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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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How have you automated configuring your machines in terms of packages and dotfiles so it works cross-distro? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm looking for interesting tools to automate managing packaging and configuring everything automated.

And yeah I know about NixOS but I like to distro hop and experiment so I for now know these:

Ansible - automating many machines, using different package names as vars and package managers.
Bash - the most native and compatible scripting language that can be.
Chezmoi - for dotfiles.

For now that's it. I'm looking forward for your suggestions!

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (3 children)

One thing I like to have with me is the AppImage version of programs when possible, since they usually work out of the box. Also helps ensuring I don't depend on the availability of whatever package manager the system uses.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

I’ve become a Flatpak fan for a similar reason.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Distrobox?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Do they also embed the configuration inside of them? But for many dependencies and binaries I don't think that would be a good case scenario compared to package manager.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

There are cases where AppImages aren't viable indeed, like with programs that require ring 0 access. But limitations exist for all formats, so perhaps another good alternative is having multiple versions of a given program, like downloading the equivalent deb package through apt while also keeping the appimage version. It would bloat the storage for a potential automated configuration, but it should help with ensuring compatibility.