Help Moving Back to Linux

anon033 · 05-21-2019, 03:04 PM

Hello everyone, I am a current BSD user and am looking to move back to Linux but need some help. I know you all have likely seen several posts asking for distro recommendations, however I many of the answers to those posts do not apply to my situation thus I figured I'd ask. In order to properly ask this question I feel it is necessary for me to give some background information. I started using Linux when I was 12, I installed Ubuntu 12.04 to the very first computer I ever got; an old Toshiba. I have never used Windows or MAC (and am damn proud of it!), and I do know UNIX pretty well. I am a computer engineering student and code in C. I have very specific standards for how I like my system to be setup. I prefer the entire base system to contain no more than this (at the most!):

Code:

        ascii
        awk
        basename
        bc
        cal
        cleanname
        cmp
        date
        du
        dd
        diff
        echo
        factor
        fortune
        fmt
        freq
        getflags
        grep
        hoc
        join
        look
        ls
        mk
        mkdir
        mtime
        pbd
        primes
        one shell (I prefer OpenBSD's PDKSH)
        read
        sha1sum
        sed
        seq
        sleep
        sort
        split
        strings
        tail
        tee
        test
        touch
        tr
        troff
        unicode
        uniq
        unutf

I require the musl C library and prefer runinit or daemontools for my init system. I do not use EUFI boot (all hail old school boot!). I like rolling release, but not the crappy buggy insecure Arch style. More like the Gentoo style. I like having separate compilers (one for C, one for CPP if I am unfortunate enough to have any CPP things
on my system, etc) I am not a fan of GCC or Clang and prefer the compiler to be in C. I love compiling everything from source as well. I prefer things to be done securely and not in just the easiest way to do it. I want a full 100% open system where possible (this is for a T420). Does anyone have any recommendations on this? I like Alpine and Gentoo, but want to know if there is the magic distro that meets all my wants and needs. Thank you in advance. I also prefer a system that I can replace parts of as I go (such as the coreutils). This may seem easy, but for example Gentoo I can't remove BASH, Python, rsync, GCC etc. and it drives me crazy!

wagscat123 · 05-21-2019, 06:26 PM

You might like Slackware. It's a bit on the conservative side, but you can probably play and tweak with your system in a rather old fashioned way if you so wish. To what extend you can sub out packages I'm not sure. This site also has a lot of Slackware folk who swear by it and can help you

fatmac · 05-22-2019, 04:21 AM

Linux From Scratch - build what you want.

yancek · 05-22-2019, 04:52 AM

LFS probably would suit your needs best but Slackware also lets you select during the install by package. Link below explains.

https://docs.slackware.com/slackware:install

Lysander666 · 05-22-2019, 06:07 AM

Slackware -current seems well suited to your needs. It's the rolling development version which is very stable [things do go wrong occasionally but they should, it's a dev version] and you can choose which packages you want if you go for the expert install option.

onebuck · 05-22-2019, 09:01 AM

Hi,

Welcome to LQ!

I would not recommend using Slackware64 -current nor Slackware -current(32 bit) since you have no experience with it. PV recommends that users remain with stable versions since the testing of -current requires some Slackware background to get one out of any problems that may arise. No production use of Slackware -current(64 or 32 bit) use is recommended.

I do recommend Slackware64 & Slackware(32 bit) 14.2 version. You can download from LQ link; slackware64-14.2-install-dvd.iso PV keeps this version updated for security purposes.

or choose from a mirror;

Quote:

AlphaGeek's Unofficial Mirror List <<<<<<< Great

LinuxQuestions.org > ISOs > Slackware®

AlienBase <- Alien_Bob's mirror + 'via http' + rsync://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/ + 'The physical server is on a gigabit Internet connection, so I guess I can offer a speedy mirror service! In fact, the mirrors are already complete. With a re-sync of several times a day, I hope to offer an up to date service.' Read the intro + Alien has always been unselfish when it comes to Slackware

elektroni <-FTP

BTW, Slackware LQ forum is the official Slackware forum.

Once you Slack you will never go back!

EDIT: Be sure to check the hash code for your downloads via md5sum to verify a valid download. The md5sum should be available via each site.

Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!