Looking for a distribution that I could replicate from one computer to another (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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Hi everyone,

I’ve been a happy user of Fedora Workstation since Fedora 36 on my Surface Go 1.

I really enjoy Gnome and everything is set up the way I want to.

Since I was really happy with my setup I just wanted to be able to replicate it easily through Clonezilla so that I could port it on any future computer I’d get.

Sadly, even with the help of really helpful and knowledgeable users on Lemmy, it hasn’t worked (https://sh.itjust.works/post/25963065).

So now I’m left wondering if there could be a distribution that I’d enjoy and which would be easy to deploy on another computer as I’d hate to have to configure everything on every computer I’d get.

I love Gnome but I wouldn’t be against trying something else if necessary.

What distribution could meet my needs?

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[-] data1701d@startrek.website 4 points 2 months ago

I just discovered the source of all your problems by reading your previous post.

The Surface Go 1 is a UEFI system. The Acer Aspire 5737z is a legacy BIOS system and thus can't boot UEFI partitions. If your Aspire was a UEFI system, what you did probably would have worked just fine - no need for a special snazzy distro (no offense, NixOS users).

I'm actually extremely surprised no one noticed this before me.

From here, you have a few routes:

Flash the install to the drive, and try to downgrade it to a legacy BIOS system.
- I would not recommend doing this. Your life will probably become a living nightmare. If you love pain, though, here's a forum post to get you started: https://askubuntu.com/questions/910409/change-from-uefi-to-legacy
Reinstall Fedora and copy just your Gnome config over - from what I can tell, it's just a few directories.
- This is a Python script that says it exports all that crap for you, but what do I know? I just use XFCE.
Buy a slightly newer device (maybe 2012/2013-ish at the earlist, probably originally designed for Windows 8.x) that support UEFI so you could just use the image.
- Honestly, I am a bit conflicted on this option, as I don't exactly like not reusing the Aspire. However, this may be the easiest way out, and maybe you could put the Aspire to use as a server in a home lab instead.
Try NixOS like others have been saying. Learning things is fun when you have the time - I don't, and so stick with Debian.

[-] Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago

Oh well thanks for this information. I’ll see what I’ll do but I’m determined to keep using the Aspire for a few things.

this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2024

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