this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2025
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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.

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Title is quite self-explanatory, reason I wonder is because every now and then I think to myself "maybe distro X is good, maybe I should try it at some point", but then I think a bit more and realise it kind of doesn't make a difference - the only thing I feel kinda matters is rolling vs non-rolling release patterns.

My guiding principles when choosing distro are that I run arch on my desktop because it's what I'm used to (and AUR is nice to have), and Debian on servers because some people said it's good and I the non-rolling release gives me peace of mind that I don't have to update very often. But I could switch both of these out and I really don't think it would make a difference at all.

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[–] HumanPenguin@feddit.uk 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

i been linux only for over 30 years now.

I tend to use Debian stable. At least for the last 15 or so.

The reason is simple. I use it as my main PC and the stability is my main priority.

The only negative is software in the repos is often out of date.

But honestly while that was a pain in the past. Now for the vast majority of things I use. I find flat pack or appimage downloads work perfect ally.

The only exception is ham radio software. Here I tend to compile later versions if I need/want them.

Other negatives

I'm really not hugely into gaming. But use blender a lot. Due to this I use Nvidia cards as they are far better supported by blender.

Installing the proprietary Nvidia drivers is a bit of a pain on Debian for newbies. But once you know the process its simple enough. Just not obvious for beginners. The community drivers are still very limited thanks to Nvidia s weird ideas.

[–] absentbird@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Same, I've been using Debian only for the last 15 or so years. I love the stability, and the old software isn't hard to work around when newer versions are needed.

I hate the lack of support from Nvidia. I prefer AMD cards though, and they give zero trouble.

[–] HumanPenguin@feddit.uk 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah. Unfortunately blender is still noticably faster on Nvidia cards. Due to cuda and optic support.

I only have a 4060 though. Next time I upgrade, give. How bad the 50s release is. I will look again and compare higher end amd stuff. Likely a few years away though.

[–] absentbird@lemm.ee 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I use my GPU mostly for gaming and computer science. I will say that ROCm from AMD is seriously giving Cuda a run for its money, and it's fully open source. AMD cards also tend to be better per dollar.

[–] HumanPenguin@feddit.uk 2 points 2 days ago

Agreed. As I say blender is less fast on amd. Atm

I don't play games much. 0ad being the main exception.

But yeah I'd never advise a non blender user to go Nvidia.

[–] Hadriscus@lemm.ee 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

How does the nvidia card fare on linux in general ? on a Wayland session ? I have a 4070Ti running Windows atm, I use Blender professionally and I know it runs the best on Linux because of compiler shenanigans I can't be arsed to understand, but this is one reason I'd like to switch to Linux (...again!). I'm interested to know if you run multiple color-managed monitors by any chance

[–] Tapionpoika@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What was you 1st distro back in last millenium?

[–] HumanPenguin@feddit.uk 1 points 2 days ago

slackware followed by red hat mothers day 2.0 also used LMDE for several years