 

100% I tend to use MacOS on the desktop and FreeBSD on the server, that is my go to.

However to the OT, there is nothing in the general sense that Windows can do that Linux can not. The *way* you do that is sometimes different but I've used Linux since 1995 and I daily drove it up to about 2012.

 

Dual booting is a curse. Often times you'll find you get into a situation where you don't know how to do something so you'll reboot on to windows to do the task and this prevents you from learning how that is done on Linux. (or what kind of hardware to use/buy or the manner and software that you do the task) - I'd say I'm an advanced computer user and from 1995-2012 I got by just fine without Windows.

As for current distro recommendations. That is a tough one. I work on Unix/Linux systems all day and the thing I value most now for home use is simplicity. I don't want to work on systems all day at work then come home and work on them all night. Thus I prefer MacOS. It's not perfect and Apple is quite annoying in some of the decision they make for people but it has the least amount of headaches of an OS I've found. It has all the support of a major OS and can do all the Unix like things with Homebrew or Macports.

 

The ideal OS is one you never have to think about but the one you sit down and do the task you are trying to do and never "see" the OS. (Think about the OS that controls your car, do you ever think about it or do you "just drive"? That is what I mean by an Ideal OS, Desktop OS's need to be the same way. That is the goal. MacOS is the closest thing to that right now, it usually doesn't mess with you unless it has to and it's the easiest to "forget you are using", more below.)

Windows fails this immediately because it will contently annoy you with settings, updates, and new windows products and changes. It's like a needy child always wanting your attention to focus on it. At the same time they have failed to fix some of the ancient problems that still exist in the OS. They have a philosophy problem at MS and you can tell when they focus more attention on their new windows desktop wallpaper than they do the setting menu and ancient dialogues from Win98. At MS it seems everyone wants to work on the sexy stuff that sells the OS and not the boring stuff that actually improves it.

As I said before I prefer FreeBSD on servers for it's simplicity but for a modern Desktop you may find it a little rough or lack of support however if you want to try this road GhostBSD isn't half bad.. for Linux itself I would recommend:
Ubuntu : I'm lazy too It's got a lot of problems and things I don't like but usually I can get the task done.
Gentoo : Closest thing to FreeBSD.

Sabayon : Gentoo + easymode

Alpine : Lightweight and small.

Deepin : Debian with a cool new interface design.

 

I would never recommend RedHat or similar to even my worst enemy. They add growing complexity to almost everything they do and they do it intentionally to maintain market share.

[Ultraforce]

15 hours ago, Aereto_Compuru said:

Current Mission-critical:

• Art software (Current: Clip Studio Paint EX)
• Audio Workstation Software (multiple due to testing phase)
• 3D modeling (Blender)
• Video Editing (Vegas Pro)
• Synchronizing hobbyist projects by peer to peer protocols (Tixati, keeping integrity of several terabytes worth of work; other users and PCs access that data storage remotely through p2p and they push updates to the system)
• Synchronization via Git
• Video recording (OBS intentionally borks GPU encoding because it's Windows 7, forced me to revert to previous version)
• Drive level backup and recovery (Macrium Reflect Paid Home due to complex tasks)
• Thrustmaster T 16000 m flight set (used in flight games and game dev alike)
• Huion Drawing Tablet 
• PC Gaming (video recording often used as testing bed)

Planned Uses

• Multiple server hosting (paying for game servers is too extra, in addition to database development related to things I cannot talk about)
• CAD software (once in possession of resin 3D printer for prototyping and part fabrication)
• Isolated VPN for remote operations from my fleet (removed when a previous project was completed and sanitized of information)

Note : I am not a Linux expert I've probably spent only like 8 hours actually trying to do any sort of modification or see what would work on Linux as most of my other experience is just doing coding related stuff for university on machines that happen to be Linux. Most of this is just googling and looking at alternatives to

Art Software : It is possible to get Clip Studio Paint EX to run on Linux though Krita is often recommended as an alternative painting tool as it functions on Linux by default.

Audio Workstation Software : I think there's a variety of software, though both audio interfaces and plugins for some devices aren't supported on Linux by default.
3D modeling : Blender is available on Linux

Video Editing : Vegas Pro isn't available and though there are work arounds Kdenlive and DaVinci resolve are both on Linux and are considered pretty good.
Synchronization hobbyist projects : Tixati is available on Linux
Synchronization via Git : Yep, Git was partially created by Linus Torvalds the creator of Linux so unsuprisingly Git works fine.
Video Recording : OBS is available on Linux.

Drive level backup and recovery : the paid version of Macrium might be able to work on Linux though there are some alternatives such as Clonezilla and Rescuezilla.

Thrustermaster T 16000m flight set : According to a website the device is plug and play though the optional T.A.R.G.E.T software is not available
Huion Drawing Tablet : Apparently some functionality should work out of the box as there are drawing tablet drivers within the Linux Kernel though Huion also has officially supported open source drivers that you might need to install to get 100% full functionality.
PC Gaming (video recording): It depends on the game if it's a testing bed mostly it should work fine but some companies who have anti-cheat software on their games have chosen not to enable the anti-cheat software to function on Linux so it depends on the games.

Multiple server hosting : This should probably be relatively straight forward on Linux since it's a common use case and a few Linux distributions specifically have releases that are designed primarily for server use where overhead is reduced by removing the desktop environment and most applications.

 

CAD Software : There are a few options.
Isolated VPN : Probably should be feasible there are multiple privacy focused projects on Linux, there's famously a project where you can use a Raspberry Pi both as an Ad blocker and as a VPN for your network.

Generally speaking for beginners, I think it might be worth seeing what you get from the website Distrochooser and look on the websites to see which desktop you like the most. As desktop that you like using can be really important for first impressions.

[jde3]

Art Software: Everyone talk about The GIMP and it can be an excellent tool that can technically do anything Photoshop can do for raster.. (but usually just with a lot more effort, skill and work.). Honestly tho get an iPad. It's better at this. I wouldn't say I edit on The GIMP but sometimes I fall back on it as a "old reliable" workhorse.

Audio Workstation Software: Audacity is a pretty good editor and Audour is actually (once you figure out it's quirks) a decent DAW. There are a couple more "fun'ish" programs like Mixxx and stuff but nothing like Abelton Live. Not trying to put Linux down but again MacOS dominates this field for a reason. Linux kind of does light creation ok, or extreme custom setups (like Audour would have) but more advanced and typical stuff.. ya MacOS.

 

Synchronization: Linux dominates this field. Be it rsync, Deluge or qbittorrent, or BitTorrent Sync like software like Syncthing. This is one thing Linux does exceptionally well. 

Backups and drive tools: You should not need any extra software to manage this, It's all included for it's dozen different filesystems and Linux has access to some of the best technology here, tho none of it's "brain dead easy" to use.

Servers: Linux is good but FreeBSD's Jail infrastructure outshines it if you want to put a lot of independent various services on a single box. It's actually easier to use and maintain as well. (Take a look at Bastille manager here)

[TorC]

@jde3said --  . . . 

As for current distro recommendations. That is a tough one. I work on Unix/Linux systems all day and the thing I value most now for home use is simplicity. I don't want to work on systems all day at work then come home and work on them all night. Thus I prefer MacOS. It's not perfect and Apple is quite annoying in some of the decision they make for people but it has the least amount of headaches of an OS I've found. It has all the support of a major OS and can do all the Unix like things with Homebrew or Macports.

 

The ideal OS is one you never have to think about but the one you sit down and do the task you are trying to do and never "see" the OS.   . . .

 

Agreed.

I have used many distros over the years.  Started with the 'buntus (Jauntu Jackalope), went to Debian-based, some independents, Puppy,  then Slackware.  For the last year or so I have favored PCLOS and use the community version with Openbox WM.  Simplicity and ease of usage for upgrading and the community are excellent, IMO.   PCLOS Magazine is quite informative, too.

 

It's been 12 years since last using any form of Windoze

[jde3]

Desktop OS's are really bad at the ideal implementation.. They have become wild commercial products with fan bases and cute logos but really if you are going to write a letter or play a game, you shouldn't think about anything other than the letter or the game. Thinking about using the system or software to do said task at all is a failure of the programmers to get it right.

As people it's going to take us a very long time to get to that point, but I hope someday we will.

 

[RollyShed]

10 hours ago, jde3 said:

Desktop OS's are really bad at the ideal implementation.. They have become wild commercial products with fan bases and cute logos but really if you are going to write a letter or play a game, you shouldn't think about anything other than the letter or the game. Thinking about using the system or software to do said task at all is a failure of the programmers to get it right.

.

"They have become wild commercial products with fan bases and cute logos" - How? what has become that way?

 

Computer - You want to write a letter, click on the icon to bring up the blank sheet of "paper". Start typing. Save the paper to the filing cabinet (on the computer). Someone wants a paper copy? Hit print.

 

Typewriter - What did we used to do? Load the paper into the typewriter = hit the "typewriter" icon, and start typing.

Save to the filing cabinet = take the paper out of the typewriter and open the filing cabinet draw.

 

Where is this fan base and cute logos bit?

 

Play a game? OK, a pack of cards, open it, spread the cards over the desk or desktop and start playing. One is cardboard the other is imaginary cardboard but the game is the same.

 

Where is this fan base and cute logos bit?

 

The users haven't the foggiest idea what the programmers did, it just works. Simply a step up from the mechanical typewriter or pack of cards and definitely NOT, "Desktop OS's are really bad at the ideal implementation."

 

[RollyShed]

Just now, RollyShed said:

"They have become wild commercial products with fan bases and cute logos" - How? What has become that way?

 

Computer - You want to write a letter, click on the icon to bring up the blank sheet of "paper". Start typing. Save the paper to the filing cabinet (on the computer). Someone wants a paper copy? Hit print.

 

Typewriter - What did we used to do? Load the paper into the typewriter = hit the "typewriter" icon, and start typing.

Save to the filing cabinet = take the paper out of the typewriter and open the filing cabinet draw.

 

Where is this fan base and cute logos bit?

 

Play a game? OK, a pack of cards, open it, spread the cards over the desk or desktop and start playing. One is cardboard the other is imaginary cardboard but the game is the same.

 

Where is this fan base and cute logos bit?

 

The users haven't the foggiest idea what the programmers did, it just works. Simply a step up from the mechanical typewriter or pack of cards and definitely NOT, "Desktop OS's are really bad at the ideal implementation."

 

 

[Aereto_Compuru]

Spoiler

13 hours ago, Ultraforce said:

Note : I am not a Linux expert I've probably spent only like 8 hours actually trying to do any sort of modification or see what would work on Linux as most of my other experience is just doing coding related stuff for university on machines that happen to be Linux. Most of this is just googling and looking at alternatives to

Art Software : It is possible to get Clip Studio Paint EX to run on Linux though Krita is often recommended as an alternative painting tool as it functions on Linux by default.

Audio Workstation Software : I think there's a variety of software, though both audio interfaces and plugins for some devices aren't supported on Linux by default.
3D modeling : Blender is available on Linux

Video Editing : Vegas Pro isn't available and though there are work arounds Kdenlive and DaVinci resolve are both on Linux and are considered pretty good.
Synchronization hobbyist projects : Tixati is available on Linux
Synchronization via Git : Yep, Git was partially created by Linus Torvalds the creator of Linux so unsuprisingly Git works fine.
Video Recording : OBS is available on Linux.

Drive level backup and recovery : the paid version of Macrium might be able to work on Linux though there are some alternatives such as Clonezilla and Rescuezilla.

Thrustermaster T 16000m flight set : According to a website the device is plug and play though the optional T.A.R.G.E.T software is not available
Huion Drawing Tablet : Apparently some functionality should work out of the box as there are drawing tablet drivers within the Linux Kernel though Huion also has officially supported open source drivers that you might need to install to get 100% full functionality.
PC Gaming (video recording): It depends on the game if it's a testing bed mostly it should work fine but some companies who have anti-cheat software on their games have chosen not to enable the anti-cheat software to function on Linux so it depends on the games.

Multiple server hosting : This should probably be relatively straight forward on Linux since it's a common use case and a few Linux distributions specifically have releases that are designed primarily for server use where overhead is reduced by removing the desktop environment and most applications.

 

CAD Software : There are a few options.
Isolated VPN : Probably should be feasible there are multiple privacy focused projects on Linux, there's famously a project where you can use a Raspberry Pi both as an Ad blocker and as a VPN for your network.

Generally speaking for beginners, I think it might be worth seeing what you get from the website Distrochooser and look on the websites to see which desktop you like the most. As desktop that you like using can be really important for first impressions.

Krita is my secondary, though something I don't rely too much when I have both raster and vector layers that need to be used to avoid making the item looked more of a JPG bit crushed portrait than a vector art that never distorts no matter how much it's been shrunk and stretched.

DaVinci Resolve Studio immediately violates the $250 rule. We're trying to replace WIndows, and that alone would make me have second thoughts on the project, and I don't find Humble Bundle to ever offer such a software (which is how I got Vegas Pro and ignore potentially better editors due to lean operations). I hope the free version actually either meets or surpasses in terms of functionality.

I don't play multiplayer games that have anti-cheat, though Steam with Proton should make my Steam Library still playable.

I have 2 Raspberry Pi of differing generations. The ethernet cabling is not yet available at this time, so I can't make any implementation attempts for a working VPN. I don't use passwords and instead use server-generated certificates.

 

 

Spoiler

12 hours ago, jde3 said:

Art Software: Everyone talk about The GIMP and it can be an excellent tool that can technically do anything Photoshop can do for raster.. (but usually just with a lot more effort, skill and work.). Honestly tho get an iPad. It's better at this. I wouldn't say I edit on The GIMP but sometimes I fall back on it as a "old reliable" workhorse.

Audio Workstation Software: Audacity is a pretty good editor and Audour is actually (once you figure out it's quirks) a decent DAW. There are a couple more "fun'ish" programs like Mixxx and stuff but nothing like Abelton Live. Not trying to put Linux down but again MacOS dominates this field for a reason. Linux kind of does light creation ok, or extreme custom setups (like Audour would have) but more advanced and typical stuff.. ya MacOS.

 

Synchronization: Linux dominates this field. Be it rsync, Deluge or qbittorrent, or BitTorrent Sync like software like Syncthing. This is one thing Linux does exceptionally well. 

Backups and drive tools: You should not need any extra software to manage this, It's all included for it's dozen different filesystems and Linux has access to some of the best technology here, tho none of it's "brain dead easy" to use.

Servers: Linux is good but FreeBSD's Jail infrastructure outshines it if you want to put a lot of independent various services on a single box. It's actually easier to use and maintain as well. (Take a look at Bastille manager here)

Tried GIMP before, and I ended up fighting with it more than I was doing work that it felt like the open source competitor to photoshop than an 'actual' art software like Krita or Corel Painter (which is also installed in the primary build) when working on model textures. I just find that Clip Studio Paint is exceptional in concept art.

 

There is a particular catch about the drive recovery process: It contains every critical data in all 6 drives that must be transferred, and the storage device is NTFS and has about 6TB worth of really compressed backup courtesy of Macrium Reflect. Once the transition is done, those files have to be reconnected back to the community, because there are severe consequences of redownloading all of them that it won't just be me that's going to be affected. As I have said, I keep in sync with a lot of work, and minor changes pushed by the creators also affect my stored archives through the torrent swap.

 

Because of Macrium Reflect, I can transfer what was in the recovery at the file level if I decide to go to Windows 10. It's just that I need be particularly careful when I connect those files to the torrent for recognition and continued service.

 

FreeBSD won't do any good if I have build a separate system for it. Like I said, no room for partitioning, all ports filled, so I can't add any more drives. The planned build to replace my current one will be in a fixed, immobile location, because there will be a liquid cooling infrastructure that goes out of the case and into a heat exchange system. But in the current state of things, I have nothing in my fleet that can simulate the environment of my primary build, especially when I am out of spare drives that can roughly prototype said simulated environment. WIndows 7 that is carrying all the important things, and I am the one managing the active directory throughout the PCs that I have authority over, and not the PCs that are linked for data or remote access purposes.

[flindeberg]

On 2/28/2022 at 2:47 AM, Aereto_Compuru said:

To put it simply, I am going to need a distro that can replace the role the Windows 7 Ultimate the master PC of the fleet has been performing.

I think you should stay with Windows then. The option would be to switch to a Hackingtosh, which ostensibly is more of a challenge than virtualization on Linux for things that don't run natively, or give Red Hat Linux a go due to the support offered.

 

It is not a good idea to switch to Linux based on "I want Windows but I do not want to pay". I think the most valid reason to switch to Linux is "Why is Windows / MacOS limiting what I can do with my computer?". And you do not seem to have that issue.

[jde3]

Yeah, The GIMP takes a looong time to learn. I spent years with it. They kind of did their own thing with it.. Is the time investment worth it? idk, it's free and runs on everything and can be useful. I wouldn't want to live without it myself and always install it but I don't use it all too frequently either anymore. I do trust it far more than I do Adobe. There are guides for it now days and so I'd say it's worth..? but it does sometimes feel like it was written by aliens who never seen photo software before. Btw some other open source software deserves a mention here, Shotwell is a pretty good organizer, I prefer it to iPhoto.

 

You seem like you have a highly specialized workflow so as findeberg said you might be best sticking with Windows for now till you can make more of an investment and go with MacOS or spend the time investment and go with Linux.. but keep in mind there is no perfect world out there.

 

[Ultraforce]

Like jde3 said, it really seems like your specific specialized workflow isn't something that you would super easily be able to transfer to Linux. I do think in general, the more specialized and specific your workload, the harder it will be to change operating systems when you deem it necessary.

I think given the fact that I don't have a proper workflow and am a Uni student after I finish stuff in April, I'll try somewhat from scratch to change my workflow. I think the current set up isn't working for me and I worry about the mixture of relying on the mixture of proprietary software designed for separate devices such as my iPhone. As well as a reliance on Google