What Linux distros do you all use?

[Gon Freecss]

Mint 18

 

[The Catboy]

I have used more distros than any normal person should, but currently I've been rocking Solus Budgie for well over 2 years now. I also use Manjaro and Linux Mint from time to time depending on the hardware. If not those I also use openSUSE tumbleweed if I can.

 

[Tumoche]

Kali and ubuntu for the most part

 

[FAST6191]

My policy for general use is if it isn't on https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major or puppy linux then it is not worth doing. If it is going to be a specialist thing then I would have to wonder why there is no guide/package list for a more mainstream one as well.

Similarly arch is a fun learning tool (kind of like a reduced version of http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/ ) but for anything vaguely resembling something I want to use, much less install for a client*, then poke that. Their wiki is good stuff though.

*I managed to pull off the apparent coup of getting non computer people to have a linux machine and enjoy it. Not sure how I did it but I think I can thank Microsoft's efforts with Windows 8 and 10 in getting people from being too comfortable with a UI.

Never cared for ubuntu as a distro, though they do some good for the general ecosystem. To that end I am happy with Linux Mint most of the time and debian for anything else.

With that said everything has an IRC program, firefox or a spinoff, gimp, libreoffice and all the other programs or equivalents I care for, though these days 95% of computer is the browser for me.

 

[Joom]

I run Debian on my server because I'm lazy. I can't consciously use Linux as a desktop OS anymore, though. I made the move to macOS two years ago and never looked back. It offers a far more superior UNIX experience. The GNU toolchain is also available for it, so there's really no need for me to ever use Linux again. Forgive me if this sounds arrogant, but I've been in this business for over a decade. One eventually gets tired of constantly applying bandaids.

 

[FAST6191]

The trouble for mac for me, other than them thinking they know better than me how I should be doing things, is everybody wanting something for what I find to be basic tasks on Windows or more other *nix variants. That and the shockingly poor build quality/design of their hardware.

I usually figure if I am going to hobble myself in some way I am certainly not going to pay for it.

 

[matpower]

Combining the whole Poettering dictatorship that most distros* baited to, and the fact I would need proprietary, x86-only drivers& anyway - makes it a more negative experience than it was 5 or 10 years ago. For me, at least!

* = That distro I occasionally use being Devuan with Xfce, which still has quite a few rough edges I didn't remember from late 2000s Debian/Ubuntu

& = Brother all-in-one, in my case - but I am appalled that formerly reputable brands for libre and cross-OS support (Intel graphics and HP printers) have sharply fallen

I'm curious, you don't want to use a restricting mess (Poetteringware) and proprietary stuff, but yet you moved back to Windows?

As for OP's question, I currently run Fedora 28, triple booted with OpenBSD and FreeDOS (no purpose, just for fun atm) on my X220, and Fedora 28, dual booted with Windows 10, on my desktop.

I am currently suffering from a funky "flip done bit time out" error on my X220 ever since I reinstalled Fedora, which I couldn't fix (although I haven't dug much into it yet), it is an Intel HD issue and the workaround (disable SVIDEO support) isn't working for me anymore. Why Fedora? It works decently for college, cutting edge software + stable base. I am not 100% satisfied (bug reports usually go ignored, software choice isn't my cup of tea and swapping stuff breaks it in tiny, but annoying ways), but it is the best I have found. Somehow it is less of a headache than Windows 10 for me.

I also have run Debian (I feel like it is not being properly maintained, lots of old software even on testing/unstable), Arch (package policy ends up in bloat), Void Linux (I quite liked it, but never ran it as my main OS) and had a short stunt with Gentoo (mostly installation, never set up a working desktop).

 

[Ryccardo]

I'm curious, you don't want to use a restricting mess (Poetteringware) and proprietary stuff, but yet you moved back to Windows?

I do not find Windows as going against my desires (well, at least the versions I use - I hate 10)

I don't have a gripe with proprietary stuff by itself, but I have one with stupid drivers that require me to install 32-bit support while producing larger-size, worse quality output than its equivalent for Windows - while (potentially) negating any auditability advantage a fully open software set would have brought (I don't care for this ability, directly: it's a matter of principle)

 

[Joom]

The trouble for mac for me, other than them thinking they know better than me how I should be doing things, is everybody wanting something for what I find to be basic tasks on Windows or more other *nix variants. That and the shockingly poor build quality/design of their hardware.

I usually figure if I am going to hobble myself in some way I am certainly not going to pay for it.

I have to agree with this. At least on the software part. SIP is a super pain, but it can be dealt with. As far as the hardware goes, don't buy Apple. You can
build a very decent Hackintosh for half the price of a top of the line MacBook Pro. OSx86 has come far enough that you can go even cheaper and just buy an ideal OEM.

 

[kuwanger]

I have used more distros than any normal person should

How many distros should a normal person use?

PS - Personally, not counting trying out a Live CD or a VM for a short while, I've used Debian -> Mandrake -> Gentoo -> Xubuntu. Would move to a rolling release distro if I knew of a good one (that is, one that isn't insane to install (like LFS/Arch), latched onto a bigger distro and hence even more out of date than it is (Mint and one could argue Ubuntu), or nearly requires lots of compiling and has big shifting breaks at time (Gentoo)). *shrug*

 

[Blue]

Dualbooting GalliumOS on my Chromebook, and have Ubuntu 16 on my dedi.

 

[Taleweaver]

I dabble in mint (cinnamon) from time to time. With valves 'play on Linux' I'm seriously considering making it my main OS.

From other distros I tried, solus is the only one that comes close. I guess I should try it again since it was rather new when I first tried it.

 

[AmandaRose]

Work Redhat and QubeOS home mint

 

[RaptorDMG]

I recently switched from windows to linux mint because steam play allows me to play most of my games

 

[Y0shII]

I use Ubuntu 18.04 LTS on my main laptop (dual boot with Win 7 Pro) and usually Ubuntu server 18.04 LTS for virtual machines along with Debian when needed.

 

[Deleted User]

How many distros should a normal person use?

PS - Personally, not counting trying out a Live CD or a VM for a short while, I've used Debian -> Mandrake -> Gentoo -> Xubuntu. Would move to a rolling release distro if I knew of a good one (that is, one that isn't insane to install (like LFS/Arch), latched onto a bigger distro and hence even more out of date than it is (Mint and one could argue Ubuntu), or nearly requires lots of compiling and has big shifting breaks at time (Gentoo)). *shrug*

Arch isn't that bad when it comes to installation. Sure there's a bit of a learning curve to it, but all it is, really, is just getting a network connection set up, making the proper partitions, running pacstrap, and fixing up some post-install stuff.

I've heard distros like Gentoo are much harder with the initial install, though, and I don't know enough about LFS to give an opinion on that.

 

[Joom]

Arch isn't that bad when it comes to installation. Sure there's a bit of a learning curve to it, but all it is, really, is just getting a network connection set up, making the proper partitions, running pacstrap, and fixing up some post-install stuff.

Which can honestly be done in a single line. When I was going to school, I took a beginner's class to Linux because it was a requirement for information security, and I spent the time finding out how quickly I could set up Arch in a VM before the class was over. If Arch is too tedious, though, there's always ArchBang.

 

[kuwanger]

Arch isn't that bad when it comes to installation.

Uh, yea it is...

Sure there's a bit of a learning curve to it, but all it is, really, is just getting a network connection set up, making the proper partitions, running pacstrap, and fixing up some post-install stuff.

The Installation Guide is pretty much a hyperlink nightmare. Compare that to Debian which actually tries to be a step-by-step guide instead of an attempt to exploit an extant wiki to fill in the gaps of an install. Gentoo as well is also a pretty straight forward guide trying to walk you through things.

Of course you can go off unofficial guides or install methods, but then that rather proves the point.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

On servers I use Ubuntu Server or Debian but mostly Ubuntu since it seems to have slightly more up to date packages.
I don't currently have Linux on any of my PCs at home but I normally go for Ubuntu with Gnome. Might try out Ubuntu MATE sometime.

 

[Joom]

Uh, yea it is...

Except it's not. I got my time down to ten minutes (faster than the Ubuntu installer, regardless of hardware). Like I said, it can literally be fully installed and set up with a single line command. The installation guide is a non-sequitur. You want a hard distro to install? Check out CRUX, the distro Arch is based on.