this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2025
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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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[–] LeteoAtredies@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

Void. Minimal, all the programs I need are in the repos, which is a first for me. Very fast.

[–] procapra@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 days ago

Debian just works.

[–] sakphul@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 5 days 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.

[–] eruchitanda@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)
  • The fricking AUR

  • Nothing I don't _actually_ need

  • Pacman

  • Everything is the latest version available–ALWAYS.

  • ArchWiki

[–] HouseWolf@pawb.social 9 points 6 days 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.

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

[–] fin@sh.itjust.works 9 points 6 days 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.

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[–] data1701d@startrek.website 11 points 6 days ago (1 children)

As with others, I love Debian Stable.

Most packages have sane defaults, and it's so stable. It's true that it sometimes means older software versions, but there's also something to be said for behavior staying the same for two years at a time.

If hardware support is an issue, using the backports repo is really easy - I've been using it on my laptop for almost a year with no problems that don't exist on other distros. If you really need the shiniest new application, Flatpak isn't that bad.

It also feels in a nice position - not so corporate as to not give a darn about its community, but with enough funding and backing the important stuff gets maintained.

[–] poinck@lemmy.one 2 points 6 days ago

I just moved to Debian trixie (soon to be stable) because I needed an upgrade after ~15 years of Gentoo.

I was a proud Gentoo user. I learned a lot about systemd and kernel configuration. Many advances in portage made it possible to find the time to maintain my Gentoo setup. On my laptop I gave up Gentoo even earlier, because updating my system was just too time consuming. I actually learned less and less about the software I was using, because I was trapped in dependency conflict management. The new binary repos did save some compile time, but the actual time sinks are decision for your systems, use flags and the forementioned dependencies.

So, I installed Debian on my main workstation (two days ago). I am already using Debian on on my Raspberry Pis. I did choose a more challenging way using debootstrap, because I want to use systemd-boot, encrypted btrfs and have working hibernation. I am still busy with configuring everything.

One could argue, that I could've used the time on Gentoo to solve my current python_targets_python3_13 issues and do a proper world update. No, this is a future investment. I want the time to configure new stuff, not wait for dependency resolution or waste time solving blocking packages.

The main reason to switch from Gentoo to Debian is being able to install security updates fast without blocking packages in the same slot.

[–] kaidezee@lemmy.ml 4 points 5 days ago

Gentoo, because if it exists - compile it.

[–] BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days 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.

[–] ragas@lemmy.ml 5 points 6 days 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.

[–] kaidezee@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days 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

[–] chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

I use Debian and Mint. As others have said, it's because it just works and I don't have to screw with it.

[–] jaykrown@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days 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.

[–] coralof@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days 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.

[–] Azzk1kr@feddit.nl 3 points 5 days 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 ;)

[–] Drito@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 days ago

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

[–] malwieder@feddit.org 4 points 6 days 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.

[–] Matriks404@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago
[–] Pirate@feddit.org 4 points 6 days 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.

[–] TheCynicalSaint@lemmy.ml 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

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

[–] Pika@rekabu.ru 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

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

[–] Zetta@mander.xyz 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days 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

[–] Pika@rekabu.ru 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Fair!

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

[–] Zetta@mander.xyz 2 points 6 days ago

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

[–] bbleml@lemmy.ml 4 points 6 days ago (1 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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[–] menemen@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days 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.

[–] kittenroar@beehaw.org 2 points 6 days 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

[–] pyssla@quokk.au 3 points 6 days 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.

[–] mostlikelyaperson@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days 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.

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