GNU/Linux

• XDA ☛ Someone ran a modern-day Linux distro off a floppy disk, and it looks more fun than it should be

  We've seen Linux running off a few interesting things here at XDA. But have you ever witnessed someone install Linux on a floppy disk? And not just any distro, either; I'm talking one that came out recently?

  It may seem impossible at first, but not only did someone successfully get Linux running off a floppy disk on an Intel 486, but they used a distro specifically crafted to run off a single floppy. Because, of course, such a thing exists.

• Desktop/Laptop

  • XDA ☛ This Linux distro runs better than Windows on every old PC I've tested

    Switching operating systems is exciting enough for enthusiasts like me, but a pain for the everyday user. As computers became more powerful, operating systems started packing more tools and robust security, all of which complemented the growth. However, the old hardware lagged behind, failing to run these modern operating systems. Windows 7 and 10 used to be my go-to operating systems for reviving old PCs, but I never thought Linux distributions would surpass them completely. Unlike Windows, this distro targets low-end systems that barely have resources to spare and don't have room for a hardware upgrade.

    MX Linux Fluxbox edition is an operating system that has never disappointed me while resurrecting an old laptop or PC. It focuses on offering the best possible experience without devouring the system resources, and doesn't feel out of place. Let me explain why I can't go back to Ubuntu or any other traditional Linux distro after using it.

• Instructionals/Technical

  • XDA ☛ I automated boring Proxmox tasks with Ansible, and it's easier than you think

    Between my ever-expanding IoT gizmo collection and the never-ending VM and LXC images I want to tinker with, I’ve been getting deeper down the automation rabbit hole with each passing week. On the home lab front, I’ve been playing with high-availability PVE clusters and SBC-powered Kubernetes nodes, with Terraform configs and Ansible playbooks helping me automate every aspect of these systems.

    But considering the sheer utility of Ansible, I figured I should try ditching Terraform for a few days and provision LXCs and virtual machines using a handful of playbooks and inventory files. Turns out, Ansible is more than capable of taking care of the tedious VM creation and configuration tasks all on its own.

Distributions and Operating Systems

• XDA ☛ Alpine Linux is the perfect virtual machine OS that nobody talks about

  As if the variety of server components, mini-PCs, SBCs, and other paraphernalia you can use for a home server wasn’t diverse enough, you also get a plethora of operating systems and virtualization platforms to choose from. Depending on your hardware, certain tools like Harvester and ESXi may remain out of reach, while others would require a handful of tweaks to run on budget-friendly rigs.

  Then you have lightweight operating systems that, despite not bearing the most gorgeous UIs, are perfect for resource-starved virtual machines. Alpine Linux is one such distribution, and while it’s pretty popular as the base OS for container images, it’s surprisingly useful for VM-heavy workloads.

• BSD

  • XDA ☛ My favorite tool for booting Linux ISOs now works with FreeBSD 15.0

    For me, Ventoy is both a blessing and a curse. It's brilliant because it allows me to have a USB stick loaded to the gills with different Linux ISOs that I can boot into at the drop of a hat. However, it's also horrible because my distro-hopping brain uses it as the perfect excuse to consider swapping what system I have on my PC every week. In a way, it makes swapping OSes so easy that it enables my bad habits.

    Well, if you've been interested in adding FreeBSD 15.0 to your arsenal (and I know I am), you'll be pleased to hear that Ventoy's newest version lets you add the ISO to your drive, and you're good to go. Now I'm looking at my partitions and wondering if I can just squeeze in another OS for good measure. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Leftovers

• Security

  • XDA ☛ Linux anti-virus suites aren't as pointless as they once were [Ed: Identifying Windows viruses on Linux servers, such as file servers]

    Linux is growing, and anti-virus suites are starting to appear. But why?