Distro hopper’s diary: From Raspbian to Archery (A journey to the beautiful world of system and kernel)

Prelude:

Distro hopping, or indecisive installation of different *nix distributions in the working box, is no doubt an adventure yet costs valuable time if someone only focuses on the new Desktop Environment (DE) fired up after logging in.

On the other hand if the hacker, the term I distinguish from cyber criminals, knows what (s)he is going to do and expect from the pre and post installation process- distro hopping is one of the most rewarding activities towards being a *nix Zen Guru like Master Foo who we meet in Eric S. Raymond’s koans. This will enlighten one with deep knowledge of both the hardware system and its soul- the kernel software.

 

Back in 2014, I started with raspbian, a Debian-based ARM distro for raspberry pi, cause it was super easy to manage a messed up 4 or 8 GB micro sd card and I can’t remember how many times, how bravely I exploded fork bombs, ran ‘sudo rm -rfvvv /‘ and filled the root partition with bunch of zeros. Insanity ? Not at all. It was only a matter of copy/paste(ing) the OS files into the sd card for a fresh boot, so the practice actually taught me not to fear of a broken system.

Well now the very raspberry pi 2 box, running on headless raspbian stretch, is an ssh server on my desk that I use for keeping in touch with my home network and devices as well as a torrent box for downloading movies 24/7 (a movie eater am I !)

This was the story how I was introduced to the beautiful world of GNU/Linux and her distributions. Naturally Windows (*NT kernels) was my first OS, that’s why I fostered the wrong concept ‘new desktop means a new system’ since long.

Unlike Microsoft, GNU makes each and everything of its tools and products free and open for everyone. The mighty Tux Penguin is a kernel (written by Linus Torvalds) made up of GNU tools (that’s why we call it GNU/Linux. There’s controversy out there though.)

Just think of a well decorated supershop (package manager) full of mind blowing and useful products (tools/software). You are walking with the grocery cart and picking up whatever you like, can make your own product from raw materials (source code) or buy as it is (binary executables) WITHOUT PAYING A SINGLE PENNY.

Only Linux Users Can Understand (facebook group)

Why Distros:

However, Linux distros, in my opinion, differ in some philosophic contexts:

0.        Purpose of the distribution

1.         Free or enterprise (Redhat vs Debian)

2.         Installation and Package Management

3.         Community and wiki

My Point of View towards OS:

First of all anyone can use any DE from loads of choices, tweak them, make them printing texts here and there on the monitor (like Hollyweed hacker movies, trust me!!) on literally any distribution. So what’s the point?

First thing first, Operating Systems are nice toolboxes for problem solving preloaded with plenty of useful (system) tools (written in C/C++), glues, tapes, strings and screw drivers (Bash, Perl) to join them together and make new tools, Language and translator to the system (C, gcc) if the before criteria don’t meet your needs and you want to build system tools from scratch, and the ultimate armory (Python) for instantly writing up high level scripts for quick solutions. Remember, all of them are free and open source (FOSS) that does mean if you have enough common sense (not to be a CS or Math major with distinguish marks) with basic programming skills (you can see, move your fingers and can read in English) you can modify, customise and make your own tools from the source code or as I said before make whatever you want on the system to ‘hack’ your problem. That’s why we call Unix (GNU/Linux) is a hackers’ distro.

I found bash the primary language to talk with the system and kernel. Later comes C and assembly for deeper conversation.

So based on the users’ needs there are number of GNU/Linux distros out there like Ubuntu for general users to meet up their daily needs, Ubuntu Studio for musicians, Fedora Design Suite for artists, Kali for penetration testers (yes that so called ‘underground or hacker’s distro’ ), Tails for (h)acktivists and security paranoids and the list goes on. Remember, all of them are based on GNU/Linux kernel and built to meet ‘specific purposes’ or solve specific problems (I hope Hollywood has its own distros to show off.)

Well, as the commercial industries want finished and more stable products, some more Linux distros are built to meet up their demands that are not free (you have to pay money for installing their iso on your system).

Distributions I've Tried So Far--

Ubuntu:
    

Ubuntu 16.04

Anyways, much I’ve showed my small knowledge off (which is a dangerous thing also)- in 2014 I’ve found a nice substitution of Windows. That is Ubuntu. It can easily be installed alongside Windows or stand alone.

You won’t need to browse bunch of webs for installing software. Most of the common software and device drivers (yes most probably the wifi dongle you are using) are preloaded in the iso image. If you need some more, you can search and install it by the help of its Advanced Package Tool or apt ‘package manager’. This small tool written in C keeps track of your system software, updates, and connects to the distro database if you command it to install any uninstalled software, life made much easier!!!!!

Moreover, the cool Ubuntu maintainers update any issues regularly and by only one click (in some case with root password) you can easily update the system.

Well Ubuntu is a Debian-based distro. This is more ‘user friendly’ that my family members use it on daily basis without touching the command line interface (cli) or shell.

Debian:

Debian Stretch

Debian was developed and maintained by Ian Ashley Murdock. The name comes from Ian and her then-girlfriend Debra Lynn (Debra + Ian == Debian). This distro caught my attention due to its romantic nomenclature and tragic ending of Murdock’s life.

Anyways, Debian is my primary distro for long time, also the first distro to learning the art of systems programming, due to its philosophy of keeping ‘universal unity’ with systems and rock solid stability.

Arch:

Arch

Last week I’ve started playing with Arch Linux that was really a cool experience. I would recommend this for geeks who want to be prepared for a deeper dive in the South Pole (Yes it’s really Cool and Dark). The most attractive part I have found its installation process and the wiki.

A user wants to install arch if starts reading the wiki, like an interesting piece of literature, it draws the reader to browse around the whole. This is a really informative wiki where almost everything of system-kernel relationship is documented and explained in a crystal clear manner. Moreover, the community I’ve found more helpful for newbie archers.

The feeling is like assembling own guitar or making own patches with analogue pedals from scratch whereas the other distros give me a feeling of composing music with sophisticated music software.

Unlike the aforementioned distros, Arch gives its user a bare minimum system (a base system that the user have to automate according to her/his needs) where each and everything you have to build and configure your own. Being minimalist, it consumes less resources while the system becomes lighter and runs faster.

I’m facing new scenario and acquiring new problem solving experiences daily while tuning my Arch system up. On the other hand arch helped me practicing a good habit of reading documentations, where most of the things are written out there (often in the past I myself found the answer was in the documentation, after an hour’s fruitless forum browsing.)

Nowadays I’ve found my one of favourite distros to play with.

Next time I hope writing a piece on my experience with Gentoo and Linux From Scratch (LFS).

However after unearthing and mastering the darkest art of hardwares and kernels, we end up with an automated and high-level Operating System.

Only Linux Users Can Understand (facebook group)

[The writing is a compilation of scattering passages from one of my handmade journals beside my desktop. This article is also published on the Daily Observer, a leading newspaper in Bangladesh, on 24 February, 2018 (Saturday)]