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Linux @lemmy.ml

tourist @lemmy.world

11mo ago

Distro hoppers, what's always on your install list when you've finished setup and logged in for the first time?

I wouldn't really call myself a distro hopper, but in the last few months I've had to do some fresh installs on a couple of machines and VMs for work

If these aren't included by default, I'll make sure to get em:

GUI:

Firefox & Chromium
Gimp & Krita
VSCode/VSCodium
Okular
Libre office

CLI*:

git
wget&curl
neovim
zsh/ohmyzsh + plugins
glow
neofetch
figlet/toilet
zellij
python
nodejs/npm/nvm + nodemon globally
ranger/rifle

Also, how do you go about migrating your old config and rc files? Start fresh or just copy em over and make adjustments where necessary?

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Recently, I've been changing distros about once a year. These are the things I install every time:
hdparm - I use this to disable APM on my HDD which makes annoying sounds when it's enabled. (Yes, my computer is old and still uses an HDD as the system drive.)
KeePassXC - My preferred password manager.
VeraCrypt - My external drives are encrypted with this.
Joplin - I store my setup notes in here.
Lutris/Steam/Wine - I'm a gamer.
As for the config files, I always start fresh.
- What is APM? And that's a interesting list, ngl.
  
  APM is Advanced Power Management. I'm having trouble finding an official explanation for it, but it basically allows the hard drive to park the head when the OS thinks it's idle. My hard drive makes a loud "click" every time that happens. APM is too aggressive, so my hard drive is constantly clicking unless I disable APM.
  
  That's sound pretty useful, I actually have an HDD that's very noisy and this can come handy, thanks!
  
  That's something Windows used to do a lot, right? I remember the old HDDs were always noisiest under Windows
- Man, do yourself a favor and get an SSD. You can get a 512 GB for as cheap as $30 and a 1 TB for as cheap as $60 on Amazon. The speed difference is night and day. That's probably the single best upgrade you can do to an old machine.

80 comments