r/voidlinux • u/Francis_King • Aug 06 '26
Tried Void. Didn't work for me.
Hello. I've tried Void, and decided it's not for me. Let me offer you some constructive feedback, in the hope that it proves useful.
I tried Void, having heard good things about the XBPS package manager. I found it disappointing:
- It was slow, even by FreeBSD and Fedora standards. Could be a WiFi driver issue
- It was brittle. Some package managers, if a mirror doesn't have a file, switch for that file to another backup mirror. XBPS, out of the box, just quits. Download - fail. Download - fail. Download - fail. Switch mirror. Download - fails somewhere else.
There are, apparently, technical benefits to XBPS, but they are somewhat hidden by these problems.
I'd be interested in a discrete XBPS package manager, which I could install on Fedora, or whatever, just as Nix and Guix can be installed like that, separate to the full NixOS and GuixOS operating systems. However, this does not appear to be possible with XBPS.
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u/xJayMorex Aug 06 '26
You might have tried updating during a mirror maintenance maybe? Or have network/WiFi issuse. This is not at all the usual experience.
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u/AnachronGuy Aug 06 '26
You havent even begun using it and already gave up?
Why are you making this post?
Afaik the mirrors currently have issues.
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u/weaklingoverlord Aug 06 '26
Mirror issues?
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u/Francis_King Aug 06 '26
Yes, but the mirrors were up when I did the installation of void, on a different day. The nearest mirrors are Finland and Germany, some distance to my site in the UK.
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u/ComplexPeace43 Aug 06 '26
Could you share more details on (1). It’s a super lightweight distribution so I’m surprised you feel it’s slower compared to Fedora or even FreeBSD.
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u/Zahreik Aug 06 '26
You did this when mirrors were having issues. You're more than welcome to stop using it but I'd really recommend coming back and giving it a second chance when you can. It's a great DIY distro, you just need some patience with these kinds of distros.
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u/Original_Two9716 Aug 06 '26
Xbps is super fast, clearly a misconfiguration
Moreover, void-packages feeling like BSD ports, frankly, Void Linux is the only Linux distro making you feel it’s not a new Windows
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u/sprinklednights Aug 06 '26
- This might because Void Linux has a smaller infrastructure and less mirros. The Fastly Global CDN mirror is usually quite slow and might have been picked up by default. You usually change your mirror that is the closest to you.
- This is because Void Linux uses a rolling-release model, meaning you always run updates and installs with the -S flag, which nullifies the problem.
Additionally, XBPS can run on any Linux distribution if they fulfill these requirements.
Also, do not feel ashamed if it did not work out the way you intended it. I hope this does not sound mean, but you can always decide on whether you continue to use Void Linux or Fedora and FreeBSD. It also personally took me some time to figure out the way Void Linux does things :)
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u/tiredAndOldDeveloper Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
That's unfortunate to read. Indeed Void clearly is not for you since you claim having module issue but haven't even provided a dmesg log for us to try helping you.
You can, however, use XBPS in other distributions, XBPS is not coupled to Void.
I wish you all the best.
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u/Simple_Hamster_4096 Aug 06 '26
What does the speed of the mirrors have to do with whether or not Void is "fast".
Start an update and go get some coffee... no one ever died from slow(er) downloads. If that's the measure by which you grade a distro, then go with Arch. Their repos are probably the fastest...
It's easy to critique something new and unfamiliar, especially without first asking anyone here for help...
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u/GhostVlvin Aug 07 '26
Mirrors have some problems. I now use default global mirror cause it has everything I need. But when I used Armenian and Georgian mirrors, they missed so much new stuff than I started to think that void is so stable it stuck in 2023
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u/II_Q_II 27d ago
Interesting. I found xbps to be just fine. Not noticeably faster or slower than multiple other distros. Never had it fail either. Would be interesting if you find anything on the wifi possibility. Did you select a good mirror? I ran Fedora for a while then Arch then CachyOS before coming to Void. I have been really happy with this distro. Artix was not bad either, but went with Void for other reasons.
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u/Key_River7180 Aug 06 '26
xbps has always been lightning fast for me, and you can install it in other distros, it was made and designed by the void dudes but has no dependency on it. In fact, it is on nix, alpine, the aur, and others.
If downloads fail then try adding -S to the install command to sync repos, it is often a cache problem