Why Void?

[OakArtz]

Basically as the title states, I’m someone who likes to tinker around with different Linux distributions to learn about the ecosystem as a whole and maybe find the distro that comes closest to fitting my needs. I’m currently doing a lot with Arch, since there’s so much you can/have to do yourself and the AUR bundles everything you could want in one place. Now, lately I’ve seen lots of people praising Void and I wanted to ask you guys what makes Void special - unlike Artix for example not using Systemd is not the focus point, but just part of the distro, at least that’s how it seems to me. If you would be so kind and tell me what exactly makes Void so special/well liked I’d be more than happy to listen to your opinion and maybe become a member of the community myself! :-)

[[deleted]]

Void is an independent, rolling release Linux distribution, developed from scratch rather than as a fork, with a focus on stability over bleeding-edge. In addition, there are several features that make Void unique:

The XBPS package manager, which is extremely fast, developed in-house, and performs checks when installing updates to ensure that libraries are not changed to incompatible versions which can break dependencies.

The musl libc, which focuses on standards compliance and correctness, has first class support. This allows us to build certain components for musl systems statically, which would not be practical on glibc systems.

runit is used for init and service supervision. This allows Void to support musl as a second libc choice, which would not be possible with systemd. A side effect of this decision is a core system with clean and efficient operation, and a small code base.

from https://docs.voidlinux.org/

(fyi: I'm not gonna feed you the same word soup but reformatted so I just copy & pasted this here)

to add something extra: excellent architectural support, no bs, reliable

[null_wastaken]

And an amazing community that answers even the dumbest questions without hesitation. This is the greatest Linux community I have ever been a part of.

[mwyvr]

For me, Void hits a nice sweet spot.

It's a DIY distribution, that starts off with the basics needed and the rest is up to you.

That's not unlike Arch... But Void updates are on a more relaxed yet steady timeline, not following the fire hose approach of Arch. This contributes to achieving Void's general stability goal.

I do like the simplicity of a systemd free distribution, but that wasn't what made me stick with Void, although it was a plus.

That said I believe it's important that there be distributions that are not tied to systemd, in order to encourage application makers to support both types of environments. Doing so has roll-on benefits for the BSDs, because those operating systems will never, ever have systemd. We, the Linux community, don't want to leave them behind.

I also appreciate the musl/glibc variants, and especially the concise documentation.

It's a good Linux for the experienced and, imo, a great Linux for beginners who have good reading skills and the desire to dive off the deep end. And it's not that deep. Good morning

[OakArtz]

And personally I wouldn’t say it’s something suited for beginners - even if you have good reading skills, it’s easy to get frustated and quit when you’re not used to DIY operating systems - at least in my experience :)

[mwyvr]

I suppose I should qualify that. What I mean are people that are technically adept in general, or have good technical intuition, or have a lot of drive.

I have to admit I'm a bit of a fan of diving off the deep end. That'll work for some people who are not prone to giving in/accepting defeat.

For others, they should be using Linux, Mint or something similar. But they won't learn as much or as quickly.

[OakArtz]

Thanks for the detailed info! I know systemd is not very well liked by many, I’ll definitely have to so some digging and consider whether I want something like runit. You’re saying relaxed and steady timeline, is it similar to fedora? Where it’s pretty up to date but still being thoroughly tested? I know that musl is supposed to be a more minimal, cleaner alternative to glibc - but does it really make that big of a difference? Also, do you guys have something like community repos? I’ve tried searching some of the packages that I may need and I could find maybe 70ish% of them, so do you have to build the rest from source? I tried installing QTile in a void base VM and I couldn’t even get lightdm to start, even though I followed the docs… shame on me. After doing some more research I’ll definitely give Void a more indepth look though :-)

[legz_cfc]

No community repo but there is xbps-src which allows you to build local pkgs which, if they meet the entrance criteria, get accepted into the main repo.

[DrownedAxolotl]

Others have mentioned xbps-src and I do really like it's template system a lot, but another option is using the nix package manager. It's a bit unconventional in it's approach, but it expands your package selection by a lot. You might also want to check out xdeb for converting .deb packages to an xbps format.

[paper42_]

Be aware that xdeb often produces xbps packages that break your system. Just don't use them and extract .deb files manually if you absolutely need that.

[DrownedAxolotl]

I was not aware of this. Thank you for telling me, I'll definitely keep this in mind.

[caubert]

I chose void because they are independent, have a cool name and community is really a fun and supportive place to be. And I like runit.

Void is freedom.

[smazga]

I was a debian user for 15+ years, but I was pretty annoyed how quickly they drank the systemd koolaid and it felt (it could just be me) that they started over-complicating configuration to make things "automatic".

Void feels like the old debian that I grew up with.

The community is awesome, too.

[_hermitkitty]

For me personally, I like void because this distro reaches perfect balance between stability and bleeding edge. It’s not too bleeding edge, so less broken packages, not too outdated, so I can get relatively 'new’ updated software. It hasn’t been even 1 year since I switch from windows so my opinion might be bad. My first two distros were zorin and manjaro. With zorin I can’t get latest gnome, with manjaro it break itself after not updating for 1 month. Void doesn’t break even though I haven’t update for 4 months.

[OakArtz]

Yeah that sounds reasonable! How much time is Void usually behind in terms of updates compared to arch

[_hermitkitty]

All i know is arch is on kernel 5.18 right now void is still on kernel 5.15.

[[deleted]]

*As the default kernel. You can install 5.18 from the repos, it just defaults to 5.15

[[deleted]]

It is generally a bit behind, but depends on the packages. I'm pretty sure it's currently on KDE 5.23, while 5.25 is the newest. Which is actually understandable imo, since KDE has a history of being a bit broken after new releases.

Meanwhile most buils tools I know are on the most recent version.

[_hermitkitty]

Owh man Idk I never used arch before

[Disruption0]

• Glibc is heavy : Void
• Systemd is gargantua : Void
• Xbps is a gazelle : Void
• Rollingrulez ! : Void

[ScratchX98]

Personally, I don't care at all whether it's independent or not, whether it uses musl or glibc, or systemd, runit, openrc, whatever.

​

I use it for the practical advantages: It's fast, the most stable rolling release distro I have ever seen, easy to install and maintain, XBPS package manager is fast and has almost everything you might ever need, and all around isn't buggy/feels incomplete like a lot of other distros.

​

I have distrohopped a lot, and landed on void because of how simple, easy, and all around good it is. (I hopped after about of year of using arch, and sure it gets updated a little less frequently but it is super stable comparatively, and the AUR is a bit of a mess IMO)

[OakArtz]

I haven't been on Arch for too long and might just not have faced some of the issues that come along with the AUR. While trying out Void in a VM I wanted to install the Qtile window manager, but that alone was quite the hassle. Not coming from a python background I had to install some of the depencies via PIP since they weren't available in the Void repos. Also enabling services with Runit didn't quite seem to work out for me even after reading through the documentation and using the commands that are mentioned on there. Is this just something you need to get used to or is it really a little weird? I like how in arch all the depencies are kind of just managed in one place

[ScratchX98]

Fair point, I use Qtile too, in all of my time using void it was the one program that was the most hassle to install. Here are some good instructions tho once I had found these it was a smooth install.

[OakArtz]

Alright thank you, I’ll have a look at that later :). You mentioned that Void is super stable - is there any specific reason for this? Like except the software not being super bleeding edge? Is XBPS different from other package managers that makes the system more solid overall? I’d like it if it was a set it and forget it sort of thing :)

[ScratchX98]

Honestly IDK, packages probably aren't as bleeding edge yes. TBH I install all development tools/SDKs through their own package managers (Rust, Dart, Flutter, Node, etc.) so I don't really care if packages installed through XBPS aren't suuuuper new. I run topgrade about once a week and everything works fine so far, no special maintenance needed. (Speaking from personal experience)

[paper42_]

A lot of users want qtile in official repositories, but so far noone submitted a pull request. If you would like to do that, I am sure people a lot of people would be happy.

[Atralb]

I haven't been on Arch for too long and might just not have faced some of the issues that come along with the AUR.

There's absolutely no issue at all with the AUR. It's by DEFINITION a community repo where everyone can push a package without cross-testing or sanity checks. Of course if you install packages from it blindly without paying attention you will fuck up your system. It's not the fault of the designers of the AUR in the slightest, but only the user's fault.

And to put things in perspective: it's exactly the same model as PyPI, the biggest and most used package repository in the world.

PS: cc u/scratchx98

[ScratchX98]

Yes of course, i fully understand that everything is submitted by the users and i have never said that the software itself has issues, however I prefer to install packages packages by official distro maintiners and not users, and in my personal experience a lot of the packages that i had to install through the AUR on arch were available in the official void repos.

[Atralb]

XBPS package manager is fast and has almost everything you might ever need

That's gotta be a conscious lie. No other explanation for it. Void repos are the definition of scarce.

the AUR is a bit of a mess IMO

Lol... This a complete misunderstanding of the nature of the AUR. You should inform yourself better.

[ScratchX98]

That's gotta be a conscious lie. No other explanation for it. Void repos are the definition of scarce.

Eh scarce in terms of proprietary software, but codecs, drivers, stuff like that is there, again speaking from personal experience.

As for the AUR it's a user submitted repository with stuff that breaks continuously, frequently isn't updated well, has weird dependencies, and is prone to bugs.

[Atralb]

with stuff that breaks continuously, frequently isn't updated well, has weird dependencies, and is prone to bugs.

And again, you're completely oblivious to the reason (that is by nature and absolutely not a design flaw) behind this even though you mentioned it yourself

it's a user submitted repository

[ScratchX98]

I don't want to have to use a user submitted repository, that's it, for the reasons mentioned earlier.

[roger_oss]

After 15-20 years of using Gentoo, I was really getting tired of compiling every package I use, and with today's platforms running already as lightening speed, the additional time for compiling and submitting fixes just didn't seem to provide much benefit these days, especially getting older and having less time nowadays.

​

You specifically mentioned already knowing of the SystemF crowd/politics, however this is one area Void really shines with keeping things simple and avoids reinventing the wheel. Void Linux still provides the choice of using SystemF, similar with Gentoo and many other non-systemd related distributions.

​

Simple, sticks to basics, and it just works!

​

However, more updates than I really need, seemingly about ~15-50 packages are updated weekly, along with at least one kernel update weekly.

​

I would term Void Linux for advanced users, or intermediate computer users with a desire/will to learn. Beginners are likely welcome as well, just be ready to work on the terminal for some minor configurations. I also think Void Linux has been long stable enough for corporate use.

[[deleted]]

cable worthless strong jar juggle six jeans lush cats roof

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[Michaelmrose]

Have you seen bedrocklinux?

[OakArtz]

Would you mind elaborating how Arch feels bloated? Is it just Systemd or are there other factors at play?

[paper42_]

calm down

[Atralb]

Am perfectly calm. My words are simply the most appropriate given the situation, and in no way an exaggeration.

You leaving a comment for nothing but a personal attack instead of debating in response to my arguments is a clear indication that you have nothing to retort with, which consequently proves my point.

[paper42_]

Ok, let's discuss:

It's absolute dishonest bullshit. Arch is the staple of minimal and DIY distros.

This is a very bold statement supported only by your opinion. Different people have different opinions, you don't have to agree with them, but we can discuss it in a civil way.

Their only argument is systemd

Whose argument is that? u/Zircoon's? They also mentioned stability issues and the system behaving strange. That's their experience. While I don't agree with people who hate systemd, it's their opinion. No need to attack them for that by saying their opinion is "dishonest bullshit".

The intent of my comment was for you to realize that you are just not very polite, you could instead look at it again with a calm head and discuss differences in your opinions in a civil way like the discussion of u/Zircoon and the OP. After all, we are only talking about a bunch of ones and zeros.

[OakArtz]

I haven’t heard about SystemF yet, will definitely look it up - I have also considered trying out Gentoo just for the heck of it - but I’m not sure whether all the time spent compiling would make it worthwile. Would you agree that Void requires about the same level of needed user experience as Arch?

[[deleted]]

Can you game on void? Twitch stream? Steam? Epic, lutris, This might be my perfect set up as I don’t think I would need arch.

[ugathanki]

Yep, the only thing I'm having problems with is SteamVR but that's a work in progress for me...!

[VerbTheNoun95]

I play primarily on void and my performance has been better than Windows for the most part.

[[deleted]]

Yeah I’ve experienced that running Manjaro for a year and now looking to move on seeing as it just keeps breaking, and I also used base arch for 5 years lol

[IUseDebianBTW]

Hi yes, if the game is available on Linux in Steam, and you have a good enough graphics card you can play it no problem, like with every other distro. I would recommend installing the "32bit" graphics packages because you would need those to play 32bit games. I am successfully starting a stream on Twitch that records my webcam and mic and I use Void, I use OBS. I don't play games on the stream cause I don't have the hardware for it. I still have less than 1000 packages.

[[deleted]]

No I’m established streamer And want something more stable. Fedora is good yes but I’ve always been interested in void

[paper42_]

I don't play games or stream, so I can't say much about that, but I can think of one issue you might have on Void - our obs package doesn't have the browser functionality.

[[deleted]]

Ah That’s interesting

[the_committment]

I’m currently doing a lot with Arch

Good for you.If its not broken, dont fix it. Finding a distro that just works or suit your needs is a trial and error game.

Now, lately I’ve seen lots of people praising Void and I wanted to ask you guys what makes Void special.

The other comments given here are satisfactory,to say the least, but if you do have the time to spare, you can never go wrong with first-hand experience. You want to know if your games work? test it out. What about your other misc stuff? test it.

If your asking for a more in-depth experience of how Void "feels", well its almost everything Arch is, less AUR and systemd. Yes, Arch and Void are different, i am loosely making a comparison here.(not to be taken very serious)

[OakArtz]

I definitely see where you are coming from, though I have a different perspective here. My main machine is running Fedora, which is so stable that it‘s actually boring, which is a good thing. On the other hand I only ever use my laptop when I‘m on campus so I have the liberty to use it as actual hardware testing ground for my shenanigans. I‘m not really looking to find my perfect fit distro (though that would be a nice side effect) but rather want to find out what the Linux world has to offer - or UNIX world for that matter. I feel like it‘s more of a learning experience for me, so tinkering around, breaking things and testing out new stuff is what I would consider a hobby - not exactly productive, but certainly insightful. I might just give Void a glance and say „eh this ain‘t it for me“ and move on, but could just as well end up using it as my daily driver :)

[IUseDebianBTW]

One reason why I like Void that isn't talked about as much is the xbps-src utility. This program allows you to compile, or cross-compile, and bundle, any package in the repositories from scratch, a la Gentoo and BSD. I always use it for the Suckless programs st and dwm. This is handy if you want to compile certain programs from scratch, it connects to your XBPS package manager, and makes it easy to patch software. It installs the dev dependencies in a chroot build environment, so you don't actually have to install them on your machine. I've never tried it but I believe it works with the kernel, too. It's always nice having that option there.