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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[–] Pirate@feddit.org 5 points 1 week ago

OpenSUSE tumbleweed: Up-to-date, unbreakable due to Btrfs+snapper, very secure defaults (firewall), based in Germany. It works perfectly on my Thinkpad, so I couldn't ask for better.

[–] KarnaSubarna@lemmy.ml 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.

[–] Aimeeloulm@feddit.uk 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 😉

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[–] Bluefruit@lemmy.world 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.

[–] Crabhands@lemmy.ml 5 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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[–] pyssla@quokk.au 4 points 1 week ago

A bit of tinkering. Thoughts?

Obligatory "There is not a single distro that's the absolute best for each and every one." disclaimer aside, my personal favorite is definitely secureblue for being a hardened-by-default distro that adheres to the ~~'immutable'~~ reprovisionable, anti-hysteresis paradigm while enjoying a healthy stream of improvements pushed out by an active group of contributors.

[–] ar1@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 2 weeks 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?

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[–] Matriks404@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Mac OS is my favorite Linux distro.

[–] nyan@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks 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.

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[–] absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz 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.

[–] TheCynicalSaint@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Fedora is quite unremarkable, no issues of late. Or ever, for that matter. It's glorious.

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[–] bbleml@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

NixOS. I've gotten so used to the declarative nature of NixOS, that I simply cannot go back to a "normal" distro anymore.

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[–] MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 weeks 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.

[–] Frederic@beehaw.org 3 points 2 weeks 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.

[–] dysprosium@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 weeks ago (9 children)
[–] thatonecoder@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago

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

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[–] dysprosium@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Arch.

Do I need to justify myself any further?

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[–] DarkMetatron@feddit.org 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week 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).

[–] yaroto98@lemmy.org 3 points 2 weeks 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.

[–] jawa22@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 week ago

There are dozens of us!

[–] callcc@lemmy.world 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.

[–] Core_of_Arden@lemmy.ml 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.

[–] menemen@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I use Kubuntu. It is defintly not the best Distro. I am just used to it and too lazy to get used to another distro. My days as a distro jumper lie 15 years back...

Tbh though, I might switch to Debian stable whenever Trixie comes out.

[–] Drito@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

Since I was tired of distro hopping I just use MX Linux.

[–] Azzk1kr@feddit.nl 3 points 1 week ago

I've been using (X)Ubuntu for ages. I just wanted something that "just works". Tired of too much tinkering and there's plenty of (non commercial) support. Mixing it with i3 as my window manager.

Roast me ;)

[–] procapra@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)
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[–] moomoomoo309@programming.dev 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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[–] jawa22@lemmy.blahaj.zone 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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[–] Father_Redbeard@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I like the way Pop!_OS looks. Not gonna pretend it's the best. But as far as default UIs, it clicked with the most. Default gnome seemed too spartan and all of the Windows-like DEs remind me too much of Windows. Which I don't like. If that makes sense.

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