Current state of Linux/most "complete" Version

[Corkonian]

Hi,
I'm sorry, but I haven't found an easily retrievable answer to this question:
"What is the most feature-complete Linux Distro for the Pine64?"

Since my two Pines came w/o the SD cards and the WiFi/BT modules - possibly due to the atrocious packaging that was torn to shreds by the various carriers involved - I am currently limited to wired eth but other than that, I would like to get a Linux distro that is at least HW complete, i.e. supports all the Pine64 hardware.

I've seen a plethora of different versions from Slackware to openSuSE being available, but upon reading the release notes it seems that there is not a single HW complete release, or is there? Since I know Ubuntu, Slackware, Debian and even openSuSE, I don't mind, what Distro, but I would like to have accelerated 2D/3D on a working GUI and all the network and bluetooth functionality. (should I get a WiFi/BT module)

My aim is to set up a media center like environment that also doubles up as the livingroom PC (simple office, browsing and youtube)
Should there be a MAME support, I would gladly take that, too....

As far as I see it, openSuSE is Terminal only - no GUI. Ubuntu is Bluetooth broken and there are too many Debians to d/l and install them all...

[CaptainZalo]

Linux display drivers are not complete yet. Debian and Ubuntu downloadable from pine64.pro are the most complete (as in least fidgeting to get to work). Follow this thread for info on linux display drivers.

[jl_678]

Hi,

I agree with @CaptainZalo.  I tried both Debian and Ubuntu and both worked great.  Debian was a fit with my Raspberry Pi experience, and so I have stuck with it and have been super happy with it.  Everything works as expected although we do not have hardware display acceleration. (Hardware acceleration is being actively worked on by the community.)  However, my use case is as a headless server and so lack of a hardware enabled video driver does not really bother me.

Enjoy your new Pine64!

[MarkHaysHarris777]

hi, IMHO the lennyraposo debian mate image is the gnu+linux distro of choice for the PineA64.

... I am running both the base img (headless, on one unit) and the mate image (primary desk pc) on the other unit. The video is the weak link atm, but is VERY close to being fixed even as I type this... so things are looking up and its a bright future for the PineA64 !

please feel free to join us on irc @ irc.pine64.xyz:6667 or ssl irc.pine64.xyz:6697


look forward to chatting with you


marcus

[pqueiro]

Just tagging this thread as I had the exact same question. Carry on!

[MarkHaysHarris777]

No problem.

... come join us on the chat site, if you haven't tried that/