https://spirallinux.github.io/
BTRFS, GUI Flatpak manager, Theming, nonfree codecs etc., printer support, timeshift preconfigured
Their goal is to make vanilla debian usable, with only debian tech. It is just a config, no “small distro dies and users need to switch”
Might not be the most secure (loose printer configs, preinstalled drivers for random stuff that is not normally a problem)
SpiralLinux is my Son; I love it so dearly. I install it on anything first, since it has some of the drivers my devices need the most. It makes Debian fun instead of a chore.
Debians UX really sucks.
Great base, used and administered it. It tought me how to upgrade Linux Mint when their way too late updater is broken or nonexistent.
APT on Debian is also hella stable. 11->12 just worked.
Fedoras DNF is just garbage. 39->40 just didnt work, even though their change is way smaller.
And nala makes apt look nice too.
Do you mean UI? Because the UX of Debian is “here’s a menu to pick all your things on install. Get used to picking all your things all the time because this distro is a baked potato”
Personally I love that UX and its what draws me to systems like Debian and Arch because no one knows what I like better than I do, so why should I be using someone else’s vision of what a good UX is
Does the UX suck? Genuine question. Debian is where I moved after I outgrew mint and I’ve never had a problem with it or felt like it was cludgy
It is VERY manual. It is simply universal, and doesnt adapt to dedicated uses at all.
They build great core tech, but no adaption to use cases.
This means that all users need to do that themselves, which results in a million different ways on how to automatically update, etc.
At the same time their desktop setups are completely bloated with debian GUI apps, where arguably modern Flatpaks are better and touch the system even less.
What do you like about it? I’m still deciding where I’m going to land post-Windows.
It requires the least amount of troubleshooting on my end. It has drivers I know connect to my Bluetooth headphones and it’s has a Calamares installer that I find intuitive. It comes with Flatpak (Linux’s app-store equivalent) enabled. It has snapshots, which store previous versions of your OS*; if something updates poorly, you always have something to switch back to.
It’s not without foibles. Every distro has some wonky-ness to it. But the problems in Spiral fixable and less obnoxious, I think, because it has so little branding.
It’s not like some distros that brag about being “CUTTING edge” or “UNBREAKABLE” while hard-crashing after an update. That’s expected. I’m not expecting perfection, and Spiral steps out of the way (to let Debian take all the blame lol). Thankfully Debian has a very long and stable history and I rarely have that problem.
Just one man’s long ramble. All anecdotal, so my final suggestion would be to test a variety, and don’t listen to weirdos on the Internet.
*kernel; whatever I’m still learning too
Does it really ships with everything? That’s bad. I prefer to have custom GUI installers for anything I want (e.g. enabling a samba share for Windows). This is how it’s done in MX Linux (I have the “ahs” version for the nonfrew goodies)
