Things that are GREAT about MX Linux

[operadude]

Ease of Use

# of Distros, DEs, Respins, and Configurability

Of Course: MX-Snapshot & MX-LUM

Last, But Not Least: The MX-Forum

[thomasl]

But my absolute , by several miles , is the frugal mode/persistence.

Can you please explain in more detail why you like (or use) a frugal install better than a regular installation. TIA.

Well, there are many . When I started with MX I had to dual-boot with existing installs of Windows 7. Frugal mode made it easy to install and test-drive MX Linux (then 18 IIRC) on top of my existing Windows setup and, more importantly, partition layout (ie no faffing around with resizing and creating new partitions). Just created the required frugal MX files (5 files altogether) on an NTFS partition, had a word with the boot manager and I was good to go. I developed and enhanced the system over time but I never saw the need for a full install. I am SysV init only and everything I want to run has always (and continues to) run perfectly fine.
Nowadays, I'm on MX23 and I don't dual-boot anymore and all ex-NTFS partitions are now ext4 but I still use frugal exclusively on the three PCs in use here. Backing up is trivial: just copy the 5 files I mentioned and that's it, the full system with all my stuff/configs is there. It's flexible as I can have more than one rootfs/homefs, ie for changes or experiments, so trying out new software is completely risk free. The way I have set up persistence means that even a

Code: Select all

sudo rm -Rf /usr

can't kill my install. Simply reboot and magically everything comes back. And there's more, for instance booting my complete system from a USB stick or external SSD wherever I am (including the VMs for Windows 7 and Windows 10).

The downside is that frugal mode/persistence, because it's so enormously flexible and powerful, has a certain learning curve. Nothing too bad, mind, and with hindsight it all appears easy and straightforward but it took me a while to really understand how it works. See viewtopic.php?t=70627 for some of the gory details. I've always wanted to update these notes with new material but that thread has been closed (and given how it deteriorated I've not found the energy to create a new one).
Of course YMMV.

[Antediluvian]

Re: Frugal

it took me a while to really understand how it works. See viewtopic.php?t=70627 for some of the gory details.

You packed some great info into that thread!

[BitterTruth]

The LACK of pettiness and useless point scoring in the forums.

[gimcrack]

1) The Community
2) Excellent Forum with much developer's involvement
3) All of MX Tools
4) The Manual is awesome
5) Great Default Choices

[thinkpadx]

a beautifully elegant stable compkete system!