It is pretty nice but ultimately it’s just Debian with a slightly different package set and a theme. You can boot the regular live image and set the theme to Adwaita-dark and there’s not really much difference.
Hi there, SpiralLinux creator here. On one hand, I agree with you that it is indeed “just Debian”, which was a primary goal of the project. There is absolutely no dependence on me or the SpiralLinux project for maintenance of the installed system. However there are a huge number of changes from a vanilla Debian installation apart from the package selection and theme. A lot of the changes are quite low-level and would be difficult for many users to discover or implement on their own. These changes are achieved via proper configuration files that survive future Debian updates. You can see what has been modified and implemented by downloading the
live-build
recipe tarball from the SpiralLinux Github page, and look in theconfig/includes.chroot/
andconfig/hooks/normal/
directories. Where feasible I try to properly comment the reason for the changes.I’m not trying to pull away satisfied Debian users, but I believe there is a significant number of users that would like to run a pure Debian system but aren’t doing so because they find the installation and initial configuration for some reasonable polish and niceties to be a bit too much work.
Yes, it is just Debian, by design, but takes a lot of the hassle out have having a functional desktop. I know the next time I do a Debian install it will be done with Spiral, because it will save me time an trouble. Additionally, for peolple new to Linux, they don’t even know that a Debian install is not a finished state or what they need to do after installing. Spiral makes Debian proper accessible and safer for new users.
I mean there’s quite a few Debian-based distros that solve that issue…
How is the existence of Spiral Linux out of character or step with the existing Linux space. As far as I can tell, there have been a great many Linux hammers and nails to choose from to fit the various needs and fancies of people. Additionally, there may be a bunch of solutions to my need, but Spiral is the one I know about.
True, I just don’t think the concept of Spiral Linux is revolutionary.
Was anyone saying that?
Yes, whoever wrote the word “finally” in the title of this post was saying that.
I am not sure you understand what finally means. It is saying that what has been attempted before has been successfully done now. There is no implication of “revolutionary”, but tather iteration.
Ya I kinda agree with you on this. I usually manually install everything but I’m getting lazy. I like pure debian so I will probably spin this up for a test. I’m trying to get back into the BSDs tho.
Color me confused, but what’s wrong with stock Debian?
This is explained in the article.