Google switching from Ubuntu to Debian

[GreyGeek]

http://www.zdnet.com/article/google-...linux-desktop/

Download LiveUSB
https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd...64/iso-hybrid/

[GreyGeek]

For grins and giggles I downloaded the version of Debian which gLinux (Google's distro) will be based on.
Burned it to a USB stick and booted it.
Vanilla version of KDE5, looks stock in almost every respect. KMail, FireFox, Konqueror, and, several apps relating to speech translation and OCR. Don't know why such an odd selection.
However, I clicked on the NetworkManager icon, selected my essid and entered my password. It refused to connect.
Never looked into seeing if Btrfs could be used as the root fs.
Review terminated.

Guess I'm spoiled.

[dibl]

Interesting.

I didn't know until I looked it up, but there is a distro that is based on Debian testing*. I would think it should be pretty stable and newbie-friendly. I still prefer my so-called unstable distribution, but it does require more user effort to monitor and maintain during major package transitions.

*Well is was stated here to be based on testing, but a little reading on their website reveals it is Debian stable. Not sure what the value-added would be if they are just slapping different graphics on Debian stretch.

[GreyGeek]

It seems like a logical move for Google. Why wait until upstream passes through Ubuntu if one is going to do heavy modifications. Basing directly off of the mothership makes more sense. Sooner or later I'll wager that Kubuntu and KDE Neon will end up doing the same. Especially since Shuttlesworth has proven over and over that he is not above dictating paths. That's his right since he owns Canonical/Ubuntu, but it makes for a rough ride for those basing off of Ubuntu, especially if they don't buy into his "path".

[dibl]

I wonder what their policy will be on letting it "roll forward" as testing continues to develop. I'm guessing they'll develop an automated or semi-automated updating function -- maybe testing critical applications first and then pushing the button to update everybody when they're sure it is safe to do so.

And then of course there's the question of how you handle the transition to "new" testing after Buster is released.

[GreyGeek]

I don't know how they are going to do it, but they have the staff and the money. I doubt, however, that any of their work will filter down to Debian.

[jpenguin]

It seems like a logical move for Google. Why wait until upstream passes through Ubuntu if one is going to do heavy modifications. Basing directly off of the mothership makes more sense. Sooner or later I'll wager that Kubuntu and KDE Neon will end up doing the same

Why, when this https://solydxk.com/downloads/solydk/ exist?

[Snowhog]

Why, when this https://solydxk.com/downloads/solydk/ exist?

The real problem with them is their size; 3 people. It is an unfortunate reality, but 'size matters'. With only three people on the solydk 'team', it is bound to eventually fail for lack of support, boredom and/or frustration...from the three-member team.

[GreyGeek]

Good point!
Of the hundreds of Linux distros available I wonder how many have less than 5 people on their dev crew?
I know of several that have only one key developer and the few that are helping couldn’t build a distro.
Some distros are only cosmetic changes to other base distros.

[wizard10000]

...However, I clicked on the NetworkManager icon, selected my essid and entered my password. It refused to connect.
...
Review terminated.

Guess I'm spoiled.

Unstable and Testing have had some wpa_supplicant issues. They seem to be resolved in Sid, I've heard they were resolved in Testing, but am not sure whether the fixes made it to the install images.

[GreyGeek]

My days of building LFS, or running Arch, or other labor intensive distros, is over.
I hadn't tried Debian in several years and was surprised at how ... unpolished it was. Stock KDE is the barest sense.
Kubuntu/KDENeon spoiled me. (Mandriva & PCLinuxOS helped).