<![CDATA[Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.”]]>Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.”

At the risk of asking the Mastodon Armada about Linux distros…with Ubuntu apparently going all in on ensloppification, what’s a good alternative?

Parameters:

- for (virtual) servers, not desktop use
- “vanilla install works just fine” is top priority
- long-term stability > performance

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/91bc1f59-6788-404c-af5f-e528a9e53454/ubuntu-has-long-been-my-go-to-linux-distro-for-spinning-up-a-virtual-server-easy-vanilla-install-just-works-whatever-i-don-t-have-to-agonize-over-anything.RSS for NodeFri, 15 May 2026 01:47:48 GMTTue, 28 Apr 2026 16:20:47 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:42:15 GMT]]>@inthehands I mean, a lot's going to depend on your dev platform needs.

I've been meaning to ask @lattera if there's a recommended linode-like PaaS for BSDs?

(Linode-like: cheap, ~$10/small server/month, easy backup, 1-2 pages of config to spin up a new machine, reverse DNS support. Ideally, not hated by spamhaus 🤣 )

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/adamshostack/statuses/116483328281377972https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/adamshostack/statuses/116483328281377972Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:42:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:39:51 GMT]]>that's the impression i get from Nix as well—it takes fiddling, but at the end of it, when you have something working it's easy to keep it just working

i've only just started tinkering with Guix, which flatters my sensibilities more using Scheme as its configuration language. so far i like it. it's also easy to experiment with incrementally, since you can install guix as a normal user in your existing distro and work in its generated environments via containers/VMs

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://f.duriansoftware.com/users/joe/statuses/116483318872759671https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://f.duriansoftware.com/users/joe/statuses/116483318872759671Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:39:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:39:35 GMT]]>@inthehands Debian is probably the easiest to move to,
If you're fine with non-linux options, netBSD is one I've always been fond of for servers,
both are generally good for long-term stability.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://girlcock.club/users/miss_rodent/statuses/116483317823349041https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://girlcock.club/users/miss_rodent/statuses/116483317823349041Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:39:35 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:38:30 GMT]]>@inthehands Debian, using Incus and Ansible. Debian host and guest, Incus provides the guest environments, Ansible helps simplify and centralize the configuration. It's pretty simple to operate, and doesn't rely on uniform hardware.

Aesthetically I like Chimera more, I use it on some of the machines I actually touch, but for work I optimize around the well-trod path.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.sdf.org/users/mirth/statuses/116483313556857072https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.sdf.org/users/mirth/statuses/116483313556857072Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:38:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:38:19 GMT]]>@adamshostack
FreeBSD has long caught my eye, and if I had more time for config tinkering and less time pressure on the dev side of the upcoming projects, I’d definitely want to poke at it.

If you find an option that has that same “install and go” that Linode has…I’d be curious to hear about it.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/inthehands/statuses/116483312831608944https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/inthehands/statuses/116483312831608944Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:38:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:36:38 GMT]]>@inthehands I mostly used linux because linode made it easy. When I next build something it might be freebsd on aws or some other hoster.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/adamshostack/statuses/116483306206503539https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/adamshostack/statuses/116483306206503539Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:36:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:36:07 GMT]]>@donaldball @inthehands been using debian for my server for almost a decade. It works really well

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mamot.fr/users/dmerej/statuses/116483304177523228https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mamot.fr/users/dmerej/statuses/116483304177523228Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:36:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:35:38 GMT]]>Pretty strong consensus in the replies to just use Debian.

When I last asked this questions approx 6000 years ago, the feeling was that Ubuntu was Debian with the sharp edges sanded off. Now it sounds like Debian itself has sanded off those sharp edges, and what Ubuntu adds is as more bloat than convenience.

Thanks, all!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/inthehands/statuses/116483302265475510https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/inthehands/statuses/116483302265475510Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:35:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:32:19 GMT]]>@inthehands Debian or Fedora would be my first proposals.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.sciences.re/users/Sobex/statuses/116483289229325599https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.sciences.re/users/Sobex/statuses/116483289229325599Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:32:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:28:51 GMT]]>@joe
Hmm, I’ve poked at Ansible for exactly that purpose. Nix sounds from the field like it’s still a tinkerer’s tool — lots of fiddling, lots of headaches — but it may have matured since I last investigated?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/inthehands/statuses/116483275569521175https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/inthehands/statuses/116483275569521175Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:28:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:25:51 GMT]]>@inthehands Debian. Ubuntu is just Debian with patches to make it bloated and broken. If it's mostly for virtual servers, absolutely search/replace all of your Ubuntu needs with Debian.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/jripley/statuses/116483263796437297https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/jripley/statuses/116483263796437297Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:25:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:25:46 GMT]]>@inthehands debian is the closest family-wise to ubuntu. but for servers in particular, if you want to learn something new, you might be interested in giving nix or guix a try. being able to write your entire configuration file once and deploy the exact same configuration anywhere, without the weight and clunkiness of something like docker, is pretty nice

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://f.duriansoftware.com/users/joe/statuses/116483263463959487https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://f.duriansoftware.com/users/joe/statuses/116483263463959487Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:25:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:25:43 GMT]]>@inthehands Debian

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://zirk.us/users/cratermoon/statuses/116483263274411753https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://zirk.us/users/cratermoon/statuses/116483263274411753Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:25:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:23:52 GMT]]>@inthehands I feel like Debian has mostly reached all those same points. The installer is a bit harder and it might need just a bit more installed manually after, but I think you'll find it a good alternative.

One definite advantage is it is incredibly well known and supported among the communities. I mean heck, Ubuntu is just modified Debian...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://urusai.social/users/nazokiyoubinbou/statuses/116483255970663275https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://urusai.social/users/nazokiyoubinbou/statuses/116483255970663275Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:23:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:23:52 GMT]]>@inthehands In my experience there are two types of easy:
- minimal Debian
- Alpine Linux
The latter easy for some stuff and not for other stuff, YMMV

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodontti.fi/users/paavi/statuses/116483255981797146https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodontti.fi/users/paavi/statuses/116483255981797146Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:23:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:23:37 GMT]]>@inthehands I switched (back) to debian for cloud applications a couple of years back and have zero regrets about doing so. It's widely available, it works well, and the bits of Ubuntu I liked were all Debianisms anyways.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.transneptune.net/users/owen/statuses/116483254999486559https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.transneptune.net/users/owen/statuses/116483254999486559Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:23:37 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:22:47 GMT]]>@inthehands I've been using straight up debian mostly recently. It's way less judgmental than it used to be about "non-free" drivers and whatnot.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://triangletoot.party/users/donaldball/statuses/116483251749721939https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://triangletoot.party/users/donaldball/statuses/116483251749721939Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:22:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ubuntu has long been my go-to Linux distro for spinning up a virtual server: “easy, vanilla install just works, whatever, I don’t have to agonize over anything.” on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:22:17 GMT]]>@inthehands Debian?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://vim.wtf/users/wq/statuses/01KQAEC0Z4A2SB0MPNBVMB2GRVhttps://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://vim.wtf/users/wq/statuses/01KQAEC0Z4A2SB0MPNBVMB2GRVTue, 28 Apr 2026 16:22:17 GMT