SDesk...Yet Another Arch-Based Linux Distro? Or Something More?

SDesk is an Arch-based Linux distribution which strives for an easy to use, modern approach to desktop computing. It features the GNOME desktop as well as its own proprietary web browser, Swirl.
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Your support is very much appreciated. Thanks, guys!

[@SteveStudiosTech]

Thank you for the review DT! Been a fan of your content for a very long time and I'm very happy that you liked the distro :)

[@joaoguilherme8083]

What's the engine of this distro browser?

[@SteveStudiosTech]

@@joaoguilherme8083 It uses the QtWebEngine SDK which uses components of chromium. The Qt Company has assured that all google services are removed.

[@DistroTube]

Thanks and great job on your distro!

[@xb6xx]

How much did you guys pay DT to promote this

[@SteveStudiosTech]

​@@xb6xx I didn't pay DT anything...

[@alejandrogonzalez9287]

We need stability at gui level, less bugs, more device drivers, more apps... No more distros, for god's sake

[@hanqnero]

This!

[@Nerdamania]

but almost anyone can make a distro, other stuff you listed not so much. So these things are really not comparable.

[@minion3806]

what bugs are there for wayland specifically? I keep hearing there are bugs... yet not seeing any happen ever, personally

[@UltraZelda64]

Are you implying that the Linux GUI is unstable? My over twenty years of experience with it contradicts that. Less bugs? In what? More device drivers? Talk to the kernel developers about that, that's their territory. But once a driver does make its way into the Linux kernel, it's there for *ALL* Linux distributions. What applications do not exist that you are claiming need to just magically come into existence out of nowhere? All of these claimed "problems" are pretty specific and in general, assuming they do exist (which I doubt), there is no correlation between any of them and the number of distros out there.

[@nguyenloctuan713]

​@@minion3806black screen or deny to show GUI on wayland/hyperland, X11 no problem, still have no idea, maybe bcs my shit quadro gpu😂

[@Marc42]

It uses Arch, btw

[@woldemunster9244]

Video title is: SDesk...Yet Another _Arch-Based Linux Distro_ ? Or Something More?

[@TechnoMinded-qp5in]

I tried Arch it's always bugged and never gets updated so I switched to an Arch based distro mainly the login themes are bugged up yes I installed Arch but it won't even let me switch the login theme without the whole damn thing breaking also for SteamOS yes I must admit you would rather use Arch Linux since it's based on Arch. For an Arch experience I use EndeavourOS or Garuda Dragonized I tried Kubuntu but I think it's not Arch and is based on Ubuntu it looks like Arch but I don't think it is.

[@woldemunster9244]

@@TechnoMinded-qp5in HoloIso and ChimeraOS are Arch, like SteamOS, which they are forked from...

[@marcempunkt9737]

Me too btw

[@archpenguin6646]

"absolutely proprietary" Stallman disapproves

[@CosmicChew]

There should be a healthy balance between Proprietary and FOSS.

[@Mwrp86]

A Propeitory Web browser should be good looking at least. This looks awful

[@hamobu]

Let's reinvent the wheel for the 264th time!

[@michaelgreaves2375]

"It's Totally Revolutionary! We reinvent the wheel, trademark it, and then you pay us!"

[@saad_ghannam]

Lost me at 'proprietary'

[@collectorguy3919]

There's no obvious separation between open source and proprietary. (unless they've used separate repos -- I haven't looked for that)

[@SteveStudiosTech]

The 'sdesk' repo contains all of the proprietary software made by me. You can easily remove it from the pacman configuration if you want to run plain Arch.

[@Xarius86]

Do you actually "step away and grab a cup of coffee" each time, or has this just become a slogan like "strong and complicated password -- click click" :D

[@CosmicChew]

NetworkChuck enters the chat.

[@1_banana_split]

I use Arch btw

[@xb6xx]

How much did these guys pay DT, there is no way that now hes promoting useless distros filled with proprietary software.

[@cyberjuf]

I cant find content about Zram use as swap in your channel

[@WildVoltorb]

It's a myth innit

[@WackyConundrum]

Wow, this looks bad

[@DavidCoutinhoCG]

on the file selection dialog from gnome when you were selecting wallpaper, there was an icon at the bottom called "+ Other Locations", this defaults to root directory.

[@helioscat4231]

When i saw Your review i got that i was waiting for your review and for review of THIS linux. Wallpaper parts one of most fascinating!

[@the1trancedemon]

what dock panel is being used here?

[@hxnter56]

looks like a customized dash to dock (since the top GNOME panel is still there)

[@the1trancedemon]

@@hxnter56 yeah the first thing that came to my mind was latte or dash2dock but this is some modified version of it. Also the windows have a bit of less curves unlike the regular gnome. i like the dock transparency though. that looks elegant.

[@Natchanan-e7l]

I absolutely love and appreciate the open source aspect of Linux, the freedom that is built-in to the whole concept, etc. But really, instead of creating yet another distro, am wondering what would happen if some of the distro creators would come together and start improving the existing top 10 (just a number I picked) distros and the top 30 everyday use applications (mail, chat, calendar, office, image and video editing, etc.). Make them rock-solid in terms of looks, performance, stability, features, customizability, etc. Don't want to prevent anyone from being creative and not telling anyone how to spend their time, but I bet the results would be outstanding. I am no Linux expert. But I have tried Fedora, Mint, Suse, etc. and landed as KDE Neon as my daily notebook driver. Also use a Mac mini M1 for my desktop needs. Could not load Zorin and didn't try Arch. Just a thought. Thanks for the review, DT. 😀

[@jarol9059]

What icon pack does it use? I really like the look of it

[@MKnew099]

Not 100% sure, but I use the Kora pack on KDE and I think it could be Kora.

[@_lessthanzero_]

​@@MKnew099It is kora

[@walter_lesaulnier]

I like Octopi- it is kind of like a QT version of Pamac.

[@CesarPeron]

camera = snapshot

[@PranjayVarshney]

Funny choice of programs. Like using a qt based octopi on gnome instead of gtk based pamac.

[@F_Around_and_find_out]

Debian, Arch, SUSE, Red Hat/Fedora is the vanilla Linux experience. 99% of the rest is based on those. Then there are the little guys like Nix and Void.

[@nc687-]

Everyone says Libray Office, not so, it's more like Librer, it just means free , as in not tied up ,in French, if an object is free, then it is gratuit (gratwee)

[@ChilenonetoYoutube]

If only all those that create nww distros devoted their very skilled time to get linux better, we could be using flying cars nowadays

[@Bonez0r]

19:45 "The root file system" It's the link at the bottom of the list ("other locations", with the + in front of it), you moused over it a few times but missed it.

[@tinylith1603]

Personally I think in installer autologin should be enabled by default if you choose disk encryption and disabled otherwise, this could make sense.

[@danduby8416]

In some ways the Swirl browser looks slightly like the Sleipnir browser.

[@tiomkinnyborg2289]

One of the best features is hiding the names of the programs you are running. Then locking you into you home directory. The disappearing wallpaper was hilarious. I'll stick to a real distro. Nice vid DT.

[@nostep3966]

DT! The "log in without a password" isn't unsafe. You just always skip the encrypt system checkbox. If you were to enable encryption, then you would enter the password to decrypt upon boot, and would not want to have a 2nd password screen before entering the desktop. I have all of my machines encrypted with log in automatically checked.

[@CosmicChew]

True. I would still have an account never automatically login. But this is coming from a guy who wants to be locked down.

[@IdAefixBE]

Less than a minute in, I'm already triggered by the fact that they have a commercial brand on their very homepage though. I can already smell proprietary shit and weird partnerships coming...

[@octopusonfire100]

I love Gnome, but the latest trend of not giving you the name of their apps, not even in the about section, looks ridiculous to me and I wish they changed it.

[@thisathema]

Lets review Gnome for the 200th time

[@VictorGamerLOL]

first kaspersky now now a distro with 2 proprietary components, did AI take over DT?

[@Skelterbane69]

Checked out after I heard proprietary and gnome

[@ray_jay]

You say a dark theme is easier on the eyes, not for everyone! If I'm using a dark theme/site, I see spots and stripes within 10 minutes. Longer than 20 minutes: migraine.

[@unclefester9113]

Pretty rough around the edges. After installing in a VM (Gnome Boxes) Neither Discover or Octopi will open. My tolerance for frustration - is to low to risk this on bare metal. Really Really dumb boot music.

[@SteveStudiosTech]

The boot music is supposed to accompany a welcome video but it likes to bug out on VMs and stay on GDM. I really do not recommend using a VM with SDesk as it is a cause of many unexplainable errors that cannot be reproduced on real hardware. Also, Distrowatch has not updated their page to show the latest ISO - make sure to download it from my website or you'll get a pacman keyring bug from quite a while ago.

[@rameshdts]

Hi, What is the password for live user session? I am locked out while installing.

[@ordinarryalien]

Yay, yet another distro... 😫

[@woldemunster9244]

GOOD! -Princess Zelda CD-i

[@JorgeLopez-qj8pu]

We have enough distros! - Link CD-i

[@woldemunster9244]

@@JorgeLopez-qj8pu HOHOHOOOO -King CD-i

[@JorgeLopez-qj8pu]

@@woldemunster9244 But I think I’m Richer Than You -Morshu CD-i

[@woldemunster9244]

@@JorgeLopez-qj8pu I guess that's worth a kiss? Huh? -Link DC-i

[@bobbybologna3029]

Arch based Distro = Just use arch. I dont get why people keep trying to shove a square peg into a round hole with Archlinux. If you can make excuses for why you cant be bothered, then its not for you lol

[@hxnter56]

Now I'll admit that Arch isn't for me, but what about Endeavor OS? From what I've seen on the internet, it's Arch with a GUI installer basically and is very terminal-centric, so is it Arch for beginners? People do say it's pretty good, unlike Manjaro.

[@UltraZelda64]

I would say because Arch is a pain in the ass, but because everything based on it uses the same package manager with nonsensical switches and requires constant handholding, everything based on Arch is a pain in the ass too. It's just a preconfigured pain in the ass; in this case, one with a desktop that treats its user like an idiot to the point of not even telling what the names are of the actual programs it uses.

[@pw1187]

@@hxnter56 with archinstall Arch is not even remotely hard to install... Honestly makes all the other arch distros plan useless.... Basically, all the other arch distros do is add theming and or a ton of bloat

[@hxnter56]

@@pw1187 i legit forgot about archinstall, thank you for reminding! but yeah it does make installing arch quite easy even for a beginner, especially if they use a youtube video for guidance. i think it's the best way for a beginner to install arch, as it keeps things minimal (like arch is supposed to be) while also making the installation process much simpler.

[@cevmantius]

I prefer using only main distros like debian arch etc. After some point (when i get more experience about linux )other distros lost their meanings to me. Probably there are good ones but i dont care actually.

[@CosmicChew]

Yeah, As you continue on your journey. You will find that these spins will remain pointless. Main is always the way to go.

[@hxnter56]

@@CosmicChew i'm new to linux and use Linux Mint Cinnamon currently, would you say Mint is a pointless spin of Ubuntu/Debian?

[@cevmantius]

@@hxnter56 mint is a perfect beginner and general user distro. I also started with mint but when you want to tinker a little bit and learned more about linux you can do whatever you want with a solid base like debian. In a way you can create your own "mint". I did not meant to be offend mint or other distro users but at the end they can be all same.

[@hxnter56]

@@cevmantius i don't see why this would offend anyone because what you said is true - Debian can me made to look and feel just like Mint since the apps and themes Mint ships with are available for every distro out there. from what i understand, something like Debian or Arch would be better for more control over your system, while a *mainline* beginner distro such as Mint would be better for a "just works out of the box" experience.

[@cevmantius]

exactly ​@@hxnter56

[@kychemclass5850]

You did a system update, not a software update, so LibreOffice wasn't the most up to date software. To get the name of a program in a GUI, right-click it and do Properties?

[@kychemclass5850]

Also, DistroWatch will give you a list of the name of the packages in SDesk. Click on the Distro from the DW's main page sporting the notification of SDesk's release.

[@nickcat1]

It's arch with gnome. Boring....

[@hxnter56]

gnome is minimal looking atleast (still unusable as hell), this is arch with uglified gnome

[@benny982]

Why do kodi only work on ubuntu based distros ???

[@mementomori1868]

We need stability distribution with many new apps in repo arch is bad for this

[@patpopov]

19:40 Other Locations 🙄

[@pw1187]

So basically, a useless distro..... That literally brings nothing to the table minus, a proprietary web browser.

[@yatesnet]

I really dislike this new distro but I dislike your comment thread even worse. This is the nice professional version of my comment.

[@user-tb7ye7jy6m]

why use it? It's proprietary, so it can be malware

[@SteveStudiosTech]

Swirl doesn't track you at all (It is more private out of the box than even Firefox) and the proprietary license is more of an exclusivity thing. You can however reverse engineer the browser to verify my claims (The EULA allows this). You could also use a network monitoring tool to verify that it isn't phoning home but I don't know too much about those.

[@rameshdts]

Hi, can I have the password of the live session?

[@SteveStudiosTech]

The password is "live" :)

[@rameshdts]

@@SteveStudiosTech I liked the distro. Installing on my main system. I was looking for a lean OS with basic apps.

[@JuanEsquitin]

DT, why have you never used the youtube payed subscription option? It makes it easier for at least me to support you. I've been a huge fan of your videos since I started my life in the linux ecosystem. Although I have never been able to use Vim and Emacs because so far I just feel slow and lost as I learn them. But aside from that. I've learned a lot from your content.

[@woldemunster9244]

Because YT gets a _big_ cut from that money, i won't support giving any money to göögle. I would *LOVE* to have the ability to support many FOSS i use, but this ain't perfect world. :D

[@ajbush413]

Yo, #HeyDT, maybe I missed it, but if you haven't yet looked at it, I've been SUPER impressed with the lastest version of TuxedoOS. The combination of being based on Ubuntu LTS and having more up-to-date software (like Plasma 6) is really cool.

[@CosmicChew]

If that is all Tux has to offer is P-6. Not worth it.

[@ajbush413]

​@@CosmicChew there's a ton more under the hood, but the first thing you'd notice is Plasma 6. Read up on it.

[@fabricio4794]

Arch? Ohh come on man..

[@luisaguilar5343]

Would this be good for beginners, or is this more advanced? I'm having a hard time deciding on a distro and desktop environment.

[@Teknishun]

If youre 100% new to linux I'd recommend Mint. Once youre more familiar I'd jump straight to Arch and customize it to your need. The Archinstall script makes the entry barrier much lower nowdays.

[@CosmicChew]

@@Teknishun No and sorta yes. Before jumping foot first into Linux on a prod machine. Install them in a VM in your main OS until you feel comfort in the idea of full prod install.Linux Mint is good. Another recommendation. Stick to the main line distros. All spins and fork offerings can be added to the main line distributions. Edit: I would also recommend dual boot with your current OS. I dual boot as some video games are not possible to run in Arch due to constant updates to the games or publishers outright not supporting linux. I run Windows and ArchLinux.

[@UltraZelda64]

It's GNOME, they think their users are too dumb to know what their actual programs are called so they only refer to them with descriptive generic names. The solution is to not use their trash desktop environment and to instead use one whose developers don't choose to insult your intelligence. The desktop itself is so dumbed down, I honestly don't know how people can stand to use it, and if they do, how they can use it without feeling insulted by it.

[@hxnter56]

I'm new to Linux and it always seemed unusuable without a shit ton of extenstions.

[@CosmicChew]

@@hxnter56 True. But it just work - Todd Howard

[@hxnter56]

@@CosmicChew it does _technically_ just work. i just personally don't want to install extensions for basic stuff like changing the date format in the panel or to have a bottom bar, when other desktops like Cinnamon and KDE do it without extensions, and still use less resources than GNOME 🤷‍♂️ again don't get me wrong, it's just a matter of personal preference. i dont have a problem with anyone using it.

[@picklerism]

Ummm... Gnome was good once. KDE shits all over it now.

[@Shadowofthedark847]

KDE doesn't shit on it , AT ALL. Both are good and have their own design/development philosophies . Rather than being biased, let us create a community which favours diversity and good software design/development .

[@Voice_0f_Liberty]

I can see both of your points @picklerism & @Shadowofthedark847. I thought it was funny though Lul. But yes, we should have a community that favors diversity and Gnome isn't really bad persay it does what it should do so it serves it's purpose but it is not the desktop environment that I prefer. I prefer KDE all day but to each is own! L8r Linux Community ;)

[@Voice_0f_Liberty]

Now Wayland on the other hand is a different story... What starts with a W and ends with a d and crashes everywhere in between...? WAYLAND lul

[@lobotomizedjellyfish2171]

@@Voice_0f_Liberty Nah, Wayland runs like a champ for me. Plasma, Hyprland, QTile, and Gnome all on Wayland and all run without issue on 3 of my systems. One all AMD, another NVidia, and a laptop with hybrid intel/Nvidia. Zero problems.

[@Voice_0f_Liberty]

@lobotomizedjellyfish2171 I understand I was semi joking. I've had troubles running Wayland on my setup, which is an HP laptop AMD Ryzen 7 3700U with Radeon Vega 10 graphics. I know my setup is old though 😞

[@redcollard3586]

have been working on the beginnings of almost exactly the same project....down to purpose built language with a built in luaJIT. there's always something else already out there no matter how exotic the thing you imagine is! Looks like he is asking for licensing fees to use Blue tho, which will probably prevent anyone from using it due to limited compatibility. My idea is still better imo, to provide a FOSS multiplexing compositor-interpreter powerful enough to build the entire rest of the UI out of: window manager, terminal, browser, and editor, all in the same moddable runtime.

[@RakibHasan-hs1me]

Thats totally users fault, if users dont have distor hop, addicted to try out new distro, developers wont make new distros.

[@0bscura]

You lost me at proprietary. No I don't want to try that.

[@Voice_0f_Liberty]

You know what has always puzzled me is that as advocates for free and open source software we are still privacy consumers as well but if an entity is proprietary (wanting privacy as well) then we automatically think the worst of that company when they are simply wanting privacy as well down to the source code level. No different than us not wanting to be tracked or monitored in a way. I can see how that would be possibly dangerous but no more than stepping outside and touching grass. People can have privacy but entity's cant? Anyways, fruit for thought.

[@redcollard3586]

A corporation has unlimited privacy in it's internal affairs as far as I'm concerned, but code running on my device is not an internal affair, it's something I have a right to know about. From their perspective, software is their main interface with the public, by its very nature it cannot be private if it is to be used by the public.

[@Voice_0f_Liberty]

@redcollard3586 Very understandable and nicely worded. Thanks for your input as I was truly curious.

[@CosmicChew]

Most Linux users are dumb and think that Linux at it's foundation is Free and open. In reality Linux would have died ages ago if the companies that maintain and keep their own proprietary software did not spend their cash in the progress of the kernel of Linux. There is a foundation called the "Linux Foundation" where 70% of the board members are from said proprietary community. So, in retrospect and logically. We should be thankful to the current companies that monetarily donate to Linux. Without proprietary software. Linux would be dead.

[@CosmicChew]

another useless spin of main arch.

[@SteveStudiosTech]

I'm making a custom kernel that will (hopefully) be used in SDesk 20 so it's not just a Linux distribution but a fully fledged OS. I based it on Arch because I absolutely love pacman - but as you said that niche is pretty full :/

[@NADEEMKHAN-sj5hn]

I say that Endeavor OS and Cachy OS are the best Arch based distroa ever created

[@CosmicChew]

No, Just no. Anything they offer can be replicated in main.

[@4ida]

isn't the browser Ladybird..?

[@Visentinel]

Wayland is not a display server its a protocol DT !!!

[@GIRGHGH]

As someone new to Linux stuff, Gnome bugs me to no end. It's somehow both cluttered AND overly minimalist. Can someone explain to me what's the big draw of it?

[@SouthFacedWindows]

You need Gnome Tweaks and Extension Manager to make Gnome usable. I have no idea why they are not bundled with Gnome DE!! KDE is the best complete DE imho.

[@CosmicChew]

Gnome is stable. With a few extensions. It can look like any other desktop. The big sale in my case is the stability with arch. I am a long time KDE user. I recently am giving Gnome a real try. I disliked it many years ago. But this time. I am actually starting to prefer it over KDE.

[@MarkusHobelsberger]

@@CosmicChew Xfce is king in terms of stability anyway, though. And also more customizable than Gnome ootb. Extensions are fine, but also a double-edged sword. Sometimes they break (so stability goes out of the window) or lose compatibility by an update.

[@dynamagon]

48th!

[@0ka354]

Not sure why u spend so much time talking about the installer and other basic stuff

[@technomatic6285]

last

[@anasouardini]

Another pointless one.

[@user-tv9ev6bf9t]

Too bad it's not debian based

[@MrFl0rp]

Hey /g/ang. Here to watch daddy with me? 👉👈

[@rufine4114]

who's daddy??

[@Shadowofthedark847]

@@rufine4114 his mom's bf

[@rufine4114]

@@Shadowofthedark847 whose mom??

[@CosmicChew]

@@rufine4114 Yours!

[@Shadowofthedark847]

@@rufine4114 @MrFI0rp's