1---
  2date: '2020-04-03'
  3subtitle: 'My thoughts on the distro, the philosophy and my experience
  4  in general'
  5title: The Zen of KISS Linux
  6url: 'kiss-zen'
  7---
  8
  9[I installed KISS](/blog/five-days-tty) early in January on my main
 10machine---an HP Envy 13 (2017), and I have since noticed a lot of
 11changes in my workflow, my approach to software (and its development),
 12and in life as a whole. I wouldn't call KISS "life changing", as that
 13would be overly dramatic, but it has definitely reshaped my outlook
 14towards technology---for better or worse.
 15
 16When I talk about KISS to people---online or IRL---I get some pretty
 17interesting reactions and comments.[^1] Ranging from "Oh cool." to "You
 18must be retarded.", I've heard it all. A classic and a personal
 19favourite of mine, "I don't use meme distros because I actually get work
 20done." It is actually, quite the opposite---I've been so much more
 21productive using KISS than any other operating system. I'll explain why
 22shortly.
 23
 24The beauty of this "distro", is it isn't much of a distribution at all.
 25There is no big team, no mailing lists, no infrastructure. The entire
 26setup is so loose, and this makes it very convenient to swap things out
 27for alternatives. The main (and potentially community) repos all reside
 28locally on your system. In the event that Dylan decides to call it quits
 29and switches to Windows, we can simply just bump versions ourselves,
 30locally! The [KISS Guidestones](https://k1ss.org/guidestones) document
 31is a good read.
 32
 33In the subseqent paragraphs, I've laid out the different things about
 34KISS that stand out to me, and make using the system a lot more
 35enjoyable.
 36
 37the package system
 38------------------
 39
 40Packaging for KISS has been delightful, to say the least. It takes me
 41about 2 mins to write and publish a new package. Here's the `radare2`
 42package, which I maintain, for example.
 43
 44The `build` file (executable):
 45
 46``` {.sh}
 47#!/bin/sh -e
 48
 49./configure \
 50    --prefix=/usr
 51
 52make
 53make DESTDIR="$1" install
 54```
 55
 56The `version` file:
 57
 58    4.3.1 1
 59
 60The `checksums` file (generated using `kiss checksum radare2`):
 61
 62    4abcb9c9dff24eab44d64d392e115ae774ab1ad90d04f2c983d96d7d7f9476aa  4.3.1.tar.gz
 63
 64And finally, the `sources` file:
 65
 66    https://github.com/radareorg/radare2/archive/4.3.1.tar.gz
 67
 68This is literally the bare minimum that you need to define a package.
 69There's also the `depends` file where you specify the dependencies for
 70your package. `kiss` also generates a `manifests` file to track all the
 71files and directories that your package creates during installation, for
 72their removal, if and when that occurs. Now compare this process with
 73any other distribution's.
 74
 75the community
 76-------------
 77
 78As far as I know, it mostly consists of the `#kisslinux` channel on
 79Freenode and the [r/kisslinux](https://old.reddit.com/r/kisslinux)
 80subreddit. It's not that big, but it's suprisingly active, and super
 81helpful. There have been some interested new KISS-related projects too:
 82[kiss-games](https://github.com/sdsddsd1/kiss-games)---a repository for,
 83well, Linux games;
 84[kiss-ppc64le](https://github.com/jedavies-dev/kiss-ppc64le) and
 85[kiss-aarch64](https://github.com/jedavies-dev/kiss-aarch64)---KISS
 86Linux ports for PowerPC and ARM64 architectures;
 87[wyvertux](https://github.com/wyvertux/wyvertux)---an attempt at a
 88GNU-free Linux distribution, using KISS as a base; and tons more.
 89
 90the philosophy
 91--------------
 92
 93Software today is far too complex. And its complexity is only growing.
 94Some might argue that this is inevitable, and it is in fact progress. I
 95disagree. Blindly adding layers and layers of abstraction (Docker,
 96modern web "apps") isn't progress. Look at the Linux desktop ecosystem
 97today, for example---monstrosities like GNOME and KDE are a result of
 98this...new wave software engineering.
 99
100I see KISS as a symbol of defiance against this malformed notion. You
101don't *need* all the bloat these DEs ship with to have a usable system.
102Agreed, it's a bit more effort to get up and running, but it is entirely
103worth it. Think of it as a clean table---feels good to sit down and work
104on, doesn't it?
105
106Let's take my own experience, for example. One of the initial few
107software I used to install on a new system was `dunst`---a notification
108daemon. Unfortunately, it depends on D-Bus, which is Poetterware; ergo,
109not on KISS. However, using a system without notifications has been very
110pleasant. Nothing to distract you while you're in the zone.
111
112Another instance, again involving D-Bus (or not), is Bluetooth audio. As
113it happens, my laptop's 3.5mm jack is rekt, and I need to use Bluetooth
114for audio, if at all. Sadly, Bluetooth audio on Linux hard-depends on
115D-Bus. Bluetooth stacks that don't rely on D-Bus do exist, like on
116Android, but porting them over to desktop is non-trivial. However, I
117used this to my advantage and decided not to consume media on my laptop.
118This has drastically boosted my productivity, since I literally cannot
119watch YouTube even if I wanted to. My laptop is now strictly work-only.
120If I do need to watch the occasional video / listen to music, I use my
121phone. Compartmentalizing work and play to separate devices has worked
122out pretty well for me.
123
124I'm slowly noticing myself favor low-tech (or no-tech) solutions to
125simple problems too. Like notetaking---I've tried plaintext files, Vim
126Wiki, Markdown, but nothing beats actually using pen and paper. Tech,
127from what I can see, doesn't solve problems very effectively. In some
128cases, it only causes more of them. I might write another post
129discussing my thoughts on this in further detail.
130
131I'm not sure what I intended this post to be, but I'm pretty happy with
132the mindspill. To conclude this already long monologue, let me clarify
133one little thing y'all are probably thinking, "Okay man, are you
134suggesting that we regress to the Dark Ages?". No, I'm not suggesting
135that we regress, but rather, progress mindfully.
136
137[^1]: No, I don't go "I use KISS btw". I don't bring it up unless
138    provoked.