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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Looking for a distribution that I could replicate from one computer to another (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hi everyone,

I’ve been a happy user of Fedora Workstation since Fedora 36 on my Surface Go 1.

I really enjoy Gnome and everything is set up the way I want to.

Since I was really happy with my setup I just wanted to be able to replicate it easily through Clonezilla so that I could port it on any future computer I’d get.

Sadly, even with the help of really helpful and knowledgeable users on Lemmy, it hasn’t worked (https://sh.itjust.works/post/25963065).

So now I’m left wondering if there could be a distribution that I’d enjoy and which would be easy to deploy on another computer as I’d hate to have to configure everything on every computer I’d get.

I love Gnome but I wouldn’t be against trying something else if necessary.

What distribution could meet my needs?

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'd happily give technical advice but first I need to understand the actual need.

I don't mean "what would be cool" but rather what's the absolute minimum basic that would make a solution acceptable.

Why do I insist so much? Well because installing a distribution, e.g. Debian, takes less than 1h. Assuming you have a separate /home directory, there is no need to "copy" anything, only mounting correctly. If it is on another physical computer then the speed will depend on the your storage capacity and hardware (e.g. SSD vs HDD). Finally "configuring" each piece of software will take a certain amount of time, especially if you didn't save the configuration (which should be the case).

Anyway, my point being that :

installing the OS takes little time
copying data across physical devices take a lot more time
configuring manually specific software takes a bit of time

So, if you repeat the operation several times a week, investing time to find a solution can be useful. If you do this few times a year or less, it's probably NOT actually efficient.

So, again, is this an intellectual endeavor, for the purpose of knowing what an "ideal' scenario would be or is it a genuine need?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Well I don’t distro hop so I don’t think it would be used more than once a year.

The only thing is that I would want the way I’ve configured Gnome, Joplin, Thunderbird, Gnome Calendar (only for the widget), my Gnome extensions, what program is automatically opened on what workspace, etc to be saved so that it could be reproduced on another computer easily.

My documents, pictures, etc are already taken care of so it ain’t a problem.

I know I could do the same thing by writing a tutorial and just spending a couple of hours every time I reinstall. But I would want to just be able to replicate my install/settings if possible.

Someone kindly mentioned SaveDesktop and for now it seems like the way to go since simply cloning with Clonezilla doesn’t seem to work. I just have to make it work.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

The only thing is that I would want the way I’ve configured Gnome, Joplin, Thunderbird, Gnome Calendar (only for the widget), my Gnome extensions, what program is automatically opened on what workspace, etc to be saved so that it could be reproduced on another computer easily.

These sound like user settings that don't even exist outside ~/ . Rsync is your friend. So is git, gluster, syncthing, resilio, and a good bunch of others depending on how often you want synch to occur and how much time you have to spend.