Distrowatch review grumbles

[Eadwine Rose]

With a current rating of 8.6, those fake reviews at least give us a good number. :)

[Huckleberry Finn]

... I never see any of my reviews posted which proves distro review posts are all FAKE!

My reviews were all displayed (still there) , even in Mint days, also some of them are at top 2 (most rated, over 100 ).

[Huckleberry Finn]

Version: 21.1
Rating: 1
Date: 2022-05-22
Votes: 0


MX Linux 21.1 XFCE
MX Linux 21.1 KDE
MX Linux 21.1 Fluxbox

This distro disappoints me for ages, it is one of 2 unusable for me distros on whole distrowatch list (the other one is opensuse, which parks hard disk heads like crazy).

I hate distros which destroy hardware, and MX Linux has strange performance settings, and it always heats processor on my laptop, even when you do nothing. Essentially there is always hot air coming from the fan grille, and the laptop alluminium case is hot.
While any other linux disro I tried doesn't heat the CPU, and the laptop alluminium case is always chilly while working, as it is supposed to be cause it is metalic...
I tried on my laptop:
- endeavour
- manjaro
- artix
- clear linux
- void linux
- nixos
- debian
- ubuntu
- ubuntu mate
- kubuntu
- ubuntu budgie
- mint
- fedora
- centos
- almalinux
- rocky linux
- solus
- ghostbsd

(possibly i missed something out and tried other things too.)

and openSUSE (which spins my laptop hard drive as crazy and does't count)


AND every distro except MX Linux works just fine with CPU & doesn't heat.
AND MX since MX 19 & MX 21 always heated my PUC


EPIC FAILURES:
- distro doesn't work well on laptops
- strangely configured kernel and distro which causes CPU to heat like crazy even when you do nothing
- strangely configured firefox browser which causes CPU to heat like crazy even when you do nothing

which means that MX Linux eventually will brick your laptop

PROS:
- mx tools are nice

CONS:
- clearly it is meant for desktops and ignores laptops
- snaps don't work by default
- mx-install is unstable app
- the installer is unstable too, it sometimes cannot create partitions if there is already another disto on hard disk.

[siamhie]

I tried on my laptop:

- artix

I caught that one last night...Who is this artix they speak of?


MX is closing in on 1500 reviews (1468). The next distro with that many is Mint at 1302. We're loved

[richb]

I tried on my laptop:

- artix

I caught that one last night...Who is this artix they speak of?


MX is closing in on 1500 reviews (1468). The next distro with that many is Mint at 1302. We're loved

Artix Linux, apparently is a systemd-free linux distribution.

[siamhie]

How about this review right under your post @Huckleberry Finn

Version: 21.1
Rating: 9
Date: 2022-05-21
Votes: 2


Globally an excellent distro, one of the best xfce-desktops I know about. It brings the stability of Debian together with their excellent MX-tools, so set-up and fine-tuning is much more easy. It is user friendly and provides documentation on the spot (faq and handbook). Flatpack being enabled is also a big plus.
I don'like some of their pre-installed applications, but you van easily replace them.
It is however not an absolute beginners distro. It has a couple of quirks you must know your way around. Only one example, after a fresh installation I couldn't reach my second and third hard drive. I had to type my password. I had to use some drive utility to give access to those drives. You don't need that in others distro's. This has to be fixed.
Also, they do the same thing as Mint a couple of years ago, in synaptic and their own packageinstaller dependencies are not automatic installed. Some novice users can end up with applications that are not fully functional.
But all in all, highly recommended if you want a hassle free and reliable system. Thanks to the developers.

While I applaud the 9 rating you gave, there are some issues with your review.

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It is however not an absolute beginners distro. 

No it's not nor do they claim to be. This isn't Pop!_OS.

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after a fresh installation I couldn't reach my second and third hard drive. I had to type my password.

Again, This isn't Pop!_OS, but if you took the time to search the forum you would have been given a dozen examples to fix this.

Code: Select all

Also, they do the same thing as Mint a couple of years ago, in synaptic and their own packageinstaller dependencies are not automatic installed. 

Now you're just flat out lying

[siamhie]

I tried on my laptop:

- artix

I caught that one last night...Who is this artix they speak of?


MX is closing in on 1500 reviews (1468). The next distro with that many is Mint at 1302. We're loved

Artix Linux, apparently is a systemd-free linux distribution.

Ah, didn't know that. I figured with all the spelling mistakes, they were referring to antiX.

[asqwerth]

Artix is pretty nice, an Arch-based distro that uses runit for the init. I have it on my multiboot PC. But there are no significant differences on my computer between MX and Artix with regard to how hard the CPU is working. [but of course]

[Danathar]

I don't pay attention to distrowatch lately at all. I'm assuming MX is still the top dog, and for obvious reasons. Xfce as default? check, Doesn't use systemd by default? check. I honestly believe that there is a backdoor with systemd which is why Ubuntu, among others, push it forward, completely ignoring anything else like it never even existed. It's a fact that when everyone is herded so, or when everyone is using the same browser, or OS, or ap, or whatever, that in and of itself is a security risk and will be exploited simply because of the massive audience. MS is a fine example. KISS never fails and is always the best explanation or reason to be. If anyone puts MX down it's because it's a threat to their herd mentality model of computing. no bueno
DW is not just un-American, it's anti-American.

The backdoor thing is just tin-foil hat stuff. SystemD is open source, plus MANY a security researcher watch their networks for every packet and believe me..if there **WAS** a backdoor it would be known fairly quickly. Besides, claims of anything without proof or evidence are simply not scientific.

Here is my own opinion about SystemD, and I've been thinking about it for some time.

When it came out, I was TOTALLY against it. I still am still against the IDEA of systemD as it's implemented from a philosophical and theoretical stability standpoint. I was also against it because it was being developed and pushed by Lennart Poettering. Why? Because pulse audio sucked and I hated it. Anybody responsible for THAT had no business re-engineering init. In addition I was against it because something that critical was WAY too new. It needed to be bulletproof and I certainly was not convinced of that, especially with Poettering being the the guy at the front of it. I also don't like binary log files.

All that being said...

One thing has changed. Since it's come out it's HAS proved itself from a stability perspective. I can't argue that it's buggy or hasn't worked. I've used it and its OK. I still do not prefer binary logs. The other thing that has changed how I look at things is remembering that, lets remember... the original init...its not like it came down from on high from the almighty on stone tablets. Originally it was designed by AT&T in the early 80's and then re-implemented for Linux in the late 90s. BSD's version isn't even the same as Linux's version of init. So you can't even claim there IS a "correct init". My point is that there is no real reason WHY init shouldn't be looked at like every other system for improvement or change. Why not? Also, nothing I can find says that init is part of the POSIX standard. Apple's MacOS is a POSIX standardized system. It's even got UNIX certification and IT doesn't use init (it uses launchd).

So...do I wish SystemD didn't try to control everything and write binary log files? Yes. Does it work reliably? Yes it does. It's proved that it can and quite well.

[Aronticuz]

I don't really know what the common response to MX21 is.
I do know that I dismissed it in the early days as I took Alt+Space to KRunner search to be a universal cause of cognitive dissonance in anyone and everyone.
I was wrong.
Alt+Space is a great way into learning the way MX21 does things and in the early days I was in too much of a rush and relied on Windows and DOS ways of doing things poorly remembered and over securely held.
MX21 gets 10/10 from me.