Welcome to DarkXero’s Bytes ! This is where I will be posting my thoughts, feelings and some documentation for myself so I do not have to keep looking for them.
Visit XeroLinux for project related content. All the opinions & thoughts herein are my own.
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Lately I’ve been staring at my Discord server wondering what the heck to do with it. I created it to support XeroLinux users, and while it still serves that purpose, it’s been feeling kind of… empty. People join, sometimes leave the same day, and the overall vibe feels more like a ghost town than a growing community.
I’m not sure if I need to rethink how I’m using it, or if it’s just not clicking with folks the way I hoped. Either way, I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’re part of it, or even if you’re not. What would make you want to stick around?
Many people ask for a free version of XeroLinux so they can try it before deciding to donate. While I completely understand the wish to test it first, I’m unable to offer a free version. The reason is that if I did, many might use it forever without supporting the project.
But don’t worry! There is still a way to get a feel for what this distro offers before you decide to commit. It takes a little more effort, but it’s simple to follow.
In case you don’t know by now, or are new to this site/blog, let me give you some background before going through with this post. I am and have been an ArchLinux user for the past 7 years, or so, maintaining my very own Arch-Based Distro for past 4 almost 5 called XeroLinux. I haven’t really used anything else long-term since. Until now that is…
DistroWatch is basically your go-to website if you’re into Linux or other open-source Unix-like operating systems. It’s been around since 2001 and keeps a huge, up-to-date database of hundreds of Linux distributions plus some BSDs and other niche OSes. You can check out detailed info, compare them, see their release histories, read user reviews, and snag official download links all in one place.
Over the past few months, I’ve been getting asked the same questions again and again: What exactly is XeroLinux? And why is it locked behind a donation wall? So, I figured it’s about time to clear things up once and for all with this post.
Grab a seat and let’s dive in…
XeroLinux is an Arch-based Linux distro I built mainly for myself, to make installing Arch easier using Calamares. And the desktop environment? Well, it’s gotta be KDE Plasma, obviously. At first, I went a bit overboard and packed in way too much bloat, kinda like Garuda, which honestly wasn’t great. Here’s a video from the very first release so you can see just how rough it was: