Support debian as alternative distro base

[alfonsocv12]

Hello hope you folks are having a great day. I have a feature request / suggestion of adding and alternative base distro (Debian).

I understand that this may open the flood gates to suggest any base distro. I don't have any strong argument to why this should be supported upstream besides, I'm not going to be able to give it support alone. I also think there are many people that would like to try Omarchy but don't use because is arch base and is going to be a little harder to maintained.

I vibecoded this POC https://github.com/alfonsocv12/omarchy/tree/debian-version it actually boots and goes through the install script without that much trouble. I can even run it in apple silicone. Steps to use it is

1. Download a debian testing iOS (Forky or later, is the only version with hyprland)
2. Install debian normally
3. Clone the fork, checkout to debian-version
4. execute the ./boot.sh

The POC is horrible and would need a bit of work to get it prod ready. I think its possible to add a flag to select the base distro (e.g. --base-distro=arch,debian).

I'll like to know what you folks thing and maybe get some visibility from the community in case this is not going to be upstream.

[avaera8775]

"I vibecoded this POC"

Kind of lost all credibility right there tbh.

[alfonsocv12]

Well what can I tell you, I'm aware of the downsides of vibecoding, I don't think they are relevant for the porpuse of this POC, but its better that I disclose it IMO.

I just wanted to see what r/debian think of the concept not the POC. I learn a few things.

• They didn't like the idea, because it depends on testings. I think is an incompatible userbase, they want stability not the latest shiny thing.
• It turns out there is omakub (ubuntu base repo). I'm still going to make a fork with debian (theres always a few details that I don't agree with ubuntu that make me uninstall), but I'm guessing is going to be simpler to resolve conflics.

I'm happy I didn't wasted a few more days contextualizing all this scripts, just to get this response.

Finally to lose a little more credibility and contradict my self, I think I will have to contextualize the omakub scripts to make it work with debian in the long term, but in the confort of my incomplete an quirky omarchy debian.

[avaera8775]

Well what can I tell you, I'm aware of the downsides of vibecoding, I don't think they are relevant for the porpuse of this POC, but its better that I disclose it IMO.

I just wanted to see what r/debian think of the concept not the POC. I learn a few things.

* They didn't like the idea, because it depends on testings. I think is an incompatible userbase, they want stability not the latest shiny thing.

* It turns out there is omakub (ubuntu base repo). I'm still going to make a fork with debian (theres always a few details that I don't agree with ubuntu that make me uninstall), but I'm guessing is going to be simpler to resolve conflics.

I'm happy I didn't wasted a few more days contextualizing all this scripts, just to get this response.

Finally to lose a little more credibility and contradict my self, I think I will have to contextualize the omakub scripts to make it work with debian in the long term, but in the confort of my incomplete an quirky omarchy debian.

You seem to base your work off others opinion. Like you think what 5 people on a subreddit has to say.

I'm very against vibecoding and using agentic programming, at least how terrible they are in this age. At least you were transparent about it - most aren't.

I think having a Debian version is a huge headache due to out of date packages and you'd need to compile a lot from source which is fine but eventually you'll hit a wall.

If you really want to use a Debian base, at least use Ubuntu and use a PPA for hyprland and you can easily fork/recreate Omarchy. I believe the Ubuntu project here mentioned is just GNOME with some extensions so it's not really mimicking Omarchy if that was the end goal.

[alfonsocv12]

You seem to base your work off others opinion. Like you think what 5 people on a subreddit has to say.

Not sure if my work, but this side project yes. I don't want to maintain this alone.

I think having a Debian version is a huge headache due to out of date packages and you'd need to compile a lot from source which is fine but eventually you'll hit a wall.

I know thats why I'll like to get some help.

I'm very against vibecoding and using agentic programming, at least how terrible they are in this age. At least you were transparent about it - most aren't.

A bit off topic but I get the sentiment. I have shoot myself in the foot many times, my usual use case is research and guidance in codebases I don't know, but many times I just waste time and need to start from scratch.

For this type of things where you probably won't do it, its a no brainer. Better to have a shitty POC than nothing.

If you really want to use a Debian base, at least use Ubuntu and use a PPA for hyprland and you can easily fork/recreate Omarchy.

Between Arch and Ubuntu, I prefer arch so it defeats the purpose

I believe the Ubuntu project here mentioned is just GNOME with some extensions so it's not really mimicking Omarchy if that was the end goal.

Right Just watched the video is gnome.

My plan now is to clean omarchy ./boot.sh, I like the hyprland setup and a few things but I don't need the spotify/lazyvim/basecamp stuff, Removing it will simplify maintenance. I'm going to test if I can maintained this for a year running on my desktop.

Thanks a lot for the help and advice.

[gmarziou]

@alfonsocv12 wouldn't it make more sense for you to use Omakub?

[alfonsocv12]

I didn't even knew it existed. Makes sense since I was looking for debian specifically.

You're totally right, should be easier to keep up with the changes. r/debian didn't like the idea anyways. I'm on my own.