Fellow open-source enthusiasts,

We all have that mental backlog of promising projects — those distros, tools, and systems we keep tabs on but haven’t yet deployed. Perhaps you’re waiting for that mythical free weekend, lacking a spare/compatible device or just holding out until that one killer feature drops.

FWIW, my ‘someday’ list includes:

Operating Systems/Distros:

  • Gentoo – Source-based meta-distribution driven by Portage and USE-flags for near-granular control; binary packages also available if you’d rather skip marathon compile sessions.
  • Guix System – GNU’s functional, declarative distro built with Guile Scheme.
  • MocaccinoOS – Image-based, container-built distro that originated from Gentoo/Sabayon but now uses the Luet package manager and OTA-like updates.
  • NixOS – Declarative Linux distribution using the Nix package language.
  • Qubes OS – Security-focused OS that uses Xen virtualization to compartmentalize your digital life into isolated environments with a unified desktop.
  • Spectrum – In-development security-oriented OS built on Nixpkgs using KVM-based microVMs for compartmentalization.

Desktop Environments/Window Managers:

  • COSMIC - System76’s comprehensive Wayland-native desktop environment written in Rust.
  • Hyprland – Dynamic tiling Wayland compositor with scriptable layouts and impressive animations.

System Security/Firmware:

  • coreboot – Open source alternative to proprietary BIOS/UEFI firmware (though recent x86 still needs vendor blobs such as FSP/AGESA).
  • Heads – coreboot + Linux payload providing TPM-measured, tamper-evident boot for select laptops.
  • nix-mineral - NixOS module for convenient system hardening.
  • TrenchBoot – Framework for dynamic root-of-trust (DRTM) launches via Intel TXT, AMD SKINIT, or SEV-ES.

Applications/Tools:

  • Android Translation Layer - Run Android apps natively on Linux (still in early development).
  • Emacs – The self-extensible Lisp machine masquerading as a text editor; someday I’ll embrace the config rabbit hole.
  • Olive – FOSS non-linear video editor in alpha.
  • systemd-sysext – Overlay read-only /usr and /opt (or /etc via confext) with extra images; extensions auto-activate at boot or can be merged/unmerged/refreshed live with a single command. Handy for immutable distros, though it’s additive-only and not a full package manager.

What open-source projects are you admiring from afar? Time to compare notes!

  • Eyedust@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    4·
    2 days ago

    If it fails again, try these two tricks:

    1. Install without swap and create a swap manually later.
    2. When the installer gets to creating the swap, which iirc is about 49%, spam swapoff in your terminal.

    I installed last October and had to do this, so it could be fixed now. For some reason NixOS mounts the swap immediately after creating it, which bugs the install process.

    • vermaterc@lemmy.ml
      1·
      1 day ago

      Thanks, that might be helpful. Is this bug related to VirtualBox installation or Raspberry Pi?

      Have you reported this bug somewhere? It might be a good idea to let nixos team know this problem occurs

      • Eyedust@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        2·
        1 day ago

        It was an installation to two different PCs. I don’t think it has to do with NixOS rather than the installer software.

        When I looked around on the web for solutions I found these tricks on a bug report, so at the time it had already been reported.

    • N0x0n@lemmy.ml
      3·
      2 days ago

      Huuh ! That’s somehow similar to how calamares treats LVMs. And also a hack/wacky workaround similar how to fix LVM installation

      • mount every partition similar as chrooting
      • cd to each directory in a separated shell for each directory (keeps the mount points busy)
      • swapon the swap partition

      Only then you are able to install your OS with calamares on a LVM filesystem hierarchy…Except this is a 5 years long issue/bug and they are discussing to drop LVM support :/.

      Sorry for hijacking your comment with something unrelated to the actual post, I’m just amazed on how Linux fixes/workarounds can be odd at times.