this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2023
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Linux

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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.

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So we can clearly see the most popular distros and the reasons why people use them, please follow this format:

  • Write the name of the Linux distro as a first-level comment.
  • Reply to that comment with each reason you like the distro as a separate answer.

For example:

  • Distro (first-level comment)
    • Reason (one answer)
    • Other reason (a different answer)

Please avoid duplicating options. This will help us better understand the most popular distros and the reasons why people use them.

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[–] gravitywell@kbin.social 11 points 1 year ago (8 children)
[–] gravitywell@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago
[–] gravitywell@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago
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[–] mrv0id@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 year ago (4 children)
[–] StantonVitales@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm on it right now. Got a new Thinkpad a couple weeks ago and just wasn't in the mood to install Arch the normal way when I finally had alone time at 11pm, gave Endeavour a shot and was like oh, this is convenient 🤩

[–] BeardedBlaze@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

It's my first time with Arch based Linux, takes some adjustment, but I've been loving it.

[–] BrokenCanoe@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Endeavour has been my default for a long while now, using Plasma KDE. It supports the flexibility needed to customise and make my own themes for as a low-vision user, and smooths a lot of the rough edges of pure Arch. I had Arch installed previously, but again, having that additional helping hand, coupled with a truly wonderful community, really made all the difference. I left Windows after the mess that was 8, I couldn't go back..

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[–] wxboss@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] Pe4rl@lemmy.fmhy.ml 9 points 1 year ago (4 children)
[–] festus@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago

My favorite too. For me on other distros I was typically running into bugs that I'd find had already been fixed upstream months previously - and then I had to either live with the bug or do some hack to manually install the newer version. Somewhat related to this, but as Linux gamer it was also frustrating to have the older Mesa drivers all the time because it couldn't support the older kernel version the distro shipped or something.

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[–] TableCoffee@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 year ago

I've been trying to convert to linux since the mid-2000's. Ubuntu and derivatives, fedora, and SUSE. Gaming and my lack on knowledge always brought me back to Windows.

In 2018 I tried Manjaro and loved it. But I broke it without the knowledge to fix it multiple times. The Arch BTW memes were strong at the time so I took the plunge and studied the wiki, and documented my own installation process and really learned a lot in the process. Proton was released and suddenly gaming got WAY better. I didn't remove my windows install completely until 2022 but Arch has been my home on my main machine.

I have since put together a proxmox cluster and run many distros for various things but that's a whole other rabbit hole!

[–] jaykstah@waveform.social 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (9 children)
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[–] nychtelios@rlyeh.icu 8 points 1 year ago (4 children)

NixOS, I have a fetish for configuration files

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[–] VirtualBriefcase@lemmy.fmhy.ml 7 points 1 year ago (7 children)
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[–] rankshank@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago (8 children)
[–] lgo@feddit.nl 3 points 1 year ago

declarative configuration

[–] sntx@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

Easy and fearless updates

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[–] linuxduck@nerdly.dev 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Manjaro. It just worked on any device I installed it on. And wifi just worked with no fiddling.

Then I installed it on surface tablet. What didn't work, I found kernel fixes I could implement.

Of all the distros, for me, it was the easiest to use, install and manipulate!!

[–] HulkSmashBurgers@reddthat.com 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Manjaro is my main distro too! The package manager is great!

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[–] tuto193@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)
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[–] funk@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Arch. I can't live without the AUR at this point.

[–] NakedGardenGnome@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

We cannot forget about the wiki, which is a great resource for not only the Arch distro, but for any Linux install.

[–] NakedGardenGnome@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Seriously, the ease of installing any and all programs from the main repo's or the AUR is such an extreme advantage over all other distros!

And it makes keeping your system and programs updated a breeze.

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[–] lig@social.fossware.space 6 points 1 year ago (9 children)
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[–] fzacq9td@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)
[–] fzacq9td@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Being a source based distro, programs are compiled and optimized to your system configuration. Additionally you can add/remove features you dis/like using USE flags.

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[–] MischievousTomato@lemdro.id 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Nixos. For all its complexity and dilemmas and issues it has given me, it's the comfiest for me and gives me really cool features

[–] amanwithausername@vlemmy.net 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It still blows my mind that with nixos, setting up and continuously renewing an ssl cert is literally just two lines in the config file. I use nixos on my homeserver, thinking about switching my laptop to it too (currently Void linux).

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[–] Cralex@lemmy.one 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Runs all your favourite programs, on your phone, bells and whistles included

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[–] dartanjinn@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

Fedora KDE.

[–] lig@social.fossware.space 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)
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[–] athlon@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Mint. Easy to setup, fast to run, and very reliable.

[–] Romdeau4@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)
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[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Slackware

  • the most rock stable distro imo. No systemd or snap stuff. Packages are almost (if not fully) vanilla version from upstream. Simple yet efficient unix-style approach to everything like package management, slackbuilds are really good too.
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[–] gortbrown@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Debian

-Simple distro free of too much bloat without being too bare-bones

-Stable, but can also be changed to be a bit more updated if you want that instead-

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[–] LeafyBirch@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)
[–] LeafyBirch@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

It's arch. It just happened to be the composition i had my previous arch setup as. Yay for AUR stuff, KDE Plasma for DE. Includes a couple of useful tools and makes for a very solid OS.

Anyone who has been in the Ubuntu sphere of things with Linux, should take a moment to try arch. EndeavourOS is perfect for these people.

[–] 00@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

Easy to set up, very helpful community. If you liked Manjaro or think Manjaro is sketchy but like the idea of a slightly pre-configured arch, check it out.

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[–] Eke@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] vikingtons@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Fedora

I want to preface this by saying that Red Hat absolutely deserve your ire in light of the recent news.

I appreciate that Fedora has relatively recent packages for a fixed release distribution. I really appreciate how they've pioneered in desktop-oriented technologies to help make Linux a more palatable experience for regular users, and I'm glad to see these gradually be adopted by others over time.

I'm happy to hear that the Fedora project still mostly operates Independently under redhat / IBM, but I'd be lying if I said the IBM acquisition didn't worry me to the point of looking into alternatives.

[–] starryoccultist@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 1 year ago

Agreed. I've been using Fedora Silverblue for about a year. I love the immutable OS paradigm but IBM/Red Hat's recent actions have left me feeling uneasy and I want to find an alternative.

[–] maiskanzler@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)
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[–] juliette@pawb.social 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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[–] alfredb@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

LMDE

  • Because it's Mint & Debian
[–] kyub@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
  • Arch
  • Debian
    • My favorite overall, they're community-run, stable, well-maintained, have a rich history of being awesome, and they're just top quality general-purpose distros. I tend to use Arch for more recent desktop systems and Debian for server systems or older desktops.

  • NixOS
    • What I'm dabbling with currently, the concepts here are amazing but it's a bit of work at first to truly get value out of it. Still, seems to be a good option for my next notebook OS.

  • Fedora Silverblue (respectively the immutable variants)
    • Also cool, as is Fedora in general, although with the recent Red Hat fiasco and Fedora's plan to introduce opt-out telemetry I'm more hesitant now. Some time ago I'd have listed Fedora at the top but now it's slid down a bit.

  • Mint
  • Kubuntu
    • Easy recommendations for new users coming from Windows

  • VanillaOS
    • I like the idea of making it possible to install packages from all distros (they will then run in a distro-specific container). I wouldn't use it, but it's cool

  • Kali
  • Tails
  • Alpine
    • From the more specific distros

  • Slackware
    • Honorable mention, because it introduced me to Linux back in the day (yes, I liked starting the ~~hard~~ Unix way). I wouldn't recommend it these days but it's kind of like the granddaddy of all Linux distros, and it was awesome in its prime. I'm sure it can still be used today but it's gotten quite niche.
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