Over the past several weeks, I’ve been walking a familiar yet difficult path: trying to assemble a system that’s minimal, secure, and realistically maintainable—a setup that guards against overreach and intrusion without becoming an unmanageable beast.
It’s a journey many of us walk alone, and that’s part of the problem. Below are some reflections for those navigating similar terrain.
Alpine Linux: Elegant in Theory, Unmanageable in Practice
I gave Alpine Linux a real shot. Its minimalist architecture and conceptual clarity are admirable. But when it came to VPN integration—particularly with Mullvad—things quickly fell apart. The process required to keep key components running reliably was nearly unmanageable. Every configuration change felt like surgery. The margin for error was razor-thin, and for my use case—protecting against state and corporate surveillance—failure isn’t an option.
Result: Secure but brittle. Not viable for long-term use under real-world constraints.
Arch Vanilla: Power Without Support Is Just More Work
Next, I tried to emulate Alpine’s lightweight nature through a lean Arch install—manual, clean, purpose-built. In theory, it should’ve worked. I know Arch well. But once again, the challenge wasn’t getting the system to boot—it was getting all the individual tools (especially for network security) to function together, consistently, and with the kind of reliability that doesn’t keep me up at night.
It started to feel like Alpine all over again. The toolchain was richer, the ecosystem more mature—but without the scaffolding of a wrapper like EndeavourOS, it quickly morphed into a personal support nightmare.
ParrotOS: Function Over Philosophy
In need of a working system, I pivoted to something I hadn’t seriously considered before: ParrotOS, a Debian-based distro with a security focus. It installed flawlessly. Mullvad VPN worked out of the box with minimal setup. Replacing the default MATE desktop with my usual stack (xfce4, dwm, i3) was smooth.
Is it perfect? No. I’m not in love with the Debian Stable base, and the laptop I’m testing it on is far from new. But everything works, and I’ve spent more time using the system than fixing it—a welcome change.
EOS (EndeavourOS): The Quiet Workhorse
Let me also give due credit where it’s deserved. My existing EOS install (Arch-derived) has been my primary platform for well over a month now, and it has proven to be remarkably stable. Installation was straightforward. Most pieces worked immediately or with minimal adjustment. System updates haven’t broken anything critical, and I haven’t had to “babysit” it nearly as much as the DIY options.
Yes, EOS consumes more memory than Alpine—about 2GB for xfce4 or dwm, compared to Alpine’s ~1.2GB—but given my 24GB RAM laptop, that’s a fair trade for sanity and long-term maintainability.
Final Thought: It’s All Uneven Ground
There’s a deeper truth that runs through all of this: in the resilient systems world, the environment and tool support are wildly uneven.
Some distros are elegant but incomplete. Others are complete but inflexible. Some are well-documented in theory, but chaotic in practice. And some—like EOS—just quietly work, even if they don’t win minimalist purity awards.
Trying to assemble a secure, lightweight, supportable system often feels like nailing Jell-O to the wall. You can get the pieces in place, but getting them to stay together without constant maintenance is the real trick.
That’s why I’ve shifted my priorities. Instead of chasing the leanest possible system, I’m now pursuing the most resilient workable system—something I can build on, secure deeply, and support without burnout.
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If you’re curious about how I use them, feel free to check out:
The Revolutionary Impact of AI on Genealogy and Historical Research.
