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 for servers and debian for desktop. Debian everywhere!
Currently NixOS having been a long time Arch user. The power of Nix is unbeatable once it finally clicks.
I keep hearing about NixOS, is it possible to leverage both NixOS and the AUR from arch?
Not that I’m aware of though it would be cool if possible. Thankfully everything I’ve needed has been found in NixOS Packages or Flathub as my last resort. My current setup if you’re curious.
Just skimmed my AUR install list, and yea most of them seem to be on there, good to know! If my laptop ever shits the bed, I’ll give this a shot haha.
NixOS user now. Long time fan of Arch with BTRFS and snapshots but Nix takes everything to the next level.
mint
it “just works” and I dont have to update it constantlybut my daily driver is endeavourOS
This is the way.
Fedora! To me it sits right at the sweet spot of stability and bleeding edge (they call it “leading edge”), and I’m very happy with how they run things (including the most recent controversy!).
Debian for my work. It is stable and I’ve been using it for many years.
Fedora, really uptodate software, GNOME, stability of a server distro.
Fedora Workstation is what I use for my desktop. If I were to have to reinstall now I’d do Silverblue.
For my home lab I do Proxmox with a couple of VM’s for Ubuntu server for pihole DNS servers and an OpenMediaVault VM for my docker workloads. I’d probably do CoreOS or IoT if I was starting over there though.
Debian – The Universal Operating System
Because it’s universal, runs on everything rock solid and stable.
Nixos, as stable as debian and as rolling edge as arch and if i break something i can just rollback.
This man knows. My whole config is stored in github. Super easy to come back to a perfectly setup box or clone it on another machine.
Debian stable, the os for 50 year old nudists.
It’s the stable branch of one of the oldest distributions around.
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.
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
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.
I’ve always felt that Arch has the least amount of personal compromises. For “bleeding edge,” it’s also generally stable and has a wealth of community support and documentation.
Try Void Linux, or just stay at Arch. If you want to try Nixos (my current distro), watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGVXJ-TIv3Y .
I’ve checked https://voidlinux.org/, looks nice but there is no screenshot! How can I decide without screenshot?
/s
