https://spirallinux.github.io/
BTRFS, GUI Flatpak manager, Theming, nonfree codecs etc., printer support, timeshift preconfigured
Their goal is to make vanilla debian usable, with only debian tech. It is just a config, no “small distro dies and users need to switch”
Might not be the most secure (loose printer configs, preinstalled drivers for random stuff that is not normally a problem)
SpiralLinux is my Son; I love it so dearly. I install it on anything first, since it has some of the drivers my devices need the most. It makes Debian fun instead of a chore.
Debians UX really sucks.
Great base, used and administered it. It tought me how to upgrade Linux Mint when their way too late updater is broken or nonexistent.
APT on Debian is also hella stable. 11->12 just worked.
Fedoras DNF is just garbage. 39->40 just didnt work, even though their change is way smaller.
And nala makes apt look nice too.
Does the UX suck? Genuine question. Debian is where I moved after I outgrew mint and I’ve never had a problem with it or felt like it was cludgy
It is VERY manual. It is simply universal, and doesnt adapt to dedicated uses at all.
They build great core tech, but no adaption to use cases.
This means that all users need to do that themselves, which results in a million different ways on how to automatically update, etc.
At the same time their desktop setups are completely bloated with debian GUI apps, where arguably modern Flatpaks are better and touch the system even less.
I suppose that’s true. I also don’t install the predefined GUI options. I always install my GUI manually after disabling recommended packages. Recommended packages are my biggest Debian gripe. They’re great for users that don’t know what they’re doing but for power users I find it kinda bloated. I should probably try flatpak again but last time I did it was just annoying and in the way and gave up.
I fixed up a bunch of youth center machines.
- Debloat, find out package names literally from the internet (GNOME is made for people that dont want to do that, how the hell do you find out “what package name does this GUI app have”? Task manager?
ps?) - Install flatpak, flathub, GNOME-Software integration
- Install all those apps as Flatpaks
- Replace VirtualBox with virt-manager to avoid breaking kernel modules
- Update and Upgrade to Debian 12
- Setup apt-automatic
I guess they are still running today. I was a bit newer to Linux back then.
I personally like to start with a debloated install and then install gnome on top rather than the other way round. Honestly to point 4 it slightly baffles me that people use vbox on Linux, KVM with libvirt/virt-manager is so much more powerful while still allowing for fairly straightforward basic setups without introducing 3rd party modules. Seems like a no brainer to me but apparently it isn’t.
Cool that they’re still running though. I’ve never setup a Linux system that I then had to turn over. They’re all systems I maintain, I’m not entirely sure what my plan would be for a maintenance free machine that I expected other people to use.
VBox has really easy Windows integration. To this day I have not managed to have a shared folder and especially clipboard with any guest, let alone Windows.
This may be easily possible, but not just a few clicks
- Debloat, find out package names literally from the internet (GNOME is made for people that dont want to do that, how the hell do you find out “what package name does this GUI app have”? Task manager?
Does it really ships with everything? That’s bad. I prefer to have custom GUI installers for anything I want (e.g. enabling a samba share for Windows). This is how it’s done in MX Linux (I have the “ahs” version for the nonfrew goodies)
