XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

cosmo666 · 2020-05-23 17:14:17

After many years of productive use, I've decided to try and find an alternative to Xubuntu. Primary reason: the imposition of opaque, bug-ridden systemd & snapd, which have polluted the application install space. My main prerequisites include thorough, time-tested integration with XFCE, as well as a legitimately open-source Linux foundation. (In other words, it must be reasonably easy to build the distro from sources based on complete build-docs.)

Currently considering VoidLinux & Debian. Comments on either of those much appreciated. Any other suggestions welcome. Thanks to all for taking the time to respond.

Jerry3904 · 2020-05-23 17:33:29

MX Linux

cosmo666 · 2020-05-23 18:55:22

Jerry3904: Thanks very much, especially for the tidbits!.

Last edited by cosmo666 (2020-05-23 18:56:11)

alcornoqui · 2020-05-23 19:10:37

Another vote for MX. The most user friendly distro I've ever used.

And speedy, too.

Congratulations, Jerry & Co.!

eriefisher · 2020-05-23 19:17:16

Yes! Jerry and the folks at MX have done a real nice job. Big advantage is that they have Xfce4.14 running on a Buster base. Sweet distro for sure.

Jerry3904 · 2020-05-23 19:43:50

Thanks for the good words, people! Nice to know somebody notices...

cosmo666 · 2020-05-24 19:25:41

Thanks again Jerry. Impressive distro, and just getting started. (what a relief!).
Also, an outstanding user community. Apropos...

https://forum.mxlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 21#p576921

Last edited by cosmo666 (2020-05-24 19:26:45)

Jerry3904 · 2020-05-24 20:16:07

And two of those responding are Devs...

cosmo666 · 2020-05-26 05:13:33

Jerry, earlier today I got MX-19 to a point where, at a minimum, I'm confident I can port most if not all of what I was doing with Xubuntu 16.04 to MX-19. Had a few minor GUI issues with 'themes and color-schemes', but a helpful MX-19 member explained the problems, so no worries. Very impressed with all of it, in particular the wisdom of the systemd accommodation strategy. I'm calling it: "One OS, Two Systems...". (and all that portends !;)

The best part? Just finished installing antiX-19 on another box, and even more excited about the potential synergy between the two. As I see it, MX-19 provides a solid mainstream Linux platform, from which to deliver stable, near-term solutions to going concerns. Meanwhile, antiX facilitates 'app-zone innovation', at a time of maximum app-zone turmoil here on Planet Earth.

Pleasantly surprised to find: after discovering that many in the traditional lineup of 'themes' on MX-19 were in need of updating, antiX appears to have created a very robust, new-fangled theme-library of its own -- where seemingly, everything works!

Not going to pester you anymore, just wanted to provide a little testimonial, FBO anyone else looking for a modern Linux distro & community which fully realizes the mature potential of what Linus created.
(Ted in Portland, Oregon -- a neighbor of his you might say !;)

Jerry3904 · 2020-05-26 10:00:25

Thanks for the feedback, Ted. antiX is a great distro, and the two of us share Devs and lots of apps--though I have not seen their theme-library.

jarnos · 2021-05-22 09:19:16

cosmo666 wrote:

The best part? Just finished installing antiX-19 on another box, and even more excited about the potential synergy between the two. As I see it, MX-19 provides a solid mainstream Linux platform, from which to deliver stable, near-term solutions to going concerns. Meanwhile, antiX facilitates 'app-zone innovation', at a time of maximum app-zone turmoil here on Planet Earth.

What do you mean by 'app-zone innovation'?

jarnos · 2021-05-22 09:32:16

What does MX Linux use instead of systemd, if you do not enable it there? How would you compare that to systemd? MX Linux seems to be the most popular distro at the moment (according to https://distrowatch.com/) albeit systemd has been adopted by most major Linux distributions.

Akadole1932 · 2021-05-28 21:29:30

I am late but just saying a great alternative to xubuntu would be zorin os lite

Jerry3904 · 2021-05-29 09:56:14

What does MX Linux use instead of systemd, if you do not enable it there? How would you compare that to systemd?

Default init is SysV, user can enable systemd instead at boot. More: https://mxlinux.org/wiki/system/systemd/

Vinifera · 2021-07-20 12:36:10

i'm for Mint (Xfce version)

Zorin is too much gnomeish
and MX seems unstable lately (at least for me)

mint is minimal, with preconfigured 3 Compositors that work with Xfce, in case you have problems with any of them

Last edited by Vinifera (2021-07-20 12:36:31)

mint4all · 2021-07-20 14:14:37

Vinifera wrote:

i'm for Mint (Xfce version)
Zorin is too much gnomeish
and MX seems unstable lately (at least for me)
mint is minimal, with preconfigured 3 Compositors that work with Xfce, in case you have problems with any of them

Fwiw: I came across Mint's spins (Cinnamon, Mate, Xfce) about 6 years ago. After building each edition, I settled on Mint's Xfce-version and never regretted my choice. If support is important, Mint's forum community is quite active and well informed. I find that Mint's update "policy" is very conservative and solid -- Of the 10+ systems I support (all of those built on older hardware and being used daily by absolute noobs) I never had a borked system.

The only issue I have with Mint is that most of the team's efforts go into improving its Cinnamon desktop. Very little work effort goes into refining the Xfce-version. Example: xfce4-goodies & Xfce4-panel-profiles are essentials (imho) that are routinely omitted from the base, and the basic panel layout has no zing, bang or boomph. But it can be tweaked very easily into a fully workable "day-driver". Mint's extras (update manager, warpinator, xapps etc) are quite stable and go a long way towards a pleasant UX.

Good luck! m4a

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#1 2020-05-23 17:14:17

XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#2 2020-05-23 17:33:29

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#3 2020-05-23 18:55:22

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#4 2020-05-23 19:10:37

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#5 2020-05-23 19:17:16

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#6 2020-05-23 19:43:50

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#7 2020-05-24 19:25:41

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#8 2020-05-24 20:16:07

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#9 2020-05-26 05:13:33

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#10 2020-05-26 10:00:25

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#11 2021-05-22 09:19:16

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#12 2021-05-22 09:32:16

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#13 2021-05-28 21:29:30

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#14 2021-05-29 09:56:14

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#15 2021-07-20 12:36:10

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

#16 2021-07-20 14:14:37

Re: XFCE 'Well-integrated' Open-Source Linux Distro, other than Xubuntu

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