this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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You can use Office365 in the browser and it will work fine. If you need a desktop app that can handle Office formats use OnlyOffice. It's free and works great with office.
Development stuff is equally available on all distros so you aren't limited by that at all.
Steam should work on all distros as well, however only the rolling releases will always have the latest libraries and drivers. LTS releases like Ubuntu and Mint won't update those frequently but it doesn't mean Steam won't work necessarily.
I use Mint because it has a lighter RAM requirement than gnome Ubuntu.
The best, most stable rolling release is opensuse Tumbleweed. Everything is tested before release, it's always on the latest and greatest, and it has system rollback built in, in the event that you need to roll back an update. But this never really happens on opensuse, it's very reliable.
If you want a rolling release I wouldn't look any further. Arch is a pain and breaks frequently. Fedora releases a new version every 6 months so it may be a possible option, but opensuse is better. Also ethically opensuse is better because Fedora is Red hat and they hate the Linux community. I'd stay well away from Fedora and Red Hat.
Currently Ubuntu 23.04 is acting as a rolling release so try it out with your desktop of choice and see if it works for you. They should eventually revert to every 6 months as from version 24
As an example, i use mint as the base of my kvm/qemu virtual machine since i run an arc 380 on base and nvidia gpu for the guest. I made the mistake of updating my experimental kernel and forgot to set quiet and mint menu on grub to select the kernel at boot time. I popped in the install disc i had used previusly and fixed it by using the inlcuded programs to edit the grub and undo my kernel update. Fixed and i saved a timevault snapshot of the fix in case i mess up again. Linux mint saved me from reinstalling my entire os from a simple mistake.