Action Retro Youtube Channel Gives MX a thumbs up

[Danathar]

FYI

https://youtu.be/E6bTVKXGfE0?si=KpypcrY_p6ymzV_d

Action Retro gives MX positive review! He was using an old Macbook Air with MX on it. I had not thought those were so cheap, but as a throw away MX computer for the road and something that will not be missed too much it's a great idea.

[asqwerth]

Reviewer is very complimentary, but keeps talking (and showing) how "wonderful" it is that he can install Debian AND Ubuntu deb files onto MX!


Comment" "MX is a better Ubuntu than Ubuntu".

Oh dear. That might steer some of his viewers wrong.

[AVLinux]

Reviewer is very complimentary, but keeps talking (and showing) how "wonderful" it is that he can install Debian AND Ubuntu deb files onto MX!


Comment" "MX is a better Ubuntu than Ubuntu".

Oh dear. That might steer some of his viewers wrong.

Sigh... Can't one thing be good and then another thing be good? (rhetorical question) so tired of competitive athletic scale being applied to anything and everything..

[Adrian]

Ubuntu debs are not as dangerous as some people make it sound, they are safe in my view as long as they don't conflict with anything and nothing is removed when you install them (they will tell you and if you read the prompts and have a bit more common sense than Linus from Tech Tips you should be fine) -- deb installations are pretty atomic, if something doesn't work you should be able to uninstall and return to previous status, at least if the package is packaged in a sane way. That being said, I don't recommend going for Ubuntu debs unless there's no other solution.

[Danathar]

Reviewer is very complimentary, but keeps talking (and showing) how "wonderful" it is that he can install Debian AND Ubuntu deb files onto MX!


Comment" "MX is a better Ubuntu than Ubuntu".

Oh dear. That might steer some of his viewers wrong.

Yeah, it's nice to get a YouTube influencer to convert, though That being said, I wonder if he knew that many popular packages are already available for MX? For example, Steam is accessible through the package installer.

He enjoys installing and showcasing how old computers can still run modern software. He even demonstrated installing MX on really old hardware—hardware that, honestly, would have been better suited for antiX. Still, it's cool to see either MX or antiX being tried!

[Danathar]

Ubuntu debs are not as dangerous as some people make it sound, they are safe in my view as long as they don't conflict with anything and nothing is removed when you install them (they will tell you and if you read the prompts and have a bit more common sense than Linus from Tech Tips you should be fine) -- deb installations are pretty atomic, if something doesn't work you should be able to uninstall and return to previous status, at least if the package is packaged in a sane way. That being said, I don't recommend going for Ubuntu debs unless there's no other solution.

My approach is to always look for a Flatpak first before considering a Debian or Ubuntu `.deb` package. It's all too easy on any Linux distro to end up in a situation where installing packages gradually destabilizes your system over time, especially when it comes to major release upgrades.

Flatpaks are great because they isolate applications, minimizing the risk of breaking your system. If I absolutely HAVE to use an Ubuntu package, I rely on Distrobox. It’s an excellent tool that allows you to install and run Ubuntu packages in a containerized environment, eliminating the risk of system instability. Distrobox really is great. Homebrew is also useful, thats my last stop before non MX vetted .deb files.

So..in summary (any suggestions on this order?)

1. MX packaged stuff that's been vetted for MX
2. Flatpaks
3. Distrobox
4. Homebrew
5. Debian .deb files
6. Ubuntu .deb files (but I've never actually installed an Ubuntu .deb on MX)

[asqwerth]

@Adrian

You know what you are doing, so of course you are able to assess compatibility of Ubuntu debs.

The problem is that for users who don't know better, this video will give an impression that MX and Ubuntu are compatible in general.

Next thing you know, they are enabling Ubuntu repos or PPAs, one thing leads to another, and then their system breaks. And yes, I daresay some newcomers might say yes to an installation process even if the terminal message shows lots of packages being removed.

[chrispop99]

Ubuntu debs are not as dangerous as some people make it sound, they are safe in my view as long as they don't conflict with anything and nothing is removed when you install them (they will tell you and if you read the prompts and have a bit more common sense than Linus from Tech Tips you should be fine) -- deb installations are pretty atomic, if something doesn't work you should be able to uninstall and return to previous status, at least if the package is packaged in a sane way. That being said, I don't recommend going for Ubuntu debs unless there's no other solution.

The real danger IMO are PPAs. Lots of Facebook group members (who are often less experienced users) have broken their systems by using them, not always immediately, but after a later update.

Chris