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Ubuntu based distros; which PPA? (this is a question, not a guide)
dubigrasu Jan 29, 2020
After SteamOS went (more or less) belly up, I needed something similarly stable, so at least for now I settled to Ubuntu LTS.
The problem with that though (and being an AMD user) is that I need decently updated drivers. Ubuntu's LTS drivers are far from that, so like everyone else I resort to PPAs.

But which one? There isn't a real consensus about that since there are several options, some stable, some unstable, some unknown etc.
The oldest one that I remember is Oibaf's:
https://launchpad.net/~oibaf/+archive/ubuntu/graphics-drivers
Then along came Padoka, with his stable and unstable branches:
https://launchpad.net/~paulo-miguel-dias/+archive/ubuntu/pkppa
https://launchpad.net/~paulo-miguel-dias/+archive/ubuntu/mesa
And when Valve created ACO they send users to experiment with this PPA:
https://launchpad.net/~valve-experimental/+archive/ubuntu/mesa-bionic
But wait! There's also Kisak's PPA, also from Valve:
https://launchpad.net/~kisak/+archive/ubuntu/kisak-mesa
There's also this guy and his branches:
https://launchpad.net/~ernstp/+archive/ubuntu/mesaaco
https://launchpad.net/~ernstp/+archive/ubuntu/mesarc

Ubuntu themselves also seem to maintain several PPA's, but is a bit confusing which is which, so I'm not gonna bother with those.
The one PPA that seem to be insistently recommended lately especially on discord channels seem to be Kisak's PPA, but I never seen any compelling reason for choose it over Padoka's for example (well, "I use this PPA and is great" is not really a convincing argument).

So yeah, I would appreciate extra info about all this, which PPA you use and why not the others.
tuubi Jan 29, 2020
I switched from Padoka to Kisak when I bought a Navi GPU. On Polaris you'll be fine with either. One specific reason a Navi owner might want Kisak over Padoka is the fact that new releases are quick to appear, and they include some carefully selected, backported fixes and patches to sweeten the deal. I suppose some of the ACO patches might benefit you as well.
dubigrasu Jan 30, 2020
Alright, thanks. Indeed I have a Polaris card.
I took a look again on these PPAs and sorted them a bit.

- Oibaf PPA is the oldest and once the PPA of choice (kudos for that) so is reliable, but at the same time feels very bleeding edge. I did had some issues with it in the past. I can see a use for this when you need testing the very latest Mesa features, but not so sure for daily use.
- At the opposite pole are Padoka's stable branch. which may be considered rather too stable by some, and Valve's experimental (not Kisak) which looks rather stale or perhaps even forgotten.
- "ernstp" PPAs look alright, they are actively maintained for the moment, but thing is, I don't know anything about this guy. He may be here tomorrow, he maybe not.

Which indeed leaves me with Padoka's unstable PPA and Kisak's. Padoka is a bit ahead, while Kisak is playing safe and only backports the goodies.
So I guess at this point I'll just toss a coin a be done with it. What's the most I could loose at a coin toss?
tuubi Jan 30, 2020
Quoting: dubigrasuWhat's the most I could loose at a coin toss?
A coin? ;)
dvd Jan 30, 2020
Debian testing usually gets a mesa/driver/etc update each month, and its reasonably stable (at least for me).
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