Okay why is your distro the best? : linux

[–] poinck@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago

For a long time I considered Gentoo the best, because I know my things around there. A month ago I said goodbye to my last Gentoo installation in favour for Debian trixie (the next stable release). Gentoo was too time consuming despite the binary repo.

If it would be my job to maintain a Gentoo system I would gladly accept, but there should be a need for it by the users. Otherwise I would just recommend Debian stable or Fedora.

My favourite is Debian over Fedora, because I often don't need the latest versions of a software. And there is flatpak.

[–] greplinux@programming.dev 1 points 2 days ago

BunsenLabs Boron - Debian 12 with Openbox Window Mgr - no desktop, no icons. The machine is not burdened by having to run a heavy desktop environment. All navigation and execution is done with mouse (right click), keybindings or command line. Linux without the Windows artifacts. On my HP i7, boots to login in 19 seconds.

[–] Eat_Your_Paisley@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago

Because I can hit "next" a couple of time and have a working install

[–] crankyrebel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 1 month ago

I use Arch, btw, but I don't consider it the best (yes I do.) I could easily transition to Fedora, for example (I would never do that,) and be completely happy (I would rather continually hit my head with the metal stapler gun on my desk.)

[–] traches@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 month ago

Does what I want and gets out of my way.

[–] UNY0N@linux.community 15 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Bazzite just works, it runs every game I have with zero fuss, it's easy to run Windows programs / emulators / local LLMs, AND it's basically unbreakable.

[–] statler_waldorf@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I can't claim it's the best, but it's the best for me right now.

[–] anzo@programming.dev 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

On a gaming laptop I'm using Aurora because KDE Plasma btw (:

[–] OnfireNFS@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Bazzite has a KDE version too. I think it is more popular then the GNOME version of bazzite actually. At least according to the results of the latest steam survey

[–] PolarKraken@programming.dev 2 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Yep I use KDE-flavored Bazzite and actually forgot GNOME was even offered! It works deliciously. Came over from Windows last winter finally and boy, the UI alone is just so much nicer.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 weeks ago

I had avoided KDE for years due to some multi-screen resolution issues back in the day.

I'd be running gnome, and install a half dozen plugins to make it look and feel closer to Windows It was just a personal preference. Every other update some plugin I was using would be broken. I'd replace it with another plug-in or uninstall it and wait for a fix. Fight fight fight fight fight fight. Some number of years later I tried KDE again, and I realized that it did exactly what I was trying to do in Gnome but it did it out of the box.

I don't have anything against Gnome. The same way I don't have anything against OS X's "window manager" or even Windows 11's "window manager" they're just not my preference.

Bottom left navigation, thin, stacked app indicators, bottom right tray. Fractional scaling, widgets.

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[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It isn't, it is the least bad

[–] reseller_pledge609@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Which technically makes it the best, doesn't it?

[–] fushuan@piefed.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

No because best implies it's good. Least bad doesn't transmit the same message as best.

[–] reseller_pledge609@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah that's fair.

[–] Lembot_0004@discuss.online 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Debian. It works so well that I never even looked at different distros during the last 20 years or so...

[–] anzo@programming.dev 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

To each its own in accordance to their needs. Debian is great unless you want to add proprietary stuff like GPUs. That's the whole reason so many distros (e.g. Ubuntu) raised to fame and gained popularity while being based on Debian... That, and the fact that until recently Debian installation guide was not updated and called to download an ISO to be burned in 1-2 CDs... that was so f*ing unclear. Of course you can use a pendrive, but if the guide talks about CDs... that's just confusing to newbies. None pointed that out, but to me is like being even less friendly than Arch :P Just my opinion. That said, I have been using Debian based distros for most of my time, even today (desktop PC with MX 'ahs'.)

[–] PirateFrog@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 month ago

Debian's documentation can be pretty awful. The Nvidia Driver install guide in particular could use a revamp.

[–] uss_entrepreneur@startrek.website 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Hannah Montana Linux

[–] DivineDev@piefed.social 3 points 1 month ago

No further arguments needed.

[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Mint is Ubuntu minus everything that makes Ubuntu annoying. That's why I like it.

I considered to go back to Debian but... eh, I'm too old and impatient for that. Nowadays I mostly want things that work out of the box.

[–] DesolateMood@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Do things not work out of the box on debian?

[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

From what I remember*, there was always some rough corner. Such as the wi-fi, or the graphics card. Sure, Stable was rock solid, but you always needed something from Testing; and Testing in general was overall less stable than Ubuntu or Mint.

*This was years ago, so it might be inaccurate as of 2025.

[–] reseller_pledge609@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Linux Mint has a Debian Edition (LMDE) if you ever wanted a Debian that Just Works.

[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I did use the first LMDE for some time, and I loved it, it's a great distro. I don't recall why I went for the Ubuntu-based Mint later on, I think it was the PPAs?

[–] reseller_pledge609@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago

The Ubuntu version does have all of Mint's tools and stuff. Pretty sure the Debian edition is missing the Driver Manager and maybe some others.

[–] Maestro@fedia.io 1 points 1 month ago

All the good parts of Ubuntu have long since been integrated upstream. And Debian's release cycle has increased a lot so you're not stuck with old versions anymore.

[–] leraje@piefed.blahaj.zone 8 points 1 month ago

I don't know that it is objectively the best - but its the best fit for me right now (LMDE).

[–] dhampirdamsel@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago

I've been enjoying EndeavourOS over the past three years. It works wonderfully out of the box at default settings, and was really easy for me to use and set up to my liking with minimal know-how needed.

It also works really well on the variety of machines I have in my home. My desktop, modded Chromebook, and my husband's laptop.

It's allowed me to get more familiar and confident with the command line, and enough so that I've switched to Sway from XFCE (and previously KDE).

[–] tatterdemalion@programming.dev 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

NixOS. My entire config is source-controlled and I can easily roll back to a previous boot image if something breaks like cough Nvidia drivers. I also use it for my home router and all self-hosted services.

[–] smiletolerantly@awful.systems 3 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

maniacally laughs while trying to avoid eye contact with 19k lines of nix config

[–] dwt@feddit.org 2 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Out of all the ways that I have tried in the past, to reproduce not just the initial state, but also the ongoing changes of a disto (ansible, saltstack, chef, bunch of Shell scripts) — nix is by far the shortest. With all of these technologies I would never have dreamed to do this for a single Maschine. But now it’s not only possible, but actually gasp enjoyable!

Mind you, if that is not the problem you want to solve, maybe install just the nix package manager in addition to your distribution, and learn to enjoy it without having to run your whole distribution this way.

[–] smiletolerantly@awful.systems 2 points 4 weeks ago

You misunderstand! It has also turned into basically a hobby (and recently, a job, lol) to manage nix configs.

Those 19k lines are clean, well-structured and DRY, and do describe every little thing about ca. 30 machines.

[–] moonpiedumplings@programming.dev 7 points 1 month ago

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_is_the_best

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 month ago

I'm convinced it isn't.

[–] Sturgist@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago

Mine's the best, because it fits with what I want. Might not be your best, but it's mine.

[–] Olap@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

This week alone I've used Arch, Ubuntu, OpenSuse, and Fedora. Its Arch. By a short way, and mostly thanks to the wiki. Tbh they are all converging, and I go with KDE variants when I use a GUI and no distro does too much to customise it

[–] HakunaHafada@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 month ago

Because it was my first distro that got me away from Windows. And yes, it's Mint.

[–] TheImpressiveX 4 points 1 month ago

It's extremely stable, and countless other distros are derived from this.

[–] randomwords@midwest.social 3 points 1 month ago

Void made Linux fun again for me. It gets so much right with the rolling release model.

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 3 points 1 month ago

It works, has the packages I need and they are up-to-date

[–] DivineDev@piefed.social 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Nobara: It works well most of the time and has pretty much everything needed for gaming preinstalled. I had a bad update once that prevented booting past the command line though. Now that I'm more experienced I'd probably use a more mainline distro and install the gaming stuff myself.

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[–] axEl7fB5@lemmy.cafe 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I use NixOS, btw (don't you see that glorious gif?). It's the only distro that is actually different compared to other distros. It's not just another package manager, another ubuntu skin, or a different desktop environment. If you learn how to configure it, you can easily redo breaking changes or install an exact copy of your system on a different device. You can configure all you want and you will never ever have to worry.

Also has better flex than Arch users.

cons

burj khalifa learning curve
arch documentation * -1 doc quality (dogshit documentation)
doesnt work outta the box

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 weeks ago

It's super cool to be able to copy a single or maybe two configuration files from one box to another, sync thing your home folder and have an exact copy.

It's super cool to temporarily install things with nix-shell. I have little environments set up where I write python or rust or edit videos and if I'm not in that environment none of those commands even exist.

Updating in vanilla is pretty straightforward. Update your base channel, rebuild. But if you install say home manager as a flake that doesn't update the same way. And then if you do it as an environmental install it doesn't update the same way. And then it's totally possible to do an update get a new version of your web browser, But your auto starts or your PWA's point to the old version of the web browser. My personal favorite is when I update signal. It upgrades the database. Field binary is no longer capable of running but is still the default for some reason. I have to look up the command expunge it from the store, simply finding it in the store isn't trivial.

Most distros have gotten easy to the point of being boring. We don't suffer that fate in Nix.

[–] anzo@programming.dev 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

How about Qubes? if you have the specs, you get sandboxes (VMs) and all distros are available into 1. Heck, you can even have windows VMs...

And if you don't have the specs, just use any linux and install distrobox (docker) !

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

An alternative to distrobox is toolbx

[–] Neptr@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 month ago

openSUSE Slowroll and Secureblue are my favorites ATM. Slowroll for gaming, Secureblue for mobile device. Both are hardened for security because that matters to me.

[–] Shareni@programming.dev 1 points 1 month ago

Because it lets me use a list of packages instead of needing to remember what to install, has every package I need and let's me use them without installing them, and has a good rollback system to go along with cutting edge packages.

[–] Beanie@programming.dev 1 points 1 week ago

Because I like compiling everything from source for a 0.2% speed improvement