Reader supplied reviews for Void Average rating 9.1 from 302 review(s) What are your thoughts on Void? Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system. Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review. Version: Rating:    out of 10 Your review (minimum 250 words): Past reviews - sort by: Version: current Rating: 10 Date: 2026-11-11 Country: Greece Votes: 5 Makes using linux feel free again, you completely own your system and can easily exercise more control than any other distro (even more than gentoo) and yet its enough for a beginner to handle. Its also the fastest system ive used, by default there's no bloat since runit is extremelly lean (as an init system should be). Its design distances it from your average distro and kinda places it in its own category which is closer to something like a bsd with option to install a more "correct" libc and a ports like build system. It should be the new standard distro since it can also run on anything Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: current Rating: 10 Date: 2026-10-27 Country: United States Votes: 35 I've been running Void Linux on a ThinkPad X390 for a few weeks now, and it's been a genuinely interesting ride. I came from MX Linux, so I was looking for something rolling but not as chaotic as Arch. Void hits a nice middle ground. The runit init system is the big draw here. It's fast, simple, and once you get your head around symlinking services into /var/service, it just makes sense. Boot times are snappy, and the system feels lean. XBPS is a solid package manager too. Fast, reliable, and the repos are stocked enough but I added nix pkg management as well. That said, be prepared to get your hands dirty. I wanted a Wayland setup with Niri and a custom shell, and Void gave me the blank canvas to build it exactly how I wanted. The default install is minimal no desktop environment. I went with Niri and Noctalia, but you could just as easily run XFCE or KDE. Flexibility is Void's biggest strength and its biggest barrier to entry. But it's not a distro for someone who wants a working desktop out of the box (unless you grab the xfce.iso). If you're comfortable with the terminal and willing to read documentation, you'll be fine. If you're not, look elsewhere. Documentation is decent but not exhaustive. The handbook covers the basics, but for niche setups you'll be piecing things together from forums and GitHub issues. The community is helpful but small. Hardware support on my Intel-based ThinkPad was excellent. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, audio, and the camera all worked. The only hiccup was some SD card reader kernel errors, which is a known issue with the hardware tho a more bleeding-edge distro might have the fix. Overall, Void is a fantastic choice for tinkerers and power users who want a stable rolling release without systemd. It's not for everyone, but for the right person, it's a joy to use. Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: current Rating: 10 Date: 2026-10-14 Country: United States Votes: 41 If you are tired of the bloat, complexity, and corporate steering found in mainstream distributions, Void Linux is the ultimate breath of fresh air. Built completely from scratch, Void offers an unparalleled masterclass in what a modern, lightweight Linux operating system should be. It easily earns a 10 out of 10. The Packaging Masterpieces: XBPS and XBPS-SRC The crowning jewel of Void is XBPS (X Binary Package System). It is hands-down the fastest, most reliable package manager in existence. Transactions happen near-instantaneously, dependency resolution is flawless, and it handles updates with zero friction. For everything else, xbps-src provides an incredibly elegant, chroot-isolated build system. It gives you the power and flexibility of Gentoo’s Portage or Arch's AUR, but with much cleaner, easily maintainable templates. Runit & Insane, Blazing Speed Void replaces heavy init systems with runit, and the results are staggering. The system boots in a blink of an eye, services start and stop instantly, and system administration is reduced to simple symlinks. Because of this minimalist architecture, Void’s performance is insanely fast. The system stays completely out of your way, boasting incredibly low idle RAM usage and absolute responsiveness under heavy workloads. Other Noteworthy Praises: • Musl C Library Support: The option to choose musl alongside glibc is fantastic for users seeking an ultra-lightweight, secure, and standards-compliant system. • True Stability: Despite being a cutting-edge rolling release, Void is rock-solid. Updates don't break the system, and old kernels are safely managed. • No-Nonsense Philosophy: It gives you a clean slate without forcing telemetry, forced configurations, or arbitrary defaults down your throat. Void Linux is a masterpiece of software engineering. It is fast, predictable, transparent, and a pure joy to use for minimalists and power users alike. Was this review helpful? Yes No See all 302 reader reviews of Void...