Linux On Desktop In 2023
I am using Linux in the form of various distributions for probably over 15 years now. After 8 years with my trusted Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon, it was time for a hardware refresh. I got a framework which turned out pretty nice. I take this opportunity to also reflect on the current state of Linux on “Desktops”.
Whatever Linux distribution you choose, do yourself and all upstream maintainers a favor and use something that releases often (or has rolling releases1) and that does not patch upstream software to death. It is an illusion that “old” means “stable” as Debian & Co tried to teach us for many years. Sometimes it is hard to keep features and bug fixes separate and backports of fixes to year old software and the resulting bug reports – both up- and downstream – are a real waste of developers time. I recommend Fedora for the average Linux user or Arch Linux for the nerds.The “Init Wars” Are Over
systemd has replaced SysVinit, Upstart & Co. It makes many things so much easier and provides features that you would expect from a reasonable operating system2:Service Management: You list/restart/terminate services w/o relying on a bunch of shell scripts and PID files and hope that none of the processes ever double-fork.Service Boundaries: Services are properly encapsulated into cgroups with limits, (optional) security contexts, and access limitations.Service Activation: Services can be started/stopped when you need them. This includes dbus endpoints and timers.
