this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2025
132 points (92.9% liked)

Linux

56343 readers
493 users here now

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.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
AgreeableLandscape@lemmy.ml
nooter692@lemmy.ml
MarcellusDrum@lemmy.ml
cypherpunks@lemmy.ml
cyclohexane@lemmy.ml
d3Xt3r@lemmy.nz
132
Okay why is your distro the best? (reddthat.com)
submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by POTOOOOOOOO@reddthat.com to c/linux@lemmy.ml
173 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I made the unfortunate post about asking why people liked Arch so much (RIP my inbox I'm learning a lot from the comments) But, what is the best distro for each reason?

RIP my inbox again. I appreciate this knowledge a lot. Thank you everyone for responding. You all make this such a great community.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] hallettj@leminal.space 4 points 3 days ago

Some more points about Nix:

  • It's a fast way to get to a specific setup, like a particular DE or Vulkan gaming support, thanks to abstraction that NixOS modules provide
  • There are tons of packages
  • Because packages are installed by adding a config entry you don't accumulate random software you forgot you installed
  • Immutable updates and rollbacks - this is similar to benefits of atomic ostree distros, but the nix solutions are more general, so you have one system that does more things with a consistent interface
    • in addition to updating the base system, rollbacks also roll back user-installed packages, and configurations if those are managed via Nix
    • devshells provide per-directory packages and configuration using the same package repos as the host system, without needing to manage docker images
  • Nix is portable - much of what it does on NixOS can also be used in other distros, or even on Macos or Windows with the Linux subsystem
    • Configurations often combine NixOS and Home Manager parts. The Home Manager part can be used à la carte on other OSes is a way that is fully isolated from the host OS package management. For example on Macos this is a much nicer alternative to Homebrew.
    • devshells also work on other OSes
  • similar to Guix - but NixOS uses systemd, and is (from what I understand) more tolerant of non-free software (whether these are pros or cons is up to individual interpretation)