Started playing with it recently as I haven't installed nor played with a linux distro in over 20 years. Was surprised how easy it was to install on windows in its own built in VM, and also installed it on an old macbook (only took a couple of minutes for the install). Overall I enjoy using it and it just feels clean, simple, and quick to get around in. Plus it seemed easy to just get rid of what I didn't want and add in what I did want to the whole setup was just concise for what I want to use it for.

For those that use Linux, which distro(s) do you use, and is there any particular reason you picked the one you did versus others you may have tried?

|08[|07K|08N1GHT|07S|08HAD0W] |08[|07https|08://|07www|08.|07boneyard|08-|07bbs|08.|07com|08]

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Windows/64)
* Origin: The Boneyard @ boneyard-bbs.com:8073 (SSH:8074) (46:10/200)

--- Knight Shadow Said ---

For those that use Linux, which distro(s) do you use, and is there any particular reason you picked the one you did versus others you may have tried?

--- Knight Shadow Done ---

I use Arch (btw) because I like building everything from the bottom up. Arch offers a lot of freedom and very few opinions of how things should be done, which I appreciate. I'm also a tinkerer and Arch is a fun distro to tinker around with. I'm not as much of a fan of distros like Omarchy where you're basically installing something with someone else's opinionated dotfiles which they call a distro, but if you like it, more power to you :)

-esc
--- ViSiON/3 v0.9.4/Linux
* Origin: gEMENON (46:1/211)

I use Arch (btw) because I like building everything from the bottom up. Ar offers a lot of freedom and very few opinions of how things should be done which I appreciate. I'm also a tinkerer and Arch is a fun distro to tinker around with. I'm not as much of a fan of distros like Omarchy where you're basically installing something with someone else's opinionated dotfiles wh they call a distro, but if you like it, more power to you :)

To be fair, it is the first "distro" I installed since probably Ubuntu first came out :D

I'd actually like to try different ones, and it seems Omarchy is built on Arch, so I might check that one out too, among others just to get a feel for how they differ. We use macs at work, and I use Windows for gaming/personal project development, and also a chromebook/tablet. So wanted to play with Linux too. Thanks for your take on the one you like to use!

|08[|07K|08N1GHT|07S|08HAD0W] |08[|07https|08://|07www|08.|07boneyard|08-|07bbs|08.|07com|08]

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Windows/64)
* Origin: The Boneyard @ boneyard-bbs.com:8073 (SSH:8074) (46:10/200)

Hey Knight!

On Tue, Oct 13 2026 19:46:10 -0700, you wrote:

Started playing with it recently as I haven't installed nor played with a linux distro in over 20 years. Was surprised how easy it was to install
on windows in its own built in VM, and also installed it on an old
macbook (only took a couple of minutes for the install). Overall I enjoy using it and it just feels clean, simple, and quick to get around in.
Plus it seemed easy to just get rid of what I didn't want and add in what I did want to the whole setup was just concise for what I want to use it for.

I assume you installed it in WSL?

I also tried this when I first heard about it, and I'll admit, I was impressed at how clean it was. After a few weeks of messing around with it, I ended up down a rabbit hole that took me awhile to get myself out of!

I eventually figured I could do it myself with less stuff I didn't want, so I took my go-to archlinux base install, and installed wayland and hyprland on top of it (hence the rabbit hole). I learned about dotfiles (themes for hyprland) and tweaked it all to my liking. After all was said and one, I deleted the VM, realizing I wouldn't stick with it long-term.

Was definitely a fun learning experience, though, and I'd probably do it again if I got the urge.

For those that use Linux, which distro(s) do you use, and is there any particular reason you picked the one you did versus others you may have tried?

I started out with Gentoo probably sometime around 2007-2008ish (yeah, I was a glutton for punishment - I figured if I was doing to learn linux, I may as well start with something difficult on a non-production machine.. which ended up moving to a production machine for a while). A lot of late nights and headaches at the time.. tons of compiling, fixing, recompiling, rinse, and repeat, but I'll admit it was worth it for the knowledge, at the very least.

During the later years of Gentoo, that's about the time I distro hopped. Tried any and all popular ones, like every variation of *buntu and Linux Mint, even tried out SuSE and Fedora (which I didn't care for).. and ended up settling on Archlinux.

I picked it because it's super fast (even with a desktop environment on it, in my comparisons with others, at least), is a rolling release distro so I'm on the latest kernel, latest and greatest packages (binary also, so no compiling) only a day or two after upstream releases them. They have a great package management team - I've had zero issues in the past 13 years since I made the switch. I can probably count on one hand how many times there were over those years they accidentally released a broken package, but instantly sent out warnings on how to fix them, etc.

Just an overall good experience with it, is my main reason for sticking with it. I even run my servers on it (and continue updating them at my earliest convenience).

Otherwise, I've had Virtualbox installed for ages, so I can fire up any new flashy distro to check it out, but I think I'm kind of set in my ways, now. ;)

Speaking of which, I probably don't even need Virtualbox any more if I would just enable WSL (yes, I also use Windows on my gaming build - but I've been tossing around the idea of switching it to Linux since the games I still play are now supported with Steam and Proton).

Are you looking to try other distros or did Omarchy fit all the right notes for you?

Regards,
Accession

... I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.
--- AmberEdit/linux 0.9.2
* Origin: thePharcyde_ telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (46:1/100)

Hey esc!

On Tue, Oct 13 2026 21:03:42, you wrote:

I use Arch (btw) because I like building everything from the bottom up. Arch offers a lot of freedom and very few opinions of how things should be done, which I appreciate. I'm also a tinkerer and Arch is a fun distro to tinker around with. I'm not as much of a fan of distros like Omarchy where you're basically installing something with someone else's opinionated dotfiles which they call a distro, but if you like it, more power to you
:)

SHOTS FIRED! ;)

But yeah, I'm the same way. I won't go so far as building the entire system via LFS, or anything.. but I do like starting from a lightweight base and installing what I want (and with the shiniest new features, too!).

Regards,
Accession

... He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
--- AmberEdit/linux 0.9.2
* Origin: thePharcyde_ telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (46:1/100)

Re: Omarchy
By: Knight Shadow to All on Tue Oct 13 2026 07:46 pm

Started playing with it recently as I haven't installed nor played with a linux distro in over 20 years. Was surprised how easy it was to install on windows in its own built in VM, and also installed it on an old macbook

For those that use Linux, which distro(s) do you use, and is there any particular reason you picked the one you did versus others you may have tried?

I'm using 2 distros right now: Linux Mint and Kubuntu. I've been using Linux Mint on my secondary PC to run a media server, and I also run my BBS on that PC. I was running my BBS in a Windows VM on that PC for years, but I migrated my BBS over to the Linux side over 4 years ago. I think Linux Mint tends to work very well (things tend to "just work"); I've been running Mint on my secondary PC for about 11 years and have been happy with it, as I've had very few problems with it.

In January this year, I decided to switch from Windows to Linux as my primary OS on my main computer. I was going to use Linux Mint on my primary PC as well, but I looked into Kubuntu, which uses KDE Plasma, and I think it looks better overall, seems to support video scaling a bit better, etc., and it's based on Ubuntu, which Mint is related to. I've been using Kubuntu on my main PC since then.

Also, one of the main factors that made me decide to switch to Linux from Windows is that I realized that PC gaming support in Linux has come a long way in recent years; there are a few PC games I've been playing lately and I realized they run very well in Linux - even Windows games. One of them is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (runs great in Linux with Proton from Steam). Another is Overload (from 2018), which has a native Linux version.

Nightfox

I assume you installed it in WSL?

I didn't personally as the "Try Omarchy" setup just does it all for me during the install and includes it's own VM maybe, OR just installs it under WSL with some wizardry, but I am not sure. The experience basically was running an installer and then running an executable (TryOmarchy.exe) that just loads it all up for me.

I also tried this when I first heard about it, and I'll admit, I was impressed at how clean it was. After a few weeks of messing around with it, I ended up down a rabbit hole that took me awhile to get myself out of!

Dang these rabbit holes! Since I've gotten back into BBSing I've probably gone down a hundred of these based on things I've seen people do, or recommend.... but it sure is fun :)

I eventually figured I could do it myself with less stuff I didn't want, so I took my go-to archlinux base install, and installed wayland and hyprland on top of it (hence the rabbit hole). I learned about dotfiles (themes for hyprland) and tweaked it all to my liking. After all was
said and one, I deleted the VM, realizing I wouldn't stick with it long-term.
ended up settling on Archlinux.

Nice, so another vote for Archlinux. Glad you found one that you could dial in just the way you like it!

Are you looking to try other distros or did Omarchy fit all the right notes for you?

So with Omarchy it was just a curiosity thing since I hadn't played with a linux distro in so long, plus just hearing all the buzz around it got me interested in at least playing with it. What pushed me to actually do it was I am beta testing someone's BBS software and it currently is only distributed on linux, so I figured now's the time!

BUT, now I'm interested in playing with Arch to compare it with Omarchy and see if Arch might be more my cup of tea. So I think that distro will be next on my list to play with :)

|08[|07K|08N1GHT|07S|08HAD0W] |08[|07https|08://|07www|08.|07boneyard|08-|07bbs|08.|07com|08]

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Windows/64)
* Origin: The Boneyard @ boneyard-bbs.com:8073 (SSH:8074) (46:10/200)

I'm using 2 distros right now: Linux Mint and Kubuntu. I've been using Linux Mint on my secondary PC to run a media server, and I also run my

I've heard good things about Mint as well and is also on my list to try out. I'll probably look at this after Archlinux.

In January this year, I decided to switch from Windows to Linux as my primary OS on my main computer. I was going to use Linux Mint on my

Oh great you were able to do that. I also am testing things out to see if linux is something I could switch over to potentially. So far, OSX is my favorite OS, but we'll see how Linux goes.

Also, one of the main factors that made me decide to switch to Linux from Windows is that I realized that PC gaming support in Linux has come a
long way in recent years; there are a few PC games I've been playing

I was really surprised by this. Omarchy has Steam built in and I was suprised how you can just connect to steam, download from your library and play it seamlessly. I remember way way way back when I first started playing with Linux (first Redhat... remember them :), then Suse, then Ubuntu when it came out) it was a pain to try and get windows games to run. You could use Wine at the time, but it seems these days it is just so much easier and more fluid experience. I was pleasantly surprised!

|08[|07K|08N1GHT|07S|08HAD0W] |08[|07https|08://|07www|08.|07boneyard|08-|07bbs|08.|07com|08]

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Windows/64)
* Origin: The Boneyard @ boneyard-bbs.com:8073 (SSH:8074) (46:10/200)

Re: Re: Omarchy
By: Knight Shadow to Nightfox on Wed Oct 14 2026 19:53:24

...I first started playing with Linux (first Redhat... remember them...

Yep. It was the first commercial version of Linux I ever bought. Got it at Computer City way back when.
--- SBBSecho 3.38-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (46:1/194)

Re: Re: Omarchy
By: Knight Shadow to Nightfox on Wed Oct 14 2026 07:53 pm

Oh great you were able to do that. I also am testing things out to see if linux is something I could switch over to potentially. So far, OSX is my favorite OS, but we'll see how Linux goes.

I think OSX is good, though the thing with OSX is that you officially need to run it on an Apple Mac. When Apple was using Intel processors, it was possible to hack it to run it on another PC, but now that Apple is using their own M processors, you have to buy a Mac to run it.

Also, one of the main factors that made me decide to switch to Linux from
Windows is that I realized that PC gaming support in Linux has come a
long way in recent years; there are a few PC games I've been playing

I was really surprised by this. Omarchy has Steam built in and I was suprised how you can just connect to steam, download from your library and play it seamlessly. I remember way way way back when I first started playing with Linux (first Redhat... remember them :), then Suse, then Ubuntu when it came out) it was a pain to try and get windows games to run. You could use Wine at the time, but it seems these days it is just so much easier and more fluid experience. I was pleasantly surprised!

I was pleasantly surprised too. I've even heard that Linux can run Windows games better/faster than Windows, and Microsoft has been using Linux as basically a benchmark to compare Windows gaming performance.. though offhand I don't remember the source.

Nightfox

Hey Knight!

On Wed, Oct 14 2026 19:27:10 -0700, you wrote:

I didn't personally as the "Try Omarchy" setup just does it all for me during the install and includes it's own VM maybe, OR just installs it under WSL with some wizardry, but I am not sure. The experience basically was running an installer and then running an executable (TryOmarchy.exe) that just loads it all up for me.

Huh. I wonder how many other distros do this now that WSL is around..

So with Omarchy it was just a curiosity thing since I hadn't played with
a linux distro in so long, plus just hearing all the buzz around it got
me interested in at least playing with it. What pushed me to actually do it was I am beta testing someone's BBS software and it currently is only distributed on linux, so I figured now's the time!

I believe I'm beta testing the same software. It also runs fine on Archlinux! ;)

BUT, now I'm interested in playing with Arch to compare it with Omarchy and see if Arch might be more my cup of tea. So I think that distro will be next on my list to play with :)

Fair warning, with a "base" install from the minimal ISO, you won't get a desktop environment at all. I suggest you check this out to get started:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide

Or, if you want an easier way (now my preferred way), which is a supported "guided installer" TUI provided with the live medium:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Archinstall

Omarchy is basically someone's fancy custom desktop install over the top of archlinux. You can do anything you want with a base arch install, and there's plenty of desktop environments to choose from if you want to go that route. Heck, you can install multiple desktops if you want to, and switch between them.

Regards,
Accession

... Be kind to your kids, they'll be choosing your nursing home.
--- AmberEdit/linux 0.9.2
* Origin: thePharcyde_ telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (46:1/100)

I believe I'm beta testing the same software. It also runs fine on Archlinux! ;)

LOL... WOOT! :)

Fair warning, with a "base" install from the minimal ISO, you won't get a desktop environment at all. I suggest you check this out to get started:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide

Or, if you want an easier way (now my preferred way), which is a
supported "guided installer" TUI provided with the live medium:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Archinstall

Great, thanks. I'll add this to my Arch notes for when I go down that rabbit hole :)

Omarchy is basically someone's fancy custom desktop install over the top of archlinux.

I have been seeing others saying this too. So basically what I could do (that you and others did) is do the exact same thing by taking Arch and then customizing it to how I want it vs how someone else wanted it :)

|08[|07K|08N1GHT|07S|08HAD0W] |08[|07https|08://|07www|08.|07boneyard|08-|07bbs|08.|07com|08]

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Windows/64)
* Origin: The Boneyard @ boneyard-bbs.com:8073 (SSH:8074) (46:10/200)

Hey Knight!

On Thu, Oct 15 2026 17:20:00 -0700, you wrote:

Great, thanks. I'll add this to my Arch notes for when I go down that rabbit hole :)

The wiki is very informational, too. I think there's a page for just about any package you can install from the package manager, as well as the AUR.

I have been seeing others saying this too. So basically what I could do (that you and others did) is do the exact same thing by taking Arch and then customizing it to how I want it vs how someone else wanted it :)

Exactly! You can make it completely yours.

So, since you're fairly new to all this at this point (since it's been so long), check out desktop environments you might be interested in. Some of the popular ones are KDE plasma, Gnome, Cinnamon, Mate, LXQT, LXDE, XFCE, i3, hyprland (what Omarchy is made with), and it seems the list goes on.. ;)

I can probably point you towards more specific ones to try out first, if I knew what you actually want out of a desktop. But if you just search the interwebs and go directly to their sites, there will most likely be screenshots to give you an idea.

If I want to have a full system that I don't have to do much with, I prefer KDE plasma. If I wanted to tinker and mess around a bunch, I'd probably choose something like i3 or hyprland.

Regards,
Accession

... I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.
--- AmberEdit/linux 0.9.3
* Origin: thePharcyde_ telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (46:1/100)

--- Accession Said ---

If I want to have a full system that I don't have to do much with, I prefer KDE plasma. If I wanted to tinker and mess around a bunch, I'd probably choose something like i3 or hyprland.

--- Accession Done ---

I love Plasma and use it on all my linux boxen. It's what Windows wishes it could be. It's like XP at its highest aspiration.

-esc
--- ViSiON/3 v0.9.4/Linux
* Origin: gEMENON (46:1/211)

So, since you're fairly new to all this at this point (since it's been so long), check out desktop environments you might be interested in. Some
of the popular ones are KDE plasma, Gnome, Cinnamon, Mate, LXQT, LXDE, XFCE, i3, hyprland (what Omarchy is made with), and it seems the list
goes on.. ;)

I can probably point you towards more specific ones to try out first, if
I knew what you actually want out of a desktop. But if you just search
the interwebs and go directly to their sites, there will most likely be screenshots to give you an idea.

If I want to have a full system that I don't have to do much with, I prefer KDE plasma. If I wanted to tinker and mess around a bunch, I'd probably choose something like i3 or hyprland.

Thanks so much for the guidance and recommendations, I'll make note of these. Very helpful as always Accession, much appreciated!

|08[|07K|08N1GHT|07S|08HAD0W] |08[|07https|08://|07www|08.|07boneyard|08-|07bbs|08.|07com|08]

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Windows/64)
* Origin: The Boneyard @ boneyard-bbs.com:8073 (SSH:8074) (46:10/200)

Re: Re: Omarchy
By: esc to Accession on Fri Oct 16 2026 05:32 pm

I love Plasma and use it on all my linux boxen. It's what Windows wishes it could be. It's like XP at its highest aspiration.

I started using KDE Plasma in January this year, and I like it. I had read that KDE (maybe Plasma specifically) tends to have a lot of options to tweak for the UI & such, and that seems to me to be the case.

I do like some of the UI themes available for Xfce (which I'm using on my BBS PC) which don't have an equivalent for KDE Plasma, but I think some of the UI themes for KDE Plasma are really nice too. I especially appreciate the theming capabilities in Linux GUI environments these days since the other major operating systems (Windows, Mac OS, iOS, and Android) have all gone to a more basic flat appearance.

Nightfox

Hey esc!

On Fri, Oct 16 2026 17:32:42, you wrote:

I love Plasma and use it on all my linux boxen. It's what Windows wishes
it could be. It's like XP at its highest aspiration.

Completely agree with you there. If I ever get around to switching my gaming rig to Linux, that's what I would use.

When writing that message, I looked up a list of DEs to give, and in multiple cases, KDE Plasma was classified as 'extremely lightweight' - which I found odd since it's the most feature rich yet not anything like Gnome (which is apparantly where all the bloat went now.. requiring 4gb ram and such).

Regards,
Accession

... Take my advice, I don't use it anyway.
--- AmberEdit/linux 0.9.3
* Origin: thePharcyde_ telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (46:1/100)

Hey Knight!

On Fri, Oct 16 2026 17:51:52 -0700, you wrote:

Thanks so much for the guidance and recommendations, I'll make note of these. Very helpful as always Accession, much appreciated!

Of course, and hope you have fun in the process!

Regards,
Accession

... Take my advice, I don't use it anyway.
--- AmberEdit/linux 0.9.3
* Origin: thePharcyde_ telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (46:1/100)

Hey Nightfox!

On Fri, Oct 16 2026 18:02:08 -0700, you wrote:

I started using KDE Plasma in January this year, and I like it. I had read that KDE (maybe Plasma specifically) tends to have a lot of options to tweak for the UI & such, and that seems to me to be the case.

FYI, KDE /is/ Plasma, since version 4.x, I believe. Anywho, the fact that it has so many options to tweak, is one of the "cons" as far as possibly being overwhelming to someone new to Linux. I don't see that, though.. If you don't know what you're doing, leave it default. When you want to tinker or change something, having every possible option available to tweak is awesome, in my opinion.

Regards,
Accession

... Politicians and diapers should be changed regularly for the same reasons. --- AmberEdit/linux 0.9.3
* Origin: thePharcyde_ telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (46:1/100)

Re: Re: Omarchy
By: Accession to Nightfox on Fri Oct 16 2026 08:57 pm

FYI, KDE /is/ Plasma, since version 4.x, I believe.

Ah. Before this year, the last time I had used KDE was years ago (maybe 2001ish?), and at the time it was still just KDE.

Anywho, the fact that
it has so many options to tweak, is one of the "cons" as far as possibly being overwhelming to someone new to Linux. I don't see that, though.. If you don't know what you're doing, leave it default. When you want to tinker or change something, having every possible option available to tweak is awesome, in my opinion.

Yeah, I like having things to tweak. And I agree, if you don't know what you're doing, you can just leave the defaults.

Also, one thing I noticed that I thought was pretty cool - And it's because I still like to buy music on physical media - I still like to buy music on CDs, and I'll rip it on my PC (to both FLAC and MP3) to copy to my various devices I listen to music on; The default file explorer for KDE (Dolphin) has integrated CD ripping capability where (once configured) it makes it appear that there are MP3 and FLAC files on an audio CD, and you can just copy & paste those to your drive on your computer, and it will rip & encode them on the fly.

Nightfox

Re: Re: Omarchy
By: Mortar to Knight Shadow on Thu Oct 15 2026 09:58:04

...I first started playing with Linux (first Redhat... remember them...

Yep. It was the first commercial version of Linux I ever bought. Got it at Computer City way back when.

Ha! I remember saving up my allowance money as a tweenager to buy a copy of RH7.3 from... Babbages?? In the mall?? To install on an old 486-with-pentium-daughterboard computer inherited from a college-kid neighbour. I was a very popular kid myself, as you may guess.

Anyway, RPM-based distros through uni and my first few jobs, what with RHEL being a popular server choice. Then Ubuntu-based distros were all the rage with clouds and virtualization, so I used Ubuntu on my desktop to learn its lil weirdness (systemd >:( ), and thus I remain. Horrifically abused and frankensteined with X rather than wayland, i3 as my wm, and a ton of un-commented-good-idea-at-the-time customizations and recompilations of core libraries that I forget it's Ubuntu except when I cat /etc/os-release. I've even grown to love systemd >:(

Props to SteamOS though, I've been very impressed by the "just-works"-ness of the Steamdeck. I'd proudly proclaim this year as the year of the Linux Desktop, just like I have every year since 1997.

Cheers,
Snek
--- SBBSecho 3.38-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (46:1/194)