---
date: '2020-04-03'
subtitle: 'My thoughts on the distro, the philosophy and my experience
  in general'
title: The Zen of KISS Linux
url: 'kiss-zen'
---

[I installed KISS](/blog/five-days-tty) early in January on my main
machine---an HP Envy 13 (2017), and I have since noticed a lot of
changes in my workflow, my approach to software (and its development),
and in life as a whole. I wouldn't call KISS "life changing", as that
would be overly dramatic, but it has definitely reshaped my outlook
towards technology---for better or worse.

When I talk about KISS to people---online or IRL---I get some pretty
interesting reactions and comments.[^1] Ranging from "Oh cool." to "You
must be retarded.", I've heard it all. A classic and a personal
favourite of mine, "I don't use meme distros because I actually get work
done." It is actually, quite the opposite---I've been so much more
productive using KISS than any other operating system. I'll explain why
shortly.

The beauty of this "distro", is it isn't much of a distribution at all.
There is no big team, no mailing lists, no infrastructure. The entire
setup is so loose, and this makes it very convenient to swap things out
for alternatives. The main (and potentially community) repos all reside
locally on your system. In the event that Dylan decides to call it quits
and switches to Windows, we can simply just bump versions ourselves,
locally! The [KISS Guidestones](https://k1ss.org/guidestones) document
is a good read.

In the subseqent paragraphs, I've laid out the different things about
KISS that stand out to me, and make using the system a lot more
enjoyable.

the package system
------------------

Packaging for KISS has been delightful, to say the least. It takes me
about 2 mins to write and publish a new package. Here's the `radare2`
package, which I maintain, for example.

The `build` file (executable):

``` {.sh}
#!/bin/sh -e

./configure \
    --prefix=/usr

make
make DESTDIR="$1" install
```

The `version` file:

    4.3.1 1

The `checksums` file (generated using `kiss checksum radare2`):

    4abcb9c9dff24eab44d64d392e115ae774ab1ad90d04f2c983d96d7d7f9476aa  4.3.1.tar.gz

And finally, the `sources` file:

    https://github.com/radareorg/radare2/archive/4.3.1.tar.gz

This is literally the bare minimum that you need to define a package.
There's also the `depends` file where you specify the dependencies for
your package. `kiss` also generates a `manifests` file to track all the
files and directories that your package creates during installation, for
their removal, if and when that occurs. Now compare this process with
any other distribution's.

the community
-------------

As far as I know, it mostly consists of the `#kisslinux` channel on
Freenode and the [r/kisslinux](https://old.reddit.com/r/kisslinux)
subreddit. It's not that big, but it's suprisingly active, and super
helpful. There have been some interested new KISS-related projects too:
[kiss-games](https://github.com/sdsddsd1/kiss-games)---a repository for,
well, Linux games;
[kiss-ppc64le](https://github.com/jedavies-dev/kiss-ppc64le) and
[kiss-aarch64](https://github.com/jedavies-dev/kiss-aarch64)---KISS
Linux ports for PowerPC and ARM64 architectures;
[wyvertux](https://github.com/wyvertux/wyvertux)---an attempt at a
GNU-free Linux distribution, using KISS as a base; and tons more.

the philosophy
--------------

Software today is far too complex. And its complexity is only growing.
Some might argue that this is inevitable, and it is in fact progress. I
disagree. Blindly adding layers and layers of abstraction (Docker,
modern web "apps") isn't progress. Look at the Linux desktop ecosystem
today, for example---monstrosities like GNOME and KDE are a result of
this...new wave software engineering.

I see KISS as a symbol of defiance against this malformed notion. You
don't *need* all the bloat these DEs ship with to have a usable system.
Agreed, it's a bit more effort to get up and running, but it is entirely
worth it. Think of it as a clean table---feels good to sit down and work
on, doesn't it?

Let's take my own experience, for example. One of the initial few
software I used to install on a new system was `dunst`---a notification
daemon. Unfortunately, it depends on D-Bus, which is Poetterware; ergo,
not on KISS. However, using a system without notifications has been very
pleasant. Nothing to distract you while you're in the zone.

Another instance, again involving D-Bus (or not), is Bluetooth audio. As
it happens, my laptop's 3.5mm jack is rekt, and I need to use Bluetooth
for audio, if at all. Sadly, Bluetooth audio on Linux hard-depends on
D-Bus. Bluetooth stacks that don't rely on D-Bus do exist, like on
Android, but porting them over to desktop is non-trivial. However, I
used this to my advantage and decided not to consume media on my laptop.
This has drastically boosted my productivity, since I literally cannot
watch YouTube even if I wanted to. My laptop is now strictly work-only.
If I do need to watch the occasional video / listen to music, I use my
phone. Compartmentalizing work and play to separate devices has worked
out pretty well for me.

I'm slowly noticing myself favor low-tech (or no-tech) solutions to
simple problems too. Like notetaking---I've tried plaintext files, Vim
Wiki, Markdown, but nothing beats actually using pen and paper. Tech,
from what I can see, doesn't solve problems very effectively. In some
cases, it only causes more of them. I might write another post
discussing my thoughts on this in further detail.

I'm not sure what I intended this post to be, but I'm pretty happy with
the mindspill. To conclude this already long monologue, let me clarify
one little thing y'all are probably thinking, "Okay man, are you
suggesting that we regress to the Dark Ages?". No, I'm not suggesting
that we regress, but rather, progress mindfully.

[^1]: No, I don't go "I use KISS btw". I don't bring it up unless
    provoked.