I’m currently looking for a new OS, coming from KDE neon and I like it, but the fact I have to FUCKING restart because someone decided to push an OS update that broke my previous install, now the OS freezes my whole PC (never did before!) and I have to restart.
I’m looking for good apps support so Debian? Idk Using it for daily usage (Android/games development) and gaming.
I’m also looking for:
- Wobbly windows (yes useless but cool lol)
- Good customization
- KDE connect support (a must)
- Krunner or equivalent (MacOS like search)
- Idk?
Thank you!
OpenSuSE with default filesystem configuration
or kubuntu
Atomic distros were created to solve exactly that problem. I like Bazzite because it also has seamless background updates (among other reasons).
I’m looking for good apps support so Debian?
Any Debian fork will run .deb packages. But plain Debian is just very vanilla and will be missing a lot of stuff you’ll probably want.
Wobbly windows (yes useless but cool lol) Good customization KDE connect support (a must) Krunner or equivalent (MacOS like search)
These are all going to be features of the DE, and you can install any DE on any distro (AFAIK).
I meant Debian based OS
I see. Deb is definitely the most package-friendly.
GNOME combines Mac’s “stage manager” and “spotlight” into a single function activated by the Super key (windows key/command). It’s really excellent and probably my favorite thing about GNOME.
Stage manager?
Yes, I prefer deb because its easier for me to install stuff
Stage Manager is the one where it zooms out to show all of your open windows and switch between them.
Everyone is recommending KDE, but forgive me if I’m missing something, I don’t see it needing to be KDE support as a requirement on your list?
Any mainstream GNOME distro, eg Fedora, will have all the features you need through extensions (compiz window effect, gconnect for KDE Konnect, GNOME has the search you want by default and supports lots of customisation via shell themes, GTK themes, icon packs and extensions.
Edit: )
Why cripple Gnome to something Knomeish when OP is already familiar with KDE and there are gazzillions of KDE distros?
Fedora KDE spin might be suitable for you.
If you like KDE your night find endeavouros with KDE pretty good. It is an arch derivative so it is rolling release, if that is acceptable then I would say give it a try.
I don’t like the recent update and all the problems it has but I like KDE as OS yeah
KDE is a desktop environment, you can install it on almost all distributions and it will look and behave same (yes can use wobly windows and krunner). I do not recommend KDE on Debian12 as its outdated enough that you can’t install themes from kde’s settings anymore.
Personally I recommend Fedora’s KDE Spin, I believe its a distribution that you can install and forget and occasionally check for updates on kde’s software center.
There’s also arch based distros like cachyos or endeavouros with calamares installer that let you choose desktop environment before install.
Fedora KDE or Linux Mint.
+1 for Mint
Yum. Not used to it but it’s not bad
Fedora Kinoite is KDE but also atomic, so you can easily roll back from bad upgrades in future.
it sounds like you’re looking for kubuntu since it checks off every one of those bullet points.
I’ll see if someone suggests me anything else and I’ll try it. Not sure if it has the apps menu at full screen (macOS style) or not, not a big deal though
Not a fan of Macbooks but Idk how to explain it otherwise
i used to use the baghira kde theme and it mimics the unified system/apps menu that osx uses.
it’s a bit dated so you’ll have to look for something newer and i would be surprised if it doesn’t already exist somewhere
I (after a lot of prior distro hopping) went from neon to tuxedo OS and have had very few issues, and only one that was major (was my own fault).
I’ll install it tomorrow! I want to try it
cool, lmk what you think after you try it. also, there’s no posts yet but on one of my Lemmy accounts I made a community for it.
For what you call ‘MacOS like search’ I’d recommand Recoll, working on any OS (and perfectly on my Debian install, for years on) : really can find ANY text string inside any document, from almost any app (e. g. Joplin, that I’d bet nobody heard of here), also including e. g. words within attachments within zipped backup email databases, pictures located on unpermanent backup volumes etc.
Regularly updated, that the one thing that definitely had me ‘finally forgetting’ MacOSX.I didn’t know how to exactly tell people how the search is but if I can also search inside files, it’s even better! I’ll try it for sure
I can highly recommend Bazzite for your needs. It has a KDE version which is clearly your favorite Desktop Environment (DE), it’s extremely safe/stable due to being an Atomic distro (you can always boot into the previous image if a system update broke something), has incredible documentation, supports almost any traditional app through Distrobox (VPN requires rpm-ostree for now), has a scripted easy install of Waydroid for native android emulation, and has a few tweaks preconfigured to ensure the desktop gaming experience is a little more seamless out of the box than a stock distro. It really seems to tick all the boxes for what you’re looking for.
If you want more focus on development and less on gaming, the Universal Blue team also makes Aurora for more developer-focused workloads, but Steam not being included in the image does introduce some usability regressions - Steam running via Flatpak or Distrobox is just plain less capable than a native install, though work is ongoing to make native installs Just Work even on Atomic systems.
My only problem is I’m used to Debian and I find arch/fedora/etc very confusing, do you have any tips/guide to help transitioning?
Have you ever seen Linux Journey? It’s a very informative set of tutorials on how Linux fundamentally works under the hood; all the separate systems that together create an operating system. The concepts you learn there will apply to almost any distro in some way, even if some distros (like Atomic ones) don’t let you mess with all of it.
For more top-level transition concerns, given that you’re coming from stock Debian running KDE… Bazzite can also run KDE, so provided you select KDE when you download it, your GUI experience should be pretty much identical. Some minor but important differences would include themes, but there are guides for that, too.
When it comes to package management, the intent on Atomic systems is you basically don’t install traditional packages (Flatpaks are the preferred option), but Bazzite has frameworks in place such that you can install pretty much any package from any distro, as laid out in their documentation I linked in my previous post and just now. Work is also ongoing to make traditional package-based software installations more seamless with an incoming switch from rpm-ostree to bootc, but that’s getting into the weeds. If you have a deb file for a GUI program that’s not available as a Flatpak, you’ll be using a Distrobox to install it.
If you have any specific concerns about the differences, let me know and I can hopefully give you more details.
Sorry to be late to the party, posted a comment to a comment much earlier; Krunner on Debian or practically anywhere else is Recoll
Check out PikaOS
fedora has a KDE spin, and others have mentioned stuff like Bazzite which is similar. I’m personally planning to switch eventually.
I also had kde neon and switched to kubuntu. Its really nice and only has minor issues. I also tried opensuse beforehand, which was not a good experience, for example the sound did not work (which is a typical probl, at least says their wiki and the fixes were obsolete, but not documented that they were.) and as a final straw, YouTube video played without hw acceleration, even with codecs installed.
I had less problems with endeavour os (arch), which runs on a second rig as a steamdeck.