"what's the best linux distro?"
i get asked this loads whenever i talk about linux, as if there is a simple answer.
i will make some attempt to answer it here, and cut through the crap you hear from most people.
distros are most differentiated by their package management.
q: what?
on linux, any software you install is a package, and your package maintainers decide what packages you'll be having.
for instance, on ubuntu, google chrome is a package, and gets updates every time the ubuntu maintainers decide to ship chrome.
q: why does it matter? how could any distribution argue on software? isnt software distributed by the developers?
no, on linux you use what you might call on other OS's an app store.
you typically can't buy anything from it, but you can download apps, libraries, games, tools, etc.
the key difference is how frequently these apps are updated, and where they come from:
while gimp (the GNU image manipulation program) may get updates every two hours, it might only be packagedonce a week.
sometimes, developers release "stable" versions of their projects.
if you've ever downloaded an emulator, you might see it offering normal builds and "nightly" builds.
those normal builds are considered decently bug free, and are tested.
meanwhile "nightly" builds are just that, at the end of every night the final code is shipped off to be downloadable by you - bugs and all.
some people like having "nightly" builds, they want to have all the latest features and are okay to wait for a few days if something goes wrong.
meanwhile, some people only want the most stable of software --- they never want to update anything and cant be bothered to wait for fixes.
where you fall on this scale might vary, maybe for some things you prefer nightly but others stable.
maybe you want the best of both worlds, that's fine too.
q: okay, so, which distribution is which?
most distributions are built on one of three distributions:
- debian - an extremely slow and stable distribution. updates are so infrequent you basically only do it once a year. security updates are seperate and frequent.
- fedora - a distribution dedicated to mostly new software, while still not incorporating 100% new features. think of it as less stable than debian, but more stable than the next choice.
- archlinux - a distribution dedicated to the newest software. frequently you'll get software as new as the developers, sometimes directly from the source. archlinux often involves automatically compiling software, meaning actual code is literally downloaded to your device and processed.
now, there are other distributions, but a lot of them aren't very popular, so they might not be worth using
q: why is it important to download a popular distribution?
on windows, when something breaks, it can be assumed you can look it up.
on linux, this is only true if other people have also had the same problem.
if you are using a distribution only 12 other people in the world use, you'll essentially be on your own.
that is why it is typically only advisable that advanced users use obscure distributions.
q: are there any other distributions popular enough to recommend?
yes!
in fact, the only "first" distribution i could ever recommend is linux mint.
even if you're a gamer, or a teacher, or a student, or some bullshit.
linux mint is built off of ubuntu, which is built off of debian.
ubuntu is one of the most popular enterprise distributions, used by companies like amazon, and loads of individual customers.
linux mint is a much more user centric version of ubuntu, designed to incorperate a lot more user focused software.
q: is linux mint the best distro?
well, no.
unfortunately, some people have workflows that aren't compatible or arent best on linux mint, myself included.
q: i want to try linux mint, but i can't decide which edition to try. what are the differences?
almost exactly as the website says, they look different.
cinnamon is the most modern, windows-like option, and was adopted fairly recently.
XFCE is the lighter option with less system resources.
not that it's much to begin with.
MATE is kept around for historical reasons.
on my own desktop, i use mate, but it might not be right for you, as it is really a continuation of a much older desktop, GNOME.
q: why do some advanced users avoid linux mint?
this question can come up a lot from people who have become accustomed to the distribution.
in short, we probably dont have good enough reasons for you to switch.
if you thought our reasons were good, you wouldn't be using linux mint.
perhaps if you use linux long enough, you will switch away.
perhaps not!
some users have been using linux mint for over a decade without issue.
q: i've seen KDE mentioned a lot on linux elsewhere, how can i use KDE?
this is one of the larger reasons to use another distribution.
because of how KDE is developed, it can only be packaged in extremely specific ways, and often is not stable.
the best way to get a mint-like experience is likely the latest non-lts release of kubuntu.
keep in mind you might have to manually add flatpak support to get all the apps that are available on linux mint.
it takes 60 seconds, tops.
tags: linux, technology