Yes, this is one of those "which distro should i use" posts. 😊

I have to reinstall my entire system, and I thought it might be a good opportunity to switch to a new distro.

My main concern is that I want something stable and long term. I would hate to install the latest shiny Arch-variant, just for it to be abandoned in 5 months.

I mostly game on my PC or run Virtual Machines for testing enviroments. I'm not afraid of the CLI, but since it's my home PC and not my work PC, I would rather have a no-hassle experience and keep the troubleshooting to a minimum.

I love GNOME, but I might be willing to try a different desktop environment that's not Windows-like (ElementaryOS/Pantheon was pretty nice, and I really disliked Cinnamon).

TL;DR : I value long-term stability and simplicity above all, gaming performance would be a plus, I'm a sucker for aesthetics, and would really value a good support community.

Any ideas?

EDIT : Weird comment, but the post got downvoted the second I clicked on "Submit". Never happened to me before.

I'd like to switch to Linux, but I want something I can still use once I've gotten the hang of it. Which Linux distribution do you recommend?

There is a lot of Linux distributions, each with theur own purpose, flaws and advantages. I am curious, which Linux distro do you use and why do you use it? And if you had to pick another distro, which would it be, and why?

Edit: Lots of users are replying with the distros they use/like but they aren't offering much of an explanation why. Which is fine, but just know, those who can explain why their choosen operating system is 'better' will have more..... baring? I guess. Whereas those who just reply 'Ubuntu' without offering an explanation would be relying on raw numbers. Any response is fine tho.

I found my dad's Dell Inspiron N4050, which has

2GB DDR3 Ram

Intel Core i3-2310M

500GB HDD

Intel HD Graphics 3000 and

x64-based.

And it's on Windows 7.

I want to revive this. Which Linux distro is the best?

It just seems kind of weird. It's not particularly pretty, fast, customizable, or stable when compared to other distros which have those qualities.

When someone asks "what distro should I use?" 99% of people either point to Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora or a gaming distro. If you want something highly customizable, you'd probably pick Arch or Gentoo. If you want speed, you'll pick any distro that offers a lightweight DE. Stability? Debian.

I understand that Distrowatch's ranking != actual popularity, but the question still stands: what makes it so interesting? How come people don't mention it as much in Reddit?

Hi everyone,
I’m new here. I actually joined Reddit because I know this is one of the best places to find people who really understand Linux.
A little background first.
I know absolutely nothing about technology. Literally nothing.
What I do know is that I believe much of today’s tech world has become manipulative, unethical, and driven by profit above everything else.
Because of that, I’ve decided that from now on I only want to use technology that is as ethical, transparent, and respectful of its users as possible.
So here’s my question.
Can someone help me figure out whether Linux is the right path for someone like me?
I’m not just looking for a different operating system. I’m looking for a different philosophy.
Are there people or communities here who consciously choose technology based on ethics, transparency, privacy, and respect for users, even if that means giving up some convenience?
People who are willing to make their lives a little less easy because they believe that’s how we push the world in a better direction.
If so, where should I start? Which Linux distributions, projects, or communities share these values?
I’m here to learn, and I’d really appreciate any guidance.

Hi guys!! i have been using windows my whole life and now finally decided to do the switch. Since i tinker a lot i am looking for a linux os which is beginner friendly but also has max amount of setting or toggles available to tinker. i have heard about linux mint and decided to go with it but then i head pop os has more toggles to tinker with. for me the windows look does not matter. for me any look will work since i have experimented with few linux os through virtualbox and i will find my way through it. I just want to stay away from the terminal as much as i can. these are my specs..

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz 2.50 GHz

Installed RAM 8.00 GB (7.88 GB usable)

Storage 238 GB SSD INTEL SSDSCKKF256G8H

Graphics Card Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 (128 MB)

Device ID 31E15926-481A-4885-98F1-B3294812BA63

Product ID 00330-80000-00000-AA752

System Type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Pen and touch No pen or touch input is available for this display

also you guys can suggest any desktop environment. i have tried lxqt, xfce and gnome and people have said kde plasma has a lot of setting through gui but i have also heard it is resource heavy.

please do suggest which linux os should i go for .. i will be really glad if all of you can 😇😇😇

I just got a new laptop and decided to use Linux instead of windows, what distro should I use and what things should I know before getting into Linux fully?

This computer will be used for "penetration testing" at some point (not for evil I just want to get into that cause its fun and useful), but I still would like to mess around with something else before getting into that stuff.

I’ve been using Pop!_OS 24.04 for a few months, but I wanted to try out KDE Plasma. I was torn between Fedora KDE and Kubuntu, but Fedora really caught my eye. I still consider myself a beginner in the Linux world, and I’ve seen many people say that Fedora might not be as stable—and therefore not ideal for beginners. I don’t have an Nvidia GPU, and I’m aware of the codec issues; I’ve read the RPM Fusion documentation, and it seems easy enough to resolve. That said, is it a good distribution for a beginner, or is there a high risk of things breaking during use? I plan to do a lot of software development on it. I usually see comments regarding casual use, but what about for someone working in tech? Is it stable enough for software development?

I'm thinking about switching to Linux, but I really like the look and feel of macOS. I'm not necessarily looking for an exact clone, but I'd like something with a similar design, dock, smooth UI, and overall user experience.

Hello there, I grew up using windows XP and love the old school aesthetic, windows lately became invasive and annoying so I thought I could move to the Linux ecosystem, but the question I have is which Linux distro should a Windows XP enthusiast install? I may ask a question made before, but I searched and didn't find a similar question, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Here are the specs:

Model: Samsung N102 Netbook CPU: Intel Atom N435 (Single-core, 1.33 GHz, 32-bit OS/BIOS limit) RAM: 1 GB DDR3 (might upgrade it to 2gigs) Storage: Standard 2.5" Mechanical HDD Graphics: Intel GMA 3150 / Integrated Graphics Current OS: Windows 7 Starter 32-bit

I found it while looking in old stuff, I had a lot of memories with it so I kinda just wanted it to be usable again, my friend suggested that I should use a Linux distro that's why I'm asking here

Which 32-bit distro is best

Hello guys, this is my first post here and I hope it will not be the last. Anyways, I have been thinking about learning Linux lately, and I went through some Youtube videos to educate myself about the different distros, and I am still kinda lost. I mean most of these guys are Youtubers after all, and you guys have the real experience.

I would appreciate your recommendation of a distro that can be challenging but beginner friendly, in the sense that I won't brick my laptop in case something goes wrong.

Thanks in advance!

I'm not new to Linux at all. I've made me way around all the distros, but I want to pick one to stick with and keep. I'm thinking of going arch based for the AUR and the pacman package manager. I am currently on Pop os with the new cosmic desktop but something just feels off about cosmic. Previously I used arch with hyprland and I loved it but I'm a university student and trying to fix hyprland when something breaks was a bit challenging at times. Just want to know what people are using, the distro and the desktop.

Is there a "UNIX correct” Linux distro out there? With each component of the system respecting the UNIX philosophy the closest?

There is a very heated discussion about this topic, and I don't know if I will find definitive answer, but I suppose it won't hurt to ask. I'm definitely in team Debian/Ubuntu, and I'm thinking which distribution should I pick once Windows 10 becomes unusable. In theory Pop!_OS is the best option for (Ubuntu) gaming, but it's in very weird state where it's unstable due to release of COSMIC DE before it was actually ready for public. Which leads me to Linux Mint - there are plenty of people who use it and are satisfied, but there is also plenty of people who say you can't game properly on it.

Before someone comes in and recommends Bazzite and Cachy - I don't like immutable systems and Arch.

Edit

I have AMD GPU, so all Nvidia related problems do not apply.

I follow this sub in case I ever see an interesting question that either I can answer or learn something from. Unfortunately, almost every post I see is some iteration of "which distro should I use as my first Linux?"

This seems like a very googlable question, if not one that you could simply troll old posts on this sub to point you in a useful direction. It's super subjective, unlike a technical question that has a definitive answer.

Maybe it's time for a sticky post with a flowchart recommending different distros for new users?

Hello,

I have an old PC and I don't know which Linux distribution to install so that it runs fast.

Here are my PC's specs:

- Intel Core i5-750 processor

- 8 GB RAM

- 2 GB AMD HD 5600 video memory

I’ve tried various distributions before, such as Manjaro with GNOME, but it wasn’t very stable. Sometimes the desktop environment would glitch or something else would go wrong.

I hope there’s a solution.

I have a computer built 15 years ago, and I would like to know which Linux distro you would recommend if hypothetically, I chose to install a Linux OS, especially since I have never used one before. It has the following specs:

1. AMD Phenom II X6 1090T
2. 2x Radeon HD 7770s in Crossfire
3. 16 GB of DDR3 RAM
4. 1 TB Western Digital HDD (250 GB C drive partition and the rest on the F drive partition)
5. Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Edit: I forgot to add that my parents are the ones using said computer. It would be for basic use.

Hi guys, I'm a software developer, I love using Linux, I often find myself using wsl for a lot of daily stuff, and given the latest news and bad behaviours of Microsoft, I would like to switch to Linux completely.. Although my wife is a non tech woman, and we share the same computer, what distro should I pick to be very similar to Windows, and thus not intimidate my wife whenever she turns on the PC?

UPDATE: Currently trying KDE Plasma on Kubuntu, my wife feels it's different than Windows when browsing on the web, the scrolling isn't as smooth as on windows, how can I make it similar? Do you know how could I copy settings from windows to kubuntu easily?

My laptop is 4gb ram and idk what distro to use,i started with linux mint xfce and idk how but i got bored and recently switched to arch but i dont like it Wayland makes my laptop slow considering its old. So i wanted to ask you guys the better fit for my laptop as yall are skilled at this. Btw for further context my laptop is a lenovo g50-45 and ye,CAN YALL HELP!?

Hiii guys,

I will be joining an engineering college this year and i wanted to dual boot my windows laptop of asus with a 512 gb ssd. I have some questions to ask you guys regarding that

1- I love linux but is it worth the hassel

2- Will my windows experience be affected by dual booting linux

3- Best amount of storage to give to my linux distro (i want linux for my personal use and windows for college shit)

4- best way to do that

i also need help on choosing a linux distro

1- should look clean and minimalist and asthetic (weirdly kinda mac like if you get what i mean)

2- should be lightweight

3- should be easy to use and bug free , good for a begginer

4- should work without any hassel and troubleshooting

I'm thinking about switching to Linux but idk what distro would be the most like Windows so I'm not confused on how to actually use Linux. I manly use my laptop for gaming, doing school work, and surfing the web.

Hi, I've been a Windows user (specifically Windows 11 and 10) for years, but I'm interested in the idea of switching to Linux. I don't know which distro to choose, which is why I'm here to get started. In fact, I'm not sure if I should switch to Linux or stick with Windows (I'm open to any opinions). I use my PC for gaming, watching videos, social media, playing Roblox, downloading games, and modding games—including Minecraft, Skyrim, and Fallout. With all that in mind, which distro should I choose to start with? Ideally, I’d like to stick with it permanently—I don’t want to have to delete files all the time. By the way, here are my specs: (I have a 120 GB SSD; I usually keep my operating system on that drive and have another 230 GB drive—it’s an M.2.)

Ryzen 5 5600g

Ram:16gb
SSD: 120gb
M.2: 230gb

i don't have any video card, just integrated graphics

So I've noticed that on most Reddit posts I've seen people are using other Linux distros for web servers. Am I making the right choice of using Ubuntu for a web server?