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Dell XPS running Debian 11 now

Posted on vr 22 oktober 2021 in desktop

And I wipe my Dell XPS once again

When I installed Debian GNU/Linux on my Dell XPS somewhere in 2020, I planned on keeping it that way 'forever'. In the mean time I reinstalled Windows 10 and Linux at least twice. So now I'm more or less back, running Debian GNU/Linux release 11 this time around. And it is wonderful :-)

The good news is that I have an ansible playbook that handles 95% of the customisations after install and I had a proper backup of my homedir and settings. So it was done in a couple of hours :-)

Framework laptop please!

With all the reinstalling and experimenting going on, I am very much in the market for the Framework laptop that should allow me to switch out storage with different operating systems without hassle. For now they are not available yet in Europe, but I hope they soon will.

Dual booting is also a way to go, but it limits available storage space. And I cannot count the times that I FSCK up the other OS on the disk because signatures changed (Hello Bitlocker rescue mode!) or I BORKED the bootloader.

General setup

  • plain next next next gnome desktop install with disk encryption
  • flatpak for stuff like Intellij IDEA and Whatsapp desktop
  • BTRFS filesystem
  • ansible playbook based setup for 95% of the things I need / want
  • syncing contacts and calendars with my iCloud account
  • syncing files with my Synology NAS using Synology Drive

Debian, the biggest is still the best