[GTALUG] Anyone here using Manjaro or OpenSUSE?

[Evan Leibovitch via talk]

Hi all.

I'm looking to install a new distro, after using Mint and Kubuntu for a
long time.
I'm trying to choose whether to try Manjaro or OpenSUSE.

Sure, I can install both and can look around. But I'm wondering is there is
anyone here who uses either of these distros who might be aware of issues
not readily apparent. Intended desktop is KDE.

Note: I want to be able to use Dupeguru, Spotify, Skype and Signal, apps
that under *buntu require auxilliary PPA repositories. Some of these are
dealbreakers if I can't use them.

All answers are appreciated. The system is to be installed on an SSD, if
that makes a difference.

Thanks!

[Jamon Camisso via talk]

Post by Evan Leibovitch via talk
Hi all.
I'm looking to install a new distro, after using Mint and Kubuntu for a
long time.
I'm trying to choose whether to try Manjaro or OpenSUSE.
Sure, I can install both and can look around. But I'm wondering is there is
anyone here who uses either of these distros who might be aware of issues
not readily apparent. Intended desktop is KDE.
Note: I want to be able to use Dupeguru, Spotify, Skype and Signal, apps
that under *buntu require auxilliary PPA repositories. Some of these are
dealbreakers if I can't use them.

There are snaps for all those except Dupeguru (I don't see RPMs for it
anywhere either, so it looks like .deb from PPA or .spec RPM build are it).

Manjaro and OpenSUSE run snapd with no issues, so you ought to be able
to tick 3 of the 4 boxes (snap search <software name>) returns:

signal-desktop 1.16.0 snapcrafters - Signal Private Messenger
for Windows, Mac, and Linux

skype 8.28.0.41 skype✓ classic One
Skype for all your devices. New features. New look. All Skype.

spotify 1.0.88.353.g15c26ea1-14 spotify✓ - Music for everyone


Cheers, Jamon
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[o1bigtenor via talk]

Post by Jamon Camisso via talk

Post by Evan Leibovitch via talk
Hi all.
I'm looking to install a new distro, after using Mint and Kubuntu for a
long time.
I'm trying to choose whether to try Manjaro or OpenSUSE.
Sure, I can install both and can look around. But I'm wondering is there is
anyone here who uses either of these distros who might be aware of issues
not readily apparent. Intended desktop is KDE.
Note: I want to be able to use Dupeguru, Spotify, Skype and Signal, apps
that under *buntu require auxilliary PPA repositories. Some of these are
dealbreakers if I can't use them.

There are snaps for all those except Dupeguru (I don't see RPMs for it
anywhere either, so it looks like .deb from PPA or .spec RPM build are it).
Manjaro and OpenSUSE run snapd with no issues, so you ought to be able

I'm not at all knowledgeable on the running of either of Manjaro or OpenSUSE
but I tried running LXD, which requires the use of snapd, on Debian.
Would not recommend using such. IMO any software which takes control from
the user and gives the developer control instead really should not be included
in anything called 'open source'. In my odyssey with the combination I
was using
I was able to find out that snapd MUST be udpated, the dev team likes to do it
EVERY DAY but will accept doing it only once a month. There was offered a
solution where an iptables rule would block that request, to
update/upgrade, from
happening. After installing such it was very interesting to see that
somewhat after
the time for the scheduled upgrade/update passed my server would be killed
internally. In the process of working with the lxd system (which has
the possibility
of a lot of good things except for this now total dependency upon
snapd) I set up
an experimental system to not have any problems created on systems that I need
to 'function'. It was on this experimental system that I found that if
you use the
command sequence # snapd remove lxd followed by # apt remove snapd (I also
used # apt purge snapd) only to find that there were still a large number of
directories still on the system. The actual removal process is quite
tedious taking
about 7 or 8 steps to clean up lxd and then, and only then is it
possible to remove
snapd. Given my 'joys' with this set of systems I would therefore NOT recommend
anything to do with snapd. IMO snapd was set up in its fashion to
assist Canonical
in developing a greater impetus towards its IPO (initial stock
offering). While it
appears that snapd is supported on other systems that ubuntu a read of
the forums
will show that there seem to be lots of hiccups on most everything but ubuntu
- - - - ymmv!

Regards

Dee
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[Digiital aka David via talk]

Funny enough I just started to use Manjaro after my laptops hdd failed last
week which had mint KDE. Im running xfce and so far the feel of it is
pretty nice coming from someone who's been a looooooong time user of KDE. I
haven't had lots of time to play with it but it's pretty quick. Maybe it's
the ssd drive too that has the laptop booting in well under 15 seconds.
I can have a look at this apps later tonight when I get on it

Post by Evan Leibovitch via talk
Hi all.
I'm looking to install a new distro, after using Mint and Kubuntu for a
long time.
I'm trying to choose whether to try Manjaro or OpenSUSE.
Sure, I can install both and can look around. But I'm wondering is there
is anyone here who uses either of these distros who might be aware of
issues not readily apparent. Intended desktop is KDE.
Note: I want to be able to use Dupeguru, Spotify, Skype and Signal, apps
that under *buntu require auxilliary PPA repositories. Some of these are
dealbreakers if I can't use them.
All answers are appreciated. The system is to be installed on an SSD, if
that makes a difference.
Thanks!
--
Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada
@evanleibovitch or @el56
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[Veronica Gluza via talk]

Hi,

I’ve been on Manjaro for around 3 years now and quite happy with it. No major problems other than sometimes being limited to certain software as the most stable applications on any arch distro come from AUR (Arch Linux User Repository). I have avoided using applications that require PPA repositories since I usually was able to find an alternative on AUR.

Spotify and Skype work without issue.

I highly recommend this distro.

Veronica

Post by Evan Leibovitch via talk
Hi all.
I'm looking to install a new distro, after using Mint and Kubuntu for a long time.
I'm trying to choose whether to try Manjaro or OpenSUSE.
Sure, I can install both and can look around. But I'm wondering is there is anyone here who uses either of these distros who might be aware of issues not readily apparent. Intended desktop is KDE.
Note: I want to be able to use Dupeguru, Spotify, Skype and Signal, apps that under *buntu require auxilliary PPA repositories. Some of these are dealbreakers if I can't use them.
All answers are appreciated. The system is to be installed on an SSD, if that makes a difference.
Thanks!
--
Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada
@evanleibovitch or @el56
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[Bill Thanis via talk]

I would shy away from opensuse. Its really a server implementation with a
desktop façade. It can be a bit ornery to use sometimes.

Bill

Post by Evan Leibovitch via talk
Hi all.
I'm looking to install a new distro, after using Mint and Kubuntu for a
long time.
I'm trying to choose whether to try Manjaro or OpenSUSE.
Sure, I can install both and can look around. But I'm wondering is there
is anyone here who uses either of these distros who might be aware of
issues not readily apparent. Intended desktop is KDE.
Note: I want to be able to use Dupeguru, Spotify, Skype and Signal, apps
that under *buntu require auxilliary PPA repositories. Some of these are
dealbreakers if I can't use them.
All answers are appreciated. The system is to be installed on an SSD, if
that makes a difference.
Thanks!
--
Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada
@evanleibovitch or @el56
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[Charles Philip Chan via talk]

Bill Thanis via talk <***@gtalug.org> writes:

Hi Bill,

Post by Bill Thanis via talk
I would shy away from opensuse. Its really a server implementation
with a desktop façade. It can be a bit ornery to use sometimes.

Please elaborate. I have been using SuSE/Open SUSE almost exclusively
since 1996 (before that Zip Slack and Redhat). I have flirted with other
distros through the years, but I always come back to OpenSUSE for all my
needs. I don't see where it is lacking in the desktop areas. Although I
use some KDE apps (not the desktop), but according to many reviews,
OpenSUSE has one the best KDE Plasma implementation.

Just curious.

Charles

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[David Ing isss--- via talk]

When I was running into a few VPN configuration issues with Kubuntu 17.10
(on a multi-boot Thinkpad that already had Ubuntu and Deepin Linux), I
reformatted the partition and installed Manjaro KDE as a fourth distro
targeting the same /home.

The AUR, as compared to PPAs in Ubuntu (or using Gdebi to install deb
files) has been a good reason for me to switch to Manjaro KDE from
Kubuntu. Firstly, when Ubuntu version upgrades happen (particularly in
non-LTS updates), the PPAs have to be updated and reinstalled. Since these
are volunteer efforts, I've found some of the more obscure Linux packages
that I use not fully "supported" -- in the sense that installation isn't so
straightforward.

In particular, one benefit of moving to Manjaro has been that Java 6 is
still in the AUR! I have an old bookkeeping package where I need an older
version (to migrate off!) and Java 6 has been practically impossible for me
to install on any Debian-based distro. (I'm okay, but not a master as an
Ubuntu system administrator for myself).

The Manjaro community has been responsive. As compared to the Ubuntu
world, where there are a lot of forums, and then bug reporting, the Manjaro
community only has a forum. There's no way to report a bug in Manjaro, per
se -- and that's not a negative, it turns out to be a positive. Since
Manjaro is a rolling release, the fixes really have to be in the packages
themselves (e.g. I'm having some KDE issues with Libreoffice updating from
KDE4 to KDE5, but at least the Manjaro team has been helpful with
workarounds).

One annoyance -- that you may not encounter -- is that Manjaro-Arch Grub is
not the same as Ubuntu-Debian Grub. Thus, after I do an Ubuntu or Kubuntu
update, I need to repeat a fix, that I've documented at
https://ingbrief.wordpress.com/2018/04/09/restoring-manjaro-grub-after-ubuntu-upgrade/
.

For me, I see long term benefits for being on Manjaro KDE as my main
distro. I had tried Manjaro Deepin (which is beautiful) in supporting a
friend, but the difference in Grub versions creates too much support work.
I've put her on Deepin Linux (and update myself rarely, before I go to
visit her for a tuneup).

For a bootable USB distro, I'm not sure that there's much benefit for using
Manjaro KDE. For a portable USB emergency kit, I would probably use Ubuntu
(although I detest Gnome 3 over Unity), or maybe Xubuntu. On all of the
computers that my wife uses, I've standardized on Xubuntu LTS, because she
doesn't want to fiddle with different desktops, and doesn't use much beyond
the browser and standard applications. Given the VPN issues that I've had
with Ubuntu 17.10/18.04, I'm not planning on updating her Xubuntu 16.04
anytime soon.

Post by Evan Leibovitch via talk
Hi all.
I'm looking to install a new distro, after using Mint and Kubuntu for a
long time.
I'm trying to choose whether to try Manjaro or OpenSUSE.
Sure, I can install both and can look around. But I'm wondering is there
is anyone here who uses either of these distros who might be aware of
issues not readily apparent. Intended desktop is KDE.
Note: I want to be able to use Dupeguru, Spotify, Skype and Signal, apps
that under *buntu require auxilliary PPA repositories. Some of these are
dealbreakers if I can't use them.
All answers are appreciated. The system is to be installed on an SSD, if
that makes a difference.
Thanks!
--
Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada
@evanleibovitch or @el56
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[James Knott via talk]

Post by Evan Leibovitch via talk
Sure, I can install both and can look around. But I'm wondering is
there is anyone here who uses either of these distros who might be
aware of issues not readily apparent. Intended desktop is KDE.

I've been running openSUSE and SUSE before it for about 15 years.  It
works well and I'm not aware of any problems.  Skype works on it.

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