Mint so popular for so long ...
so I decided to install MX 19.4 KDE version as a VM in qemu-kvm. I had to use the Generic distro model because qemu couldn't recognize the ISO as one of its listed options.
Knowing it is not a good idea to install a BTRFS COW into an qemu qCOW2, I decided to try anyway, setting up BTRFS the rootfs on the install. For that I had to use the manal partition option. I created an 8MB unformatted partiton, sda1, with the grub-bios option, and gave the rest to / as BTRFS on sda2. While using the installer I ran into a repeatable "Tab" bug, which is strange because I wasn't clicking on any tab.
After the install was complete I opened a Konsole and did
btrfs fi usage /
and was presented immediately with the message "/ is not a BTRFS file system".
The mount command showed that qcow2 VD was formatted as an EXT4 file system
Was I careless in setting up the partitions?
I repeated the process CAREFULLY, noting that the "proceed" message stated my intention to use BTRFS.
After the install was complete the mount command showed that the file system was ... EXT4.
Apparently the MX 19.4 installer won't let you install BTRFS as the rootfs on a VM.
So, I went ahead and played with the KDE Plasma that MX 19.4 installed. I change to the Breeze Light and my choice for an Icon set, and my favorite wallpaper, and I was looking at Kubuntu 5.15, or was it KDE Neon 5.22? I couldn't tell, Plasma 5.15+ looks the same to me, regardless of the distro it is running on.
FireFox 87, Thunderbird 68.12, LO 6.1.5 and Muon were all pr-installed. So is systemd-shim, which allows systemd and SysVinit both to be installed. Snap, flatpak and systemd are not preinstalled but can be installed, if the user wants them, after the main installation is complete. The "sudo apt .." commands work as you'd expect.
I installed TimeShift and made an rsync snapshot of / and /home. It took 6 minutes for the 10GB of info on the 60Gb virtual drive to snapshot.
MX is praised for its stability, but that is a property of most if not all of the top 100 distros on DistroWatch. My experience with Kubuntu and KDE Neon, using BTRFS as the rootfs, has been one of rock solid stability. Like most Debian based distros it benefits from the *.deb package protocol, which is how most non-distro specific packages are released. So why is it #1 on DistroWatch? Probably two reasons: it doesn't come with systemd or flatpak preinstalled, which appeals to all those old-time Linux users who hate systemd. And, it comes with most other frequently used packages preinstalled. 1.9GB worth. The documentation is supposedly well integrated into the system and is complete, but I never tested that, since I use the man command in the Konsole, mostly. So, what else? Probably word-of-mouth from previous Windows users who switched to from WinXX to Linux, choosing Mint because of the ease-of-use hype.
Of course, ease of use AND power when you need it, is the halmark of the KDE Plasma desktop, regardless of which distro it is running on.
Knowing it is not a good idea to install a BTRFS COW into an qemu qCOW2, I decided to try anyway, setting up BTRFS the rootfs on the install. For that I had to use the manal partition option. I created an 8MB unformatted partiton, sda1, with the grub-bios option, and gave the rest to / as BTRFS on sda2. While using the installer I ran into a repeatable "Tab" bug, which is strange because I wasn't clicking on any tab.
After the install was complete I opened a Konsole and did
btrfs fi usage /
and was presented immediately with the message "/ is not a BTRFS file system".
The mount command showed that qcow2 VD was formatted as an EXT4 file system
Was I careless in setting up the partitions?
I repeated the process CAREFULLY, noting that the "proceed" message stated my intention to use BTRFS.
After the install was complete the mount command showed that the file system was ... EXT4.
Apparently the MX 19.4 installer won't let you install BTRFS as the rootfs on a VM.
So, I went ahead and played with the KDE Plasma that MX 19.4 installed. I change to the Breeze Light and my choice for an Icon set, and my favorite wallpaper, and I was looking at Kubuntu 5.15, or was it KDE Neon 5.22? I couldn't tell, Plasma 5.15+ looks the same to me, regardless of the distro it is running on.
FireFox 87, Thunderbird 68.12, LO 6.1.5 and Muon were all pr-installed. So is systemd-shim, which allows systemd and SysVinit both to be installed. Snap, flatpak and systemd are not preinstalled but can be installed, if the user wants them, after the main installation is complete. The "sudo apt .." commands work as you'd expect.
I installed TimeShift and made an rsync snapshot of / and /home. It took 6 minutes for the 10GB of info on the 60Gb virtual drive to snapshot.
MX is praised for its stability, but that is a property of most if not all of the top 100 distros on DistroWatch. My experience with Kubuntu and KDE Neon, using BTRFS as the rootfs, has been one of rock solid stability. Like most Debian based distros it benefits from the *.deb package protocol, which is how most non-distro specific packages are released. So why is it #1 on DistroWatch? Probably two reasons: it doesn't come with systemd or flatpak preinstalled, which appeals to all those old-time Linux users who hate systemd. And, it comes with most other frequently used packages preinstalled. 1.9GB worth. The documentation is supposedly well integrated into the system and is complete, but I never tested that, since I use the man command in the Konsole, mostly. So, what else? Probably word-of-mouth from previous Windows users who switched to from WinXX to Linux, choosing Mint because of the ease-of-use hype.
Of course, ease of use AND power when you need it, is the halmark of the KDE Plasma desktop, regardless of which distro it is running on.
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