this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
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Linux

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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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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I tried Alpine for a desktop installation. The package manager has surprisingly decent package set. And the performance is the best I found, for some reason applications starts faster. But I had to stop the experience because websites thats includes widevine didn't work. Its sad to say, but many softwares relies on non-standard glibc shit. With glibc instead of musl Alpine can be simply the best distro. If musl is not faster that glibc I don't think glibc will make Alpine slower.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Alpine's main thing is musl. musl is a lot better than glib, but you have to compile for it, which means no proprietary software.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Why is musl better than glibc? Looking at the licence, it's just your classic corporate cuckolding that always leads to a net decrease in upstream contributions

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

yeah, fair enough, that's a good point. Also now that I think about it, the dns resolution in musl is pretty bad, too. But I do appreciate that musl is designed to be lighter weight than glib, and that it supports static linking.

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

The glibc can be introduced by an Alpine fork, so Alpine can stay pure.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

You can use glibc programs in Alpine using containers, chroots, Flatpak, etc.

This wasn’t on Alpine, but I used to run Steam on a musl Void Linux install in a chroot.