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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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How bad is Ubuntu? (self.linux)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by HumanPerson to c/[email protected]

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I have been not recommending Ubuntu to people because of obvious reasons (the Amazon search integration and snaps, mainly). The reason I am posting this is because someone I know mentioned that they are considering Ubuntu. They have a degree in cs and generally are competent with computers, but didn't like mint when they tried it. I would like to know a few things, since I haven't looked into Ubuntu in a while:

Has anything changed about snap? I know people didn't like it at first, especially the proprietary server, but I don't think they will care about that and I mainly just want to know if it will eat all their RAM or something.

Have they made any changes in their management that may make sure there won't be another Amazon search thing?

Is it best to use the default desktop on Ubuntu? I would recommend Kubuntu to them, all else being equal, but don't know if maybe the default one is better integrated.

Edit: The person will be 100's of miles away so helping them with issues will be hard, and Ubuntu LTS should be stable. Plus, basically everything that "supports" linux but doesn't really usually supports Ubuntu. I do really see where they're coming from, but want to know if it has a major potential to backfire on them and if they might be better off with Fedora.

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[+] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

No Fedora doesnt at all have livepatching. I think APT distros are great at not needing reboots, Fedora sucks. Its offline installer doesnt work well enough to excuse the reboots.

Fedora Atomic Desktops meanwhile offer awesome unbreakability. I use Kinoite daily and dont plan on switching. Even though using latest Plasma, it just doesnt break.

I would choose a different Distro though, if I didnt want rpm-ostree. Just not sure what? Kubuntu? No. Arch? Hell no. OpenSUSE Slowroll with KDE probably, yes that would be it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Apt will install a package but if a service is in use the kernel still runs the old until you stop the services and restart. its just not apparent to the user. This is not live patching, live patching is when kernel will load a new patch and you temporarily have two states and during a momentary blip pass all control to new kernel...this is typically for mission critical server that can't have downtime. Just running a regular update does not do this.

Source for live patching https://tuxcare.com/blog/developer-tutorial-live-patching-debian-10-linux-kernel-with-kpatch/

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Interesting! But afaik apt also has mechanisms to only restart necessary services.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Not sure how to check on apt, but zypper uses ps -s arguments and shows you all the running processes/services that need a restart before the system is fully using all updates