My excurses in other GNU/Linux systems

[Tippe]

My current OS is from 2018, based on Ubuntu Bionic beaver 18.04.

I wasn't aware that Linux developers are able to completely develop
GNU/Linux into train wrecks within a few years only!

That's the ISO files I downloaded and tested during the past two days:

AVL_MXE-23.1-20240120_x64.iso
Fedora-Jam_KDE-Live-x86_64-39-1.5.iso
librazik3-20201104-en-amd64.iso
librazik4-20240101-en-amd64.iso
openSUSE-Leap-15.5-DVD-x86_64-Build491.1-Media.iso
openSUSE-Tumbleweed-DVD-x86_64-Snapshot20240329-Media.iso
ubuntustudio-22.04.4-dvd-amd64.iso

AVL MXE

AVL MXE could not find/enable the computer's wlan. I tried it again trying to follow "advice" of its developer. However, there is NO WIFI README file on the desktop.

If the developer recommends to read a file WIFI README on the desktop, then there should be a file WIFI README on the desktop. Talking about a WIFI README file on the desktop when there's only a file connman is really annoying and frustrating. It makes the user feel stupid or at least thinking of being blind.

Only the file named connman (a PDF document) is existing. So I read it.

When entering the first SUDO command to restart connman service it returns a message that said:
Connman service not existing or damon not running. I don't know how to run this damon. I think such stuff should be executed automated at boot process. The same is happening after trying to run the installed version of AVL MXE.

A strict naming seems to be a problem everywhere and in general.
Some are e.g. talking of password when network code is used in documents.

Ubuntu Studio

Ubuntu Studio freezes very quickly already at first boot steps, so no chance to make further testings.

OpenSuse

Since I could not run OpenSuse in Live mode, I decided first to try them to install.
Installing OpenSuse is just not possible.
No matter, what options I choose. Installation could not be continued due to a message, that there is nothing mounted under /. I choose to format and mount the drive, I tried to use a pre-formatted drive. Makes no difference on the drive and on the version (Leap, Tumbleweed). So I gave up on OpenSuse.

Librazik

Since Librazik 4 booted fine in Live mode and connecting to the web was really easy after I found the list of surrounding wlan devices, I chose to try installing Librazik 4 first.

Install routine stopped when it comes to install the system / files.
The same happened when trying to install Librazik 3.
Trying to install from within the running live system crashes immediately.

Fedora Jam

Fedora Jam installed fine and I could also boot into the installed version.
But then it freezes when booting/running as user before the graphical desktop appeared.
Reboot and running as root gave me the graphical desktop and the system was usable.
But then it did not find any of my sound cards (onboard and hdmi - I can use both in my current OS).
But then, after starting QJackCtl I could listen to Music by Elise (?).
Using the volume slider in Elise doesn't change the volume.

*

Conclusion:

I wasted around 40 hours in a row and 29 GB of download traffic to have now 7 Train Wrecks on my small HD space.
When I started using GNU/Linux the most thing I heard, it would be good on older hardware and supports a wide variety of hardware.

This has changed?
They are now on the Windows path?

PC Manufacturer: LENOVO
Product Name: 90B60051GE

Motherboard Vendor: LENOVO
Product Name: SHARKBAY

BIOS Vendor: LENOVO
Version: IEKT26AUS
Release Date: 07/22/2014

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4460 CPU @ 3.20GHz
Min/Max Speed: 800/3400 MHz
Current Speed of Core 0:3341 MHz, 1:3246 MHz, 2:3260 MHz, 3:3341 MHz
Core Count: 4
Thread Count: 4

Frequency governor : performance
Freq. scaling driver : intel_pstate

*

Perhaps I should try to find a newer base system that I used in 2018 to create my own GNU/Linux system.
But then, since they are all based on the same stuff I fear I will fail to create my own OS again in a newer version.

[rockedge]

@Tippe Odd set of distro's to try out! Did you test out F96-CE_4 or any of the Kennel Linux variants like KLV's?

Saw that there are updates for Fossapup64 released yesterday via the QuickPet menu............

[williwaw]

Odd set of distro's to try out!

If you are still learning your way around linux, (and we all are), a distro with good documentation (for your particular skill level) should dictate choice of distros.

A large community of similar users is very nice too!

[Tippe]

@Tippe Odd set of distro's to try out! Did you test out F96-CE_4 or any of the Kennel Linux variants like KLV's?

Saw that there are updates for Fossapup64 released yesterday via the QuickPet menu............

I once tried the original Fossa64 Puppy.
This was a little unstable when it comes to use Calf plugins.
They are a mean part for me, as I have 406 .sf2 files,
in around 10 GB of data. The huge part of them is created by myself
using sounds of hardware synthesizers like DX7, SY55 and D10 etc.

Maybe it's not too bad to waste a little more time plus download traffic
to check the F96-CE Puppy.

Thanks.

[rockedge]

A large community of similar users is very nice too!

Absolutely Would never have gotten so far with out the ideas and support.

It comes down too how comfortable one is installing different distros on the technical side. If it all depends on an automatic installation via script or program that may not always work as expected that could be a deciding factor as to which distro's to use. How easy is the distro to install and start successfully? Puppy Linux's in general come with enough tools to successfully install itself on a variety of mediums. Knowing the basics on how a setup is supposed to look like and function will be most helpful in overcoming problems encountered along the way.

Boot loaders and their configurations are a dark art. Mastered by few to begin with.

using sounds of hardware synthesizers like DX7, SY55 and D10 etc.

Totally get it.....I use a DX-11 and a Roland D-50 among other devices. I use KLV-Airedale-RT or KLV-Spectr-RT or Jackalpup, and Studio 1337 still is totally useful.

@geo_c does a lot of real audio work on those systems and has a treasure trove of information and experience. Might be some recommendations for your quest

[geo_c]

@Tippe Odd set of distro's to try out! Did you test out F96-CE_4 or any of the Kennel Linux variants like KLV's?

Saw that there are updates for Fossapup64 released yesterday via the QuickPet menu............

I once tried the original Fossa64 Puppy.
This was a little unstable when it comes to use Calf plugins.
They are a mean part for me, as I have 406 .sf2 files,
in around 10 GB of data. The huge part of them is created by myself
using sounds of hardware synthesizers like DX7, SY55 and D10 etc.

Maybe it's not too bad to waste a little more time plus download traffic
to check the F96-CE Puppy.

Thanks.

I have a lot of experience using Puppy Linux forum distros for audio, going way back to the days that the first "Puppy-Studio" came on the scene. I was immediately impressed with it's performance, In fact for the past 4 years I've used nothing but these distros for everythng. I have no other mainstream Linux Distros and especially not Microsoft or Apple OS's.

At the moment, I would suggest trying the KLV's @rockedge suggested. In particular, what I'm running as the daily audio driver is KLV-Airedale with a real-time kernel, though if the standard Void linux kernel provided in the latest KLV-Airedale iso plays well on your hardware, then that should run equally as well.

Airedale comes with pipewire installed, running in root, so no multi-user password arrangement to navigate, and by installing pipewire-jack, it's easy to run jack applications without installing the native-jack audio driver. I have a collection of 465 lv2 plugins and the most common stable virtual instruments that I run with Ardour, Calf, Carla, etc. It's a blast.

I created an "08layer" (Kennel Linux squashed layer) that contains all of these apps and the lv2 plugins, as well as theme elements. If you're interested I can gather the links to download the necessary elements for you to create your own audio station.

Kennel Linux is a variant of concepts learned in puppies and fatdogs, a way of getting the benefits of the frugal install and layered filesytem arrangement, while being able to use a distro package manager of the rolling release variety. This latter ability has proven very useful as since I started using KLV for audio, Ardour has released 2 new versions, going from Ardour6 to Ardour8. These updates are no problem and are added by simply doing a system wide package update from the Void repo.