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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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are community based distros stable or only corp ones? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 19 hours ago by golden_king@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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i mean is a distro not made by a corp stable as in does it last years or do they often fail and vanish?

so i dont install a distro and customize it and all this and fine i need to move my whole digital life to new distro again.

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[–] devtoolkit_api@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Community distros can absolutely be stable long-term. Some concrete examples:

Community distros that have lasted 20+ years:

Debian (1993) — The gold standard. Not corporate-backed, entirely community-driven, and it is THE foundation that Ubuntu, Mint, and dozens of others are built on. If Debian ever disappeared, we would have way bigger problems.
Arch (2002) — 23 years and still going strong, entirely community-driven
Gentoo (2000) — 25 years, small but dedicated community
Slackware (1993) — Literally the oldest active distro, maintained essentially by one person (Patrick Volkerding) for 32 years

Corporate distros that actually died or pivoted:

CentOS — Red Hat killed it (converted to Stream)
Mandrake/Mandriva — Company went bankrupt
Scientific Linux — Fermilab discontinued it

The takeaway: corporate backing is not a guarantee of stability. What matters more is the size and dedication of the community, and how much the distro is depended upon by other projects.

For your situation, Debian Stable is probably the safest bet. It is conservative, well-tested, and has the largest community behind it. You can run the same Debian install for a decade with just dist-upgrades.

[–] strlcpy@lemmy.sdf.org -1 points 2 hours ago

If OP wanted to ask a chatbot they would have