this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2023
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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So we can clearly see the most popular distros and the reasons why people use them, please follow this format:

  • Write the name of the Linux distro as a first-level comment.
  • Reply to that comment with each reason you like the distro as a separate answer.

For example:

  • Distro (first-level comment)
    • Reason (one answer)
    • Other reason (a different answer)

We're looking to create a comprehensive list of the most popular Linux distributions and the reasons why people use them.

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[–] Pe4rl@lemmy.fmhy.ml 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)
[–] CalcProgrammer1@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 year ago
  • Packages are kept up to date so it's often the first distro to support new hardware, APIs, etc.
  • AUR provides a huge library of software that isn't often in package manager repos.
  • Rolling release so you don't have to deal with repository upgrades every 6 months to 2 years.
  • btw
[–] festus@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago

My favorite too. For me on other distros I was typically running into bugs that I'd find had already been fixed upstream months previously - and then I had to either live with the bug or do some hack to manually install the newer version. Somewhat related to this, but as Linux gamer it was also frustrating to have the older Mesa drivers all the time because it couldn't support the older kernel version the distro shipped or something.

[–] Pe4rl@lemmy.fmhy.ml 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

My current isn't vanilla arch, but Endeavour OS, because as an unexperienced user I wanted to have the least trouble while installing, ... I regret it ever since, because I began with a Plasma desktop and ended up with i3, mainly because of tiling, problems with some utilities, keyboard switching, etc. In the end, I still love the system, one can get quite minimal with it.

[–] jemorgan@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I love that you talked about regretting it. Using one of the arch-based diaries that obfuscates the installation process honestly destroys a lot of the benefit of using arch. Having to vaguely understand how the system fits together makes fixing issues a million times easier.

[–] Pe4rl@lemmy.fmhy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Yep. And I still forgot to mention one thing. It is a 2016 Macbook Pro, which basically means just more work fixing.