made-in-akira/writings/Linux Distro Recommendation Masterpost.md

Actually worth considering

• Debian has very outdated packages on purpose because that way not much changes, ensuring stability at the cost of bad compatibility with newer hardware
• Ubuntu (which is Debian-based) is bad for technical reasons (Snapcraft packages run worse and use more space). It comes with GNOME (Desktop environment) which is, kinda bad unless you fiddle with it (By default, no minimize or maximize buttons, you're suposed to use virtual desktops instead)
• Mint (which is Ubuntu-based) used to have really outdated packages but I don't think that's true anymore? The Cinnamon desktop environment it comes with is really nice but I can't stress this enough, you can get it on other distros
• Fedora has very up-to-date packages, to the point where it sometimes hurts stability. Like very often and in the past, my system would have some trouble going to/waking up from hibernation (laptop closed lid mode) There's a Thing they're going to change soon about mainline Fedora that makes me want to recommend Fedora Cinnamon Spin if you do go with Fedora
• Arch is very lightweight, it doesn't take many resources by default, but you do need to spend like a day setting it up every time. Because I don't think it comes with a desktop environment by default, you're just thrown into the command line.
• Gentoo is like Arch, in that you need to do-it-yourself, but I thiiiink it doesn't give you pre-built executables, instead you have to compile everything from the publically available source code.
• Pop!_OS is like Better Ubuntu, and is associated with a specific hardware manufacturer (System76) but the desktop environment, Cosmic, is in very early development and lacks a little polish. Seems cool though =)

Honorable Mentions:

• elementaryOS is like all the bad parts of MacOS but on Linux. Some of its apps are paid which feels like a sin
• ZorinOS is similar but for Windows. Some of its user interface layouts are paid which feels like a sin
• Manjaro is an easier version of Arch, comes with a graphical user interface prepackaged, like, at all
• EndeavourOS is between Manjaro and Arch in difficulty
• NixOS is REALLY Cool but it's REALLY Hard to use. Every aspect of the operating system is defined by 1 (one) configuration file
• SteamOS is based on Arch, but is not suitable for desk computers besides the Steam Deck

Curiosities:

• Tails is privacy and security to the extreme. It wipes everything when you shut down the computer. Good if you're living in a dictatorship and don't want to get caught! Yes, seriously!
• VanillaOS is one of them Immutable OSes where you can't touch the system files. SteamOS is one in theory too, but you can just Disable That. I don't think this one has been touched by its developers in at least 10 months though...
• RedHat is Fedora but owned by a corporation
• OpenSUSE is. Um. The one with the green lizard. The cool thing about it is it has a version that's rolling release, as in, there are no version numbers on the OS itself. No major releases with exciting new features every year or anything.