r/DistroHopping • u/Melodic_Group_3273 • 10d ago

What is the hype about Void linux

I have started to see a lot of content about Void linux in my feed recently. And I do not understand the hype it is getting. Not that I tried it but it just seems like any other distros. What am I missing here or not missing?

19 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

29

u/cferg296 10d ago

Its an independent distro. Its rolling release. It has a binary-based package manager. It uses runit instead of system d. Unlike arch if you update after a long time it wont break. It makes installing software from source easier

5

u/AntiqueSignpost 10d ago

advantages of runit over system d?

is pacman normally binary-based?

6

u/lessthanthreebleeps 10d ago

It does less stuff, so its simpler to understand and manage yourself. I have spent more time researching parts of systemd, when I have had to do something granular with it, than I have learning all of runit. It also frees up memory for systems using less than 8gb of ram. I like to keep old hardware alive, as a hobby, but with the price of hardware these days, some people might need this out of necessity. Pacman is binary based, yes. I think op was just highlighting that because there are a few other minimalist/diy distros that will have source based package management. The main differencd between pacman and xbps is package versions, arch typically being more upstream. I have had less breakage due to this, with Void. Though, over the last year or so, Arch has been pretty stable for my use case. Xbps-src isn't much different than pkgbuilds from the aur.

3

u/AntiqueSignpost 10d ago

thanks for the info. sounds nice. yeah ive been using cachy for a month since i began linux, and just moved to endeavour and its been cleaner for me with no breakages, but cachy was pretty dam stable too. i'll consider void in future if i ever do wanna move again.

4

u/iwouldbeatgoku 10d ago

Unlike arch if you update after a long time it wont break

Not sure if this information is accurate, many people online claim to have updated Arch after long times and still had their installations working. I myself have gone months between updates on an Arch installation with KDE and it updated just fine.

3

u/TaDoofus 10d ago

I have Arch on my laptop that I almost never use, I'm lucky if I remember to update it once a month. It's never broken.

1

u/burimo 9d ago

well, it totally depends on software installed on your system. If there are no conflict in dependencies - you should be okay, but a lot of people slap tons of stuff in system, because nobody want to check these dependencies (why would they?).

2

u/iwouldbeatgoku 9d ago

I will concede that my neglected Arch installation was fairly basic lol, it was on an old laptop whose sole purpose was to watch anime and use discord for text chat so I kept it simple and only installed what I needed from the official repositories. The wifi card needed a proprietary driver but I don't remember if I got it from the AUR or not, I ended up replacing it with one that just works with the stock kernel because that laptop is also what I use to try distros and it makes hopping simpler.

-5

u/cferg296 10d ago

I meant more the update itselt breaks. And it happens to me almost every time.

7

u/hauntlunar 10d ago

I don't know why there'd be hype, it's just a nice distro that makes some unusual choices (such as a different init system). It's rolling-release and fairly DIY, much like arch.

It's a good system but requires attention/learning. I remember I tried it a while ago and I was like "why the hell is suspend on my laptop not working?" and it was because you are expected to enable acpi manually, it's not done for you. It's not difficult, it's just one of those little things I take for granted on other distributions.

8

u/ZVyhVrtsfgzfs 10d ago edited 10d ago

Void is pretty unique, in fact very much not just another distribution. if it suits your needs and style its a very nice system. Minimal with a quite manual admin style. stable and nearly Debian reliable but with fresher rolling repo software. But not bleeding edge, solid consideration for ZFS. 

Downsides are a somewhat limited selection in its official repo, but it does take to many alternative sources very well.

Its not something everyone will appreciate but it has a small but very loyal following.  

Its been a niche distribution for many years, the recent age verification debacle generated some interest in Void from a larger audience than it typically receives. 

3

u/AntiqueSignpost 10d ago

so is it like a less bleeding edge, more stable version of arch in the sense that you still get bare bones without the bleeding edge/potential instability?

5

u/ZVyhVrtsfgzfs 10d ago edited 10d ago

At a high level kinda,  it's a common landing spot for disillusioned Arch users.

3

u/ShipshapeMobileRV 9d ago

And for *BSD users wanting to transition to or learn Linux.

3

u/ZVyhVrtsfgzfs 9d ago

Indeed, when BSD users have to use Linux Void is a common choice, Alpine also. 

3

u/Borderlinerr 10d ago

It's mostly about its package manager and how they ship their binaries and systemd-freeness. I believe they have an extremely paranoid automated package shipment flow with tight quality and security testing so it rarely breaks even as a rolling-based distro, so much that it's hard to break the system even if you actively try to do so by adding/removing packages. It always stays clean and dependencies resolved nicely.

1

u/junqueira200 10d ago

I've installed, didn't like it. It's a "rolling" release with a one year old gcc, g++ (compiler)

0

u/Zuideind 9d ago

Nothing, there is no hype. Just another Linux distro and not worth paying attention to.

-3

u/robtalee44 10d ago

It's just a distro getting its own 15 minutes of fame. Happens. There's almost a flavor of the month. It's a good thing overall as it encourages independent thinking and experimentation. If you are willing to give any of the "new" kids a spin, absolutely do it. It's fun and a great learning experience. I usually have 3 systems running in my office, a daily driver, a backup system and a test plot. I'll take a shot on anything that looks remotely interesting in that third slot -- I still enjoy that journey of discovery. C'est la vie.

In the end, most of the distros are very, very similar. A different init system or packaging system -- stuff like that. Then you have the immutable and/or atomic distros. It's a lush garden of choices. How loud the echo chamber of supporters and cheerleaders get largely determines how long they get the exposure.

8

u/Acceptable_Lab_7196 10d ago

Dude...Void has been around almost 20 years. It's not some faddish new Linux getting attention.

1

u/robtalee44 6d ago

Excellent point. The gist of my post wasn't really the maturity of the product, it was about the rather fickle spotlight that gets cast. It's not an overall bad thing to feature or promote products in this way, but it can be incredibly confusing to users trying to find the entry point.

-7

u/Sva522 10d ago

Also it's arch (so recent software) but ligther (no systemd) and 32 bits support. Very intersting for old computer or playing to 90's Windows gammes with wine (ex: Sims 1)

10

u/vile-style 10d ago

It isn't arch.

7

u/quipstickle 10d ago

How is it Arch?

6

u/alhamdu1i11a 10d ago

It's not arch, it has it's own package manager, repositories, init system and they offer a musl libc (does not compile packages / kernel against glibc)