• Sidhean@piefed.socialEnglish
    7·
    2 days ago

    Nice meme! Its interesting that you’ve tried more than one distro. Personally, I prefer to pick the best one right away and stick with that. I think one of Zote’s precepts mentions this. I use mint btw.

    /jerk

  • eleefece@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    Favorite: MX Linux

    First Distro Used: Ubuntu 6.06

    Distro You Want to Use in the Future: CachyOS

    Honorable Mention: Pardus

    Distro You Liked the Least: Mandriva

    Distro You Currently Use: Bazzite

    The Distro You Used for the Longest Time: Opensuse

    • ChristerMLB@piefed.socialEnglish
      1·
      1 day ago

      Same, really. I keep trying other distros, and have Kubuntu on my laptop right now, but it’s still just a tiny bit too buggy compared to Mint.

    • melfie@lemmy.zip
      3·
      2 days ago

      I always come back to Mint. Far from just a “beginner distro”, it’s a practical and solid choice for anyone devoted to something other than tweaking, perfecting, and personalizing an OS. Not that there’s anything wrong with that if it’s your passion and you have the time. Personally, I wouldn’t mind making my perfect Arch or NixOS setup, but my free time is limited and there is always something I’m interested in working on more.

    • Mistiy@lemmy.zipOP
      392·
      4 days ago

      oh come on. I don’t ever say it outside of meme contexts. I just personally enjoy rolling releases and don’t really like the corporate feeling of Fedora, so i’m left with only really Arch as a good option.

  • DefederateLemmyMl@feddit.nl
    1·
    2 days ago
    • Favorite distro: Debian
    • Also favorite distro: Arch
    • First distro: Red Hat Linux 5.1 (not RHEL!).
    • Honorable mention: Slackware for most of the 00s
  • cRazi_man@europe.pub
    75·
    3 days ago

    OpenSUSE got me onto Linux and was such a great option for a first distro. I still think about changing back sometimes. I’m surprised it doesn’t get recommended more often.

    • Bluewing@lemmy.world
      5·
      3 days ago

      SUSE has always kind of been of an also ran in the eyes of a lot of users. I have tried the stable versions before Tumbleweed and I have even used Tumbleweed for a while. It’s a solid choice and the user base is awesome.

      I really, really, wanted to love SUSE, but there is just something about it that I just don’t vibe with. It’s a good distro and offers a lot. But it’s just a bit uncomfortable like a suit jacket that doesn’t quite fit right through the shoulders.

      • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
        1·
        2 days ago

        I had a similar experience. Smaller standard repositories, unfamiliar package manager syntax, a package manager that’s probably even slower than apt (doesn’t matter longterm, but makes learning it more annoying), and I didn’t find using the community repositories particularly smooth. Plus I’m always running custom setups with tiling WMs, which is a bad fit for smaller, desktop-focused distros.

    • hobbit@discuss.tchncs.de
      12·
      3 days ago

      openSUSE Tumbleweed is my daily driver. I recommend it to most people. It’s a nice balance of leading edge and stability. Plus, snapper makes it easy to rollback if an update borks something.

      • twinnie@feddit.uk
        2·
        3 days ago

        Slowroll is my daily. I like it because most distros preach some kind of extreme philosophy, like Arch is ultra bare, Ubuntu et al are super easy, others are bleeding edge or slow and stable. openSUSE is (mostly) absolutely middle-of-the-road with a get-the-job-done kind of attitude I guess it makes it somewhat forgettable but I need the OS to just get out of the way and let me use my computer.

      • timmytbt@sh.itjust.works
        1·
        2 days ago

        Started with Debian and still use it on servers. Moved to Arch but recently put Tumbleweed on my old laptop to try it out. Fast becoming a favourite. Like you said, rolling release with automatic snapshots is the best of both worlds.

  • M137@lemmy.today
    61·
    2 days ago

    I really think Ubuntu is the most common first distro people try. A common reoccurrence here is the inability to see what an average person, in terms of tech literacy, knows and are willing to put time and effort into. Ubuntu has been the face of Linux for a long time (obviously not based on people who know and use linux). I wish Mint took that place as it’s so much better.

    • recursivethinking@lemmy.world
      4·
      2 days ago

      I was gonna say that “and put effort into” is important.

      I admin various Linux Servers, been through most distros at work and at home. I’m an experienced Linux admin/user. I’m settled on Mint at home for the foreseeable future.

      After a long day/week/career doing IT, the last thing I want is for my primary PC to be a project-home. Mint Cinnamon ended up being the home I fell in love with - honestly was expecting it to be another kitchy distro that I would maybe reccommend for noobs (I mean it is also that). I couldn’t be happier - LMDE is the only thing that makes me wonder about greener grass.

      I haven’t gotten to 95% perfect since Ubuntu pre-unity, and that one very long Arch build I did that one time. Even Debian, the home I grew up in, wasn’t the home I wanted to live in forever.

      No shade on any other Distros/DEs out there. Everyone has different homes and it’s their home and I love that people have them and that they’re all different, and I want many options to keep existing. Past me would not understand present me’s choices.

      • Q The Misanthrope English
        2·
        2 days ago

        Similar situation, experienced professional user but I’m running kubuntu at home. I just posted to another user about not wanting a project pc. I want to use my computer, not fix it or tweak it. It’s not other distributions are bad, it’s that this one is fine for me right now and it’s not windows.

  • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
    5·
    2 days ago

    Favorite is OpenSuse Tumbleweed. It’s stable mostly, and quite fixable when it isn’t. Just a great overall balance.

    My first was actually DSL: “Damn Small Linux”, contained entirely on a CD to remove a TERRIBLY resistant malware from my Windows XP machine. (It was awesome for that! Had no idea what I was doing lol.)

    Tried Ubuntu, then Ubuntu Studio, but they didn’t like my Wi-Fi devices back in those days, so I didn’t get to do much with them!

    Used Mint seriously on my aging laptop and loved it. It’s such an excellent on-ramp and you can hang out with it as long as you like.

    Later tried Manjaro for a while but…it started having some controversial project decisions and just didn’t feel like home.

    Using EndeavourOS on my gaming laptop and it works great! Considering migrating though: Arch is an excellent teacher, but I’ve had to spend unexpected weekends fixing weird hitches after updates.

    Honorable Mention: Puppy Linux! I used to be able to boot it to any laptop from my Android phone, and that was a really neat trick for public computers and stuff.

    • recursivethinking@lemmy.world
      4·
      2 days ago

      Hey I resemble that journey. Very few people metion DSL and Puppy. Those lived on a multiboot flash drive I carry around “JIC” (these days I just bring Mint and Tails).

      I just commented elsewhere how Mint became home - that “long as you like” is still going (jeez 8y at this point lol).

      • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
        3·
        2 days ago

        Cool! Yeah, they don’t seem to be referenced as much anymore, but they were seriously impressive and had their use cases. :D

        that “long as you like” is still going (jeez 8y at this point lol).

        Yeah, Mint is often referred to by folks as a “beginner distro” implying you’ll somehow inevitably skill up and distro hop, and sure, plenty do, but it really doesn’t have to be that way!

        (Heck, Eliot the super hacker in Mr. Robot used it as his home distro! Lol 😉)

        I mean, it’s stable, you can still get newer stuff and gaming via FlatPak, and it’s just overall friendlier. The community is super helpful and nice too!

        I personally jumped to OpenSUSE Tumbleweed because I like having new features sooner. (I blame Blender haha!), and honestly, I didn’t expect to fall in love with KDE as much as I did. I really like KDE. :p

        I’d always encourage people to try other distros just to see if they do something that fits them better or something, but yeah, you shouldn’t feel any pressure to “graduate” from Mint. It’s lovely. :D

    • HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org
      2·
      2 days ago

      Favorite is OpenSuse Tumbleweed. It’s stable mostly, and quite fixable when it isn’t. Just a great overall balance.

      I am actually thinking that a stable-stable distro like Debian or OpenSuse Leap as a base system, and on top either GNU Guix or a VM with Tumbleweed or Suse Slowroll is a great option. Very stable for productivity, and at the same time very current for programming and exploring new stuff.

      I currently use Debian stable, and both Gnu Guix and an Arch VM on top.

  • agentTeiko@piefed.socialEnglish
    531·
    4 days ago

    Debian is where greybeards go to retire things just work once you configured them and you don’t need the helping hand of the AUR as you can just build your own packages with aptbuild.

    • azimir@lemmy.ml
      14·
      4 days ago

      Shit. I’ve been on Debian for decades now. Maybe I’m just an old soul… Or I’m just lazy. I don’t even configure my DE anymore. The OS install of today will be wiped in no time, so it’s not worth being too attached.

      • agentTeiko@piefed.socialEnglish
        3·
        3 days ago

        Same started on OG Suse from a boxed copy I bought in a store that came with a thick manual but then a year later found Debian and have there ever since.

    • Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      9·
      3 days ago

      As a youngblood I have heard of the iron stability of Debian, but simply find it difficult to adopt for gaming-related reasons (both hosting and as a game client).

      I do wish to one day study the greybeards’ work for a future project box, however. That knowledge needs to be part of my generation as well, for at least a few of us.

      • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
        6·
        3 days ago

        The thing about Debian is that it’s really not meant for the bleeding edge, not unless you shim a completely different runtime platform onto it, like Docker or Flatpak (or Proxmox). It shines as a very stable very basic host OS that’s limited to just the base functions of the machine and lets the other platform deal with the latest and shiniest releases.

        • NekuSoul@lemmy.nekusoul.de
          21·
          3 days ago

          Yeah. I’ve been loving it as a rock solid base for a server. Trying to use it as a desktop though? For basic browsing and such, sure, but once you want to do anything complex and require recent packages it becomes a mess.

      • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
        1·
        3 days ago

        Debian, but simply find it difficult to adopt for gaming-related reasons (both hosting and as a game client).

        I do remember installing a mesa PPA on Ubuntu to play Elden Ring the year it was released, doing the same or similar on Debian stable seems even more of a mess … I kinda soured on AAA gaming since, though.

    • muhyb@programming.dev
      6·
      3 days ago

      I’m not a greybeard (yet) but xbps-src would like to have a word.

      Also, Debian is bad for cognitive abilities since if you use it long enough you forget how to configure things. /j

      • ranzispa@mander.xyz
        5·
        3 days ago

        Every time I have to upgrade to a new release I have to go read the instructions on how to do it…

        I would appreciate a big button like in fedora “push here to upgrade to Debian sailwind”

    • Carrot@lemmy.today
      2·
      3 days ago

      Debian is for my homelab, where things randomly breaking would ruin the day of multiple family members. Arch is for my personal machines, where things randomly breaking is an excuse to learn more about my hobby

    • Mistiy@lemmy.zipOP
      8·
      4 days ago

      wow… and what DE do you use with Slackware? I assume you just use pure CLI though

      • Mistress Remilia@lemmy.cyberia9.org
        15·
        4 days ago

        haha nah, I use Sawfish WM and a few fbpanel instances, without any compositor. It looks like this for me right now. I’ve used that basic setup (with various themes) for well over a decade.

        KDE and Xfce are what most people use on it, I think…

        • TwilightKiddy@programming.devEnglish
          1·
          3 days ago

          What’s up with the text in the wallpaper? I’d think it’s slop, but it looks as if someone deliberately made it look borked.

          • Mistress Remilia@lemmy.cyberia9.org
            1·
            3 days ago

            I have no idea. I don’t necessarily think it’s slop (though it could still be)… I think someone just didn’t know how to read Japanese. 'Cause like the sign that’s advertising coffee and breakfast stuff is correct, and the sign further back labeled “Collisto” and “ブティッ” (rest is cut off, I suspect it’s ブティック) is correct, but the rest are upside down. Though that doesn’t explain the upside-down bottle with “Grape Boutique” or whatever on it.

            So yeah, fuck if I know, I just found it and kinda liked it for the mood lol

            • TwilightKiddy@programming.devEnglish
              2·
              2 days ago

              The coffee one is not correct, vertical katakana should have vertical ー, the same mistake is across the rest of the ad, it also says バン instead of パン.

              寿司屋 is technically correct, but you’d never see that on a sign, it sounds more like a description of a place rather than an ad sign, if you know what I mean.

              中古 is written like 古中 for some reason? The text under (above) it is barely legible, whatever I can make out of it is just random characters somewhat related to 中古, like 品 or 料, but I can’t string it together into something that’d make sense.

              …

              Did what I probably should have done from the very beginning, looks like this is the source and it came to be before slop became common. The person who made this has clearly used something to generate it, the sheer quantity for the timeline is kind of insane, but they were probably using the old tools.

        • Ziglin (it/they)@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          3 days ago

          Do you have dotfiles available somewhere? I do quite like the window decorations and the rest of what I assume to be of the gtk theme.

        • meekah@discuss.tchncs.de
          3·
          4 days ago

          That CLI music player looks nice, I can’t find it though. Looks like you made it, did you share it somewhere?

    • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
      3·
      2 days ago

      I feel it. As a distro itself I’m not a huge fan of how it does things, but I really do like their theming, colors, font, aesthetic, logo, all that.

      Thankfully easy enough to make any distro look like anything, with a little effort. :)

  • AnimalsDream@slrpnk.netEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    Favorite: Debian

    First Distro Used: Ubuntu 10.04

    Distro You Want to Use in the Future: CachyOS

    Honorable Mention: Fedora

    Distro You Liked the Least: Post-Snap Ubuntu

    Distro You Currently Use: Debian, Fedora, SteamOS

    The Distro You Used for the Longest Time: Debian

  • Bronzor@lemmy.ml
    2·
    2 days ago

    I’ve been seeing a lot of kbuntu on these images, what makes it so appealing to people besides kde instead of gnome?

    • Q The Misanthrope English
      4·
      2 days ago

      I made the switch on my main pc (from Windows) to Kubuntu about 2 months ago. A friend had switched about a year before that and said it was fun to use so I tried it and it stuck.

      I don’t see myself changing, it works. I don’t want a project, I want a computer I don’t have to think about. I actually enjoy using my pc again, feels like I’m back in early days when my computer did what I wanted it to do. Forgot what that was like. Anyway my upsides are not other distributions downsides, it’s just what I have now.

      For context, in industry for 20 years, previous linux admin, dev and eng, I’ve used probably 15 distributions in my years, and I run a home lab server too.