Running any one of 4 Linux OS'es
Edited 2022-jan-21-a {NB. gets sometimes edited}
This is not a how2 nor a doc, it's just my dynamic notes and installation-checklist, you're welcome to use it, at own risk of course.  Suse Leap and Tumbleweed are my goto systems at this point because I migrated to Suse 4.x soon after it forked from Slackware. Now it is teetering in the right column because it forces the use of systemd. Artix is likely to become my primary system because in addition to providing init options its developers are trying to build a truly rolling distro, the ONLY way to go in my book. OS'es are just plugins for my favorite programs (visible BTW in my panels) and I treat them as such.

My currently employed distros, their init systems, and information sources.   

https://imgur.com/qlzHKMh.png

Artix & Plasma
Could well be my next go2
https://imgur.com/iXCZvqh.png

Slackware & XFCE
v-15.0-Rc3 installed 2022-jan-19
https://imgur.com/4cwtBtK.png

Devuan & XFCE
 https://imgur.com/ErCUVRU.png

Suse & Plasma

OpenRc (several options) OpenRc??? OpenRc systemd

https://wiki.artixlinux.org https://docs.slackware.com/
http://www.slackbook.org/html/book.html 		https://www.devuan.org/os/documentation https://documentation.suse.com

#artix nobody

#devuan

none 
alt.os.linux.slackware
none alt.os.linux.suse




Logging-in, Desktop-Environments & Desktop-Managers. The early method was to log-in at cLi* {command-line-interface} level and then start the X window system (the GUI or graphical user interface with mouse-control). One of the many existing DE's {desktop environments} can then be started by commands such as startx to launch the KDE desktop or a XFCE desktop. The two operations {login and start X} are being combined in yet another totally unnecessary GUI program called a desktop manager or DM such as LightDM, kdm, gdm.  Slackware has so far resisted the folly. {we use lower case c & i to make L and i distinguishable, because cli could also read as c1i in the case of fonts designed by zikabimbos}.
Log-in at cLi-level and then start an optional or a preset DE
 don't know enough about Artix yet, I suspect the cLi-level login and X start is also available, might be using sddm
Log-in at cLi level
startx to start X with preset DE
 don't know enough about Devuan yet, I suspect the cLi level login and X start are NOT available    Simple & conventional cLi level login and X start are NO LONGER available, systemd commands are, but they are neither.
Log-in at cLi-level and start Desktop-Manager of choice to start desired GUI (window & mouse) system
xwmconfig to chose DM
then just do startx to start DE

Log-in forced into DM which then starts a DE (GUI window & mouse system aka "X")
 KDE Plasma (+ other choices) The use of a DM is also possible
 Select DE {XFCE} in LightDM at login Select {KDE-Plasma} in Sddm at login
Booting and every part thereof up to a running system should be strictly KISS (as simple as possible!). All the kudos go to Slackware on this because The First Distro virtually alone still logs the user in at cLi level letting the user THEN start a GUI desktop IF desired. Much like a graphic boot menu, forcing a GUI login-dialog (which easily can and often does bomb) between the boot menu and a running system is so fucking stupid that it staggers one's imagination. And even if a go-between of this sort were ever really necessary (no chance) then it could still be an interactive cLi thingie that cannot fail.       https://en.opensuse.org/SDB: Change_Display_Manager gui=SDDM, GDM, LightDm update-alternatives --set default-displaymanager /usr/lib/X11/displaymanagers/<choice>


Essential services
The following 3 must be next on the list. Without these little can be done nowadays. Without wifi the package repos are unreachable, without printing the online documentation can be difficult to follow, without sound no system warnings can save a bad situation. Bulletproof internet, printing & sound should IMO be unnoticed parts of every install, but they are NOT!

WIFI      
Most distro installers either detect or supply the utilities to detect and set up a {wired} ethernet connection. It wasn't always this easy and today {wireless} wifi connections are where ethernet was 30 years ago. Not every installation provides a wifi connection on first boot. At hardware level there are built-in wifi transceivers and even usb ones the size of a fingernail, the latter far more secure because they can be just plain physically REMOVED at will.

 connman, simple cLi setup tool, plus
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Network_configuration/Wireless
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Wpa_supplicant
GUI applet in system tray
nothing to do but pwd (add user to grp netdev for wiced only)
#usermod -G netdev -a uid?

not working on g73 laptop, all creation fields in dialog are ghosted
nothing to do but pwd

  		nothing to do but pwd










PRINTING 
My current printer is HP-m252(dw) @ 192.168.0.143. Unfortunately fully-automatic printer detection and setup are still in the future. Users MUST know at least the printer model and IP address in order to be able to set it up.Wired printers are at the same time much easier and hardly ever used anymore.
Setup details
 Found hplip installed
System-Settings/Printer, model found 2nd time around, tested OK
no printing, haven't gotten around to yet


System/PrintSettings:
wifi printer m252 shows up. Print a document to test. Nothing else to do.
 GUI Yast detects & sets up, there is some footwork.
requires package hplip








SOUND 
Because of design fundamentals I have no clueabout,sound in Linux is seldom a walk in the park. There are some Studio distros that fare well. My experience with Suse has been mixed eventhough it is without a doiubt a league-heavy. 
Setup particulars
 Card already detected, pulse installed, had to piss around to find a volume for speakers/headset etc.
tested w. pavu on g73
 no sound, haven't gotten around to yet it mostly works w. pulse Vol Cntrl
Simult. Headset+Speaker
none of them works
 pacman -S paprefs
apt install paprefs zypper install paprefs




Software package handling and package repositories.   
First row are the cLi {command-line interface} PACKAGE handlers, LAST row are the GUI {graphic USER interface}. My experience outside of Yast and a little synaptic is limited.  
cLi level
 pacman -S packagename
pacman -Qe > mypaxfile.txt
pacman -S $(awk '{print $1}' mypaxfile.txt)

https://packages.slackware.com

 2022-jan-06: upgraded V-beowolf to V-chimaera with half a dozen easy "apt-get" cLi commands (it was impossible to fix beowolf with the GUI synaptic)
zypper

insert into /etc/pacman.conf  
###user added######
# as per https://wiki.artixlinux.org/Main/Repositories
[universe]
Server = https://universe.artixlinux.org/$arch
Server = https://mirror1.artixlinux.org/universe/$arch
Server = https://mirror.pascalpuffke.de/artix-universe/$arch
Server = https://artixlinux.qontinuum.space:4443/universe/os/$arch
Server = https://mirror.alphvino.com/artix-universe/$arch
#################
https://wiki.artixlinux.org/Main/Repositories#Universe
install artix-archlinux-support

installpkg,
removepkg,
upgradepkg
pkgtool
slackpkg


 dpkg
apt 		zypper
GUI level
 pamac..  many problems
synaptic Yast provides GUI based repo as well as package  managment among many other services. It can export {save out} the package list or import {load} any package list.
What was wrong with compiling source code AS CONFIGURED by the AUTHORS? Why is everyone fixing what ain't broke?  And shouldthere be a fubar why not help the original dev. fix it in the source code instead? And if some distro-level 'improvement' is at hand then why can it not conform to the package authors' way of doing things (to the extent possible)?







Internet Client Programs



Browsers
If otherwise unavailable, seamonkey binary parked into home folder just works.
Lynx {cLi-level, + 8 others}
 # pacman -S Lynx


zypper install Lynx, or use Yast
Youtube-dl or ..dl-gui* not really a browser
 # pacman -S youtube-dl (reinstalled)

TOR {anon browsing, unknown data-disposal}


Firefox works, lotsa crashes
 incl'd in "All"
zypper install MozillaFirefox, or use Yast
Seamonkey {from original Netscape}
 seems to have been pacman installed

i.e: /home/u3/.local/share/applications


 desktop: xfce launcher in panel
 synaptic got stuck, made xfce launcher into panel from tarball

Chromium NA


Opera NA


* Youtube-dl-gui does NOT save the video with its youtube #!
ALL my 2021 problems revolved around Mozilla profile-swings making user files incompatible between recent versions of Firefox/Thunderbird (kdenlive did some of this too!). At a minimum they should have made new versions convert older ones to new formats on need while also saving dual formats the front of which is consumable by the older version. Sylpheed uses 2 foolders: ~/.Sylpheed-2 handles the setups but IF desired a remote folder may contain all the user mails. I place mysylpheed folder elsewhere. Both folders can be just copied-over from a good system but the process is neither as simple or as reliable (yet) as it should be. The TOR browser only needs its unpacked folder placed in a user's authority-reach and the executable linked as an icon to a panel to be clicked. I sometime wonder why the 'zillas can't be this simple.


Mailers
In the case of my mailer Sylpheed, the same .sylpheed-2 & mymail links direct to those shared folders but only one of them (my Suse Leap system) deletes mail from the server if I first enable such deletion.   
Sylpheed
 # pacman -S sylpheed
issues remain


Claws



Kmail



Thunderbird & Seamonkey



Newsreaders
Tin {cLi-level}



Pan



Thunderbird



Claws????



FTP
LFTP



Filezilla



CrossFTP



GFTP


Browsers & Filemanagers














System Level Utilities
The only reason I need vBox is my Boss-Me80 guitar effects board bundleware that the manufacturer had seen fit not to duplicate for Linux users. Gues if they'll ever sell me anything else.
nvidia G04/ G05



virtualbox (for Me80)



/etc/sudoers



everything else KDE/ XFCE



kfind


k3b


kdf


kwrite


kalarm


nedit


apache2



google-earth



Suse has somehow always seemed "nedit unfriendly", a never-ending battle for reasonable window or textbody fonts. into /etc/X11/Xresources:
nedit*fontList: -adobe-helvetica-bold-r-normal--24-*-*-*-*-*-*
 
 




Studio Packages
N.B.   jack libs   dssi's, including zyn  synths  
qJackCtl ALSA lib seq_hw.c:466:(snd_seq_hw_open) open /dev/snd/seq failed: Permission denied

qSynth failed to create audio driver jack
Rosegarden ZAFS plugins not found
audacity
zynaddsubfx (standalone) default IO not intialize
zynaddsubfx-dssi see rosegarden
hydrogen
simplescreenrecorder
kdenlive
SonicVisualiser no such
jack_capture launches, cannot test
records empty file
VLC  ffmpeg
qjackctl
 not open alsa sequencer



Customization musts
SU filemanager   # dolphin (as root)
not ask for root pwd?

Menu: dolphin (superU)
The BEST idea Suse ever had!
2-click scripting: 2 clicks to execute own scripts (1st click to trace in VERY COMPACT cascading menu tree, 2nd click to execute).
https://i.imgur.com/kUg7w8Z.png		 haven't tried

 haven't tried
 XFCE does offer a folder-view like widget. only by incorporating into menu (piss-poor solution)
/0 tree (mountpoints) problematic without FM-su, had to finish from other sys.
 problematic without FM-su, had to finish from other sys. problematic without FM-su, had to finish from other sys.
Panels
   minor issues remain


Backgrounds & Icons











Currently revolting pissoff championship:
Migrate 1.2 gb movie from Nikon D3200 to system HD
Camera direct to USB port
 NOTHING happens
didn't even try
 NOTHING happens
 1.2 gb *.mov analizes forever
Card only into card reader of
(g73 laptop)


usb or usb-interfaced drive plugged-in
NOTHING happens
fdisk may/may-not show (g73)
almost always autodetected, mounted manually as per policy
Smaller 300mb .mov file transfers OK.  May be related: reverse op copying large video from system HD to FAT usb device NEVER completes on Suse.






Currently upholding issues:

Cannot select desktop wallpaper to be ANY image at ANY path.  For example the background Devuan image at the top row of this doc otherwise located @ ~/0/backgrounds and accessible to ALL is ghosted/unselectable with all the others in that folder.

I want Dolphin icons to be 'Oxygen' like these:


Cannot seem to be able to set them up in Devuan.


 
  
Smaller 300mb .mov file transfers OK.  May be related: reverse op copying large video from system HD to FAT usb device NEVER completes on Suse.


Apache2 setup {Suse}:
user/myapache/myapache.conf
/etc/sysconfig/apache2
 "APACHE_CONF_INCLUDE_DIRS="~/x/y/z/htdocs/user/myapache/myapache.conf"
Edit /etc/apache2/default-server.conf: 
   DocumentRoot "htdocs/user"
   ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "~/x/y/z/htdocs/user/cgi-bin/"
    <Directory "htdocs/user/cgi-bin">
       AllowOverride None
       Options +ExecCGI -Includes
       Require all granted
    </Directory>
systemctl start apache2.service
systemctl stop apache2.service
systemctl status apache2.service


When testing a new usb stick, after creating a file system on it.. "dd if=/dev/urandom of=/mnt/whatever/bigfile bs=1M" until it fills the file system, and then try copying the file from the stick to /dev/null to ensure there are no i/o errors.


























































My Panels
In XFCE they are called deskbars, sidesaddle panels which IMO are one of very few ways to correct the mass-insanity of 16:9 format for computer monitors. My Suse desktop is approximately what I want to also see in whatever other distro I boot, my other 3 distro configurations are so far less than more evolved. I have several computers and in the daytime all of them are in a very bright sunlit environment making blackout themes totally unusable, other than this I like a simple and plain work oriented desktop that is EMPTY except for controls in the left and right panels just like in a single-seat cockpit: systems generally on the left, comms and in my case music/mm on the right. I prefer to use many of my own icons and have no use for dynamic, contextual or paging menus (puke!), for rounded corners, neon edges, pastel colors, commonality features overlapping with handheld device interfaces, nor for most canned themes.

Panels are prime real estate, so much so that I cannot understand why distros are NOT treating them as such. Every square mm, every attribute, every font, color or size of everything on the panels should be user specifiable yet I can't even set the color independently, only as part of some obscure farmed-out and limited theme gimmick!

 


<<< I made this cascading menu icon years
       ago, am adapting it to tell me which distro
       is booted
  



One of the kde-retro icons looked like this, can't find it anymore




Sylpheed




TOR browser




Indispensable Google-Earth



Browser of the day & Chromium
    


 



 ThunderbirdNews & hexchat 
  
  
kFind & Terminal

   
DiskFree & FM-SuperU
GFTP  &  Filezilla
    
 
FileManager of the day Dolphin/Konq

 





Audacity & ZynnAddSubFX 		   
  
Nedit & kDiff3
Rosegarden & qJackCtl
   
SeaMonkey & Snapshot
 qsynth   & H2 drumkit 
   




 



VLC & Film/Video {kdenlive}
 		    
 

reference text files
SonicVisualiser &  SimpleScreenRecorder
         
 

SlackBook & This doc.
jack_capture  		 


To do list






Asus g73 primary 250gb ssd
/dev/sda1       2048  83888127  83886080   40G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda2   83888128 167774207  83886080   40G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3  167774208 230688767  62914560   30G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda4  230688768 356517887 125829120   60G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda5  356517888 482347007 125829120   60G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda6  482347008 488638463   6291456    3G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda7  488638464 497027071   8388608    4G Linux swap
/dev/sda8  497027072 498051071   1024000  500M BIOS boot

Desktop deathstar primary 1tb ssd
Device          Start        End   Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sda1        2048  209717247 209715200  100G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda2   209717248  419432447 209715200  100G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3   419432448  629147647 209715200  100G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda4   629147648  838862847 209715200  100G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda5   838862848 1048578047 209715200  100G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda7  1049602048 1259317247 209715200  100G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda8  1259317248 1469032447 209715200  100G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda9  1469032448 1678747647 209715200  100G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda10 1678747648 1888462847 209715200  100G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda11 1888462848 1896851455   8388608    4G Linux swap
/dev/sda12 1896851456 1898948607   2097152    1G BIOS boot