Since we have many experienced users of other Os's on here I thought I would ask if anyone has any experience with Solus OS? My daughter gave me her old laptop with a i5 processer which had Windoze 10 on it. It was running very very slowly. For some reason it did not like MXLinux so I started distro hopping trying to find an OS that would run well on it.
Solus OS seems to really like that laptop. And what really surprised me was that I had no problem installing Ultimaker Cura and FreeCad. I use both of them regularly for 3D printing. Both were in the Solus repo and both installed with no problem. Also the repo shows which version is the latest and when it was updated. I have had problems in the past trying to get those two programs to install and work properly on several different OS.s.
I like Zorin, but it doesn't seem to handle technical programs like Cura or FreeCad well so I don't use Zorin as my daily driver. But I do recommend Zorin for anyone wanting to switch from Windoze. Zorin also has the friendliest and most helpful forum even if you are using another OS.
I used to use solus os quite frequently. It's a very performant os, but I kind of got away after a long stint of theirs where it didn't get updated for like, a year and a half ish? There was stuff going on behind the scenes, apparently. Either way, they claim to have dealt with it now, but they're also planning to rebase to serpent os, and I just didn't have enough trust that they can continue with their project in the long term.
That's probably me being way too strict, because it's actually very good. But I also often had to find software that wasn't available in their repos and made life annoying when it came to wanting to do regular things I do.
If you can do all you want, and it runs well, I'd say it's good to stick to.
This is actually the first time I'm hearing about it. I looked into it and found it pretty interesting, but I'm not sure I'd daily-drive it for the simple reason that it's not based on Ubuntu (or Debian). I'm sure I will run into software compatibility/availability issues.
I would say that You too strict. When You use a System as Your Daily Driver it have to be reliable. Yes, Zorin can have its Problems, too. We are here in the Zorin Help Forum. So, it is obvious, hahaha! But what happened with Solus is a different kind of Level.
@citfta:
I tested Solus in the Past and found it interesting, yes. It is its own System, no other Base. The Package Manager, I could better use that DNF. I still prefer APT. But it was a nice one. When they will use Serpent OS there is an Alpha Version available) as a Base ... this is a Thing. I see it that Way: A little distro is based on a little Distro. So, it must prove for me first if it will be reliable. Today, I would use Solus beneath a reliable System.
I use Solus Plasma on two of my machines with my main machine a dual boot between Win 11 Zorin and Solus. I rarely boot into the others and tend to stick with Solus. I had a problem with virt-manager not being able to set up a Win 11 VM on Solus and it was fixed next day and cherry picked for updates too.
Also gave my 2008 Intel machine with SSD new life.
One thing for Zorin though it picks up my wifi Canon Printer TS5350a and prints correctly on double sided whereas Solus flips the reverse page and maybe out of date drivers.
My old HP 8460 runs cool and quiet on Solus Budgie. Far better than the original Windows os. Solus has recently dropped snap packages too which have been bothersome to some Linux users. I really don't want to reinstall on this computer so the rolling release model has been great in that regard.
Thanks for all the replies. It's always nice to hear from some actual users of an OS. So far I am liking what I see with Solus. Haven't decided yet if it will be my daily driver but it certainly seems to be stable and fast on this old laptop. It definitely is a good option for bringing life back to some older machines that won't run the newer heavier OS's. I'm even using the Plasma version without problems.
I've never tried Solus OS. Unfortunately, due to the way my mind works, when I read Solus, my mind says Soulless. LOL Please by all means, tell me what you love about Solus OS, what does Solus do that Zorin does not, or does differently?
I tried Solus OS many years ago. However I was not welcomed by the forum who wanted to ban me. Why? I didn't want to re-invent rhe wheel I posted solutions I had contributed on the old Zorin forum. I had made quite a few wallpapers which I pulled down and left Solus. A now deceased moderator of the Zorin forum at the time I was going through this told me the creator of Solus OS had plagiarised a Wallpaper by modifying it for Solus with no acknowledgement to the original, and they confirmed to said moderator they had indeed plagiarised a well known wallpaper at the time.
I would be more curious to see how you get on with Q4OS, my current daily driver, the Plasma version is also available in 32-bit format.
Solus is independently built i.e., not based on any other distribution. This has quite a few implications, for example they use their own package manager, release cycle and desktop environment (Budgie), which is now a separate project that other distributions can use.
It does look like an interesting project. The one reason I never tried it a few years ago was because of all of the drama around it at the time. I suppose I should give it a try soon, but I'll probably wait a bit longer until Budgie 11 is released. From what I understand it's going to be a major re-write and it will not be using GTK at all (I think @Aravisian might be interested in this last bit?)
Solus has several options for the DE. Because of the Dolphin file manager I have come to really like KDE Plasma. I know you can add KDE to Zorin but Solus give you the option to install it with KDE Plasma fully integrated into the OS. As I said earlier I really like their software store as it shows you what version of software you are looking at and when it was last updated. And it is the first distro I have used the installed Cura and FreeCad with no problems at all. All other distros seem to have problems with techinical software requiring me to have to try flatpak or snap or apt before I could get them to work properly.
@swarfendor437
I did try a live version of Q40s. I didn't really spend much time checking it out. What do you like about it compared to other distros? I am always open to trying out new distros.
Actually, I need to see if PCLinuxOS Debian version will run with my GT1030, then I might leave Q4OS. PCLinuxOS Debian has cura and freecad in it's repos.
Oh, maybe I missed if they specify this, but I was hoping they'd be working on their own framework. I guess this makes more sense instead of starting from scratch...
No one could blame you.
This is... all over the place and there does not seem to be one solid source specifying a direction. This may well be because the developers have not yet solidified a direction.
Source:
This does date back a few years, though... So, I sniffed around a bit more...
This says they are not using Qt, but Enlightenment, instead:
I will admit, I prefer EFL over Qt... that is just me.
Now, I am not sure which they are using. Probably EFL (Good thing you asked, I stand corrected). Either way, it is not a built-from-the-ground-up toolkit.
I did chuckle though at this line in the article:
" Another graving concern is..."
I'm almost tempted to go over to their forums and ask what's the latest news on this. I found this blog post from the founder of Buddies of Budgie, where he explains the reasons they are parting ways from GTK and Gnome, and why they chose EFL.
Really interesting, I'll definitely keep an eye on it.
Been a budgie user since 2017 , I had used gnome 3 enough prior to Ubuntu dumping unity so when they went back to gnome I switched. The lead developer of budgie was looking for alternatives to working with changes in gnome upstream.
I think practicality won the day rather than a complete re-write of the desktop. I've used gnome, plasma, enlightenment and xfce as well along the way. I take a wait and see approach to passionate issues like system d, wayland, and so on. Solus was really focused on home users in the beginning and I think focus has shifted to a broader user base going forward.
I looked into it and found it pretty interesting, but I'm not sure I'd daily-drive it for the simple reason that it's not based on Ubuntu (or Debian). I'm sure I will run into software compatibility/availability issues.
