Windows, then Ubuntu when I started Computer Science, then Linux Mint, and I've been hopping back and forth between both but mostly Mint, then for a while also KDE Neon, then I decided to leave my comfort zone and tried Fedora, and never looked back.
Linux
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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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Fedora
I tried a ton, and I settled with Fedora just for the mix of stability and support. Though, with Red Hat being asses I might have to mix it up.
Arch Linux (Endeavour OS if you are scared of the terminal) for personal use. It's almost all the software you want one click away, plus the best documentation ever.
Debian on my company's computer because Debian.
Way back when I think it was SUSE for me after BeOS went under. Ubuntu, debian, arch, and then nixos maybe 7 or 8 years ago. Back to ubuntu for work for a few years, but nixos full time now.
Debian. Seemed like the most generic "Linux" there is. Nothing special, nothing weird. Just Linux. Gray, boring, system defaults Linux.
Manjaro KDE. It just has a good setup out of the box. The AUR as well as the other packaging formats makes it very easy to install applications that I need.
Slackware. It didnt abstract anything from me and lets me help myself. Unlike ubuntu, that keps getting in the way.
I was on Ubuntu, then I switched to Debian, then Mint. Then I was like wow if this is so good I'm gonna try some more, and I dove headfirst. I didn't run a distro more than a couple hours sometimes, never more than a week.
Then I found Manjaro, which I tried and liked well enough except for all the Manjaro shit. I decided then that I could install Arch, how hard could it be? So I did, it took me like 3 days and I broke it dozens of times but I eventually got there (with sound even!) shortly before they brought back the install script. I want to try Gentoo but I don't have time to compile everything, I understand they ship binaries now which I think is sweet but I'm happy with Arch.
I like Arch for it's KISS philosophy, the DIY attitude with which you approach it, the fine-grained control over every (most) part of the system, the AUR. But my favorite thing about Arch is the Wiki. It's such a great resource, and yeah it applies to more than just Arch but like ... why?
I use Arch btw
OpenSUSE -> Ubuntu -> Windows for like a decade -> MacOS -> Arch -> Manjaro -> Arch -> Debian -> NixOS -> Nobara
Currently running NixOS on my laptop, Nobara on my Desktop, and Debian on my VMs under Proxmox.
I'll probably jump from Nobara to Bazzite as soon as I start to have problems.
I'm gradually settling on immutable distros.
I hopped 10 times in 6 months. Settled on Manjaro for latest gaming related software like drivers, kwin, etc and and it's package manager gui, which is horrible but it works. Easiest distro to game on for me.
Might be OT since I never was much of a distro hopper.
Got introduced to Linux with SLS, used RedHat until it became too commercial for my taste. At that time, found gentoo and stuck with it hard. It allows me to have completely custom packages fully integrated with the system package manager, that's the top killer feature for me.
Never really distro hopped. Went from DOSLinux to Slackware and stayed put as my main. Having multiple machines, some multi booters, meant I had/tried a bunch of others. Vector Linux, Xubuntu, Debian Wheezy, several Arch-based (up to Garuda), various BSDs, and two unices (OpenSolaris/OpenIndiana, IRIX). Got an old ancient ToughBook (Pentiun II, 192MB RAM) with Arch before systemd collecting dust.
[ Those machines had multiple Windows versions also from Win2k to Win7 including XP x64 Edition ] Dem were da days. 🥰
Currently, Main laptop: Slackware. 2nd laptop: MX Linux, Void Linux, OpenBSD. Mini PC: Slint (Slackware-based).
Well, for the mini PC I did distro hop. Went through a lot trying to find the right one. Most were Arch-based (but not Arch itself) and they would indeed break at the worst time. Nature of bleeding edge rolling release I guess. Mostly I was looking for something non-systemd. Eventually settled on Slint.