For what you call 'MacOS like search' I'd recommand Recoll, working on any OS (and perfectly on my Debian install, for years on) : really can find ANY text string inside any document, from almost any app (e. g. Joplin, that I'd bet nobody heard of here), also including e. g. words within attachments within zipped backup email databases, pictures located on unpermanent backup volumes etc.
Regularly updated, that the one thing that definitely had me 'finally forgetting' MacOSX.
this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2024
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I didn't know how to exactly tell people how the search is but if I can also search inside files, it's even better! I'll try it for sure
Sorry to be late to the party, posted a comment to a comment much earlier; Krunner on Debian or practically anywhere else is Recoll
Atomic distros were created to solve exactly that problem. I like Bazzite because it also has seamless background updates (among other reasons).
I'm looking for good apps support so Debian?
Any Debian fork will run .deb packages. But plain Debian is just very vanilla and will be missing a lot of stuff you'll probably want.
Wobbly windows (yes useless but cool lol) Good customization KDE connect support (a must) Krunner or equivalent (MacOS like search)
These are all going to be features of the DE, and you can install any DE on any distro (AFAIK).
I tried Bazzite as my first try with Linux for a while and liked it; it was super easy. I didn't like that the immutability went so far as to lock me out of some parts of the OS that I thought should be open, like lock screen customization.
Now I am on Garuda Arch and it has been really easy too.
I meant Debian based OS
I see. Deb is definitely the most package-friendly.
GNOME combines Mac's "stage manager" and "spotlight" into a single function activated by the Super key (windows key/command). It's really excellent and probably my favorite thing about GNOME.
Stage manager?
Yes, I prefer deb because its easier for me to install stuff
Stage Manager is the one where it zooms out to show all of your open windows and switch between them.
I can highly recommend Bazzite for your needs. It has a KDE version which is clearly your favorite Desktop Environment (DE), it's extremely safe/stable due to being an Atomic distro (you can always boot into the previous image if a system update broke something), has incredible documentation, supports almost any traditional app through Distrobox (VPN requires rpm-ostree for now), has a scripted easy install of Waydroid for native android emulation, and has a few tweaks preconfigured to ensure the desktop gaming experience is a little more seamless out of the box than a stock distro. It really seems to tick all the boxes for what you're looking for.
If you want more focus on development and less on gaming, the Universal Blue team also makes Aurora for more developer-focused workloads, but Steam not being included in the image does introduce some usability regressions - Steam running via Flatpak or Distrobox is just plain less capable than a native install, though work is ongoing to make native installs Just Work even on Atomic systems.
My only problem is I'm used to Debian and I find arch/fedora/etc very confusing, do you have any tips/guide to help transitioning?
Have you ever seen Linux Journey? It's a very informative set of tutorials on how Linux fundamentally works under the hood; all the separate systems that together create an operating system. The concepts you learn there will apply to almost any distro in some way, even if some distros (like Atomic ones) don't let you mess with all of it.
For more top-level transition concerns, given that you're coming from stock Debian running KDE... Bazzite can also run KDE, so provided you select KDE when you download it, your GUI experience should be pretty much identical. Some minor but important differences would include themes, but there are guides for that, too.
When it comes to package management, the intent on Atomic systems is you basically don't install traditional packages (Flatpaks are the preferred option), but Bazzite has frameworks in place such that you can install pretty much any package from any distro, as laid out in their documentation I linked in my previous post and just now. Work is also ongoing to make traditional package-based software installations more seamless with an incoming switch from rpm-ostree to bootc, but that's getting into the weeds. If you have a deb file for a GUI program that's not available as a Flatpak, you'll be using a Distrobox to install it.
If you have any specific concerns about the differences, let me know and I can hopefully give you more details.
I'm quite happy with Fedora. It has kde support, many apps (especially with rpmfusion), and is quite stable because it is still a 6 month ish major release schedule. Wobbly windows, kde connect, and krunnuer will definitely work. Good customization is subjective, and honestly I consider c/unixporn to be weird but cool wizardry, but I'm happy with it. One thing to consider is if you have a newer amd CPU with an iGPU being used it will get slow and crash every now and then (few months). It's a bug in the linux kernel starting around 6.10.
Good customization is subjective
Yes, but I mean you can customize a lot in settings, themes, icons, etc
I have a 5800x and a 6950 so it should be okay
Yeah, that's a kde thing, so I doubt it would be very different than neon.
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the Bazzite KDE flavor sounds like what you need
OpenSuSE with default filesystem configuration
or kubuntu
fedora has a KDE spin, and others have mentioned stuff like Bazzite which is similar. I'm personally planning to switch eventually.
Fedora KDE spin might be suitable for you.
Try Aurora DX (it means the developer edition). It's KDE but with a Fedora base and immutability. It means that even if an update breaks something (unlikely but still) you will always have a working system available to fall back to. It does mean that development is meant to be done via containers, but I find this solution to be way cleaner and easier to work with than traditional package conflicts madness. Give it a go.
It also means updates are just full system images, so no way for a package manager or differential update to mess anything up. It also means no way of downloading tiny differential updates (if I understand everything correctly).
If you don't need DX or would like to switch off of KDE, there are other fedora atomic desktop based distributions available.
Oh right, a distribution is just an image, so switching distributions is as simple as switching the base OS image and rebooting.
Check out PikaOS
why not arch? it's a fun distro to try if you haven't yet
Because I'm used to Debian and the features listed? Krunner, Wobbly windows (useless but heh), full KDE connect support
Krunner, wobbly windows and KDE connect are features of KDE Plasma, not Debian. You can install KDE plasma on arch and use all of the things you listed. Arch also has good app support through the AUR. Plus the wiki is called the Linux bible for a reason
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Nixos, never have that break happen again
Everyone is recommending KDE, but forgive me if I'm missing something, I don't see it needing to be KDE support as a requirement on your list?
Any mainstream GNOME distro, eg Fedora, will have all the features you need through extensions (compiz window effect, gconnect for KDE Konnect, GNOME has the search you want by default and supports lots of customisation via shell themes, GTK themes, icon packs and extensions.
Edit: )
Why cripple Gnome to something Knomeish when OP is already familiar with KDE and there are gazzillions of KDE distros?
Gnome is ugly IMO and the extensions and custom themes to make it pretty break at each and every update. I just don't bother with it anymore. KDE was customized to my liking once and it stays that way through updates without any failure.
I (after a lot of prior distro hopping) went from neon to tuxedo OS and have had very few issues, and only one that was major (was my own fault).
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