this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2026
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I distro hopped for a bit before finally settling in Debian (because Debian was always mentioned as a distro good for servers, or stable machines that are ok with outdated software)

And while I get that Debian does have software that isn't as up to date, I've never felt that the software was that outdated. Before landing on Debian, I always ran into small hiccups that caused me issues as a new Linux user - but when I finally switched over to Debian, everything just worked! Especially now with Debian 13.

So my question is: why does Debian always get dismissed as inferior for everyday drivers, and instead mint, Ubuntu, or even Zorin get recommended? Is there something I am missing, or does it really just come down to people not wanting software that isn't "cutting edge" release?

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[–] BillibusMaximus@sh.itjust.works 4 points 16 hours ago

I guess that heavily depends on the games you're playing

I think this is the key thing.

If you're always buying the newest GPU to play the latest tech- envelope-pushing AAA title that requires the latest greatest driver, then you're probably not going to have a good time with gaming on Debian.

But some of us don't care about those types of games, or maybe in some cases we do but are willing to wait a while to play a particular title (hello Patient Gamers). In that case Debian is a nice, rock solid gaming platform.

Anecdotally, I probably do 85+% of my gaming on Debian (the rest being my steam deck). And it works fine for me because of the types of games I play and/or how long I tend to wait before getting new titles (giving Debian time to catch up).

It's definitely not for every gamer, but I don't think it's as unusable for gaming as people often suggest.