New linux distros

[Archibajl]

Gallium os missing packges for development using node js and many other programs

Gallium still works but is out of date for modern development.
To fix this we would have to ensure that the packages that its using are up to date with the latest ubuntu version.

From what I've read this would ensure that development is once again possible on this os.
It's also possible to point to the latest ubuntu distributions which would allow Gallium to last longer, even without software updates from the git repo.

[crystalcommunication]

Please see #631 (comment) and don't use GalliumOS anymore.

[Archibajl]

Well I was able to install .net packages once by changing the mirror reference urls to Ubuntus.
But you're right the OS is deprecated, I still prefer Galliums UI but so far I've been able to get everything I need running on Xubuntu which has a touch screen friendly UI.
Anyways thanks for the response.

[crystalcommunication]

That's not the same. The last version of GalliumOS was downstream from an Ubuntu version that is no longer supported and thus your system will not recieve any critical security updates and finding packaged software that is compatible with it will become increasingly difficult and/or impossible. It's really worthwhile to use a more modern Linux distribution. Xfce is a good choice if you want something with the same technical foundation as GalliumOS, but I would recommend going with KDE if you're just looking for something more modern with a similar default setup to the old GalliumOS builds.

I would also recommend Debian instead of Ubuntu, partially because I prefer it but mostly because getting some Chromebook hardware working properly on Ubuntu is needlessly difficult.

It may technically be possible to upgrade from GalliumOS to a newer Ubuntu version, but this is probably extremely fraught. You should remove the GalliumOS repository from your system completely as the software there won't be compatible with the new distro, and it would be replaced by the later versions from the upstream repo anyway. Still, I would advise against doing this as it has never been tested, many things could go wrong, and I've never even managed to successfully upgrade a Ubuntu release using the official method, though I have failed many times. Since Ubuntu is problematic anyway, it's just not worth the effort. Backing up and distrohopping is safe and productive.

[Archibajl]

That's fair, I appreciate the honest feedback, I'm not a fan of the KDE ui's but that might just be the distros I've worked with.
I'll probably stick with Xubuntu which i think uses Xfce for now as I'm using an older Chromebook and this distro is funded for the next couple of years.

Also Ubuntu is a Debian based distribution but you're right here they have a lot of deviations from the Debian foundation.

Anyways I appreciate the feedback and I am a software engineer by trade so if you need any help with any projects let me know, I'm currently trying to fix my react projects and get into this rust threading project but I'm always open to new projects.

[crystalcommunication]

That's fair, I appreciate the honest feedback, I'm not a fan of the KDE ui's but that might just be the distros I've worked with.

Use whatever you like, I only suggested KDE because I've noticed much better performance on Wayland than Xorg and Xfce doesn't support Wayland.

I'll probably stick with Xubuntu which i think uses Xfce for now as I'm using an older Chromebook and this distro is funded for the next couple of years.

I'm not really sure what you mean by that. If audio works out of the box on your device, you can use any distribution you please.

Also Ubuntu is a Debian based distribution but you're right here they have a lot of deviations from the Debian foundation.

I am well aware of that. I suggested Debian because the script to install the audio drivers doesn't work properly on Ubuntu. Since Debian is the technical base of Ubuntu, it provides a relatively familliar environment. Again, if audio works out of the box on your device, it doesn't matter.

[Qwer-TeX]

I use Lubuntu 24.04 on my Hp Chromebook-X360-14cb0001dx. Audio works out of the box from lubuntu with no configuration while I need to run the audio script for debian. Maybe Lubuntu has more proprietry firmware blobs or that the lubuntu kernel is configured for a broader number of devices?

[crystalcommunication]

Debian's default kernel (Linux 6.1 for bookworm) probably just lacks the kernel module for it. The script is required to reconfigure the drivers on some devices, but sometimes all you need is the newer kernel it gives you (6.6-chrultrabook)

[Qwer-TeX]

The kernel is 6.8.0-31-generic on lubuntu 24.04.
-31 is of course the additional patches by the debian/ubuntu team.
-generic is self-explanatory.

Is ubuntu a little too cutting edge or is debian's pace just slow/playing safe?

Is there a way where I can retrive chrultrabook's patches and apply them to my kernel I patched so that I could test it?

[crystalcommunication]

The -generic is actually very misleading as that kernel in fact includes many patches that are unique to Ubuntu.

The 6.1 kernel offered by Debian and the 6.6 chrultrabook kernel are both LTS versions. Many previous LTS kernel versions are still maintained, info about that is available at https://kernel.org/.

I am not familiar with the specifics of Ubuntu's kernel distribution strategy, Linux 6.8 is EOL but I assume Ubuntu will continue to provide security patches or a newer kernel at some point.

Debian 12 will always ship with Linux 6.1. Debian 13 should ship with a sufficiently recent kernel version to include those drivers.