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Entering the Void and other mild annoyances of the distribution in question.
By Pipe | 2021-11-26
What is Void Linux
Enter the void... with no internet connection
The 'xbps' Package Manager
Init System
Final Thoughts
Void Linux is a binary rolling release distribution with focus on stability.
After a stupid simple installation process, I'm greeted by the blackness of the tty and the first step is to update the system with 'xbps-install -Su' which gave me something like this:
Connect: Network is unreachable
Weird, considering that I did set up 'dhcpcd' for the wired connection during the installation. A quick look through the 'ip link show' lens made it clear that my Ethernet interface was down. After getting it up with 'ip link interfacename up' I had to type 'dhcpcd' for the interface to register and finally had my connection working.
Coming from Arch, the first thing that irritated me about 'xbps' was the syntax, reminiscent of the BSD systems.
To install a package under Arch, you would type:
sudo pacman -S pkgname
On Void the command would be:
sudo xbps-install -S pkgname
To remove a package:
sudo pacman -Rsn pkgname
sudo xbps-remove -R pkgname
You see, on Arch 'pacman' is the one tool to manage everything from package installation to searching repositories while 'xbps' follows the Unix "Do One Thing and Do It Well" philosophy by providing a tool set instead.
Yet there are two problems with the packages themselves: Weird arbitrary camel case naming and naming inconsistencies, the latter being the universal problem pretty much everywhere, which doesn't excuse it though.
Packages like 'libxinerama' or 'libxft' become 'libXinerama' and 'libXft' respectively on Void. So prepare to 'xbps-query -Rs' a lot because the installation tool is case-sensitive, while the query one isn't.
In the past, I've only used 'systemd' (also known as The Bloat) and briefly the Gentoo's 'OpenRC'. Void Linux comes with 'runit' init system and I have nothing bad to say about it. The syntax is clean, and it is easy to understand how the services are enabled and disabled.
It is just a matter of creating or removing a symlinks:
ln -s /etc/sv/<service-to-enable> /var/service/ rm /var/service/<service-to-disable>
Void Linux is minimal, easy to install and stable, but that's about it. If you want to jump your ship, whatever it might be, for Void --- don't.
Coming from Ubuntu based distributions to Arch was game-changing and exciting. However, there is nothing special about Void besides mild annoyances here and there for the little benefits it provides.
───
By Pipe | 2021-11-26
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