Which Linux distro?

Software
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There are a few no-brainers, yes. If you are into creating audiovisual content (photography, music, videos) you should end up with https://ubuntustudio.org it’s REALLY complete and runs out of the box. All the weird add-ons are already installed, you can’t go wrong with it. I used ubuntustudio from 2011 to 2019.

feel like getting into some scientific computing? There’s https://www.scientificlinux.org/ made to measure for and by Fermi labs and CERN, so it should be OK for your “self driving model car” school project, too

and the “classic” for everyone who want’s to test the safety of a system he is administrating is https://www.kali.org/ … I like the term “offensive security” ;o) but it’s really not a distro to toy with. Kali has no user, you are always root and … you pay for every stupid error.

I remember some “Christian Linux” but it sure was not of the catholic persuation. A single google search got me this: This Linux Distro Tries to Save You and Your Soul - a bit weird, but hey - giving computers with Linux away is the perfect definition of “doing God’s work” in my book ;o)

My very first Linux distribution - my first install from six CDs - was DeMuDi (debian multimedia distribution). I searched for it and … someone still pays for the server and domain https://www.demudi.org/ check the calendar top right … yes, I am THAT old.

This is actually an interesting question: does anybody know other specialized distributions catering to clearly defined users? Wasn’t there an Open Suse Medical distribution? Who can add more info and/or distros here?

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82

I remember disliking Ubuntu Studio because it was clunky and I had a hard time getting things to work properly. Instead, I started from Xubuntu or Lubuntu and set up the system from there.

That was before your experience with it, so it could have been solid by then.

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83

Well, I’m pretty sure there will be a good amount of niche distros, probably of use to just a small group of people (thinking globally), and here is one of those rarities:

It’s in Spanish, and it’s meant for schools, to help both teachers and students with a comprehensive set of apps aimed to improve education.

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84

I’m not sure what a gender specific linux distro would involve… :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

At the end of the day, you should use whatever linux distro suits your own needs, not what anyone else says you should use.

For me, that’s ubuntu based distros. I’m currently on Mint 19.3 Cinnamon, but I’m going to replace it with Kubuntu, as I find the KDE desktop environment quite appealing.

85

You may find this site useful: https://www.distrowatch.com/
I am surprised to see Manjaro is that high in the list. It has been quite some time I had checked when I was using Mint…

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86

I used Manjaro and still consider it the best Linux distro of all in terms of easy and friendly install, new software but also advanced usage. It just works and is professionally made. You pick your desktop flavor and go.

However, I moved to Arch, because it’s advanced on every level and I got to know my system and linux much more during install.
I had one problem with gnome-shell crashing under certain conditions in both Manjaro and Arch. It turned out GRUB wasn’t installing AMD microcode by itself. I fixed it in Arch because you know what’s installing where and when. It was easy to debug due to wonderful Arch wikis and forum support.

For advanced Linux users and people that want to learn more → Arch all the way! There’s no question.
For everyone else → Manjaro.

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87

The distro watch “rankings” are pretty tounge-in-cheek. Since they only rank distros based on clicks on their own website, it is more or less a list of popular distros who have poor SEO :wink:

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Although doesn’t Distrowatch just show what people search for, rather than what people are using?

Anyway, looks like I’ve got a dose of distro fever in 2020. I’ve installed Kubuntu 19.10, and I’m missing Mint 19.3 Cinnamon in under 30 minutes of using KDE!!! :upside_down_face: I just guess I’m too used to Mint & Cinnamon! :wink:

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Manjaro I found was maintenance heavy. I just prefer the simplicity of Ubuntu based distros.

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I know distrowatch. As far as their ranking is concerned: MX is #1 and apparently none actually uses or has tried it except me! Many Linux users don’t even know about MX.
What do you think about MX?

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To each their own I guess, as always.

But if you are anything close to someone wanting newest software (and I do, same as in Windows), you have to rely on PPAs and other nonsense. Their repos are far too restrictive for me. I have been Ubuntu user from 2005 to 2010.

Never Tried MX, but afaik, I’m not moving from Arch anywhere, no chance. :slight_smile: It’s like I have finally found what I was looking for. It was tough but worth it.

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92

Couldn’t agree more. I distro-hopped for a while when I was starting out with Linux and for newbies I’d certainly recommend something like Ubuntu or Mint, but since I’ve found Arch, I don’t need to hop again. With Arch you’re basically building your own distro and not reliant on what the developers choose to bundle in the release. Most Arch packages are as close as possible to the upstream source, which is also nice.

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93

Ok. Different question: Since when do you use Linux?
I tried it for the first time maybe in 1999 or 2000, it was Suse with KDE. But around 2005 I more or less went back to Windows because Gimp was not good enough for me, mainly because it had no adjustment layers (which it still does not have). Let me think. Most of the time I actually used both Windows and Linux, later Ubuntu and Mint. There was a short time when I did not use Linux at all, I think it was… between 2015 and 2018, because… although I am not sure when exactly it was. Anyway, I had an old router which did not accept the wifi adapter of one of my computers in Linux, but I am not quite sure if it was the Fujitsu which I had from 2008 or the Acer which I had from 2016. And with the Acer the trouble was that I needed a long time to find out how Linux could be booted.
I wrote my master’s thesis on Linux but my doctoral thesis on Windows Vista, with LibreOffice/OpenOffice. Maybe I would have received a better mark on my doctoral thesis if I had written it on Linux, although I think that it is much better than my master’s thesis. And I think I always used Firefox and Thunderbird resp. Netscape.
Ok. I think I just realized that I am using Linux since 20 years. That’s a long time… am I so old?

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94

I just found Manjaro too heavy maintenance wise, I found it broke after a few updates. Possibly that was down to user error, but I just prefer Ubuntu / Mint, and a few PPAs for software such as Darktable / Gimp etc.

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Actually, I’m surprised your doctoral thesis survived Vista. xD Congrats on that anyway!

As for being too old, the truth is in the eye of the beholder. :stuck_out_tongue: I too remember Netscape. In fact, I started on ZX Spectrum+ with 48k ram. But that’s another story.

As for Linux, my first encounter was in 2004 I think. And In 2005 I was on Ubuntu. But my true love for Linux happened last year (2019) actually, because I’ve been using Windows non-stop for almost a decade. I’m a professional photographer needing Photoshop & Lightroom. Luckily, Rawtherapee is so advanced and nicely built with great UI that I’m already ditching LR.

I’m still learning GIMP to use efficiently. It’s not quite on the level of PS (mostly GPU usage/speed and lack of content aware tools), but it’s much more advanced than it was and some stuff is so nice. I can get my job done there for sure. And I just like being in Gnome. Learning and exploring the OS, the Gimp and other programs is like the feeling I had when I was starting with PCs, long time ago.

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96

Well, I agree that easier to handle distros are better to start using Linux but please, don’t tag everybody using those distros as eternal beginners. (I’m a happy user of Linux Mint Cinnamon)

Some of us have been looking for a stable distribution that offers plenty of applications by default, even if those apps are not bleeding-edge versions. What we look for is a stable, friendly and reliable distro that demands the least maintenance possible. Think of it as a machine that helps us to work, not a machine that we have to care for.

And I say that after testing Suse Linux, Opensuse, REdHat, CentOS, Ubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu, Fedora, Zorin, Mandriva, Manjaro, Arch, and for a short time, even Debian, among others. No, not MX Linux :wink:

I’ve tried both Manjaro and Arch, specifically to install the latest version of Entangle, and upon installation it was a dream, everything worked fine, until the 3rd time I updated the system, after which Entangle didn’t start at all. Yes, the forums where helpful: It was a problem with a library that broke the program. I had to wait until a new library version was available.

Well, as I see it, I had 2 options: either wait for the new fixed library, or downgrade the library. But here’s my question: what is the purpose of installing a system with bleeding edge apps, if I have to downgrade versions to keep working with my apps?

If I want to be a hardcore user, I can do it with any distribution you name: that’s what the shell and custom compilations are for. I wouldn’t call anybody a nerd for using Arch.

As already said, the best path is to test many distributions and choose the one that best fit your needs and tastes. At least is what I think…

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97

I don’t think @elstoc was making the generalization. Just saying that they are good recommendations for newbies, to which I would agree. I also don’t mind people calling me a newbie either because I will always be one in my own eyes: there is always more to learn. :smile:

LOL At first, I thought you were writing your theses on OSs, until I read the rest of your sentence and paragraph. I am sure that people do write on the topic.

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Indeed I wasn’t. I was more trying to warn newbies off distributions like Arch Linux (which expect users to have some familiarity with the command-line and general workings of Linux and be happy to get their hands dirty if things go wrong). If you want a distribution that ‘just works’ and don’t need to have bleeding edge versions of all your apps, Mint or Ubuntu are what I would recommend. I use Ubuntu myself in a virtual machine to test pre-release changes to darktable and I know a number of Linux experts who use Ubuntu on their home machines.

I moved off Windows because I wanted to have more control over my machine, I wanted to understand how my OS worked and I wanted to be able to take part in the FOSS community (rather than be subject to the whims of a major corporation). I moved off of Mint to Arch because I wanted even more control and because I was sick of having to regularly reinstall my OS to get a later version. If you want ultimate control, many users move from Arch Linux to Gentoo, where you compile all packages from source, specifically optimised for your own system and usage. That’s too far for me, but that’s the joy of Linux - there’s a distribution for everyone.

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I started in 1993 or 1994, Ygdrassil Linux or something I think, and never looked back Kernel was < 1.0. Then I went to Slackware, Redhat, Gentoo and finaly Arch. I also have had Macs, but never a Windows computer :slight_smile:

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I think Gimp has better GPU acceleration than PS or LR. Afaik PS/LR have little GPU acceleration and you only notice the difference if you have a 4K screen. PS and LR are fast but I think it is not because of GPU acceleration. RT is also quick but does not use GPU accerlartion. They are somehow optimized.