From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
Startend with ubuntu, didnt like "appy", mobile feel of gnome, switched to manjaro KDE, loved it but kept breaking and I wasn't smart enough to fix
Settled on good Ol Debian KDE, miss the AUR but things are stable and working
Still got a win pc to play league, work with office and make music though.
EndeavourOS might be worth a try if you miss the AUR, but if you don't like the maintenance associated with Arch's rolling release strategy then I'd stick to Debian.
Fedora
Slackware. It didnt abstract anything from me and lets me help myself. Unlike ubuntu, that keps getting in the way.
Xubuntu... It's light weight and pretty much everything is kind of Debian or kind of redhat anyway...
The charm of rolling my own died off when I got old enough to buy better hardware if I wanted to go faster...
OpenSUSE -> Ubuntu -> Windows for like a decade -> MacOS -> Arch -> Manjaro -> Arch -> Debian -> NixOS -> Nobara
Currently running NixOS on my laptop, Nobara on my Desktop, and Debian on my VMs under Proxmox.
I'll probably jump from Nobara to Bazzite as soon as I start to have problems.
I'm gradually settling on immutable distros.
SUSE -> Mageia -> Ubuntu -> Manjaro -> Mint -> Manjaro. Been on Manjaro for 4 years now.
ubuntu -> kali -> lubuntu -> debian -> rhel -> arch -> gentoo + alpine -> alpine (-> openbsd + freebsd)
I consider things not in brackets 100/100 trashes (alpine is 1/2, gentoo is 3/4), in experience (because they don't help me to learn anything, I'd take openbsd on platform that X11 support is broken, for example Alpha, than anything not in brackets on amd64. Of course, that should be a personal machine for learning.)
@tet my first computer was a ubantu mini PC I have used almost every major distro and now I use fadora because I like gnome on my laptop
I'm probably going to stick with Arch, or maybe EndeavourOS.
I've hopped from distro to distro but I always keep coming back to Arch. The reason I use Arch is that it's my weird sweet spot of "DIY" and "it just works". It gives me a blank slate at first, but it lets me paint the canvas with whatever I want, however I want. It allows for some weird setups (like VFIO, for instance) and the wiki really helps with that. I don't really use the AUR nowadays unless it's for a package only available there, so I can't say anything about that. I use Flatpak nowadays. Some people might prefer the AUR, that's good for them! Right now it's just not for me.
If I do distro-hop again, I'll probably go for EndeavourOS just to have an Arch install that leans heavier on the "just works" side of things.
Ubuntu, Arch, Manjaro and now Guix as my hopefully permanent home. Guix is one configuration file, and zap! the system configures itself from that. There are oc a lot of other goodies..
Mandrake > Debian > Ubuntu > Mint & Arco Linux & MX Linux.
These three distros are the chosen ones in my case. I've been using them in my main computers for a couple of years now. It's the right mixture.
Debian + Gnome: I don't game and have a limited wifi connection and Debian gives me stability, ease of use and I don't need to run an update more than once a week
Windows -> macos -> pop os -> debian -> fedora ↓ Now
I tried a ton, and I settled with Fedora just for the mix of stability and support. Though, with Red Hat being asses I might have to mix it up.
LXQT on Arch
Started with Arch for 2 years -> Fedora Workstation for 1,5 years -> Fedora Silverblue until now
Fedora silverblue or rather the ublue image.
I am not a power user and do casual gaming, document reading and processing, mail checking and video watching so the ublue main image provides the simplicity and stability I need.
Arch. Or, rather EndeavourOS. I've lived with several distros (daily driver desktops, laptops, servers) for years: debian, Ubuntu, Gobo, gentoo, Redhat, CentOS, Arch, Artix, and EndeavourOS. Redhat was my least favorite, and EndeavourOS probably my most.
I'm currently running Endeavour on my desktop, Artix on my laptop, and vanilla Arch on several servers and ancillary devices. All of the Arches are basically the same day-to-day, except Artix; Artix is the lightest, but also the most work, and I probably wouldn't choose it again.
I like Arch because - for me - it's been stable and pain-free from dependency-hell, of which Redhat distros were the worst. I will not go back to any point release distro - rolling release has been so much better for me. The Arch wiki is the best source of Linux information on the internet, and the AUR has almost everything in it, and is easy to contribute to. PKGBUILDs are easy to write; it's hardly any more work to put one together to install something and have it managed by the package manager, than to not.
I'm interested in playing more with some of the source-based distros like void, alpine, tinycore, venom, and kiss; my experience with gentoo leads me to believe I won't be happy with any as daily drivers.
However, I'm very interested in Chimera.
After years of stable distros and dealing with outdated software, and years of arch and dealing with updates causing me to fail to boot, I've recently hopped through every popular distro and landed on MX+Nix.
It solves both of my problems. The system is rock solid thanks to Debian, and I still get bleeding edge userland packages from nix unstable.
Way back when I think it was SUSE for me after BeOS went under. Ubuntu, debian, arch, and then nixos maybe 7 or 8 years ago. Back to ubuntu for work for a few years, but nixos full time now.
Might be OT since I never was much of a distro hopper.
Got introduced to Linux with SLS, used RedHat until it became too commercial for my taste. At that time, found gentoo and stuck with it hard. It allows me to have completely custom packages fully integrated with the system package manager, that's the top killer feature for me.
Started with OpenSUSE because it supported our Proprietary CAD software ( Choice was Redhat or SUSE ) As a bonus nVidia hosts its own repo for SUSE and OpenSUSE so no graphic issues with CAD. Then Arch because of the buzz. Manjaro EndeavorOS Ubuntu PoP!_OS Clear Linux Mint ElementaryOS Fedora NixOS
Now main machines run OpenSUSE and wifes 12 yr old laptop is NixOS.
Why? OpenSUSE is really dependable and updates are flawless, if i tinker and break something a rollback at boot is a quick fix, which is imortant since it is my daily work work-station. While you could set up btrfs and grub snapshots in other systems, I like that it comes baked in, and all the EFI/ TPM / Secure-boot stuff works with no messing around.
As for wife's machine , she is not tech savvy and Windows was too complicated for her (and so damn slow), so GNOME on NixOS (fast) is a clear workflow; and since she likes things exactly the same in order to comprehend a system , the config files make it easy to re-replicate the exact setup.