this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2025
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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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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.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

Nix, it just works, built in rollback sane defaults, super customization. Super easy to package for

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

NixOS.

  • I have access to more packages than with any other package manager.
  • everything to get my setup in the exact state I want is in my config, which is 90% useable on any other distro thanks to home manager
  • My config is all in one place and easy to share
  • If I ever break something, I can always roll back
  • I don't need Docker
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

slackware the og linux distro. super stable, sane package management etc. i've wanted to try void/arch/gentoo/crux for a pretty long time but still haven't because this just works perfectly

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

NixOS makes me feel so safe making low-level changes to Linux and making sure that my work laptop, gaming desktop, and personal laptop all have the exact same shit on them and I'm gonna use them the exact same way.

I wish that nixlang was decoupled from the concept of a build system bc it's such a great DAG config DSL and I can think of so many cooler uses for it but I just don't have time to focus on it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

Debian (testing) is most suitable for me. If there were a universally best distro, all the others would cease to exist...

It isn't made by a for-profit company and thus doesn't have "features" I don't want.

It pays attention to software freedom, though it isn't so restrictive about it that it doesn't work with my hardware.

It was very easy to install only the things I wanted and needed.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

Imo, the best one is the one that fits the user's needs the best. Though it sounds like a non-answer, distros are usually tailored for specific needs, so not necessarily the features or lack thereof from one distro disregard another.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Ubuntu.

Why? - I guess I'm too lazy for distro hopping now :(

Besides, this was the 1st Linux distro I tried back in 2005. After the usual ditro hopping phase was over, I settled on it; somehow (irrespective of snap and other controversies) I feel at home.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

For me its Linux Mint, I'm no longer in position really to do distro hopping, so long as Linux Mint keeps working I will keep using it, I see no reason to change right now. I'm glad and happy that you have settled on Ubuntu, have fun, enjoy and be happy huuuugs 😉

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

My experience with Mint: "Guess I should research a solution for that minor annoyance - oh, they fixed it in an update."

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

I agree. I tried Fedora first, then Pop!OS, and then settled on Kubuntu.

Kubuntu has been the most stable so far, no big issues. I chose it for that and its Wayland support. Snaps can be disabled or even have auto update turned off which is what I did and I had no real issues with Ubuntu past that so overall a good distro.

Widely supported, plenty of tutorials, has my favorite DE as a spin, it just does what I need it to.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I just want to learn more about what are the differences between distros, so that they will be better or worse? Are all the distros having the same GNU/Linux kernel so that if I replace all the Arch userland files into Debian's, the system will become Debian?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

Are all the distros having the same GNU/Linux kernel

Yes. Different distros have different versions, patches and so on, but the underlying kernel is the same.

if I replace all the Arch userland files into Debian’s, the system will become Debian?

If by "userland" you mean files which your normal non-root user can touch, then no. There's differences on how distributions build directory trees, file locations, binaries, versions and so on. You can of course replace all the files on the system and change distribution that way, a convenient way to do that is to use distros installer but technically speaking you can also replace them manually by hand (which I don't recommend).

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Gentoo works best for me because I'm a control freak. It lets me tune my system in any way I want, and I don't mind leaving my computer on while I'm asleep so that it can compile its way through libreoffice, webkit, and a couple of browsers. Plus, based on complaints I hear from people using other distros, Portage beats other package managers in every way except speed.

This doesn't mean that it's best for everyone, mind you, just that it's best for me.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Gentoo is the best, if you have a beefy CPU with enough RAM, it's not even that slow. (Yes still slower, though dnf may be on par).

But it's just the best thing for having control over your hardware and software.

USE flags are divine, I can't imagine a life without them anymore.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Mint Cinnamon.

It's easy, stable and gets out of my way.

I haven't seen the need to dostro hop for years.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

EndeavorOS. It runs smooth, i dont get errors, all my games work, the taskbar and notifications work like I would expect them too. Switching from Windows 2 months ago, I cycled through a few distros but they all were giving something up until i found EoS.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Garuda - all the benefits of arch with an easy installer. And it's prettier (in my opinion) than EndeavorOS. Gaming is pretty great.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

There are dozens of us!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

My way of thinking and working is incompatible with most premade automatism, it utterly confuses me when a system is doing something on its own without me configuring it that way.

That's why I have issues with many of the "easy" distributions like Ubuntu. Those want to be to helpful for my taste. Don't take me wrong, I am not against automatism or helper tools/functions, not at all. I just want to have full knowledge and full control of them.

I used Gentoo for years and it was heaven for me, the possibility to turn every knob exactly like I wanted them to be was so great, but in the end was the time spend compiling everything not worth it.

That's why I changed to Arch Linux. The bare bone nature of the base install and the high flexibility of pacman and the AUR are ideal for me. I love that Arch by default is not easy, that it doesn't try to anticipate what I want to do. If something happens automatically it is because I configured the system to behave that way.

Linux is so great, because there is a distribution for nearly everyone out there (unless you are blind, then things are not that great apparently, but it seems to get better).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Since I'm old and need to deal with administrating a bunch of machines for work, I settled on the most dull and unsurprising distros of all: debian. Sure, when I was younger and eager to learn and with much time on my hands, I used gentoo (basically what is now arch) and all the others too.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

MX Linux (Debian based), using it for almost 10 years now (before, it was Ubuntu). Based on Debian, very stable, always up to date for every kernel/apps, use native .deb no snap no flatpak no systemd. Also it is using Xfce by default, the best DE.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (9 children)
[–] thatonecoder 3 points 1 week ago

It is insanely configurable though, as shown by Zorin OS Lite.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Mac OS is my favorite Linux distro.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Because I don't have a fickle heart, and My distro is the best, right now, for me. There's nothing more to it. I do like Mint - but a few apps are out of date, and that's annoying. But it's stable, looks great, and works like a charm.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I wanted the awesomeness of pacman and like the way Gardua comes pre-configured as well as packages it installs from the get go. The only thing I hate about it is the "gamer" universal KDE theme it comes with.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I've been using Ubuntu for years and I like KDE, so I'm using Neon. Ubuntu is familiar, easy to fix, easy to find out how to fix, and neon doesn't come with snaps.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Because it uses the best desktop environment (GNOME) and im the most familiar with

(I wonder how many downvotes i will get)

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's probably not the best but I have it set up and it does what I need it to do 🤷 Fedora KDE

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Open suse leap, because it's the only one I could install on my computer that would go to sleep and then wake up without locking up.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Endeavour OS is the best because you get all the benefits of Arch combined with a familiar and friendly installer, a good out of the box setup with the desktop of your choice. Not to mention the outstanding community that's built up around it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

ZorinOS is the best for me, because it works out of the box, looks a lot like Windows which i'm used to, is relatively configurable and is free (the paid version is just cosmetics and prebundled additional software). I consider looking into Arch though, thanks to your post and the comments there ;)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Arch.

Do I need to justify myself any further?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

My choice of distro is just a compromise and close enough to serving my needs. All distros have pros and cons, and I use different distros for different use cases.

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