I’d like to settle on a distro, but none of them seem to click for me. I want stability more than anything, but I also value having the latest updates (I know, kind of incompatible).
I have tested Pop!_Os, Arch Linux, Fedora, Mint and Ubuntu. Arch and Pop being the two that I enjoyed the most and seemed the most stable all along… I am somewhat interested in testing NixOS although the learning curve seems a bit steep and it’s holding me back a bit.
What are you using as your daily drive? Would you recommend it to another user? Why? Why not?
Debian stable, the os for 50 year old nudists.
It’s the stable branch of one of the oldest distributions around.
Arch because I like simple.
Other distros are an exercise in patience I think. Each Ubuntu version has different names and versions of stuff like docker, mysql and everything else. It’s really annoying to work with. I assume all six month distros are like that. And you have to add extra repos, keys and whatnot for it to even find things.
With arch, since it’s rolling, I just install the latest version and I already know the command. It’s always the same. Always.
There are many reasons I like arch but the simplicity of the installations is one of my favorite reasons to use it, and the fact that it’s always the latest version.
I would highly recommend EndeavourOS. Its basically Arch linux on easy mode. It takes care of updates without much fuss.
EndeavourOS is definitely my favorite desktop distro I’ve used. I’m pretty heavy on command line because my brain likes it and I really enjoy the lack of any graphical package manager where you just have to use command line to update/install stuff. Feels very clean and I haven’t had any stability issues that I haven’t seen in other distros.
It’s there no option to update things with a GUI or do you just prefer to use terminal. Currently trying to decide between mint and endeavor. Haven’t used Linux since Ubuntu way back in college in like 2011
Debian for servers and debian for desktop. Debian everywhere!
This is the way.
For desktop Linux, I use Arch. It’s a community driven base distribution, so the needs of the community are what drives development and there are no financial decisions of a company that get priority, which is refreshing. It also has access to the latest and greatest that Linux has to offer.
They have a philosophy of expecting basic effort from users and to have a tinkering mindset. Historically, Arch devs and users have a reputation of being grumpy greybeards, but many of the rough edges have been rounded off in the last few years. If you are willing to do a bit of reading or watching some YouTube videos, it’s not really that hard.
You can really build a lean and powerful machine that has just the software you want on the system with Arch. All it takes is a little effort and willingness to ask for help from the community after you have tried and failed to solve problems yourself. It’s really not the badge of elitism to use Arch in 2023. It’s never been easier to use and doesn’t blow up on you nearly as often as the reputation implies. Just use good hygiene and make snapshots so if you blow it up, it’s only a 5 minute recovery.
Fedora.
I can highly recommend fedora to a newbie. It’s easier to use than ubuntu. It doesn’t come with snaps. You only need one or two methods of installing apps. It’s safe. It’s well written. It’s supported very well. It’s updated frequently. It incorporates innovative technology.
Opensuse and EndeaverOS are also very nice.
I’ve slowly over the last 16 years come all the way around to Fedora. I started with Ubuntu Feisty Fawn, explored Mint and then Debian, then played around with Arch, moved to Opensuse Tumbleweed when it began, and now all Fedora and Fedora derivatives.
I think the most interesting Fedora projects rn are the immutable desktops, Silverblue and Kinoite. I might consider testing out Opensuse MicroOS when the desktop versions are more stable.
Tried a lot of distros and finally settled on openSUSE Tumbleweed. Rock solid for a rolling release. If anything ever goes wrong, there’s Snapper to rollback without a breaking a sweat.
@pluja You’ll be happiest using whatever you’re comfortable maintaining/troubleshooting. I’ve spent ~20 years playing with many different distros for one reason or another and the only one I can’t stay away from is #gentoo. As with most things, everyone’s got different tastes, that’s the great thing about having so much choice.
Nobody’s reason for “the best” distro is gonna be the right one for you. You’ll know what’s right for you because it’s the one you always want to use more than any other.
I’ve been itching to try Gentoo again after being away for many years. I remember setting up portage overlays to get Wine running CS 1.6 back in the day. I had done a stage1 install one time for the hell of it and it was faster than it ever was on Windows. I’ve been wanting to chase that sweet performance… funrollloops or something. Haha
@notfromhere It’s only gotten better.
Mint. Simple, stable, efficient.
Arch has been my go to for almost 10 years now, and it was one of my favorites for 5 years prior. These days I rarely have any issues from updating. I have to use Ubuntu for work and I dread every distribution upgrade. I got lucky and the last one worked on my work laptop, but usually something stupid breaks.
I run arch on my laptop, my previous laptop, and my server. The install on my server is 7 years old now, and started life with an entirely different CPU brand. I won’t say I’ve never had to do any manual intervention, but the answer has been a Google search away pretty much every time.
I use Arch BTW
I use Pop!_OS on my desktop and laptop. Prior to that, I would distro-hop like it was my job. I bought a system76 laptop and figured, why not. So, I had Pop preloaded on it instead of Ubuntu. Here’s the reason I ended up settling on Pop as my one-and-only distro.
- Based off Ubuntu/Debian, which I am most familiar/comfortable with
- No Snaps
- Flatpak supported out of the box
- Relatively rapid deployment of updated kernels (currently on 6.2.6), so no need to worry about hardware support
- Tiling windows that are well implemented
- Backed by a company, but one that shares the same values as me
- Stable, even with semi-rolling release nature of it
The downsides are that their choice of colors are god-awful. I get it, it’s their company’s colors, but I don’t think it looks really all that good on an operating system. I’ve gotten used to it, and don’t care as much anymore.
I’ve been on Pop for a couple of years now (?3), I just keep upgrading, and nothing breaks. It has all the applications I need, no snaps, I’m very familiar with ubuntu/debian systems, and it just keeps ticking along. Usually I’d distrohop when whatever I was using would crap out, but Pop just keeps trucking along
Mint for work and home.
I’ve tried basically every reasonably maintained distribution, and keep coming back to Arch. It just feels right. And it just works right too. The package manager is excellent, and that is one of the things that makes or breaks any distribution for me. I also love that it comes with nothing, so you know what you get, and it’ll be setup how you want it. With other major distributions, I spend a considerable amount of time removing things first, which is something I just don’t want to do.
I’ve been trying out NixOS recently. I really appreciate what it is trying to do, but the complexity of nix-command is quite overwhelming
mint
it “just works” and I dont have to update it constantlybut my daily driver is endeavourOS
This is the way.
I use arch btw
