Rocky 9 for desktop

Rocky Linux General
1

I’m looking for a decent distro for my simple desktop - a distro that will be maintained for many years (LTS), since I don’t want to reinstall my system every 2-3 years.

So far, I’ve been using Ubuntu LTS, yet I find this distro to become more and more like Windows (making choices for me, instead of letting me making my choices).

My requirements are quite simple (I suppose):

  • LXDE
  • current browsers (Brave, Chromium, FF)
  • current Docker and Podman
    (in this case, current = not outdated)
  • ability to use my hardware:
    • USB sound cards ($20-$40),
    • USB mics (also $20-$40),
    • Brother printer

I have no problems with such hardware on my 5.15 kernel (it also works on older kernels).

The only problem with software, that I’ve found so far, is SimpleScreenRecorder (and no, I refuse to use other application; none meets all my requrements; I’d rather prepare my own Flatpak for SSR).

All the other apps can be used via flatpaks or appimages. (Or they are very common, like gVim, so I suppose they are available on Rocky.)

Will Rocky be a good choice for me?

The question is more about: are there any reasons, why I shouldn’t use Rocky for my desktop, and are there any aspects that I’m missing in my requirements? (Something I should also take into consideration?)

I don’t have time to play with VirtualBox/QEmu (…I suppose I can use them on Rocky too?), so I’m asking here.

2

Can Rocky 9 be used for desktop - yes.
But nearly everything you listed is unsupported on Rocky 9.

3

There is no LXDE, therefore you have a choice of Gnome, KDE, XFCE, Mate: ISO images can be downloaded here: Alternative Images | Rocky Linux

FF, Brave, Chromium aren’t going to be a problem as such - Firefox is 102.6, Chromium 107, and Brave you can get and install from their repository. Neither will Podman, (Podman 4.2.0), or Docker using the CentOS or Fedora instructions from the Docker website.

As for your hardware, printer most likely will be OK - hardware I guess you’ll have to see when you install it. Kernel is 5.14 so I don’t expect there should be any major issues, however elrepo can be used to get a Kernel 6.0 installed. Other stuff not found in repos, can be used from Flatpak or appimage wherever it suits your needs.

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4

Thanks for all your replies.

From my perspective, since LXDE is out, Rocky is also out.

Sad, since Rocky looked really nice.

5

Unfortunately not much we can do. Rocky is based on RHEL, and RHEL doesn’t have LXDE either. EPEL provides KDE as well as XFCE but they don’t provide LXDE. You could always make a request to EPEL and see if they would provide LXDE environment - means someone there would have to maintain it.

Otherwise, find a distro that natively supports LXDE. Debian is stable and has LXDE. If you want up-to-date and the latest and greatest packages, Fedora spins also have LXDE, and upgrading every 6 months isn’t a pain. I’ve upgraded my laptop twice at least, and no issues. I’ve even imaged the disk, and loaded it onto a new laptop (previous MSI, new one Lenovo), and still works good.

6

Note: I’m not a Linux expert, please take what I’m saying with a grain of salt.

Even though RHEL derivative OS are more targeted at servers than desktop, I’ve been using Rocky 9 as my daily driver desktop OS since release. It’s been boring and stable for the most part.

I’ve mostly used Flatpak for app installs.

LXDE

Can’t comment, I’ve only ever used Gnome 3 that ships with the default install. dnf list | grep lxde brings up zero packages so I assume this DE isn’t available in the repos.

current browsers (Brave, Chromium, FF)

All available via Flatpak

current Docker and Podman

You have to add a repo for Docker (it’s not too bad though), Rocky 9 currently has podman 4.2.0

hardware support

Hard to say in advance. If it works on other Linux likely it’ll work here though.

simplescreenrecorder

Rocky 9 uses Wayland, and SSR unfortunately doesn’t seem to support Wayland. I’ve been using a mix of OBS and the Gnome native CTRL+ALT+Shift+R screen capture, since just about every other screen recording software I’ve tried hasn’t worked.

Will Rocky be a good choice for me?

Hard to say, your list of requirements suggests you have a mix of very simple and very specific needs. If you’re looking for a stable, boring OS that will stay out of the way and requires little maintenance, Rocky is great.

But the stability comes at the cost of customisability, which you stated is the reason you’re looking at changing distros in the first place. The further you move from the default Rocky install, the more likely you will run into problems. So if the goal is stability, I’d suggest trying to use the default OS stuff.

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Having a stable (LTS) system with current software is a contradiction in terms. I’ve looked for it myself and come to the conclusion that it isn’t available without limitations, i.e flatpak/snap performance issues, software not being available etc.

I would probably try Debian Stable. Debian has basically every package under the sun available in the repos if you enable contrib and non-free.

When a new major version arrives, about every 2 years, you don’t have to reinstall, you just upgrade. I had a Debian server running for years, upgraded from version 6 → 7 → 8 → 9 → 10 with only minor issues. Sometimes newer versions of software require configuration changes/updates, reading the release notes before upgrading is recommended.

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If you want up-to-date and the latest and greatest packages, Fedora spins also have LXDE, and upgrading every 6 months isn’t a pain.

For me, it’s a big pain.

I’ve been using Ubuntu LTS, upgrade every 4-5 years. Comparing to every 6 months is not acceptable.

BTW, I never upgrade. I had issues with upgrades many years ago, and I decided to never go this way again. I simply reinstall my whole system every 4-5 years. That’s why I don’t want to do this every 6 months.

As for this LXDE problem (let’s call it a problem) - TBH, I probably would be able to do it by myself. I was ready to prepare flatpaks for SimpleScreenRecorder, and for Shutter, on my own, so I don’t suppose that building LXDE would be out of my reach.

The problem is I simply don’t have time for all of this. I can barely handle all the work I have to do right now. One simple flatpak - that’s fine. But more packages? Seems a lot of work. (It’s not about preparing a package - it’s about further maintanance.)

And as for all those GNOMEs, KDEx, XFCEs and others alike, they look and feel like Windows for me. I don’t like them, I strongly prefer much simple working environments. Gosh, I work in terminal, and use gVim most of the time, and I’m fine with them.

Rocky 9 uses Wayland, and SSR unfortunately doesn’t seem to support Wayland.

Darn, another deal-breaker. I’ve tried other screen recorders, but SSR is the only one that suit all my needs.

It seems I’ll use Rocky where it belongs - for my home server.

Having a stable (LTS) system with current software is a contradiction in terms. I’ve looked for it myself and come to the conclusion that it isn’t available without limitations, i.e flatpak/snap performance issues, software not being available etc.

Exactly. If those limitations don’t matter so much, though, it’s not a contradiction anymore. And I don’t care about them.

But it’s true - I’ll probably go with Debian stable.

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9

Very good point. One either can simply “dnf up” (or equivalent) frequently, or one has to keep eye on what is available and patch/rebuild as necessary. If the platform cannot offer the former, then we are forced to do the latter and that ain’t fun.

HPC cluster admins have long yearned for “automated package management” for all the (scientific) applications that they have to support on their clusters and which no platform has as packages.

After adopting config management system (Ansible) I’ve had reinstalls and overall management way easier than before. However, that does not solve the issue with the “manually maintained third-party content”.

Disclaimer: my main applications are terminal and FF; I don’t care what Gnome looks like.

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