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| true | false | false | Farewell Debian & SystemD | My move to LXQt and OpenRC on Devuan | authorDefault | 2026-07-15T15:00:00-07:00 | true | false |
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Introduction
Problem Statement
I've always heard people complain about systemd and now have recently become aware of just how bad it's actually getting TBD: alpha nerd's video on them adding birthdate for age restrictions, so I've decided to move to OpenRC as my init system.
Currently I'm using Debian Trixie and GNOME enhanced with extensions and dconf hacks as my desktop environment (DE). I also have DWM installed and configured, and use it from time to time, but it's not as easy and convenient as how personalized my GNOME setup has become.
Both Debian and GNOME have hard ties to the systemd ecosystem, so both will be ripped out before we're fully free of the corruption. Devuan does allow using GNOME, but I refuse to be a part of any software that takes part in KYC such as age restrictions!
Debian Silliness
I've also noticed that Debian may be blocking VPN users, as while doing my research for this prokject I've continued getting "Forbidden - <p>You are not allowed to access this!</p>" from anything related to wiki.debian.org.
That'd be a shame, and has me considering Artix for any future installs as I used to LOVE using Arch Linux but it did not support my old Macbook's WiFi driver very well. At some point I'll have to test if that's still the case, but for now distro hopping does not feel needed.
Arch has an extensive wiki, probably the best known in the Linux community. It is useful for people who aren;t even on Arch-based distros. Debian's is okay, and has definitely had some helpful articles for me in the past. Devuan is a smaller project than both so I'm not expecting it to try to compete with those.
First Things First!
Please ensure you are following this guide from an updated system. Installing large amounts of packages on an outdated system can cause system instability.
# apt update && apt upgrade
Swapping Desktop Environments
[[TBD The first thing needed is to drop GNOME, so its replacement will need installed.]]
Cinnamon
After testing a few DE's, I ended up choosing Cinnamon to be my "polished" choice while I work on getting DWM to support things like volume and brightness control keys. It handles the trackpad gestures I'm used to and "just works" without being too bloated.
I also chose to go with lightdm over sddm for simplicity plus I'm familiar with it. sddm seemed a little too fancy and did not have an aestetic I liked in the default configuration. I just want to log on to my system and be productive, not spend too much extra time beautifying it.
# apt install task-cinnamon-display lightdm
LXQt
Initially I thought to go with LXQt since it's a full-fledged DE with very minimal system requirements. Sounds great for battery life! Unfortunately it did not support basic trackpad gestures like two fingers to double click, special keys for brightness / volume, and felt a bit lacking in keyboard shortcuts like Super to open the Start Menu.
I'd rather get my DWM working than have another DE which I need to learn and configure. I was more looking for something simple that didn't need any additional setup out of the box. It didn't seem bad, otherwise. Just more work than I was looking for.
- {{% external-link "Source for this section : linuxcapable.com/how-to-install-lxqt-on-debian-linux" "https://linuxcapable.com/how-to-install-lxqt-on-debian-linux/" %}}
Full Experience
I went with the full desktop task since this was my first introduction to the DE and I wanted the full experience. Even with all its bloat, it still comes nowhere near the size of GNOME.
# apt install task-lxqt-desktop
Lean Experience
For a leaner approach which may not provide as full of an experience, the metapackage lxqt can be installed on its own.
# apt install lxqt sddm
Switch DM's
The desktop manager (DM) is what allows you to log in to a desktop environment (DE). By default GNOME ships with its own, gdm, and we're going to switch to sddm.
If apt did not ask you to switch from gdm to sddm, you'll need to run the command below.
sudo dpkg-reconfigure sddm
Notes on other DE's
I'll likely be installing a few other DE's as well, but just needed something as a stepping stone and LXQt fir that well. Below are a few other ideas of what you could try.
KDE
While researching alternatives DE's I was shocked to read that KDE is actually smaller and more efficient now than GNOME. Back it the day KDE was an extreme hog, I avoided it as it seemed to be tracking how inefficiently Microsoft did their Windows DE. Cool to hear they've improved!!
Other Popular Choices
Cinnamon also seems to be a cool choice, and was my runner up (guide bekow). I've never much liked XFCE, something about the menu and settings layout has always seemed unintuitive to me. MATE is okay but is based on an old version of GNOME and I'm not a fan as it always felt like it took up too much screen real estate.
- {{% external-link "Install Cinannmon on Debian : linuxcapable.com/how-to-install-cinnamon-desktop-environment-on-debian-linux" "https://linuxcapable.com/how-to-install-cinnamon-desktop-environment-on-debian-linux/" %}}
Here's a link as well to a list of a lot of popular desktop environments. I am not recommending Fedora -- they're a decent OS but they will and always will support systemd since Red Hat is very much into the enterprise world.
- {{% external-link "Examples of other DE's : fedoraproject.org/spins" "https://fedoraproject.org/spins/" %}}
Tiling WM's
Tiling window managers are really fun if you haven't given them a chance. I've used i3 and liked it, but ended up going to DWM for one reason or another. Maybe just because of how tiny the system is and how easy it is to configure. I've heard really great things about openbox too!
Init System - OpenRC
- {{% external-link "Debian Wiki - Init : wiki.debian.org/Init#Changing_the_init_system_-on_a_running_system" "https://wiki.debian.org/Init#Changing_the_init_system-_on_a_running_system" %}}
- {{% external-link "Debian Wiki - OpenRC : wiki.debian.org/OpenRC" "https://wiki.debian.org/OpenRC" %}}
- {{% external-link "Devuan Wiki - Migrating From Debian Trixie : devuan.org/os/documentation/install-guides/excalibur/trixie-to-excalibur.html" "https://www.devuan.org/os/documentation/install-guides/excalibur/trixie-to-excalibur.html" %}}
Package Repos - Devuan
To ensure compatibility with a systemd-free setup, I opted to migrate from Debian Trixie to Devuan Excalibur.
Remove systemd Junk
# apt purge task-gnome-desktop gnome gnome-shell gnome-extras
# apt purge systemd
# apt autoremove --purge