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A Linux distro with a focus on simplicity and the concept of less is more

kisslinux.org

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Re: A Linux distro with a focus on simplicity and the concept of less is more

#41

Post by massysett »

randomluck040 wrote: post #29
beermonster wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slackware is a complete OS complete with curated set of user land and desktop applications. Although I have a soft spot for Slackware, I’d say arch fills this niche more than Slack: You get the most minimal system as a starting point and build what complexity you need on top - and no more.

I didn’t look into Kisslinux but the rather obvious problem with Arch is that the installation process scares people away (regardless whether it is hard or not). The terminal/command line is a scary place for people who didn’t use it before. Otherwise I tend to agree that Arch can be absolutely minimal if you want to. Didn’t use Slackware so I can’t comment on that.

For the niche audience that these distributions target, the terminal is not a problem.

Re: A Linux distro with a focus on simplicity and the concept of less is more

#43

Post by illiliti »

kissgyorgy wrote: post #28

The packageformat is entirely static. A series of plain-text files with fields separated by lines and spaces. Easily parseable via any programming language or with basic UNIX utilities. And you have to write parsers for it which is PITA even if it's very simple. Please just stick to well-known formats (even if you don't like them) and make your fellow developers life easier! For example, everyone hates YAML for one r…

FYI: package format isn't simple/static anymore:

1. https://github.com/kisslinux/kiss/commit/d296b90b75d02ee81ec...

2. https://github.com/kisslinux/repo/pull/286

Re: A Linux distro with a focus on simplicity and the concept of less is more

#44

Post by mro_name »

hnbear wrote: post #5

Looks interesting, and generally always like to see how someone puts a new distro together, but “simple” here is a very specific definition of simple. This is not a trivial, easy, type of simple. Rather a raw and uncomplex simple. Not going to assume either is better, but somewhat curious which people default to assuming and/or preferring.

I also never thought easy and simple being synonyms – uncomplex resonates well, however.

Re: A Linux distro with a focus on simplicity and the concept of less is more

#45

Post by donw »

LambdaComplex wrote: post #27
donw wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So a bus factor of zero would mean that the project is in jeopardy even if all the maintainers are alive. So, PHP, then.

I suppose the downvotes may be justified due to your comment being pretty out-of-place, but, just to add some perspective: I'd like to remind everyone that PHP originally used strlen() as a hashing function: https://news-web.php.net/php.internals/70691 It is (or at least originally was) certainly not the pinnacle of good design.

Honestly, they probably are. But I figured that the occasional jibe or jest on HN is an absolute crapshoot.

Re: A Linux distro with a focus on simplicity and the concept of less is more

#48

Post by illiliti »

na85 wrote: post #7

>An independent Linux(R) distribution with a focus on simplicity and the concept of less is more. For me, this niche has always been filled by the venerable Slackware distro.

Slackware's pkgtools depend on bash and GNU coreutils. As a result, it's impossible to replace bash+coreutils with busybox, toybox, ubase+sbase, ...

Kiss linux has been created with focus on highly portability and user choice. There's no lock-in. Users can replace bash with dash or GNU coreutils with sbase+ubase and vice versa.

Slackware isn't alternative to Kiss linux at all. They have different goals and mindset behind them.

Re: A Linux distro with a focus on simplicity and the concept of less is more

#49

Post by IshKebab »

pritambaral wrote: post #37
kissgyorgy wrote: post #28

The packageformat is entirely static. A series of plain-text files with fields separated by lines and spaces. Easily parseable via any programming language or with basic UNIX utilities. And you have to write parsers for it which is PITA even if it's very simple. Please just stick to well-known formats (even if you don't like them) and make your fellow developers life easier! For example, everyone hates YAML for one r…

1. There is not a single YAML format. Different parsers support varying formats and specs. 2. YAML is a terrible format for everyone. Even if you don't hate it, you can still fall prey to its poor design and not even know about it until it blows up later. A package manager is especially not somewhere you want such latent bugs. 3. Not everybody knows its terrible quirks. I'd used YAML for years, and was still surprise…

Yes YAML is a terrible choice, but his point is still correct. Use a standard format, not some custom nonsense you made up that can't even handle strings with spaces in them.

I recommend JSON5 or maybe TOML if your data is very flat.

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