I suppose it would be a bit weird if I didn't contribute.


OpenSuse Tumbleweed (it's thier rolling "testing" version, pretty up-to-date)

What I like:
-YAST. Outside of the Windows control panel, I've never seen anything like it. Sure, every DE has a control panel, but those mostly cover things the DE manages. This is a control panel for a more system level. Manage snapshots, NFS drives, boot options, etc. Sure, 90% of it I'll never use once you've set up your system, but I think the idea is really neat.
-Snapper. BTRFS is the file system it uses and that supports snapshots. They are bootable and GRUB can load them. So if something works, it's almost effortless to fix.
- Overall, the whole thing feels very polished and integrated, even for something that is more "bleeding edge" realm. I've had a few breakages, which is too be expected. The default KDE theme is pretty simple, which I like.

What I don't like:
-Zypper. It's the package manager. It's love/hate to be honest. The CLI interface is really pretty. It's clear, color coded, well laid out. It's easy to understand what it is telling you. The commands are sensical. Clearly a lot of thought went into it. What I don't like is that it doesn't give a lot of output as to what it's doing or why. Also, I cannot for the life of me figure out an equivalent to apt's autoremove. Coupled with that it defaults to --install recommends, led me to some frustration.

-Breakage. Compared to debian testing, it breaks more, especially on kernel updates. Almost always is a problem with the new kernel and a driver. I've made it a habit to wait about a week till a point release comes out for every major version. I don't know if it's because it releases faster or if it's a design thing.

I will say, this is my first distro from the rpm family after 10+ years in the deb family, so some of my complaints may be from some ignorance on my part of the differences.

Overall, I think it's a very nice distro. I'd recommend it, with the catch that it might not be for someone totally new to Linux.

For the longest of times, I was a Fedorian.

At heart, I still am.

But today, my desktop runs OpenSUSE Tumbleweed.

This is mostly because while I love Fedora, and will continue to use RHEL on our servers, I just don't have the time to do upgrades anymore.

These days, I pretty much work on my business from the minute I wake up until the minute I go to bed with no breaks between.

This means pausing to upgrade a system or reinstalling etc becomes annoying fast.

Tumbleweed is a rolling release distro and so far as been more stable than Fedora although I always wondered how it was working anyway, since I used to help out with their QA 😂😂 that time we tested multi monitor and holy crap it works, parties all around. 😂😂 (pre-self employeed)

Arch is nice and I've used it in the past, but sadly it just can't offer the same level of stability (in my experience).

I also wanted to try out a new DE, so I researched which distros best had KDE "out the box", SUSE pretty much topped this list (If I'm going to try a DE for the first time in many years, I want to see it at it's best so I can make a fair decision as to whether I like it.)

And, I have since fallen for OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. It works beautifully and is sooo stable it's actually kinda boringly stable, but just works.

It gets out the way, works and can be updated quickly without needing reinstalling (not as quick as dnf imo).

I like how the snapshots are integrated, so after a zipper dupper I can just reboot knowing if it's busted I can just go into the other snap. No reinstalling or complicated recoveries.

So I actually really enjoy using it,

But it's not Fedora 😅😞 But I have RHEL in my life daily so I "sort of" get my Fedora fix.

I might try to break it at some point just to get that old Fedora feeling back.

But overall I'm now happy with OpenSUSE. 👍

I know the stats from Valve, the internet, etc,etc about what out there is more popular. But I also know that doesn't tell the whole story.



So what distro do you use?
AND.....
What do you like about it? What don't you like about it?





Side note: I wanted to make a bit of a joke and call the thread "Distro Wars!!! Fight!!", but figured people would just show up here already angry. Also:
1) It's against the rules. I can't find them right now... But I do remember them. No distro wars at all.
2) If the stereotype has any truth, we'd probably all hurt ourselves trying to fight anyway, being nerds and all. Except for that one person who works out 10 times a day, has 15 black belts and runs LFS (obviously, lol).
3) Remember those rules? Your talking about you're distro. No crapping on other people's choices. This is your chance to talk up your distro, not down to others.

I use Manjaro usually. Right now I have switched back to Linux Mint though. There is a bug that makes Manjaro boot really slow when full disk encryption is used. My Pinephone boots faster than Manjaro on an NVME right now. I got tired of it and no idea when it will be fixed. Manjaro says it is up to Calamares to fix so who knows. Overall I love Manjaro because they have a great selection of editions with different DE's preinstalled. It has a lot of GUI menus for things that other distros require the terminal for. For instance they have Pacmac preinstalled as well as having a GUI kernel manager for easy installation and uninstallation of kernels. Manjaro has a very easy to use graphical installer, which many other distros have, but it has some options that others lack such as offering file system options such as BTRFS where many just have one option unless you want to manually partition things yourself. Manjaro has offered me a very stable experience. I have had as few of issues using it for the past few years as I had on various other distros. One trade off for the stability is that they hold back packages longer than most rolling release distros so you have to wait longer for new versions but they are still far more up to date than any point release distro I have tried.

Linux Mint is also a great distro albeit with older kernels and Mesa.

When I found Arch, I was looking for a syatem which I would configure, uses less than 500 MiB RAM on idle so I could use Chromium and a Win10 VM at the same time on my old PC with only 4 GB ram and boots fast. When I saw the ArchWiki, I knew I was at the right place. I installed Arch “the classical way” and learned the basics. I installed Enlightenment and I had successfully gone below 300 MiB on idle.

Now all of these are irrelevant because I have more than enough RAM (the VM no longer exists btw) and a NVMe so boot time is low. (firmware init is 7 secs which is almost half of the boot time) In fact I want to move away from Arch because I want to use a distro I can recommend to anyone. Tumbleweed, Pop, Garuda are all OK for me because they provide latest drivers and kernel OOTB. The only thing that holds me back is Roblox, it needs a custom tkg build of wine, on Arch (based) you end up with a package of wine but on others wine is manually installed.

Snapper. BTRFS is the file system it uses and that supports snapshots. They are bootable and GRUB can load them. So if something works, it's almost effortless to fix.

I saw BTRFS for the first time on openSUSE and I just loved it. The fun thing with Arch is that you can grab whatever from any distro, apply to Arch and enjoy the best of all worlds It’s just you have to do it manually and you learn more about it during the process.

I always wanted to try Arch, but TW is running so smooth that I never found a reason to do so As BlackBloodRum wrote - it's almost boring how updates etc. just work

I liked TW when I tried it but the only problem for me were updates I updated it once-twice a month and I had multi GB large updates, during package extraction either Firefox or Konsole (it just disappeared) or the entire desktop crashed (and I am back to the login screen) with zypper also crashing in the latter two cases. That's not because zypper hit an error but probably because zypper ate all the resources (disk I/O? RAM?). But, weirdly I could just continue the update process as if nothing had happened.

The only thing that holds me back is Roblox, it needs a custom tkg build of wine, on Arch (based) you end up with a package of wine but on others wine is manually installed.

I'm not sure if this helps much, Lutris lets you run various wine versions and installs them itself. I know it's kind of an end around the package manager, but it might help you with your migration.

------


So I had an HDD die on my laptop yesterday. I installed an SSD and some new RAM. I decided to try Manjaro on it. The live environment was surprisingly snappy for running off USB2 so I installed it to try it out. It's very responsive even on an 9 year old laptop. I haven't installed anything other than the base system and tweaked a few settings (btrfs snapshots, pamac settings, a few applet settings). XFCE is my favorite DE, so it was very familiar.

I'll be adding SSH keys tomorrow, installing a Nextcloud client to restore some home folders from my server and adding some NFS mounts.


So far it seems really nice 👍.

Last edited by denyasis on 15 January 2022 at 2:22 pm UTC

Raspberry Pi 4 | 8GB - Twister OS

This is my current main rig and it's been a blast. Gaming wise, I'm just playing retro games on it. Work/Family/Socializing usages it does everything I need it to do without issue.

I love how polished and catered TwisterOS feels. It's a very get up and go distro. Very little for me to do outside of configure it to my liking.

Taking the Raspberry Pi 4 off of SD card to SSD, makes everything lightning fast.

System76 Gazelle Pro - POP OS

This is my main gaming/work laptop. It's been sweet also. I'm still playing mostly retro games on it but I do play the following games on it - "Paranautical Activity" via itch.io, "Super Bomberman R Online" via Stadia and "Basingstoke" via itch.io.

POP OS does everything right for me. Again very catered distro that leaves me with more time to play and explore vs tinker.

I'm considering selling my laptop once I end Basingstoke and continue my computing life on SBCs. With so many retro games supported now with online MP, I just don't see a reason for me to have a powerful machines like this anymore.

Last edited by Mezron on 15 January 2022 at 11:17 pm UTC

Arch Linux

What I like about it:

- Rolling Release: Always the newest packages & security updates

- Easy packaging system: You can very easily adapt package source files and also create your own

- Easier bug reporting etc.: In comparison to other distros

- Community Distro: So no business non-sense, at least not with the distro itself

- Many more interesting packages available in the AUR


What I dislike about it:

- The motto of Arch Linux can sometimes be very real: do it yourself distro...
So major changes in packages are not really announced, and regarding configuration you depend on the wiki being up-to-date, otherwise you have to figure out things on your own

- Installation can be complicated, but third-party GUI installers are available

- No native GUI package manager, but third-party software (pamac from Manjaro) is available

All in All

I like Arch very much, but I would wish for an Arch+ distro that solves many or even all of the mentioned downsides.
I clearly don't understand why no one is making it, but I guess the focus for many is different.

For example I always read about how things have to get easier (e.g. for KDE, Gnome, a lot if distros and programs etc.), which seems to mean: less configuration options; and that is not really my idea of a customizable distro.

Last edited by dr_jekyll on 15 January 2022 at 9:09 pm UTC

That’s where EndeavourOS and Garuda jumps in! EOS and Garuda give you a GUI installer and Garuda also automatically does the manual interventions along with the update process.

Arch Linux

What i like about it:

- Rolling forever. (survived all the hardware changes so far) 9 years of just updating.
xpander@archlinux ~ $ cat /var/log/pacman.log | grep -a -m1 filesystem
[2013-01-21 17:45] installed filesystem (2012.12-1)

- I'm in control what i choose to install.
- Super easy packaging system. Easy to create your own PKGBUILDs if theres a need for that
- Has big community, easy to search for help if there's a problem.
- Archwiki is amazing


What i don't like about it:
- Rare cases that are leading to some package conflicts (easy to solve with commands though or downgrade package)

Raspberry Pi 4 | 8GB - Twister OS

If you don't mind me asking, how is they performance compared to Raspbian?

I ask as I have a Pi 3 and am in sudden need of a living room video chat system. Also, how did you add an SSD? Was it via USB?


Edit:

My first time experience with Manjaro continues to be positive. Once I got everything setup, it runs around 1gb or RAM which is a little high (although NextCloud's client is about 150mb, probably higher since it uses Qt libraries).

Likes: Timeshift. Very nice snapshot system. Seems a lot like snapper, but with a nicer GUI. Looks like it does rsync backups too.
It's a very polished distro, comes with your basic productivity tools and then some, but doesn't seem too bloated.


No dislikes so far, but everything is still new. Maybe if were to stretch a bit... Pacman's got an interesting command syntax, I suppose. Although I do like it can pipe to itself.


Last edited by denyasis on 16 January 2022 at 6:08 pm UTC

Timeshift is by Mint guys, in case you aren’t aware.

Raspberry Pi 4 | 8GB - Twister OS

If you don't mind me asking, how is they performance compared to Raspbian?

I ask as I have a Pi 3 and am in sudden need of a living room video chat system. Also, how did you add an SSD? Was it via USB?


Edit:

My first time experience with Manjaro continues to be positive. Once I got everything setup, it runs around 1gb or RAM which is a little high (although NextCloud's client is about 150mb, probably higher since it uses Qt libraries).

Likes: Timeshift. Very nice snapshot system. Seems a lot like snapper, but with a nicer GUI. Looks like it does rsync backups too.
It's a very polished distro, comes with your basic productivity tools and then some, but doesn't seem too bloated.


No dislikes so far, but everything is still new. Maybe if were to stretch a bit... Pacman's got an interesting command syntax, I suppose. Although I do like it can pipe to itself.

Raspian for me has had issues with DRM content streaming. Twister OS handles that without tinkering.

Pi 3 and Twister OS does not work so well. I recently sold all of my Pi 3 because trying to get them to perform with TwisterOS was difficult.

SSD is by USB and it's set to boot from it first. Helps with the web browsing slow downs that occur when on SD cards.

Last edited by Mezron on 16 January 2022 at 8:06 pm UTC

I'm on Linux Mint. Have been for many years.

What I like: It simply works. No fuss. And they've removed some of the crap that has crept into Ubuntu.
No particular dislikes. Don't much care about bleeding edge tbh.

Arch Linux

What i like about it:

- Rolling forever. (survived all the hardware changes so far) 9 years of just updating.
xpander@archlinux ~ $ cat /var/log/pacman.log | grep -a -m1 filesystem
[2013-01-21 17:45] installed filesystem (2012.12-1)

You beat me by almost two years.
cat /var/log/pacman.log | grep -a -m1 filesystem
[2015-09-01 22:48] [ALPM] installed filesystem (2015.02-1)

I've also been on my Arch install for quite some time now. It has been migrated to newer hardware more than once. I haven't had to go through a major upgrade, and that was my primary motivation of switching years ago.

The benefits of Arch Linux that keep me on it:
- No major upgrades
- Having more of a say of what gets installed makes it feel more like my computer
- Don't have to wait for cool, new software versions to come down the pipe
- Nothing on my computer tells me to do anything. I decide when I want to run updates, reboot, change passwords, etc. No annoying reminders or advice. This also makes it feel more like my system
- The Arch wiki is a super valuable resource
- I can almost always find what I want in the AUR if it's not in the official repos
- Arch has been way more stable than I was led to believe before I switched. I've had to troubleshoot fewer issues than I did on some other distros that I'll just leave unmentioned for now because we're not comparing. Point is: I don't think Arch is any less stable and dependable than other distros

Couple things on my system that are annoying that may or may not be specific to Arch:
- KDE Plasma crashes and recovers here and there. It never really interrupts what I'm doing because it recovers so quickly and none of my programs shut down, but it's annoying to see. Happens 2-10 times per week I'd say
- If I reboot my computer instead of shut down and then turn on, sometimes I can't wake the computer from a USB device after it goes to sleep

Does my love of Arch mean I'd recommend it to others? Usually no. It's for a rare type of person. On the Internet, we can find those rare people all over the world and not feel alone. But people I know at work and community? Pah. No, not that many people want to put in the TLC required to turn all the knobs in Arch.

- The Arch wiki is a super valuable resource

I've never been on Arch, but I've used the Arch wiki more times than I remember to troubleshoot and learn about whatever distro I happen to be running.

And right now I'm running two distros, both of them KDE Plasma 5. I'm running Solus KDE on Louisa, my gaming laptop, and Kubuntu 21.10 on Marianne, my main living room desktop. (I'd be running Solus on both but I couldn't get it installed on my main box --- I think there's something screwy with my bios/efi thingy).

And listen, Kubuntu really doesn't feel like an Ubuntu flavor to me. Seriously. Everything Ubuntu, post-Unity-7 has felt, well --- the only word that comes to mind is oafish,. Everything's felt like a mis-timed automobile with sooty spark plugs or worn rings or both. But KDE/Plasma 5 feels like a perfectly-tuned, forged in Detroit, I-can't-drive-fifty-five, Muscle Car, all iron and steel and chrome and mother. fucking. powerful. Mad Max would use KDE.

Ok, I may have gotten a little overly enthusiastic in my description there. I have a hyperbole problem. I'll just add that on Solus, KDE is all of the above with a bag of chips. And an airfoil.


Last edited by Nanobang on 21 January 2022 at 2:03 pm UTC

Debian Stable on all of my machines. Yep, it doesn't have the latest drivers, but nor do I have the latest videocard. And if I need something fresh, I can always switch to testing (been there) or even unstable.

What I like about it:
- 100% FOSS by default, you can explicitly install some binary packages afterwards, like Wi-Fi and Nvidia drivers
- Works great with Flatpak, I have lots of those packages and zero appimages or manually installed ones
- Huge selection of packages in repos
- Stable as hell, never had it break on updates
- Mostly compatible with those numerous "how to do X on Ubuntu" articles
- You can pull some packages from testing or unstable if you know what you're doing and have backups

What I would improve about it:
- Not everyone would agree, but I think packaging Firefox non-ESR releases would be good
- Implement modern documentation for newbies specifically, like a step by step guide to install Nvidia drivers from non-free repos, also using only GUI as an option
- Install and enable a couple of GNOME extensions by default to not scare people off
- Alternative bug reporting system for people not being used to filling out email templates in a terminal
- Add an option to easily search (by name) and install some obscure LibreOffice language pack via a simple GUI app

Actually, all these wishlist points are why I do not install Debian on my friends' and family's PCs, they all use Mint or Ubuntu.

What I would improve about it:
- Not everyone would agree, but I think packaging Firefox non-ESR releases would be good
- Implement modern documentation for newbies specifically, like a step by step guide to install Nvidia drivers from non-free repos, also using only GUI as an option
- Install and enable a couple of GNOME extensions by default to not scare people off
- Alternative bug reporting system for people not being used to filling out email templates in a terminal
- Add an option to easily search (by name) and install some obscure LibreOffice language pack via a simple GUI app

Actually, all these wishlist points are why I do not install Debian on my friends' and family's PCs, they all use Mint or Ubuntu.

Debian has a graphical bug reporting application under reportbug-gtk. And I agree install guidance would be an improvement for bringing in fresh meat. When I was first starting out, I must have bought and tried a dozen different wifi PCI cards before I finally realized that just because Debian installer says there is no firmware available for the card, does not mean that the libre firmware has not been loaded and working.

Distro: Linux Mint Cinnamon

What I like:
- apt
- Cinnamon

The main reason I switch distros has always been either the package manager/packages ( eg. being unable to install software because of outdated dependencies in the package manager ) or the desktop environment - I dont react well to changes in my desktop environment :P

What I don't like:

- Cinnamon

Yeah as nice as it is to have a desktop environment that keeps it's visual style and doesn't embrace "new fangled trends" it's also frustrating when they apply the same ideology to the underlying tech and refuses to embrace wayland, pipewire, latest kernel etc.

Which become even more frustrating when more and more google queries ends with 'only possible with wayland/pipewire/etc'