HACKER Q&A
📣 nwotnagrom

Why do you use the Linux distro that you use?


Why do you use the Linux distro that you use?


  👤 kevinherron Accepted Answer ✓
Manjaro + KDE. Rolling releases keep KDE and everything else up to date.

We'll see how much longer I use this setup. I've gravitated towards it lately because I have it installed on my desktop, which despite being 5 years old is still faster than my 16" MBP.

If a compelling iMac or xMac gets released in the next year or two then my desktop may end up going back to live in the closet.


👤 meekins
Fedora (KDE Spin): Good compromise between reliability and bleeding edge, decent compatibility with my laptop (ThinkPad Carbon X1), the best KDE experience out of the box, some sysadmin skills directly transferable to RHEL

👤 simonblack
Works well out of the box, has all of the proprietary codecs and drivers that are required, and I prefer that particular desktop layout.

Mint MATE.

Otherwise: Debian Testing with MATE Desktop


👤 bloak
I use Debian, not because of the quality of the software but because of the bug tracking system and the mailing lists and because I know how to find the source for any package and rebuild it if I have to. Perhaps some other distributions have bug tracking systems and so on that are just as good, but it would be a lot of work for me to learn how to use them, so I stick with Debian where possible.

👤 phendrenad2
Well, I use WSL so the distros don't matter much (not like I have a desktop environment), but I like Ubuntu because as the biggest Linux distro, almost everything has been entered into the Ubuntu or Debian repos and/or is available as a .deb.

👤 LarryMade2
Mint Mate

Mint packages are not as out of date as ubuntu has been, Mate offers me a better desktop UI than gnome and lighter weight than Cinnamon. Still has awesome community support.


👤 geophile
Pop OS:

- Well integrated with my System 76 laptop.

- Never a problem with drivers, wifi, bluetooth, etc. It all just works.

- Good looking, out of the "box".

- Good availability of packages.

- Never had a problem with package upgrades.

- Excellent support from System 76 (although that's not a property of the distro).


👤 kjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
I used to use Arch because of AUR and pacman, rolling distro, and the cool factor but then I switched to Mac OS because of stability, features, and the Apple ecosystem (there is absolutely nothing like it)

👤 init
Using Ubuntu because it was the easiest to setup back in the days. Canonical even used to send boxes of free CDs if you promised that you'll distribute them.

👤 atsaloli
Lubuntu: lightweight, well suited for older laptops.

👤 andrefuchs
I'm using Ubuntu for the sane default settings, community, available tools, regular OS updates, ease of use.

👤 slipwalker
Slackware: reliability & simplicity