Nobara Project looks similar to Zorin but with many changes, ZorinOS could use some of them

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https://nobaraproject.org/

I just read about this Nobara Project and at first glance, kinda looks like ZorinOS but obviously with less polished interface. Anyway, they do make a lot of modifications which I think ZorinOS could use to improve. Here's the list of the changes they make:

General usage improvements:

  • nvidia gpu detection and driver auto-installation
  • nvidia driver repository pulled from rawhide/bleeding-edge so users get the latest Nvidia drivers as soon as they are available.
  • nautilus’s classic type-ahead functionality has been restored. This allows you to start typing to go to the file closest to the typed text within the folder instead of initiating a full system search.
  • nautilus’s button for toggling between breadcrumb navigation and a text navigation bar has been restored.
  • nautilus workaround added to fix not being able to drag+drop from file roller/ark to extract files as well as other file drag issues.
  • “Yum Extender” yumex-dnf provided as DE-agnostic frontend GUI for managing packages
  • SELinux is set to permissive mode. This way it is active and still logs but does not block anything.
  • rpmfusion repos enabled by default
  • Wine version provided by official WineHQ repository instead of Fedora — this allows for easier, more viable bug reporting due to some conflicts with how Fedora packages wine.
  • 64 and 32 bit WINE dependencies including winetricks and gstreamer installed for hassle-free out of the box Lutris + WINE gaming
  • Steam installed by default
  • Lutris installed by default
  • libreoffice installed by default
  • cups/printer drivers installed by default
  • kdenlive installed by default for video editing
  • obs-studio patched with browser plugin
  • obs-studio patched with vulkan and opengl game capture support
  • obs-studio patched with HEVC vaapi encoding support (NOTE: encoder requires mp4 container format)
  • obs-studio capable of both nvenc and H264 vaapi encoding.
  • blender built with ffmpeg support (allows H264 render output)
  • flatpak flathub repository enabled by default
  • protonup-qt installed by default

What do you think?

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Thank you NayamAmarshe. If nothing else this will help to inform the members of the forum about possible improvements to improve their gaming experience in Zorin. I understand why you recommend these patches. Some of them would possibly be useful to those with the same want for software that you have.

LibreOffice is already installed by default as well as many other applications in the pro version.

Some of these are hardware specific (surface) and while beneficial to those individuals with that hardware, would be unnecessary bloat for many who don't have that hardware.

These are the things that the devs weigh in regard to what to include for kernel patches and how they update their OS. These would make for great improvements should they target gaming, but Zorin OS targets those coming from windows. This means that there isn't one specific type of user they are attempting to share Linux with, but a multitude ranging from professionals in an office setting, to kids in school, to grandparents mostly web surfing and using social media by the web and everything imbetween. While this is an ideal configuration for you, it may be unneeded and/or unwanted by a large group of Zorin users. This would take resources that those that don't utilize the features could use elsewhere (from hard drive space to processor utilization).

Your recommendation is sound, for a specific group of Zorin users. Consider, though, out of the thousands of users of this OS, how many does it really impact. How many more want a clean OS for professional use, development, graphic design, engineering, learning or just want it to work for social media?

There has been suggestions that a game specific version be created, where these patches would make the most sense, but there has been no word on whether the possibility will be brought to production or not.

The developers take pride in being able to state that they have a stable OS for most technical journeys. This is why you'll not see nightly or developer patches included with the OS. While developers attempt to make changes without effecting other parts of the system, you don't always know how patches will interact with other features. This is why Zorin is tested, thoroughly, prior to any updates or changes. In order to maintain that stability not all distros can claim.

It is a balancing act for both hardware resources and expected general use of the OS. I hope this helps you to understand and appreciate the developers decisions as well as provides another perspective in considering what would be possible to maintain the users' current expectations of the OS.

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Many of those patches and bugfixes look very useful.
I was considering downloading the OS and trying it out - simply by installing a better desktop like XFCE or Cinnamon on it.
Sadly, it uses GTK4, which would break all other desktops aside from Dominating Gnome... So I will not be using it.
What I will do, though, is look into some of those patches and fixes to see if I can apply them on my build of Zorin OS.

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Hello @Aravisian Did you sayed you have your own build Zorin from Linux From Scratch? Did you tested some patches?

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It is interesting if Aravisian OS will be developed. :wink:

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In experimentation, I have done a lot of things. I have never built Zorin OS from scratch, however.

I have created several distributions of my own... Some are built using Sysvinit and are non-systemd.
Some are built using Sysvinit and use a Systemd shim.
Some were based on Zorin OS, others on Debian. I have never used Ubuntu as a base and I think I probably never will...
I have used Antix, MX Linux, Mint and Zorin as a base. Of all of them, Zorin and Antix were... By Far... the easiest to use as a base.

I have ported both GTK and XFWM in order to create a desktop environment that contains all the features I believe a desktop needs while also utilizing improvements and developments. See... Many desktops develop new additions but they often remove features when they do.
I ported XFWM in order to solve the border resize area problem and that is the XFEX (working title) project.
I have never released any of this and I do not know if I will...
I have good reasons not to.

  • These are experiments in order to help me learn. This means I may scrap or replace projects if I find something better and releasing a project that I later scrap is a bad idea.
  • I have no where near the knowledge required to maintain and support a distribution. I have much to learn.
  • I lack the time... Unless I get funded, I could not devote the necessary time much less pay a team...

IF I were to create and maintain a distro - I would want it to be a long term project that grows and stays viable.
I would aim for a good init system. Sysvinit is fine, but falls short in some areas. Systemd is too expansive and integrated and a simple failure in one aspect cascades into other modules. Look at all the pusleaudio problems in Linux as an example. Systemd is simply awful. It functions... barely... What we need is a reliable and developmentally enabled init system that is not influenced by politics, but by practicality.
Many of the kernel patches we rely on only exist due to the flaws in Systemd. With a better init system, none of those patches are even necessary.
I would prefer to do so with a steady and stable Desktop Environment - one that does not pander to and plead from the Gnome Foundation to please retain some scraps of functionality in the Gnu ToolKit (GTK). I need a toolkit that is independent of Red Hat and Gnome. Qt does not contain what I need... So... grabbed the sources for GTK3 and GTK4 and have been working on developing a toolkit that is not constricted and can work well into the future without someone else hacking it to bits. Work in Progress... I am not kidding when I say it has a light year to go.

As you can see- that is a lot to chew.
An init system.
An independent toolkit and desktop environment. Independent Window management.
We haven't even covered Wayland vs. Xwindow, both of which have pros and cons, some cons are too heavy...

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@Aravisian In any case, I don't think your experiment will be in vain. You will have the knowledge to choose a good distro, and you will be prepared for the worst scenario of having no choice.

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This is my actual goal.

IF this leads to me helping others that find themselves in the same position as me, that may work out, too.

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@Aravisian and @Hackgets What about Kernotex channel he very describe how to creating linux. I know there was many type linux.
Here also very nice describe https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQdZltW7bh1ta-_nCH7LWYw
If you finding somewhere nice links how to create a linux it will be nice to learning how linux working from inside.

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