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Void Linux: Into the Void

michaelwashere.net

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Re: Void Linux: Into the Void

#31

Post by nisa »

alxlaz wrote: post #5

I usually refrain from distro- (and editor-, and language-) related discussions but I think Void Linux deserves an exception here: - Everything is remarkably simple, (mostly) well-documented and straightforward. - Friendly, dedicated and very knowledgeable community - Open development, very few hooks to jump through if you have something to contribute - No systemd, so: rebooting your system isn't a lottery where, if…

> Of course, you can't do much DevOps on Void Linux..

Why not? runit is really great - it's an implementation of daemontools from djb - it's a powerful system - including socket activation, log handling, you can even run custom check scripts for your services. I'd even say it's more poweful than systemd and better for devops once you go beyond systemctl enable apache2

Re: Void Linux: Into the Void

#32

Post by nisa »

parenthephobia wrote: post #27
alxlaz wrote: post #5

I usually refrain from distro- (and editor-, and language-) related discussions but I think Void Linux deserves an exception here: - Everything is remarkably simple, (mostly) well-documented and straightforward. - Friendly, dedicated and very knowledgeable community - Open development, very few hooks to jump through if you have something to contribute - No systemd, so: rebooting your system isn't a lottery where, if…

> something that's been working fine since the 1980s has recently been declared broken Void Linux uses runit, which was released in 2004, so I guess they agree.

runit is an implementation of djb daemontools - http://thedjbway.b0llix.net/daemontools/blabbyd.html - the latest release is from 2001 - so this must be around since the early/mid 90ies - it's also what systemd copied to a degree also solaris / launchd got some inspiration from daemontools.

Re: Void Linux: Into the Void

#33

Post by digi_owl »

bringtheaction wrote: post #29

I ran the musl libc version of Void Linux for a while on one of my laptops but ran into a lot of problems and buggy behavior. If you are going to use Void Linux I would strongly recommend not picking the musl version unless you are specifically interested in improving musl support by filing and/or fixing bugs.

Do wonder how much of that was from code having adopted GNU-isms...

Re: Void Linux: Into the Void

#34

Post by heywire »

pknopf wrote: post #26
xfer wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also used to use void-linux for many of these reasons(after arch for a few years). But i have now moved to nixos. It offers me the benefits of replicating system setup(i don't backup my system folders anymore, just my homedir and the nixos configuration files), cleanly removing system-wide packages(no more stale config hanging around) and of course the benefits of using nix for isolated/reproducible builds.

With Darch (I'm the author), you can use VoidLinux with a replicated setup. Also, each boot is a clean boot (tempfs overlay). This ensures you capture your OS changes through your build script. https://godarch.com/ This gives me what I love about Nix (scripted setup) with OSs I love (Arch and Void).

I’m glad you posted this again. I remembered you posting this a week or two ago, but when I got a chance to look into it I couldn’t remember which article or what the name of the project was. I’m a fan of the style of NixOS, and also a fan of Arch, so this is a must-try. Thanks!

Re: Void Linux: Into the Void

#35

Post by krylon »

I just installed Void Linux a VM.

My first impression is that it feels really snappy. I am not sure if I like the cli interface of the package manager. But I will give this one a try.

Can someone share their experiences regarding Void's stability? I am currently using openSUSE Tumbleweed on my desktop and primary laptop, and while I am mostly happy, things sometimes kind of break after installing a batch of updates.

Re: Void Linux: Into the Void

#37

Post by xorcist »

zzzcpan wrote: post #28
alxlaz wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, the downvote machine works here as well... Whenever the line between a technical discussion and a systemd bashing thread becomes blurry, someone who does DevOps for a living invariably pops up to say how much they like systemd -- usually for pretty valid reasons. It's also ubiquitous enough that, by this point in time, some of my younger colleagues who do DevOps for a living have never used anything but systemd.…

Isn't devops basically an infrastructure engineering, which if anything, is as anti-systemd as it gets. I guess people think of devops as something different then.

Some people use "devops" as a derogatory term for developers copy-pasting stuff to the terminal.

Certain in-terms tend to acquire ironical undertones quite quickly, such as "agile" now meaning certified scrum masters(tm) doing half hour standups.

Re: Void Linux: Into the Void

#38

Post by braderhart »

krylon wrote: post #35

I just installed Void Linux a VM. My first impression is that it feels really snappy. I am not sure if I like the cli interface of the package manager. But I will give this one a try. Can someone share their experiences regarding Void's stability? I am currently using openSUSE Tumbleweed on my desktop and primary laptop, and while I am mostly happy, things sometimes kind of break after installing a batch of updates.

I love Void, but I personally find that Arch is much better supported overall in terms of packages and the AUR. I haven't tried Void recently though so maybe I should give it another go and help contribute.

Re: Void Linux: Into the Void

#39

Post by braderhart »

Ericson2314 wrote: post #36

Package manager sounds like a worse version of ~~Nice~~ Nix, but distro's choice of services is neat. Edit stupid autocorrect. Also further research indicates xbps is way more traditional. Sigh...

Not really. This is where Linux kicks Windows butt. Every software install is packaged into a nice consistent archive format that installs and maintains updates for all the software on your system.

BTW Chocolatey and PowerShell are much slower in comparison.

Re: Void Linux: Into the Void

#40

Post by atmoz »

pknopf wrote: post #26
xfer wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also used to use void-linux for many of these reasons(after arch for a few years). But i have now moved to nixos. It offers me the benefits of replicating system setup(i don't backup my system folders anymore, just my homedir and the nixos configuration files), cleanly removing system-wide packages(no more stale config hanging around) and of course the benefits of using nix for isolated/reproducible builds.

With Darch (I'm the author), you can use VoidLinux with a replicated setup. Also, each boot is a clean boot (tempfs overlay). This ensures you capture your OS changes through your build script. https://godarch.com/ This gives me what I love about Nix (scripted setup) with OSs I love (Arch and Void).

I just automated my laptop setup with Salt [1]. I want to keep using that instead of bash scripts (what Darch uses, by the looks of it).

I like the idea of having "images" with tempfs overlay. Is it possible to combine Salt with the image feature from Darch?

[1]: https://github.com/atmoz/workstation-formula

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