Void Linux is a very peculiar Rolling Release distribution, It is not one of those rare distros, but it does have some details that attract a lot of attention. In fact, it mixes some things from the Linux world, since it is a distro with a Linux kernel, and also some other things from the BSD world. It is not at all strange considering that its developer is someone who comes from the BSD world. That may be interesting for those coming from * BSD systems like FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, etc., and landing on Linux for the first time.
This smoothes out the transition a bit for adapt to the new environment, although in general they will not have any problem as everything is very similar, since both are UNIX type. In addition, it is not based on any other, it is not an Ubuntu-based, Debian-based, openSUSE-based, Arch-based, etc., but a distro made from scratch. If you are interested in this distribution, you can download it or get more details from the official page of the project void linux.
Some of the peculiarities that you will find in this Void Linux distribution they are:
- runit: you will not find the systemd system as in most current GNU / Linux distributions, but it has been replaced by runit. It is a much simpler system than systemd and it works on various UNIX platforms.
- FreeSSL: It does not use the well-known OpenSSL package, as in most Linux distros, but it has been replaced by LibreSSL, a project developed by The OpenBSD Project, although it is a fork of OpenSSL.
- MUSL C: the C library that we are used to in Linux has also been replaced by this other one, although when you download the ISO from the web it allows you to choose between glib and musl… In case you don't want that other library.
- xbps and xbps-src: Package management is another oddity, as it uses the X Binary Package System and builds packages from its sources. It is a system created from scratch and new for this distro that is a bit different from the more common package managers that we are used to.
- Installer: Although it may look like installing distros like Slackware and derivatives, it looks much more like installing FreeBSD than installing any other Linux system. Basically you start a Live of the distro and from the desktop environment you access the terminal, execute the command sudo void-installer and put the default password voidlinux. Afterwards, you enter the text-based installer like the one you see in the main image of this article ...
On the other hand, the rest of the pre-installed packages is quite similar to that of any of the most popular GNU / Linux distro, although you will not find as many applications with xbps ... By the way, it is available both for AMD64 as if to ARM.
I've been using void for a couple of years looking for lightness for a 2008 desktop.
Highly recommended.
visually painful :(, that overshadows its virtues, since the positive thing about the distro is to bring us closer to the BSD world
You can still do wonders with Void. Just check out usabilityporn or unixporn on reddit.
Like most distributions that don't give you everything digested, and gives you the possibility to customize it, the desktops are with their default characteristics, everything depends on the capacity and the desire that the user has to be able to leave it as one wants.
I installed it on my son's machine with a mate desktop to use it with games, steam works great, as well as various games that he has downloaded, he uses them with wine without any problem