What happened to me since i moved to "oldschool" software

schorsch_76 · Guru Joined: 19 Jun 2012 Posts: 450

Hi all,
i just wanted to talk about, what happened to my Gentoo after i switched to "oldschool" software. With oldschool i mean:
- no systemd
- no udev (instead the more stable, in terms of update frequency, eudev)
- no gnome/KDE/XFCE/LXDE
- no unstable (~arch) software on my machine

I switched to i3/xorg/eudev and LTS versions from FF/Thunderbird.

The consequences are:
- My systembuild times are reduces to a minimum
- Absolutly no breakage in the last year
- updates are very smooth

I have now 800+ packages installed and my system is stable like a rock

What are your expierences with your decision? What is your approch?

ct85711 · Veteran Joined: 27 Sep 2005 Posts: 1791

For me, "oldschool" was more of was the wm than anything else. I've been using udev for quite a while, and have very little to no trouble. I've been running ~amd64, something I did when I moved to gentoo, and stayed with that ever sense. I rarely have too much problem running unstable branch to have considered it a chore. The wm I was using, was Gnome, and KDE. However, once Gnome 3 interface completely affected how I do work, it was time that I moved away to another WM. It's been said that their interface, once you got used to it, it would speed up your productivity; on me it was the opposite. I didn't have much issues with KDE, except the long compile times. Another item that both of them that was a annoyance, were the tend that both WM's was going the route of building everything having direct dependency's of their packages making a whole suite branching in all areas; even though I never used or wanted any of the other parts. I don't mind integration with other packages when the other packages are optional features, but making so you are forced to have all the packages even though they weren't wanted is another thing.

Since I moved to XFCE, my build times went down dramatically too. I like how XFCE libraries are not too big, and compile fairly fast. The other nice part, is that the WM has more of a stripped down look, with just the basics.

Naib · Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2014 3:53 pm Post subject:

oldskool would be more a static dev (there are instructions on these forums how to set that up)
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The Doctor · Moderator Joined: 27 Jul 2010 Posts: 2678

Well, someone should point out that eudev vs udev really isn't much of a thing. You really shouldn't notice a difference in terms of stability nor are the updates really a thing. They are more accurately backports of new udev code into an older udev version before systemd completely swallowed the code.

But anyway, I do much the same thing except I run on ~arch and aside from some build failures everything is perfectly smooth and stable. (With the exception of chromium. No version of chromium has been particularly stable on my desktop. Rock solid on my laptop though.)
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NeddySeagoon · Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2014 10:03 pm Post subject:

/me hugs his Olde Fashioned Gentooee
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khayyam · Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 6:36 pm Post subject:

schorsch_76 ...

similar, but no {e,}udev as mdev is providing virtual/device-manager. Also, no dbus, *kit, xdg, etc. In all I'd say its stable but I'm increasingly frustrated with QA (ie, packages breaking with a minor version bump ... which just recently happened due to KCONFIG_OPTS not being updated/correct) and having to manage certain packages in PORTDIR_OVERLAY so that *silly* dependencies are avoided.

best ... khay

arnvidr · l33t Joined: 19 Aug 2004 Posts: 629 Location: Oslo, Norway

Anything I should know if I move from eudev to mdev?
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xaviermiller · Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 8:30 am Post subject:

There is a wiki topic for it. I tried it some years ago and had rights problems with audio devices.
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khayyam · Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 9:32 am Post subject:

WWWW · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 30 Nov 2014 Posts: 143

khayyam · Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 10:50 am Post subject:

steveL · Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 3:12 pm Post subject:

arnvidr · l33t Joined: 19 Aug 2004 Posts: 629 Location: Oslo, Norway

Cheers, found the wiki, including pointers to mdev-like-a-boss. Seems like evdev and audio could be the tricky parts for me, as I have several sound cards, but since I already have them set up with an .asoundrc I might have a head start. Otherwise I just had a few programs with a hard udev dependency, none of which were important to me.
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xaviermiller · Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 9:37 am Post subject:

The problem I had with audio was with USB audio cards. When plugged, the group was not "audio" but "root", and not in /dev/snd
But this issue can be fixed, I have to take a try some day on a unimportant machine

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Xavier Miller

khayyam · Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 11:18 am Post subject:

The Doctor · Moderator Joined: 27 Jul 2010 Posts: 2678