OS Updates .. february 2026

General Discussions
, ,
1

Hello.. here I am again :smiley:

I want to update the community about my last OS choices:
Couple of months ago I was talking about a double environment, mixing up Linux and Windows in a dual boot configuration.
After a while I was using this setup I was very confused, because I was really splitting my workflow in a separate environment, splitting up the work I do with the virtual machines, splitting up git repositories that are located in different folders, splitting up the logical stack… After 2 months I deeply thought about this, and I notice (again) that I was so unproductive. So?

So since end of genuary 2026 I’m again 100% Linux user. But this time I choose to stuck on Debian stable, with Liquorix fresh kernel and updated Nvidia drivers (I posted on here a guide for install them under Debian stable).
For my Windows needings I decided to keep a Windows Virtual Machine, where I installed all the proprietary software, such as FL studio, Visual Studio, IIS etc etc… To this machine I dedicated 12 / 16 cores of my Ryzen 5800x and 16/32gb ram. I have to admit on this setup I notice a bit of lag respect having Windows on bare metal, but is pretty nothing. Let’s say I’m 95% machine performances respect a real Windows installation. I’m using the virtualization software Vmware, also my computer have just only video card, so I can’t passtrough the video card for real 3d rendering in virtual machine, but the virtualized video card performance are more then enough.
Side gaming I’m currently playing some games that perfectly runs on Linux stack, in Lutris and Steam trough Glorious Eggroll Proton releases.
As I said many times I’m not a pro player, I really don’t care about kernel level anticheat softwares.
If I will find a game incompatibility now, instead reinstalling Windows on real hardware, I decided I can afford try many tries configuring the game under Wine, maybe following some tutorials; but If I’ll end up on a blind way I up I could play that game on virtualized Windows virtual machine. I know performance are not the best, but I really don’t care. At my ages videogames are just an hobby, I don’t want to waste too much time on them.

Considering all points I touched on here, for a nearly ~ 40 years IT guy, this might be one of perfect compromise. Giving space to system stability, multimedia, creativity and a bit of gaming.
What do you guys think? I know I’m a bit paranoid about, please sorry :] but I really care having my setup perfect under my control.

6 Likes
Weekly Forum Summary
Weekly Forum Summary
2

@ricky89 That actually sounds like a much cleaner setup than before.

Dual boot works in theory, but in practice it fragments everything. Different filesystems, different Git clones, different VMs. The context switching alone can kill productivity. What you described is exactly what tends to happen.

Now you’ve centralized it:

Debian stable as base, Liquorix for a fresher kernel, updated NVIDIA stack, and Windows isolated inside a VM for proprietary stuff only.

That’s a controlled model. Linux owns the hardware. Windows is just a tool.

12 threads and 16 GB RAM to the VM on a 5800X is reasonable. Without GPU passthrough you won’t hit bare-metal performance, but if you’re getting around 90–95%, that’s already solid for VMware.

For someone around 40 in IT, Debian stable with selective upgrades is a mature compromise. Kudos :smiling_face_with_sunglasses: :penguin:

3 Likes
3

I like last year I was praysing Fedora alot, but I always been a Debian guy.

Fedora is working great but it’s having too frequent upgrades, it’s nearly bleeding edge releases;
Also in Fedora some commands are differents, for example I remember there’s not the command update grub. Also you might encounter some potential package issue coz too fresh and not enough tested;

In a clever Debian setup I can nearly cherry pick which upgrades I want, and choose the best timing window for my usecase. It’s usage is really rock stable. No surprises after long time using it. A bit boring? Maybe. But I prefer this kind of setup instead mad massive upgrades.

Also Debian community is so deep focused on opensource and free sofware, they having so much transparency in releases, I barely heard about a malware done on purpose in their repositories.

In other distro community driver (see Arch for example) it’s AUR repository is a bit messed because every user can push in there, without a first step revision; the managing staff may intervent later, when the software breach is already messed up.

#Debianrules :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

2 Likes