I would prefer something based on Debian, like Ubuntu or PopOS, but I’m open for other suggestions as well, as I’m looking for a distro to daily-drive on my new Framework laptop.
Why not directly Debian ?
I know you said you want something Debian-based, but Fedora is my go-to distro for daily driver workstations. Rock solid, has up to date software, and the release upgrade process has never failed me.
So, I know I could just look this up and get answers off google, but for the sake of conversation, why do you prefer Fedora over something like say, Mint?
I have bounced around through several distros (Mint, Ubuntu, Arch, Pop, a bit of Slack), and have always found something in each that could draw me in. What does it for you in Fedora?
Fedora is pretty cutting edge (updating package versions every 6 months), while still being rock solid. The release upgrade is also the most reliable one I’ve had to deal with - I successfully upgraded an ancient install by 10 versions once.
Gotcha. For those that are happy with the upgrade process and stability of what they are on though, is there anything that makes it more enticing?
I may end up giving it a go just to round out my experience with the various flavors and get some real experience with RPM.
Here are my two eurocents:
- Fedora Workstation, the main spin of Fedora which uses Gnome, is a very polished experience. I’d use it, if I were a fan of Gnome.
- Fedora Silverblue is an “immutable desktop”, i.e. the operating system is read-only while all user applications isolated from it via flatpaks. It is supposed to make the system more secure, stable, easier to update etc. It’s a cool idea, but I haven’t tried it myself.
Other than that? Not much. As you probably know, most distributions feel pretty much the same, Fedora included.
I don’t think distro choice is that important. If you’re already comfortable with something deb based get that.
You’ve named three great suggestions. There was a new stable Debian release two days ago. A decade ago, I found Debian stable a bit too stale and testing buggy, but things have changed for the better with flatpak being as ubiquitous as it is.
Just make sure to get the non-free firmware iso if you think you might need it for something like wifi.
I find snap on Ubuntu annoying, slow and the cli tool cryptic. I’d probably use PopOS in preference to Ubuntu just because of that.
Finally, the difference between using a Debian vs Fedora vs Arch derivative isn’t as much as it’s hyped up to be. It’s really the release cycle and QA that matter and that’s personal taste.
Mint is great, it comes pre loaded with a lot of the basics and has got to be one of the most easy to recommend options out there. If you do go with Mint I would highly recommend adding flatpaks for anything proprietary if you use things like Spotify, Discord, or other similar stuff (you probably will want to make sure that gets updates imminently since those kinds of services usually update quickly and somewhat sporadically). Mint is based on Ubuntu but is without all the Telemetry and forced snaps.
Alternatively, if you want a more basic install (pros: less bloat, cons: more manual work) Debian itself would work great. It’ll probably eek out a tiny bit more performance and slightly faster security updates than anything downstream. I like manually installing by starting from zero, but I can understand if you want a “plug and play” option and want a Debian derivative instead.
Ubuntu is also fine. I’m still salty about seeing Amazon ads on my search screen a while back, but in all reality it would work just fine, you can still opt out of the Telemetry, and if you prefer Snaps over Flatpaks then it’d be a good choice to go with. If you don’t know of or care about snaps or flatpaks then in all reality either should work fine for you.
I’ve never used PopOs. I’m sure it’s fine, though I’ve heard people online complain it’s a bit unstable sometimes as compared to the more established Debian based distros. Can’t say either way though since I haven’t used it.
Beyond Debian, like some people are saying here too, Fedora is an option. It’s not Debian based and might have a bit of a higher learning curve (both if you’ve never used Linux or if you learned on Debian based Linux). Their packages and device drivers are usually a bit more up to date. That said, as they move more towards Flatpaks instead of traditional package management that benefit is eroding a bit. But if you do find yourself needing more current packages (and can’t solve with flatpaks/snaps), or have a device with drivers too new for Debian and it’s derivatives, then Fedora would be the first place I’d recommend going.
Last, Manjaro might be an option as well (also not Debian based). Honestly I’ve heard a lot of bad things about it and never used it, but a co-worker likes it so it’s worth a mention. It’d be great if you need really recent drivers, but if you don’t know what you’re doing (so I’ve been told) you probably want to be cautions of the AUR.
If you have the time I’d recommend firing up a virtual machine and checking anything that sound interesting. Good luck!
generally any distro would work, my suggestion would be to find one you like and stick with that.
distro doesn’t matter nearly as much nowadays as
distroboxandflatpakwill make most of the programs available on almost any distro.I’m using MXLinux with Xfce on all my laptops and desktop, standard one for old computers and the AHS version for new ones. No problem with it.
I mean, why not just use PopOS? It’s not my first choice but a lot of people like it.
Fedora is the other obvious choice, perhaps even silverblue for that nice immutable ecosystem if your apps can all be obtained via flatpak.
I also really like endeavour due to how minimal it is out of the box an AUR access.
I’ve got a shitty old laptop that barely ran on windows. I put Linux Cinnamon (mint) on it, and it runs pretty good now. Maybe less applicable on your new machine tho.
The most recommended I have seen is Fedora. I haven’t used it yet but it is known to keep DE packages up to date without the bleeding edge concept of Arch-based distros.
I have had good experiences with MX as well.
I use Linux Mint as my daily driver and I love it. It’s Ubuntu-based so it should be pretty familiar. I’m also a big fan of MX Linux, which is Debian-based.
Do you intend to use wayland?
If so, you may want something up to date, since that’s rapidly changing/improving.
Pop!_OS. I use it on my laptop and the track pad gestures are a treat. Also, stability and performance are as expected and the devs are really cool.
Either PopOS or Fedora would be my choice for a no hassle distro. The new Cosmic DE that System76 is making for PopOS looks pretty nice.
@Gamer153
Debian 12 is actually a good option. This latest release has really transformed it into a much more viable option.I just recently switched from my favourite distro (Linux Mint), and I have no regrets.
