WIP: This page is kinda incomplete
Welcome to my page about anything Unix! Here you can learn about Linux, Android, and maybe even Redox and BSD.
The purpose of this page is to raise awareness about OSes that respect their users, and to propose them as alts for Microslop Winbloats and Crapintosh. I know there are non-*nix systems that also honor their users, but "Unices" are more standard (both in practice, and in theory), so it's more pragmatic to recommend *nix.
Why Unix?
This is the part where I sell you the benefits of *nix systems. Imagine a salesman voice, lol:
- Tired of getting your data collected, sold, and leaked?
- Tired of over-hyped AI being forced onto everything?
- Frustrated by lack of transparency and documentation? (and meaningless error messages?)
- Tired of being treated like a toddler?
- Don't have patience to deal with bloat?
Oh dear, do I have a deal for you! *nix is what you need:
- Private and secure: No telemetry by default.
- No AI, unless you want to run a self-hosted model.
- Open-source (better than source-available!): naked internals; freedom to modify and redistribute (depends on license)
- Lightweight and blazing-fast ⚡: install only what you want; wanna remove the bootloader? sure you can!
- File oriented: wanna see battery temperature? just
catits file; wanna flash a USB? justcpthe image to the raw device! No need for special tools.
Choosing a distro
While I agree that recommending Mint to beginners is fine (it'd be better if it wasn't based on Ubuntu; though LMDE seems promising), please DO NOT even imply that "Debian is hard". I might be biased, but installing and using Debian as a daily-driver is easier than ever.
With that out of the way, keep in mind that Linux gives you the freedom to install any desktop-environment (DE) you want! So if you care more about the system GUI than pre-installed apps, just choose one of the following:
- Debian: the big daddy/momma of all popular distros. If outdated packages are a concern, install Testing rather than Stable.
- Arch (BTW): cutting-edge packages; low (not minimal) bloat; nice documentation.
- Nix: most popular immutable distro; easily roll-back any problematic upgrades (unlike Arch).
- Bazzite (see also SteamOS): for gamers.
If you need Android but your BL is perma-locked, you can install Termux, as it's more lightweight than a VM. If your BL is unlocked, then try installing a custom "ROM" (I hate that term so much. It's clearly a misnomer)