From 23a56bd50b04211da3cab45f72c3390711b2416b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Mitja Felicijan Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2023 18:35:08 +0200 Subject: Moved notes and posts into subfolders --- ...n-based-riced-up-distribution-for-developers.md | 276 +++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 276 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/posts/2021-12-03-debian-based-riced-up-distribution-for-developers.md (limited to 'content/posts/2021-12-03-debian-based-riced-up-distribution-for-developers.md') diff --git a/content/posts/2021-12-03-debian-based-riced-up-distribution-for-developers.md b/content/posts/2021-12-03-debian-based-riced-up-distribution-for-developers.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..58c9b0d --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/2021-12-03-debian-based-riced-up-distribution-for-developers.md @@ -0,0 +1,276 @@ +--- +title: Debian based riced up distribution for Developers and DevOps folks +url: debian-based-riced-up-distribution-for-developers-and-devops-folks.html +date: 2021-12-03T12:00:00+02:00 +type: post +draft: false +--- + +## Introduction + +I have been using [Ubuntu](https://ubuntu.com/) for quite a longtime now. I have +used [Debian](https://www.debian.org/) in the past and +[Manjaro](https://manjaro.org/). Also had [Arch](https://archlinux.org/) for +some time and even ran [Gentoo](https://www.gentoo.org/) way back. + +What I learned from all this is that I prefer running a bit older versions and +having them be stable than run bleeding edge rolling release. For that reason, I +stuck with Ubuntu for a couple of years now. I am also at a point in my life +where I just don't care what is cool or hip anymore. I just want a stable system +that doesn't get in my way. + +During all this, I noticed that these distributions were getting very bloated +and a lot of software got included that I usually uninstall on fresh +installation. Maybe this is my OCD speaking, but why do I have to give fresh +installation min 1 GB of ram out of the box just to have a blank screen in front +of me? I get it, there are many things included in the distro to make my life +easier. I understand. But at this point I have a feeling that modern Linux +distributions are becoming similar to [Node.js project with +node_modules](https://devhumor.com/content/uploads/images/August2017/node-modules.jpg). +Just a crazy number of packages serving very little or no purpose, just +supporting other software. + +I felt I needed a fresh start. To start over with something minimal and clean. +Something that would put a little more joy into using a computer again. + +For the first version, I wanted to target the following machines I have at home +that I want this thing to work on. + +```yaml +# My main stationary work machine +Resolution: 3840x1080 (Super Ultrawide Monitor 32:9) +CPU: Intel i7-8700 (12) @ 4.600GHz +GPU: AMD ATI Radeon RX 470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590 +Memory: 32020MiB +``` + +```yaml +# Thinkpad x220 for testing things and goofing around +Resolution: 1366x768 +CPU: Intel i5-2520M (4) @ 3.200GHz +GPU: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family +Memory: 15891MiB +``` + +## How should I approach this? + +I knew I wanted to use [minimal Debian netinst +](https://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/) for the base to give myself a head +start. No reason to go through changing the installer and also testing all that +behemoth of a thing. So, some sort of ricing was the only logical option to get +this thing of the grounds somewhat quickly. + +> **What is ricing anyway?** +> The term “RICE” stands for Race Inspired Cosmetic Enhancement. A group of +> people (could be one, idk) decided to see if they could tweak their own +> distros like they/others did their cars. This gave rise to a community of +> Linux/Unix enthusiasts trying to make their distros look cooler and better +> than others... For more information, read this article +> [What in the world is ricing!?](https://pesos.github.io/2020/07/14/what-is-ricing.html). + +I didn't want this to just be a set of config files for theming purpose. I +wanted this to include a set of pre-installed tools and services that are being +used all the time by a modern developer. Theming is just a tiny part of it. +Fonts being applied across the distro and things like that. + +First, I choose terminal installer and left it to load additional components. +Avoid using graphical installer in this case. + +![](/assets/dfd-rice/install-00.png) + +After that I selected hostname and created a normal user and set password for +that user and root user and choose guided mode for disk partitioning. + +![](/assets/dfd-rice/install-01.png) + +I left it run to install all the things required for the base system and opted +out of scanning additional media for use by the package manager. Those will be +downloaded from the internet during installation. + +![](/assets/dfd-rice/install-02.png) + +I opted out of the popularity contest, and **now comes the important part**. +Uncheck all the boxes in Software selection and only leave 'standard system +utilities'. I also left an SSH server, so I was able to log in to the machine +from my main PC. + +![](/assets/dfd-rice/install-03.png) + +At this point, I installed GRUB bootloader on the disk where I installed the +system. + +![](/assets/dfd-rice/install-04.png) + +That concluded the installation of base Debian and after restarting the computer +I was prompted with the login screen. + +![](/assets/dfd-rice/install-05.png) + +Now that I had the base installation, it was time to choose what software do I +want to include in this so-called distribution. I wanted out of the box +developer experience, so I had plenty to choose. + +Let's not waste time and go through the list. + +## Desktop environments + +I have been using [Gnome](https://www.gnome.org/) for my whole Linux life. From +version 2 forward. It's been quite a ride. I hated version 3 when it came out +and replaced version 2. But I got used to it. And now with version 40+ they also +made couple of changes which I found both frustrating and presently surprised. + +The amount of vertical space you loose because of the beefy title bars on +windows is ridiculous. And then in case of +[Tilix](https://gnunn1.github.io/tilix-web/) you also have tabs, and you are +100px deep. Vertical space is one of the most important things for a +developer. The more real estate you have, the more code you can have in a +viewport. + +But on the other hand, I still love how Gnome feels and looks. I gotta give them +that. They really are trying to make Gnome feel unified and modern. + +Regardless of all the nice things Gnome has, I was looking at the tiling window +managers for some time, but never had the nerve to actually go with it. But now +was the ideal time to give it a go. No guts, no glory kind of a thing. + +One of the requirements for me was easy custom layouts because I use a really +strange monitor with aspect ratio of 32:9. So relying on included layouts most +of them have is a non-starter. + +What I was doing in Gnome was having windows in a layout like the diagram +below. This is my common practice. And if you look at it you can clearly see I +was replicating tiling window manager setup in Gnome. + +![](/assets/dfd-rice/layout.png) + +That made me look into a bunch of tiling window managers and then tested them +out. Candidates I was looking at were: + +- [i3](https://i3wm.org/) +- [bspwm](https://github.com/baskerville/bspwm) +- [awesome](https://awesomewm.org/index.html) +- [XMonad](https://xmonad.org/) +- [sway](https://swaywm.org/) +- [Qtile](http://www.qtile.org/) +- [dwm](https://dwm.suckless.org/) + +You can also check article [13 Best Tiling Window Managers for +Linux](https://www.tecmint.com/best-tiling-window-managers-for-linux/) I was +referencing while testing them out. + +While all of them provided what I needed, I liked i3 the most. What particular +caught my eye was the ease to use and tree based layouts which allows flexible +layouts. I know others can be set up also to have custom layouts other than +spiral, dwindle etc. I think i3 is a good entry-level window manager for +somebody like me. + +## Batteries included + +The source for the whole thing is located on Github +https://github.com/mitjafelicijan/dfd-rice. + +Currenly included: + +- `non-free` (enables non-free packages in apt) +- `sudo` (adds sudo and adds user to sudo group) +- `essentials` (gcc, htop, zip, curl, etc...) +- `wifi` (network manager nmtui) +- `desktop` (i3, dmenu, fonts, configurations) +- `pulseaudio` (pulseaudio with pavucontrol) +- `code-editors` (vim, micro, vscode) +- `ohmybash` (make bash pretty) +- `file-managers` (mc) +- `git-ui` (terminal git gui) +- `meld` (diff tool) +- `profiling` (kcachegrind, valgrind, strace, ltrace) +- `browsers` (brave, firefox, chromium) +- programming languages: + - `python` + - `golang` + - `nodejs` + - `rust` + - `nim` + - `php` + - `ruby` +- `docker` (with docker-compose) +- `ansible` + +Install script also allows you to install only specific packages (example for: +essentials ohmybash docker rust). + +```sh +su - root \ + bash -c "$(wget -q https://raw.github.com/mitjafelicijan/dfd-rice/master/tools/install.sh -O -)" -- \ + essentials ohmybash docker rust +``` + +Currently, most of these recipes use what Debian and this is totally fine with +me since I never use bleeding edge features of a package. But if something major +would come to light, I will replace it with a possible compilation script or +something similar. + +This is some of the output from the installation script. + +![](/assets/dfd-rice/script.png) + +Let's take a look at some examples in the installation script. + +### Docker recipe + +```sh +# docker +print_header "Installing Docker" +curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | gpg --yes --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg +echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null +apt update +apt -y install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose + +systemctl start docker +systemctl enable docker +systemctl status docker --no-pager + +/sbin/usermod -aG docker $USERNAME +``` + +### Making bash pretty + +I really like [Oh My Zsh](https://ohmyz.sh/), but I don't like zsh shell. When +I used it, I constantly needed to be aware of it and running bash scripts was a +pain. So, I was really delighted when I found out that a version for bash +existed called [Oh My Bash](https://ohmybash.nntoan.com/). Let's take a look at +the recipe for installing it. + +```sh +# ohmybash +print_header "Enabling OhMyBash" +sudo -u $USERNAME sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmybash/oh-my-bash/master/tools/install.sh)" & +T1=${!} +wait ${T1} +``` + +Because OhMyBash does `exec bash` at the end, this traps our script inside +another shell and our script cannot continue. For that reason, I executed this +in background. But that presents a new problem. Because this is executed in +background, we lose track of progress naturally. And that strange trick with +`T1=${!}` and `wait ${T1}` waits for the background process to finish before +continuing to another task in bash script. + +Check [Multi-Threaded Processing in Bash Scripts](https://www.cloudsavvyit.com/12277/how-to-use-multi-threaded-processing-in-bash-scripts/) +for more details. + +## Conclusion + +Take a look at +https://github.com/mitjafelicijan/dfd-rice/blob/develop/tools/install.sh script +to get familiar with it. This is just a first iteration and I will continue to +update it because I need this in my life. + +The current version boots in 4s to the login prompt, and after you log in, the +desktop environment loads in 2s. So, its fast, very fast. And on clean boot, I +measured ~230 MB of RAM usage. + +And this is how it looks with two terminals side by side. I really like the +simplicity and clean interface. I will polish the colors and stuff like that, +but I really do like the results. + +![](/assets/dfd-rice/desktop.png) -- cgit v1.2.3