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I recently installed Ubuntu-Mate on an old Acer laptop. It runs greats and apps like VLC (as an example) run great. There are fewer crashes and buggy behaviour. On VoidLinux/musl I have to constantly use killall -9 vlc to force it to shut it down. On Ubuntu-Mate and Linux Mint, it's more stable.

In other non-Ubuntu OSes, I had to configure the X.org driver for Radeon graphics to eliminate all of the screen tearing during video playback. However, Ubuntu-Mate takes care of (most of) the tearing. (Although, Linux Mint does not automatically take care of the screen tearing during video playback.)

So the question is: Are applications heavily modified and patched to work with the more common Ubuntu-based OSes? Is it because Ubuntu devs are willing to use proprietary or closed-source drivers?

Or is it because the software is just compiled differently (e.g. different linked libraries and compilation options)?

(Disclaimer: I'm not a programmer, but I've installed different OSes over the uses for my own personal use and curiosity.)

dgo.a
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    Is `screen tearing` a technical term I don't know? More importantly, what version of Ubuntu-Mate and VLC are you using, and what's your graphics adapter model? – Julie Pelletier Jan 07 '17 at 02:19
  • Since I own an old Acer laptop, I'm also wondering if the problems you encounter couldn't simply be due to memory and CPU usage which are both quite limited on these machines. – Julie Pelletier Jan 07 '17 at 02:21
  • @JuliePelletier I was using that as an example. My point was: Different distros act differently on the same machine. Not, "Help! My video looks funky. What do I do?" Sidenote: the "screen tearing" issue was solved on this page: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ATI (control+f and search for: TearFree). The CPU and memory wasn't the problem. The driver just needed to be configured in Xorg. But, I was using "screen tearing" as an example to the broader question of how different distros configure the software. – dgo.a Jan 07 '17 at 04:11
  • I was actually hoping for you to make the question more specific because as it is, it will get closed as too broad. – Julie Pelletier Jan 07 '17 at 04:43
  • @JuliePelletier You're absolutely right. I'm just 4 votes away from getting this closed. I think it might be better if they ban me. I dread asking any question on stackexchange and only do it out of pure desperation. Also, the old Acer laptop has a dying video card. I hear the Chromebooks are great as general purpose personal computers. – dgo.a Jan 07 '17 at 05:56
  • I'll give you a short answer. – Julie Pelletier Jan 07 '17 at 06:29

1 Answers1

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Most distributions which are still maintained include the same or similar versions.

What differs the most between distributions are:

  • The packaging options and tools that ensure the different packages interact well with each other.
  • Each distribution has its own configuration approach which could be more or less complex in certain cases. Ubuntu and other over-simplified distributions tend to make the life of most people easier until they encounter unusual or more complex circumstances and requirements.
  • The init system used, which determines how services are started and stopped.
  • The C library used. I wasn't going to include it as it's hard to explain, but that is the aspect which may affect the executable programs the most.

From my experience with dozens of OSs, none can automatically accommodate an advanced user. It is therefore normal for someone like you and me to need to get our hands dirty from time to time to get things working our way.

I personally prefer managing my configuration manually so I opt for systems such as CentOS and Gentoo, but I know some advanced users who still prefer Ubuntu so it's a personal choice.

Julie Pelletier
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