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).

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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] 1 points 44 minutes ago

I am using Bluefin, based on Fedora Silverblue. I realized that I was already exclusively using flatpaks for everything except one random app, so I thought why not go all-in?

Haven't had to worry about updates or system breakages since, and it's been great so far.

I used to use Debian Stable, but since doing SysAdmin work I've just become used to the way Fedora / RHEL does things.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 hours ago

For me it's openSUSE Tumbleweed on my Desktops/Laptops and openSuse Leap on my Servers. The killing Feature for me was the propper BTRFS integration with Snapper for seamless rollbacks in case I borked the system in some way.

One "downside" for me is the mix of Gnome Settings and Yast on my Desktop. But I like yast on my servers for managing everything (enabling ports in firewall, network config, enable autoamtic isntall of security updates, etc.). Also openSuse is not that common, so sometimes it is hard to find a solution if you have a distribution specific question.

Personally never looked to closely into openSuse Build Services (OBS). But I know some people who really like it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 hours ago

Gentoo, because if it exists - compile it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 12 hours 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 ;)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 12 hours ago

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

[–] [email protected] -3 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Windows, plays fallout 4 out the box.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Even Linux plays Fallout 4 out the box? Am I being ragebaited?

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

Yes, but also I had to run through proton off steam and the modding process is less streamlined. I unironically have had a less complicated time running windows and dealing with its "special" features than running Linux and having a custom setup for every other game.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 18 hours ago

Arch, because I get to say that I use Arch. /s

[–] [email protected] 4 points 19 hours ago

Since I mostly use computers for entertainment these days I keep coming back to Bazzite. It’s fast, stable, kept up to date, reliable, and “just works”. I’ve created custom rpm-ostree layers to faff around, but it’s not actually necessary for anything I need.

I used to keep a second Kubuntu Minimal partition around but I realized I just don’t need it. If I wasn’t so happy with Bazzite, I would probably go with openSUSE or Endeavor.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 21 hours ago

Ubuntu because they provide kernel live patching and they fix issues quickly and my system doesn't go down if I procrastinate in doing system updates

[–] [email protected] 4 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Gentoo because it is as stable as Debian, less bloated than Arch, has more packages than Ubuntu, is rolling release, can mix and match stable, testing and unstable on a whim.

Even its one downside, compile times, is now gone if you just choose to use binary packages.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

And less stable than Arch, and more bloated than Ubuntu... If that is something you want for whatever reason! It is the most versatile distro in existance because it's literally anything you want it to be - clean and nice, or total chaos. What is there not to love?

Gentoo <3

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

LMDE because I get the robustness of Debian stable and the quality of life goodies of Mint.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)
  • The fricking AUR

  • Nothing I don't _actually_ need

  • Pacman

  • Everything is the latest version available–ALWAYS.

  • ArchWiki

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

Tumbleweed. Rolling release with automated testing (openQA), snapper properly setup out of the box.

Honestly the entire openSUSE ecosystem. Tumbleweed on my main PC that often has some of the latest hardware, Slowroll on my (Framework) laptop because it's rolling but slower (monthly feature updates, only fixes in-between), and Leap for servers where stability (as in version/compatibility stability, not "it doesn't crash" stability) is appreciated.

openSUSE also comes in atomic flavors for those interested. And it's European should you care.

With all that being said, I don't really care much about what distro I'm using. What I do with it could be replicated with pretty much any distro. For me it's mostly just a means to an end.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

EndeavourOS is the best because.

It's currently on my system and said system hasn't burst into flames yet, so I'm too lazy to change it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 18 hours ago

Also, its space themed which makes it automatically the coolest.

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

I use Nobara with KDE for my gaming computer, Mint with Cinnamon for pretty much everything else.

Mint is the closest to a "Just Works" experience for me. Cinnamon is rock stable, especially on Mint Debian Edition. I don't remember the last time Cinnamon crashed or had any major bugs for me.

I use Debian for most of my servers, stable and simple. Arch on a junker Thinkpad to test and mess around with new programs and window managers.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 18 hours ago

Been using Nobara KDE for about a year, it's been awesome Mint Cinnamon is also great

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I use debian cause it just works.

I was a Nix user (more specifically, nix-darwin user) but after being away from the computer for like one year (to study for the university entrance exam), I completely forgot how to use it and resulted in erasing the computer. Nix/NixOS is fun, but it was too complicated for me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 20 hours ago

ubuntu for similar reasons

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

It isn't. I'm on PopOS 24.04 Alpha 7 (soon to be Beta 1), because of COSMIC (and because I was having some bugs with Fedora a few months back).

I recently wanted to tinker with a piece of software that wasn't packaged, and I couldn't compile it because of outdated libraries. I could return to Fedora specifically to tinker with it but as an ex-distrohopper, I know it isn't worth the effort.

Even though Fedora or some version of it will likely be my forever distro, I will stick to PopOS for now because I can't be bothered to distrohop and back up months' worth of files, including game saves and a ton of stuff in my Downloads directory.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day 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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

Linux Mint because it's extremely simple and has caused me no issues for over a year. It's the best distribution to get someone who is afraid to switch from Windows or MacOS to understand that using Linux can be just as easy.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day 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.

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

Arch, everything it does provide works extremely well, I can configure everything how I want it without having to fight a distro maintainer trying to be clever, I get new features and bugfixes whenever they go in without having to worry about a distro maintainer deciding whether it’s relevant or whether I should just live with crashes and security issues for another two years because they figured it wasn’t important or critical enough.

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

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

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

Fedora is just a no-drama distro that works, and I love it

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Its actually a high drama distro, they push new changes before many other distros. For instance they were one of the first to go to Wayland by default and there is an upcoming vote to remove 32bit stuff In the next release, which would make it so steam only works as a flatpak because steam on Linux is 32bit

Fedora is my distro of choice also

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

Fair!

The vote resulted negatively, BTW, as far as I've heard. 32-bit are there for now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 22 hours ago

Good to hear, I was hoping that wouldn't get approved by the engineering and steering committee

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