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[#]: subject: "SpiralLinux: The New Distro Making Debian Easier for Beginners"
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[#]: via: "https://itsfoss.com/spirallinux-review/"
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[#]: author: "Sagar Sharma https://itsfoss.com/author/sagar/"
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[#]: collector: "lkxed"
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[#]: translator: " "
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[#]: reviewer: " "
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[#]: publisher: " "
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[#]: url: " "
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SpiralLinux: The New Distro Making Debian Easier for Beginners
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======
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SpiralLinux is a new entrant in the world of desktop-focused Linux distributions.
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It is based on Debian Linux and created by the unnamed developer of [GeckoLinux][1].
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Gecko what? [GeckoLinux][2] is a derivative of openSUSE and focuses on providing out-of-the-box usability to desktop users.
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The aim for [SpiralLinux][3] is also the same. Provide an out-of-the-box usable Debian experience to desktop users.
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Is Debian really that complex? While Debian is considered the most stable distro, the vanilla Debian often overwhelms new users with multiple download options. The focus on FOSS-only software by default policy also makes things difficult for beginners. It requires various tweaks after the first boot to make it useful.
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And those are the areas where SpiralLinux shines!
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Through this article, I’m going to walk you through the features of SpiralLinux and share my experience, so you can have a better idea of what to expect from SpiralLinux.
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### SpiralLinux: Debian simplified
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The first question that will come to your mind is why another [Debian-based distro][4]? The core idea behind SpiralLinux is to get you a well-tuned Debian that can be used out of the box.
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If you [try installing Debian][5], you’ll notice a number of download options but they do not include proprietary drivers and codecs which are necessary for modern hardware (including mine). Getting the right ISO itself is the first struggle.
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Not to forget that you’ll have to further tweak your vanilla Debian system to make it work with your hardware.
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SpiralLinux aims to address those pain points by providing several pre-installed software, performance tweaks and proprietary drivers and codecs support.
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Some key highlighting features are as follows:
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* Ships with a wide range of drivers to support a variety of hardware
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* zRAM is enabled by default for better performance
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* It can be upgraded to Debian testing Unstable branches with just a few clicks
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* It uses Linux kernel 5.18 out of the box to support the most recent hardware
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* Proprietary media codecs are pre-installed
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* Third-party Debian repositories are enabled by default
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* ISOs available for Cinnamon, Xfce, GNOME, KDE, MATE, Budgie, and LXQt desktop environments
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* An experimental “builder” ISO for experts
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![SpiralLinux DE offerings][6]
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#### System Requirements
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There’s no mention of 32-bit or ARM support in the official documentation. You only get a single download option for a 64-bit system.
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As SpiralLinux is entirely based on Debian stable, these are the standard system requirements for 64-bit machines:
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* RAM: 2 GB or higher (Depends on the [desktop environment][7] you choose)
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* Processor: Dual-core or higher
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* Disk: 15 GB or higher
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#### Installation
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![Calamares installer for SpiralLinux][8]
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As you expect from any easy-to-use Linux distro, SpiralLinux provides a graphical installer. Avid distrohoppers can easily see that it uses Calamares installer.
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The installer has all the necessary features you expect such as manual/auto partitioning, disk encryption, changing bootloader location, and so on.
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You can choose Btrfs as the default file system while installing SpiralLinux.
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### My Experience with SpiralLinux
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Experience. This is what really matters in the end because adding tons of features can only reduce steps after the first boot.
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Like any other thing in the world, SpiralLinux has some good and some bad points. I’ll be addressing both pros and cons so that you can have a better idea.
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#### Positives
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Let’s start this review with positives, which includes the parts which I enjoyed.
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##### Hardware support
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My system is equipped with modern hardware and requires a modern kernel. By far, I never thought I would be able to boot into Debian 11, but this changed my mind.
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By default, you get Linux Kernel 5.18, which is newer than what you get on vanilla Debian (5.10 series) and works well on my 12th gen Intel CPU.
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![Linux kernel 5.18][9]
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##### Non-free repositories
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![Non-free repos][10]
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Once in a while, we all need to install proprietary packages that are not available in default repositories.
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These non-free repositories include closed-source firmware and drivers, which will help install proprietary microcodes and other software unavailable in the default repository.
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##### Switching from Stable to Sid and Testing
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![Using Debian Sid][11]
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This is my favorite feature from the entire catalog. Just imagine, you can switch between stable, unstable, and testing branches without using a single command.
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The best part is that users are given simple instructions on how they can switch between branches. You can access them from [here.][12]
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##### Performance
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SpiralLinux is well optimized in terms of RAM consumption and makes it an ideal choice for low-end hardware if you choose the right desktop environment.
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I’ll show you what you can expect from [different desktop environments][13]. So if you are someone with decent hardware, you can opt for Cinnamon, as it only consumes around 900 MB of RAM in idle usage.
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![idle ram consumption on cinnamon de][14]
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But what if you are looking for something lighter? change your current DE to Xfce and as we already know, it is one of the most lightweight DEs; idle RAM consumption will only be around 600 MB.
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![Idle ram consumption on Xfce de][15]
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Either way, I didn’t encounter any performance issues, and things went well.
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#### Negatives
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SpiralLinux shines in various scenarios but I also encountered a few hiccups. Let me share them with you.
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##### Hardware Acceleration Issue in VM
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Once you boot into a VM without any hardware acceleration, you will be advised to enable it, as you may experience poor performance and high CPU usage.
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![Requires hardware acceleration for better performance][16]
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And once you enable hardware acceleration, you will find your VM is often crashing while booting. It’s no minor crash and makes your VM unstable.
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![VM Hardware acceleration issue][17]
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You can easily use SpiralLinux without enabling any hardware acceleration. I found no issues at all while using it without any acceleration enabled.
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##### Snap Issues
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While Snaps are not my go-to choice, I use them when I want to get away from building packages from source. But this was a below-average experience with snaps in SpiralLinux.
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I had two issues. One is that many of the snap packages were not even working. I even tried switching between other branches.
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This was the issue with the fresh installation, without even changing a single config file. I noticed that many of my favorite apps, such as Spotify and Slack were not working in Snap form.
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Some packages did work though. I use Shutter for screenshots and when I installed it using snaps, I was introduced to a quite outdated UI.
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![Shutter][18]
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The second problem was that any installed snap packed are not listed in the system menu by default. You can easily solve that issue by utilizing the given command:
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```
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sudo cp /var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications/*.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/
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```
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But this was only with Snap packages. Flatpaks were working quite smoothly and none of the problems I mentioned above were faced with Flatpaks.
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### Final Thoughts
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I like the imagination of the developer. GeckoLinux is based on openSUSE. Since openSUSE logo/mascot is a chameleon, the developer named it Gecko (a type of lizard).
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The logo of Debian is a swirl, so the developer named the Debian variant SpiralLinux.
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Both have the intention of simplifying the experience of their popular parent distro.
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[Many other Debian-based distributions][19] have the same purpose as SpiralLinux. Linux Mint Debian Edition ([LMDE][20]) is one such example.
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Personally, I would prefer using the main distribution instead of its derivative. But I understand that a few users may find it more convenient to use these derivatives.
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I leave the comments open for you now. Do you think SpiralLinux has the potential to carve out a niche for itself or is it one of those distributions that will be lost in oblivion?
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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via: https://itsfoss.com/spirallinux-review/
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作者：[Sagar Sharma][a]
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选题：[lkxed][b]
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译者：[译者ID](https://github.com/译者ID)
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校对：[校对者ID](https://github.com/校对者ID)
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本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出
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[a]: https://itsfoss.com/author/sagar/
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[b]: https://github.com/lkxed
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[1]: https://itsfoss.com/geckolinux-review/
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[2]: https://geckolinux.github.io/
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[3]: https://spirallinux.github.io/
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[4]: https://itsfoss.com/debian-based-distros/
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[5]: https://itsfoss.com/install-debian-easily/
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[6]: https://itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/spirallinux-flavors.png
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[7]: https://itsfoss.com/what-is-desktop-environment/
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[8]: https://itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Calamares-installer-1.png
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[9]: https://itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Linux-Kernel-5.18-1.png
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[10]: https://itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Non-free-repos.png
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[11]: https://itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Using-Debian-sid.png
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[12]: https://github.com/SpiralLinux/SpiralLinux-project/wiki#switching-from-debian-stable-to-the-testing-or-unstable-branch
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[13]: https://itsfoss.com/best-linux-desktop-environments/
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[14]: https://itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/idle-RAM-consumption-on-Cinnamon-DE.png
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[15]: https://itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/idle-RAM-consumption-on-Xfce-DE.png
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[16]: https://itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Reuires-hardware-acceleration-for-better-performance.png
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[17]: https://itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/VM-3D-acceleration-issue.png
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[18]: https://itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Shutter.png
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[19]: https://itsfoss.com/debian-based-distros/
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[20]: https://linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php
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