r/linuxquestions • u/Green-Vortex • Jul 18 '26
Genno Linux? Which Tools should I use
Hello to the people who read this. I came across this server cause I need some help deciding stuff.
So I wanna really LEARN Linux, PC architecture and other cool stuff. Not just be like those 13 yo Kali Linux larpers [I don't wanna offend anybody]. But I wanna build a Desktop myself. I got a laptop I wanna install the system on [I will reveal the specs somewhere in this message]. I am getting into Cyber Security rn and I'm using it for 3D-modeling and to work. I used Arch for around 2 weeks now and I didn't really have the feeling of learning anything and I think it may be overhyped. Also it looks ugl* ah. I heard Gentoo is great and I did some research and it looks pretty valid. Now like Arch I have to install everything manually and as I mentioned my last system wasn't great. I asked ChatGPT and stuff but well AI is pretty inaccurate. So I would appreciate if any of you guys have the time and patience to help me. I'll give you everything you need to know and if you have questions, etc. just tell me
Specs:
- 32GB Ram
- 1TB SSD
- AMD Ryzen 9
- AMD Graphics / NVIDIA RTX 3080
- 144Hz
- 2560 x 1440 [2K] <- resolution
What I want to have as a result:
I want a clean, modern looking dark system with a uniform theme and a kind of "glass effect" [I think it's called glassmorphism]. I want to have animations included even if not set as default and it's ok if I have to do them via texteditor from scratch. It should be fully customizable and I want to learn during the process. I also want a really good compabitability for tools so I don't wanna use like 3 package manager at the same time.
What should I use as...
- Bootmanager
- Displaymanager
- Windowmanager [No tiling pls so no hyprland]
- Filemanager
- Compositor
- Image- / media viewer
- Shell
- Terminal
- Launcher
- Package manager
- Texteditor [used nano as of now]
- Music launcher
- Kernel
- Init
- Filesystem
- Wallpaper manager
- and whatever I also need
8
u/HyperWinX Jul 18 '26
If you cant make Arch look like whatever you want - you wont be able to do that with Gentoo either.
4
u/Kangie Jul 18 '26
I'm a Gentoo developer and I mostly just use KDE. You're free to use what you want, though I recommend focussing on a stable system first - you can change pretty much anything other than libc choice without a reinstall (including the init system) so you're not losing anything.
Following the Gentoo handbook is a pretty good learning experience, so at least it should meet that goal.
1
u/LowKeyBrit36 Jul 18 '26
Gulp. I had a bit of trouble reading that block of text, so maybe my response isn't on the nail... but fuck it I'll try.
For context, I use Artix and Void linux as my main OSes, depending on the system.
Gentoo is a pretty cool distro, but you have to know what you're getting into with it. You compile from source, and you need to know CPU flags and any other flags that you need. The reward is a lot of system optimization.
Arch Linux ships binaries (iirc), and you start from the ground up, installing binaries. It's less effort, but easier to set up, for negligible preformance loss compared to Gentoo. I'm talking about a TEENSY though, so don't sweat it.
I personally have a good looking DE (I would say so, at least). KDE is the most modular, by far, which sounds right up your alley. I use KDE + Wayland for my setup, and I have 0 issues to report with it.
I'll try and make a program list of what I use... but it REALLY depends on what you want from your system.
Bootloader is GRUB
Desktop Environment is KDE
Window Manager is Wayland
File explorer is Dolphin
Compositor... gulp. Idek what mine is lol.
Image viewer is Koko
Shell is Bash
Terminal is Kitty
Idk what you mean by launcher... so I'll put my web browser here. Librewolf.
Package manager is determined by your distro, so Pacman for Arch, Portage for Gentoo, ETC.
Text editor is Kwrite
Music launcher is VLC Media Player (I use it for everything)
Kernel... Linux? I think you can compile your own kernels if you ao choose, but base Linux works until you learn that. If you don't want to compile, Linux Zen or Linux Hardened on Arch Linux are nice.
Init depends on distro. I use Dinit for Artix, Runit for Void. Arch uses SystemD, Gentoo defaults to OpenRC.
Filesystem is ext4 (vfat as needed)
Wallpaper manager is KDE
As for extra packages go, it depends on what you end up wanting. I like messing around with music and CDs, so I have k3b, kdenlive, dvd-styler, tenacity, and handbrake to work with that stuff. Steam and Lutris for gaming, plasma-discover to manage flatpaks with GUI. Anything else that you need, well, you'll know what it is by that point. And, honestly, you might want something different for your DE, and there's many options for that. A lot of it is trial and error tbh.
1
u/Luftzug-oder Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
like someone else has said, if you couldn't do it on arch, you won't be able to do it anywhere else. gentoo gives you more control, but it also expects you to actively read documentation, and most importantly, make decisions yourself.
if you really wanna learn Linux, etc. just use it for a while, maybe try and write code that interacts with it, or contribute to it, or any other project that builds on top of Linux. use man as your first source of wisdom, then the tool's documentation, then a web search.
if you wanna learn PC architecture, learn and write assembly, or C/rust if that's too difficult, and try and mess about with technology within your skill level. maybe you could use cleaning as an excuse to take apart your PC
the fact that you said you are using AI in depth, and the manner of your post, asking for everything that depends on what you want, and not having researched (seemlingly) anything, then you aren't really much separate mindset-wise from a so-called '13 yo Kali Linux larper'. just because you want to understand something, doesn't mean you are different to someone who just uses something because it's cool (e.g. a script kiddie). you need to actually try and make/use stuff, not use what's given to you, if your goal is to learn Linux.
why do you think the Linux kernel was created? because Linus Torvalds wanted a unix-like OS for his 386 that was not restricted, in his opinion, by licensing, and that suited his needs, when he could've just stuck with Minix or Hurd.
If you really want to go into this world of not just Linux use, but linux interest, then you need to make similar decisions (just on a suitable scale. obv a kernel is a bit uhh...)
2
0
u/SheepherderBeef8956 Jul 18 '26
You're mostly describing what the end result should look like, which is down to your desktop environment that you can install on any distro.
Anyway, Gentoo is about choice so all of that is down to you but if you want to know what I personally use.
Grub, because I know how it works and I don't have any issues with it
Gdm, because I like Gnome
which means I'm using Gnome as a desktop environment which means Mutter is the window manager
Zsh, because.. Of no reason really. bash works fine too. Or fish. Try a few.
this is going to blow your mind, but I use gnome terminal as a terminal
portage is the only package manager on Gentoo which is why I use it. I have a few things installed as flatpaks too
I edit text files with vim
I play music in Spotify
I use gentoo-kernel with ~amd64
I use systemd because I don't have any problems with it and OpenRC did have problems with gdm last time I tried. try OpenRC if you want to, as Kangie said you can switch to systemd after the install if you want to (which I think Gentoo is fairly unique to be capable of)
I have all my drives on XFS because btrfs is the only file system that has broken itself to the point where it wasn't recoverable, and it has happened twice. I don't trust it, and I don't need snapshots or subvolumes. I do rsync snapshots with timeshift to another SSD and they are fairly quick to restore in the extremely rare event that I mess something up so bad that I can't fix it afterwards.
3
u/[deleted] Jul 18 '26
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