I am looking to switch to a different Linux distribution (or BSD). I currently use openSUSE Tumbleweed, which is quite nice, but I’m having issues with my USB ports and it takes a hot second to boot up.
However, the reason I’m asking here instead of going straight to DistroWatch is that my laptop has a problem. When I turn it on, it bootloops unless it’s connected to power when I press the button. As such, this distribution would need to be able to handle running for weeks on end without a reboot.
I could get this repaired or replaced, but I have neither the time nor the money to spare.
So, does anyone have any suggestions? Or should I just slap Fedora Kinoite on it and call it a day?
EDIT: I went for Debian FreeBSD, as well as running fwupd, and it’s all working now. Thanks!
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As such, this distribution would need to be able to handle running for weeks on end without a reboot.
So, it has to be something stable (i.e. receive little to no updates) that’s capable of updating without requiring a reboot. That makes any stable distro a candidate. As such, choose either:
- Debian or something based on it
- Gentoo (stable branch)
- Nixos (stable channel)
- openSUSE Leap
- Ubuntu or something based on it
Ubuntu or something based on it
I would not recommend ubuntu, specially on this case. System updates, snapd mostly, have gone downhill and it’s nearly impossible to avoid reboots for extended periods. Debian seems to be still as solid as it’s always been.
Might even be worth checking if https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware has a straight-up fix for the issue.
Vanilla Debian is very stable, it can keep running for years without a reboot, I can’t say if it fixes your USB problem tho
When maximizing uptime, Debian is the no-fuss way to go.
If I were you I would definitely use Debian 12.
Debian… but also to clarify it’s not “old” at all. I’m using Debian on my servers, yes, but also on my desktop that use daily, to work and to play video games on, including VR. So… don’t think because it’s “old” and “stable” it means it’s outdated.
Removed by mod
outdated
how? Maybe I don’t properly understand the difference with obsolete?
Obsolete means it’s unmaintained (not true) and outdated because many packages get updates with noticable delay - it’s a tradeoff for being stable. Besides not seeing new Linux goodies on release day, some devs force you to add additional repos for their apps which can lead to broken dependencies in the future.
I mean, if you are already on openSUSE, why not just use Leap? You won’t need to update it a lot hence you won’t need to reboot.
When I turn it on, it bootloops unless it’s connected to power when I press the button.
Have you tried updating your BIOS?
That’s a good idea. Why didn’t I think of that?
Well I didn’t think of it when I had Linux boot issues either until I asked a forum lol
I’m using MX Linux AHS on my PC for years, it is my work PC, 40h/week, for 3 years now, 0 problem with it, no systemd, no flatpak, no snap, and using Xfce is so nice :)
It is debian based and always up to date for firefox etc. For instance we are January 30th, my kernel is 3 days old.
6.12.11-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.12.11-1~mx23ahs (2025-01-27) x86_64 GNU/Linux
I’ve been using Linux since 1998 on and off, and in the last few years, exclusively. I like Debian-Testing, and Linux Mint. Nothing else seems to work as I want it, it seems.
If youre coming on Nixos, I have a lot of resources in the bookmarks section here: https://codeberg.org/BlastboomStrice/LinuxPlan/src/branch/main/LinuxPlan.md#nixos-bookmarks
(This was a guide I made for myself in the span of ~4months to transition to linux and I still update it some times.)
Basically an distribution that is not a rolling release. Its hard to recommend a specific distribution. You could use one of the Ubuntus, a Fedora Atomic variant, Mint, they should be able to run for weeks without issues. Unless you update a system component that requires a restart to take into effect. Why not openSUSE Leap?
I’m personally on EndeavourOS, a rolling release and update often (even the Kernel). My PC is also on for 24h, usually for days, sometime even a week. One trick to avoid some of the restarts is to just logout and login the user. This should be no problem for you and at least some of the components start fresh due to login.
this distribution would need to be able to handle running for weeks on end without a reboot.
Any decent distro then.
Slackware ftwI never really got on with Slackware, but I might give it another shot…
I think almost any distro would be good at uptimes for days or weeks on end, but personally:
If you have newer harder, Fedora will have newer packages and drivers for that hardware.
If you have anything older than 2 years, Debian should be fine as long as you don’t mind older editions of your favorite desktop environment.
I think something to consider is that most distros don’t care when you update, as long as you update properly.
Arch for example doesn’t care of you update daily, weekly, or monthly. They just want you to update all packages at once instead of partial upgrades to help solve errors and ensure everyone is on the same page when needing help.
My personal vote would be Debian, as that can stay up for months without issue, but I get distracted by new bells and whistles on KDE releases so I use Fedora.
Ubuntu should be able to. They even have some sort of kernel hot patching service I have not used.
If you do not care about kernal updates then most distros should be fine. Just ignore the reboot suggestions.
Edit: If you do not reboot you might want to make sure critical things are restarted such as you web browser. Or just logout and login again. One hopes the distro appropriately handles service updates but who knows for certain.
Debian and a BSD (FreeBSD is nice) can run for years without a reboot.
Certain activities will often push a machine to crash. 3D gaming, network drive mounts on an unstable network, and some drivers.
No distro is going to fix a true hardware problem.
