• The_Lurker@lemmy.world
    1·
    6 days ago

    Assuming you want a distrowar, leftacenter said it best, whatever you use is best. Assuming you want a recommendation, Fedora or Mint.

    I run OpenSuse Tumbleweed on my gaming desktop and Fedora (KDE spin) on everything else, including my 88 year old mother’s mini computer plugged into her TV. My friend, who just jumped ship from Windows due to multiple install fails of Win11, runs Mint and loves it.

    I’ve done enough to just want things to work. Not touching Arch, but love their wiki. No more kernel configs for me.

    Bona fides (early on I distro hopped like crazy). I’ve used: Slackware (my very first distro in 1998) Red Hat (after I gave up fighting X on Slack) SuSE, OpenSuSE Fedora Ubuntu and derivatives (Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Hanna Montana Linux, Christian Linux, Satanic Linux (had to install it over Christian Linux)) MX Linux Mepis Linux Mint (both Ubuntu derived and Debian derived) Debian Gentoo Sorceror and Lunar AntiX Damn Small Linux Tiny Linux Puppy Linux Knoppix Mandriva Scientific Linux Gecko PCLinuxOS CrunchBang Source Mage OpenWRT Raspberry Pi OS System Rescue Kanotix SLAX SteamOS

    Plus: Android & Lineage FreeBSD OpenBSD QNX OpenSolaris

    And: Free DOS DOS Windows 3.11 - 10, NT, and 2000 (Win 2000 was the most reliable version of Windows, Win 7 was the best) Apple DOS Macintosh System Software 4 - 10.1 Atari DOS Atari GEM Desktop (loved the ST)

    Finally: Haiku

  • crankyrebel@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    12·
    1 year ago

    I use Arch, btw, but I don’t consider it the best (yes I do.) I could easily transition to Fedora, for example (I would never do that,) and be completely happy (I would rather continually hit my head with the metal stapler gun on my desk.)

  • tatterdemalion@programming.dev
    6·
    1 year ago

    NixOS. My entire config is source-controlled and I can easily roll back to a previous boot image if something breaks like cough Nvidia drivers. I also use it for my home router and all self-hosted services.

      • dwt@feddit.orgDeutsch
        2·
        1 year ago

        Out of all the ways that I have tried in the past, to reproduce not just the initial state, but also the ongoing changes of a disto (ansible, saltstack, chef, bunch of Shell scripts) — nix is by far the shortest. With all of these technologies I would never have dreamed to do this for a single Maschine. But now it’s not only possible, but actually gasp enjoyable!

        Mind you, if that is not the problem you want to solve, maybe install just the nix package manager in addition to your distribution, and learn to enjoy it without having to run your whole distribution this way.

        • smiletolerantly@awful.systems
          2·
          1 year ago

          You misunderstand! It has also turned into basically a hobby (and recently, a job, lol) to manage nix configs.

          Those 19k lines are clean, well-structured and DRY, and do describe every little thing about ca. 30 machines.

  • rarsamx@lemmy.ca
    4·
    1 year ago

    You mean my distros?

    Different distros are the best for different purposes.

    My Fedora is the best for my laptop because it just works and all the hardware is supported.

    My Arch is the best because it’s a super fine tuned setup that prevents distractions and doesn’t waste memory or CPU doing things I don’t care about.

    My mint is the best because it’s simple, stable, beautiful out of the box.

    My debian is the best because servers are no nonsense.

    My puppy Linux was the best when I was a developer for the distro because it was the smallest lightest and fastest distro I’ve ever used.

    Etc.

  • bold_omi@lemmy.today
    4·
    23 hours ago

    I do not consider Arch the best. Artix is better because is is systemd-free. I have not switched yet.

    Edit: I switched in July. I use Artix now, and prefer it.

  • Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyz
    4·
    1 year ago

    Mint is Ubuntu minus everything that makes Ubuntu annoying. That’s why I like it.

    I considered to go back to Debian but… eh, I’m too old and impatient for that. Nowadays I mostly want things that work out of the box.

    • ZombieCyborgFromOuterSpace@piefed.caEnglish
      1·
      4 months ago

      It would be awesome if it came with a KDE desktop environment.

      If ZorinOS shipped without the Snaps, it might become my go-to, even though it’s Gnome. They did a wonderful job of customizing it with extensions to make it more like a classic desktop experience.

      • Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyz
        1·
        1 year ago

        From what I remember*, there was always some rough corner. Such as the wi-fi, or the graphics card. Sure, Stable was rock solid, but you always needed something from Testing; and Testing in general was overall less stable than Ubuntu or Mint.

        *This was years ago, so it might be inaccurate as of 2025.

  • dhampirdamsel@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    I’ve been enjoying EndeavourOS over the past three years. It works wonderfully out of the box at default settings, and was really easy for me to use and set up to my liking with minimal know-how needed.

    It also works really well on the variety of machines I have in my home. My desktop, modded Chromebook, and my husband’s laptop.

    It’s allowed me to get more familiar and confident with the command line, and enough so that I’ve switched to Sway from XFCE (and previously KDE).

    • aging_horse@programming.dev
      1·
      5 days ago

      I’ve installed it on my Pi 5 with KDE Plasma Bigscreen. I have RetroArch, FEX, Jellyfin, and VaccumTube on it.

      Yes, there are easier ways to do what I wanted to, but I wanted to see if I can push it to this extent and now it’s so stable that I don’t have to bother.

  • peterg🇺🇦@piefed.socialEnglish
    4·
    6 months ago

    CachyOS with NiriWM. Cachy is Arch with none of the install drama. The performance tuning makes it blazing fast on older hardware. Installs with no bloat.

    Niri is superior to Hyprland in my opinion because it’s a scrolling tiling WM that is super intuitive and fast.

    For server workloads, however, not much beats pure Debian. It’s stable, well supported, and has a huge package library.

    • determinist@kbin.earth
      1·
      3 months ago

      I run CachyOS on my PC and Debian (12/13) on my servers. Everything you say is dead on.

      Perfect set up for me.

  • HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org
    3·
    4 months ago

    Using Linux is not a dick measuring contest (and man I hate these threads asking “why is your distro the best?” - it feels like trolling and sowing division and grief to me. A bit like asking a mother “What is your favorite child?”.)

    • Digit@lemmy.wtfEnglish
      1·
      4 months ago

      Ah, so you think your distro’s not the best. (jk).

      As a recovering/relapsing distroholic, I feel like these threads are great for discovery. (And whimsical fun. Because you’re right, that it’s not a contest. So knowing this, can engage with the question playfully.)

  • Left as Center@jlai.lu
    3·
    10 days ago

    1. This is my linux. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

    2. My linux is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.

    3. My linux, without me, is useless. Without my linux, I am useless. I must boot my linux true. I must boot faster than windows who is trying to be buggy. I must boot him before it boots. I will …

    4. My linux and myself know that what counts in this world is not the times we boot, the noise of our bootsounds, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the linux computer that count. We will install….

    5. My linux is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its repos and its flatpaks. I will ever guard it against the ravages of non updating as I will ever guard my legs, my arms, my eyes and my heart against damage. I will keep my linux clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will ….

    6. Before God(s)(?), I swear this creed. My linux and myself are the defenders of my convictions. We are the masters of our computers. We are the saviors of my digital life.

    7. So be it, until linux is the world’s most used OS and there is no walled gardens, but only peace!!

  • Farooq@realbitcoin.cash
    3·
    3 months ago

    Me linux distro is not the best. “The best” varies from person to person and also in accord to different positions in time.

    • Digit@lemmy.wtfEnglish
      3·
      3 months ago

      Yup. To me, IRIX was the best, until I found GNU+Linux in late 2003 and becoming a windows refugee, not to IRIX, but to, not just GNU+Linux, but all freedom respecting operating systems and their distributions, and the potential of what they could become, as I and many others attempt to learn them, and help contribute to them. Many more itches to scratch yet. The best is yet to come, for each and all. :) Or so the philosophy inspires and aspires.

      [PS… Oh I so would love a FOSS IRIX… a free software [“open source”] multi-arch IRIX revival though… beyond just NekoWare and whatever else is scattered around.]

      [PPS, oh, and varies computer to computer too… I don’t use the same distro everywhere. Sometimes even several distros on the same computer. Quite right to point out the folly of the notion of there being a one-true-way “best”.]