Stable vs Unstable does not mean anything to do with bugginess or prone to breakage

It would be great if that’s how the words were actually used, but in most discussions I’ve seen it is certainly not the case. Also, when talking to new users, they are supposed to magically understand and know the word is used in a niche way in this context? It certainly won’t be what they take from it when hearing or reading it.

Unstable means packages update frequently including major versions

That’s what we have rolling or bleeding edge for. Sure, unstable can mean that when used within the same project/context. So having different releases be stable and unstable for the same thing, but across projects/distros that’s just confusing, especially for new people. Yes I’m aware of the historic reasons and the roots in software development, but I’d argue it isn’t helpful to convey the practical reality of the differences.

I didn’t claim anything is bad, anywhere.

Also I didn’t “try to use Debian in a way it wasn’t inteded to be used”. I am using debian on 90% of my servers/vms/containers to this day. Have been for literally decades. To give a specific example: I was running a nextcloud, which required PHP, and wanted to update that. The newer version reuqired a higher PHP version, because the currently installed PHP version was EoL and not supported anymore (by PHP maintainers or Nextcloud). So updating required removing the debian-provided PHP version and installing one from other sources (external repo or compile from source), which honestly defeats the point of a “stable” distribution if the software provided is EoL, doesn’t it?

And to be clear this is just one example I can specifically remember. The “issues” I encouter when using debian are usually of that general type. And to be clear, that’s mostly the point of using it on a server, where I use it, but even there it sometimes goes a bit too far.

And finally: I was originally arguing the semantics of calling debian stable and arch UNstable, which it is not. It is rolling, it might be bleeding edge. It’s also isn’t the same as having a stable and unstable release branch (within the same distro) when applying the label to the most stable release of different distros.

I didn’t say “it suddenly breaks”. I said I have more issues with it, which is decided different from “it just works”, which has been my experience on CachyOS. Specifically I mean issues with installing (up to date) software, or using software that has requirements that I just can’t install the required version cause the repo has a version from 3+ years ago. Not everything has to be “bleeding edge”, but being so stable that everything is utterly outdated is also a kind of unstable.

Sometimes this goes so far that the “stable” version shipped by debian is already unsupported upstream with all the security implications that entails (I had that once with PHP, I think).

Compare the other extreme Debian, which is very stable.

In the sense that is unchanging, sure. But that’s one hell of a bad word to describe that in this context. In my experience the incompatibilities caused by only ancient versions of things available in the repo of even a newly released Debian are not helpful. Stable wouldn’t be the word I choose to describe the situation, or the fiddling and tinkering that results from that. Often having to go outside of the repo to solve, defeating the whole point of said repo.

Arch in my limited experience is much more stable, in the sense of “just works” and always having up to date software. If I want to use something, I can just install it (from the repo), the chance of it not being the current release are slim.

I have no idea what people keep talking about when they say Arch/CachyOS is “unstable”. I have had so many more issues with running Debian (usually on servers) over the years. Since I swapped my desktop to CachyOS over a year ago, I have basically no issues at all. Just one very minor thing that fixed itself after a few days (bug in kde on new version released). For like 15 months of use, that’s spectacular compared to any other system I’ve ever used (especially including Debian and of course Windows, obviously).

What exactly is the goal? How do you make “no issues” and “it just works” more stable?

I’m remoting into my work machine with RDP in a similar way, also using multiple (local) screens. I happen to be on CachyOS (Arch), but I would assume this works on any distro.

I just call xfreerdp3 directly with the appropriate command line options to span my local monitors which I want to use. I only use 2 of the 3 I have, as the 3rd remains for my local stuff.

Zero issues. Just works once setup.

A lot of people keep suggesting Remmina, but I couldn’t get that to work even slightly. Let alone with fine grained control over monitors.

I agree that that’s a perfectly fine reason for container base images, but has nothing to do with my normal desktop system. Or 99% of peoples normal desktop systems. The question there is only “does my stuff work”, and at least for me the answer is “yes”. That’s the context of this thread (at least how I understood it).

Maybe that really is the real source of the instability claims. I mean I’m not setting up my KVM virtualization server on a CachyOS-install, but honestly even if I did I’m not sure I’d actually run into issues. Or just use Arch directly for that, which quite a few people also do. I have no idea how often those have issues, I assume they wouldn’t stick with Arch if they did, but I truly have no idea about the practicality of that.

The reason I’m asking is that literally every source you look at for comparison of linux distros will tell you “unstable” for CachyOS and/or Arch. It has been the literal opposite experience for me: I have significantly fewer issues getting stuff to work (which is also a form of stability) compared to Debian on my servers. I wouldn’t say I’m angry about being misled, but I’m certainly still confused where the claims can come from…

I also have a laptop that runs CachyOS, and I use that very infrequently. So whenever I do, it’s a sizable update (still runs through faster than a normal windows update though). That system also never had any issues, and also “just works”. Like you say, you also never had any (real?) issues. Just having a “feeling something might break” doesn’t actually means it’s unstable either, just that you’re scared it might be, while it actually isn’t. It’s obviously fine if that then isn’t a distro you want to use, but don’t call it unstable if it has been perfectly stable for you? Do you know why you have that feeling, and could it maybe just be that it’s people always just saying “it’s unstable”, perpetuating that “feeling”? I can also imagine that it was much less stable in the past, or there may be phases that are less stable, but I just got lucky and the last year happened to be rather stable in comparison.

I personally don’t have an issue with the reading of PKGBUILDs when I’m using the AUR, as I have like 2 packages from there or something, which also update comparatively infrequently. Everything else is base repo (CachyOS or Arch) and if there are Arch news you should obviously read those, but that happenes so rarely it’s really not an issue either (for me), and usually it’s there for a good reason like the recent AUR vulnerabilities. As for normal changelogs, I assume for packages in the main repos, I don’t even know where to find them. Never needed to read them either.

I can’t understand where this “unstable” image comes from. Just because it’s a rolling distro? I’ve been on CachyOS for over a year now. I update on most days I’m using the system (which is also most days). I had basically no issues. I have significantly less issues with it than I have with Debian on my servers!

Did you have a negative experience with CachyOS or arch in general? Or are you just repeating what you heard?

Many solutions exist, rdp clients aren’t exactly rare. I’m personally using xfreerdp for the extensive options: I can connect to a Windows system (at work) and have it be full screen on 2 of my 3 local monitors. It’s fast, reliable and just works honestly.

But what you seem to be looking for is something more like RustDesk or vnc. You want to look at and help with an existing session. If you connect with remote desktop, the local monitor gets locked, so you can only take over, but not show or help. VNC over the open Internet is generally not a great idea for security, but wire guard exists, as does TailScale and/or NetBird which means you don’t need to expose it. So that also works.

There is a Bluetooth chip somewhere that is connected somehow. Assuming you can somehow get to it without destroying the battery, disconnecting it shouldn’t be difficult.

These universal statements are almost never true. What means “most”? All 3 that I have are more, some up to 25W. If they are “new”, maybe. Not many that you can get on eBay are old enough that they will draw a noticeable amount. Add always, “it depends”.

Lemmy has relatively good search, usually if you remember bits of the title that works?

In any case: Both n100/n150 and raspi are in the <10W range. Obviously raspi is lower, but also A LOT slower and much worse connectivity. As the price is roughly comparable, I’d go for the much more capable N100/N150. Only go the full ‘minipc’ route if you don’t mind the (probably) higher power usage, which can depend highly on model. Older (but cheap on eBay) models can be 25W on idle.

Depending on what you actually need, I’d setup a Sync thing or NextCloud or something and go from there.

A VPS is like 5 bucks. Which isn’t nothing but when used as a redundancy or place to send (reasonably sized) backups, it’s cheaper than most alternatives. It’s also still a form of “self hosting”, at least for me.

Exporting, maybe on a schedule, to a keepass to keep somewhere, also works of course. But when hosting the only/main instance at home you’ll have at least one single point of failure, most likely many. Internet connection, server, network/switches, …

For me personally an ad is when I’m being sold something. I can’t be sold something that is free and open. So someone showcasing their paid (but self hosted) service is an ad. Someone telling me about their (open) project is not.

And when someone wants to use either and asks for help, is also (obviously) not an ad. Unless we see a flood of accounts posting trivial questions about a paid service to draw attention to it, but I kinda doubt it.

While I’m fine with people wanting to self-host stuff with closed software (this includes Windows and Plex, btw), I personally am not interested in having ads of any kind in the community.

To me self hosting is about controlling your data. While I wouldn’t use proprietary software myself for this, I just want to make it clear that I’m fine with people asking for help it advice about it. Just not ads, of any kind.

Depends on what you mean by “acknowledge”. There is a global AI kill switch now that disables all of it with 1 click.

I didn’t feel like it was shoved in my face even before like some claimed. I don’t want any AI, at all, but I never felt like I had to actively avoid it either.

Until very recently, I exclusively used the /56 prefix I get from my ISP exclusively. This is still relatively annoying in my case as this prefix changes at least daily for some reason. Clients get their IP via SLAAC.

I’ve added ULA literally less than a week ago as I have a local reverse proxy I want to handle both local and external request, in both v6 and v4. Obviously more hosts should be accessible from local clients. But I can’t tell local clients apart except by IP, and since the prefix is unstable this would require some sort of hook to update the proxy with that new prefix (might be possible, but seems like a real hassle). So here we are.

The arch package has to be built somehow. You could look at that packages source and/or content to figure out how to manually do it on your system, or wait/hope the deb is being maintained and gets fixed.

It’s likely mostly some plumbing, like a systemd service with it’s configuration, to get the audio routed properly.

There’s also a dedicated recipe in “bottles”, which I think is based on it at least in part. As I’m trying to move away from fusion, I haven’t tried it yet though. Apparently it can work, but can also randomly break with updates…