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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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It’s alway weird to me that even though Ubuntu has the largest Linux desktop market share, no one admits to using it.
Anyway, I use Ubuntu because I was doing a lot of ROS development when I last built a machine, and getting ROS running properly on other distros can be a pain.
Gentoo, it just works
just works
After compiling and configuring for a few hours sure
Personnaly, i'm using Fedora and i love it!
I really love NixOS and use it on all my devices. Its not as difficult as people say and it really makes the linux experience a piece of cake once you get it down.
The single config file to control almost everything is just what I was looking for in linux and the fact that it solved any kind of dependency hell I have experienced in the past is huge. If I had to list a top 3 it would be NixOS, Fedora, and Arch.
I use Arch for personal and gaming, Debian for self hosting and hacking, Alpine for containerized cloud deployments.
I just installed Bazzite about a month ago and love it! Used Ubuntu in the past and it was ok, but eventually went back to Windows. I definitely don't feel that way about Bazzite though, I think I might stick with it as my primary OS!
Nobody has mentioned immutables yet?!
I finally dipped my toes into trying a new distro over the summer and have been really impressed with Project Bluefin. All the familiarity of Gnome for existing Ubuntu or Debian users but with a completely hands off rolling update experience.
The main drawbacks are the slight complexity of how the fuck to install stuff on an immutable system. In theory you use Homebrew for CLI apps and flatpak for GUI apps but I'm really not a fan of installing from sources other than the original dev.
Debian and Fedora. I use Debian on servers and Fedora on my desktop and laptop.
I use Gentoo and I love it. The installation process is a bit more complex than Arch but it doesn't have to be if you choose the precompiled kernel.
The package management is extremely flexible and the community are great. I have a morning routine where I log onto my gentoo desktop before work and update everything; would compare it to raking one of those miniature buddhist sand gardens. Very theraputic!
Have got Debian on an old thinkpad too because it is too under resourced to compile everything. I think Debian is amazing for a solid, reliable distro if you have weak hardware.
Debian for my daily workstation. Minimal terminal-only install, and then I piece together my environment.
For smaller, headless applications I like Alpine. Containerized projects, VPS, etc.
Debian, it Just Works.
Until it doesn't /jk
If you need fresh version of some software, Flatpak is a nice solution.
You can also use Docker, it just works.
Props to the maintainers and developers.
Endeavouraos, arch but also easy
There isn't a best distro, tho I stick to the root of a distro tree, meaning arch / debian.
Why are fedora and suse often not mentioned considering theyre not forks of anything? (as far as im aware)
Historically, (at least for hobbyists/enthusiasts) Fedora and openSUSE have been a lot less popular compared to Arch, Debian and their derivatives. While not necessarily representative, Boiling Steam's chart -in which ProtonDB's data is used- does indicate to this as well.
Just my 2 cents.
Kinda crazy considering fedoras perks and accessibility tbh. Dont know much ab suse tho as i have very little experience with it
I don't know why, but openSUSE has had difficulty garnering popularity overall (aside from Germany).
A possible explanation, which also ties in to Fedora, is how both are the open source variants to corporate distros; SEL and RHEL respectively.
Arch and Debian are more community-driven by comparison.
For Fedora specifically, people couldn't regard it as anything but a testing bed distro; especially if you see how back2back they were with adopting new technologies like PulseAudio, systemd, Wayland, GTK 3/4, PipeWire etc. To be fair, openSUSE was the first to default to Btrfs and auto-snapshotting with Snapper*. Fedora was also facing competition from industry darling CentOS; similar code base, but a lot more stable.
Thankfully, since a couple of years now, Fedora has recognized that it's not cool to expect your user base to be sadistic. And together with the (unfortunate) downfall of CentOS, Manjaro and Ubuntu - Fedora has amassed a very healthy user base. And with how quickly Bazzite is becoming the face of gaming Linux (at least until Valve releases SteamOS), I don't think it has even peaked yet.
steamos? its going to have its own release detached from the deck? thatd be so cool
Fedora Atomic, especially Bluefin, Bazzite and Aurora.
Nearly unbreakable, very reliable and stable in everyday use, needs no maintenance (updates itself, etc.) and more!
If there were a universal answer to this, there wouldn't be any others.
I myself currently use Debian (testing), have for some years now, but I have used other distros in the past too.
Fedora, but I wouldn’t say I’m in love with it. It frustrates me the least. No Linux distro is perfect, but they’re all better than Windows.
GNU Guix
Best Distro
Needs dictate preferences. An objective assessment isn't possible even on an individual level, as circumstances change over time. Linux Mint serves as a common starting point, with many users eventually 'graduating' to other distributions. The opposite is also true; many eventually return to low-maintenance distros like Linux Mint, preferring something that 'just works'.
I’m very curious of which distro users loves the most that they have it on their daily hardware?
I daily drive secureblue.
Xubuntu on my desktop/laptop, debian on a server. Mostly because while I really like tinkering with things, I usually just want shit to work so I can get something done.
Opensuse Tumbleweed. Sometimes I try something else, but Tumbleweed is the one I keep going back to. It is quite solid and rolling release.
OpenSuSE Tumbleweed is my current favourite. It's user friendly with good system tools in Yast, it's got good repos including community repos with lots of software.
Its also a rolling release but has been stable and reliable for me. Leap is their point release version if rolling is not right for you.
I've been using Tumbleweed for over a year, and it's my main OS since I stopped using windows. I've dual booted Linux for many years but always mained windows up until Tumbleweed.
Previously I used to use Mint; it's decent but switching to Tumbleweed (and in particular KDE) convinced me to completely switch from Windows. Everything "just works", and I do a fair bit of gaming without issue with nvidia drivers, steam, and lutris.
For example I've been playing Stardew, Cyberpunk 2077, Distant Worlds 2, and Factorio recently - all in Linux and all without issue.
Nix and Bazzite
The best for my user cases atm
For work bluefin For general stations mint For gaming cachyos or bazzite
I use fedora-based atomic distros for the reliability and security. Nothing else really runs SELinux out of the box and I care about security so that’s a necessary baseline. I roll my own distro though using BlueBuild, and base it off the SecureBlue image of Silverblue. Just using SecureBlue gets you nearly to what I use though
Debian Stable. Predictable, low-maintenance, and well-supported. From time to time, I think about switching over to Alpine or even BSD, but the software selection and abundance of Q&A posts for Debian and its derivatives keeps me coming back. Having been a holdout on older Windows versions in the past, I'm quite used to waiting for new features and still amazed at how much easier life is with a proper package manager.
Gentoo, because no other distro offers as much choice.
I think Pop!_OS and Linux Mint are the best no brains required distributions.
Debian (desktop) and Mint (laptop), because I don't need to use the latest version of every app I use and because it works so well.
If I had to chose a single one, it would be Debian but I don't have to chose ;)
I started with Slackware in the nineties, have been through Redhat, Suse, Ubuntu, Arch, Tumbleweed.
I could use anything really but these days my focus have moved; I kinda just want functional and well configured up front. Using Pop!_OS 24 alpha on my gaming/dev laptop, it works well/is well put together and I’m having fun writing COSMIC apps. I’m using Ubuntu on a few servers, I picked it many years ago and they’ve been through a number of painless upgrades.
Over the course of the last 20 years, I've gone from Arch -> Void -> Pop!_OS -> Ubuntu, and that is what I use on all my machines (laptops, desktops, servers).
I default to xubuntu
