lancalot
My go to back in The Day was just Ubuntu because I was lazy.
So we have a bias towards Debian-based distros.
it’s not been playing nice with my Zen 4 desktop when it comes to ACPI power states (no sleep, doesn’t reliably turn the power off when i ask it to turn off, etc).
However, a newer kernel is definitely preferred.
is also something based on a normal distro that most people write guides for because I am a smoothbrain.
And finally, healthy access to documentation.
Based on the above, I would not pick:
- Debian Stable or any distro based on it. They ship with the 6.1 kernel, which launched only a couple months (January 2023) after the launch of Zen 4 (September 2022). I’m aware that access to newer kernels is possible. However, at that point, why even bother with Debian Stable to begin with?
- While both of Debian’s Testing and Sid/Unstable branches have access to newer kernels from the get-go, distros that ship the latest kernel by default (e.g. Arch, Fedora, openSUSE Tumbleweed and their derivatives) are simply better for offering an end-user product.
- Arch, Fedora, openSUSE Tumbleweed and their derivatives are primarily dismissed for not being based on Debian. Though, the fact that they’re more towards the rolling release side of things does play a minor role as well. By their very nature, they will change. Hence it’s less ideal for “set-and-forget” setups.
- Pop_OS!’ team seems to be primarily focused on delivering their upcoming COSMIC DE. For this reason, the distro has been in relative limbo. Therefore, I can’t recommend it.
- TUXEDO OS is dismissed for being relatively unpopular. Lots of other Debian(/Ubuntu) derivatives are dismissed for various reasons.
Let’s get to the actual recommendation, Linux Mint seems to be tailor-made for your use case:
- Based on Ubuntu, but without Snaps. While you can choose to use Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) instead, that one doesn’t come with the latest kernel. So the recommendation is for (standard/vanilla) Linux Mint.
- Their forums are full with up-to-date and (relatively) well-written guides; while the excellent ArchWiki is arguably better, Linux Mint isn’t a slouch either. Furthermore, as Linux Mint is very popular, you can simply expect to find solutions to most things that might come up.
Quite the contrary, the commit log on Github looks pretty healthy.
On what did you base the following:
it has not been updated since a while.
Check out the random button on Distrowatch (distrowatch.com/random.php) - it’s like a Linux lottery, but you always win something weird!
Even though I’m a huge GNOME shill, I can’t help but admire the allure that KDE Plasma offers to those yearning for a traditional desktop experience and (above all) its wealth of customization options readily available by default; truly embodying the FOSS spirit of user choice and freedom.
Hopefully this change will enable KDE to become the best version of itself!
Excellent write-up!
Though, it’s a pity that a great ambassador of OpenBSD has stopped using it.
GrapheneOS FTW!
Unsure if you’re being serious or not. Or if this is just bait. So I apologize in case I just got whooshed.
There’s a decent amount of distros that don’t require you to ever operate a terminal. Updates either
- happen automatically in the background
- Or, you’re prompted for an update and can choose to run it
- Or, within settings or a dedicated app, you can press a button to initiate the process of updating
Furthermore, most distros that are recommended for beginners don’t need regular updates anyways.
Updating isn’t the only part that has been taken care of by this set of distros. Linux has become pretty smooth sailing overall.
Notable exceptions to the above are mostly tied to some janky/troublesome hardware setup. Or, if you’d like to run software that isn’t easily accessible. In those cases, while a GUI-only solution may exist, it’s simply a lot easier for all involved parties if a terminal solution is offered instead:
- it works on most distros; irrespective of version, DE, base distro or whatsoever. So, the one providing a solution doesn’t have to create over a dozen of distinct solutions to cover all bases
- these methods tend to change a lot less frequently. Sometimes solutions are tied to DEs, and these may change how they organize stuff over time. So, terminal solutions have better longevity
- instead of moving through dozens of menus/toolbars/buttons or whatsoever, you literally copy and paste a couple of commands and you’re done. I would prefer the terminal any day
OP, you did get me curious, though. Which distro do you use?
Both Fedora and openSUSE default to Btrfs. That’s all the praise it needs really.
With Bcachefs still being relatively immature and the situation surrounding (Open)ZFS unchanged, Btrfs is the only CoW-viable option we got. So people will definitely find it, if they need it. Which is where the actual issue is; why would someone for which ext4 has worked splendidly so far, even consider switching? It’s the age-old discussion in which peeps simply like to stick to what already works.
Tbh, if only Debian would default to Btrfs, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.