Short answer: Don't agonize. It doesn't matter. Just pick one and go with it. If it doesn't work you just try again. This is very common in linux. You do NOT need to make a final decision at the outset. advice for novice: You should start with *_Linux Mint_* unless there is a reason not to. It's good! Long answer: Anyone can make a distro so lots of people made distros. Some of them have VERY minimal differences between them and are basically vanity projects. Or they are the same as a larger one but offer to install a default set of packages thought to be useful to a certain userbase. IMHO these are not helpful. Sometimes you need a certain distro because you have a weird computer or specific needs. You'll figure it out quick if you try to install the wrong one. So don't worry about it. There are only a few *primary* distros and all the others are variants of them. The primary distros are based around the package (app/program) distribution system. Think of it like they have different (but overlapping) App Stores. Main ones: - Debian/Ubuntu: MANY of the distros you hear about are in this category. Ubuntu is a subset of Debian. - Pacman: Arch, EndeavorOS, Manjaro, SteamOS - RPM: Fedora, RHEL, openSUSE - For too much more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions - If you don't know what distro you want, you should try one of the most popular ones. The more users a distro has, the more likely it will play well with your hardware, and it will be easier to solve any problems. A novice user should *avoid* esoteric, specialized distros if possible unless they really want "a learning experience". And by that I mean PROBLEMS. - Out of the most popular distros, there are political/philosophical differences between them. Some distros (e.g. ubuntu and arch) prioritize being convenient for the user, while others (e.g. debian and fedora) prioritize having Libre policies. You can tune a distro that is designed one way a bit the other way so it isn't set in stone. - There are differences in how often you must/can update. Range between daily/weekly to monthly and yearly. Generally speaking, more frequent updates are associated with higher availability of new software and risk of stability problems. Some distros have different versions you can choose on this basis. For novice user, I would suggest a medium/long term update cycle. - Certain distros come preloaded with certain graphic styles (Desktop Environments, or DEs). You can actually pretty much install any DE on any distro but it might be a bit more work. So for a novice user, sometimes the default DE is a consideration. Some distros offer versions with different DEs. I personally like XFCE4 but I think KDE is probably the most popular one, and I have a good impression of them from what I've seen so I think they've deserved it. Here's the distros I am running these days 1. Laptop: Arch-based. I have tried to migrate away from this because it is VERY BAD Libre. the package manager includes many fully proprietary softwares!! and there is no way to filter or even *see* the license info without investigating each individual package on the web.I do not like the politics/philosophy. BUT it has every FLOSS package/application natively-available and up to date which no other distro can offer. (I will be happy if anyone can prove me wrong!!!) 2. Server/desktop: plain Debian: Because I don't want to do weekly manual updates, need something more long term stable. And I *want* to be using more Libre stuff. Lately I am having alot of dependency issues tho. (Anybody know what is a good distro to work with the "arrs" packages? Librely?) 3. TV box: LibreELEC (debian based) - new/WIP 4. Phone: LineageOS - the best android ROM that works on the phone I was able to get. Would prefer CalyxOS. 5. Netbook: Debian-based smaller distro that was focused on light weight systems. Beyond that there is deeper level shit but literally anyone else can explain it better than I could. On Tue, Jan 7, 2025, at 9:37 PM, Karen Lewellen via talk wrote:
Hi all, Hoping your holidays were magical. My question comes from a discussion on a Linux and disabilities list. New person frankly bewildered by why there are so many Linux distributions at all, along side the benefits of say a specific kind of desktop over another. Got me wondering in general what motivates you to prefer your distribution of choice? That too, with my actually wondering indeed why there are so many Linux distributions, how all those editions helps someone outside the operating system make a choice. Just curious, Karen
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