Best distro: the one you are currently using on a daily basis.
Worst distro: windows
this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2023
15 points (75.9% liked)
Linux
48062 readers
705 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
Worst distro: windows
Mhh, yes WSL
Best: the one I use.
Worst: the one I don't use.
More like
Best: the one I use.
Worst: also the one I use.
Also true, but only if I'm the one criticizing it. 😉
Also true, but only if you can't use the same argument to criticize it
Distros are really not all that different. Just use whatever.
But Android is worst.
But Android is worst.
Depends on what you're looking for...and what you mean by "Android." As in solely AOSP? Or any of the derivatives to include OEM ones? If done right, Android can be more secure than desktop OS, so it actually might be the best distro, depending on what you're looking for.
OEM Android is truly malware
I thought this was true. Then I found NixOS.
Technically a lot of the great stuff on NixOS could be done on other distros though. By using Nix package manager along with ansible or something.
Best is obviously Hannah Montana Linux.
Worst? Difficult to say, probably anything that isn't Hannah Montana Linux.
I mean, AmogOS is pretty good too
Best (for me) is ArchLinux, it's never in the way and has the best wiki at https://wiki.archlinux.org, which is also a great resource for other distros.
Worst are probably Ubuntu and derivatives.
Best: anything active, healthy and nice
Worst: Amazonlinux, ChromeOS, just every capitalist bullshit.
Best: NetBSD because of documentation, pkgsrc, and is not Linux
Worst: Ubuntu because of snap
Also, Ubuntu because it's become the default "Debian" distro that developers cater to. No, I'm not going to set your buggy ppa up as an apt repo.
I wish developers would just support Debian rather than Ubuntu....
what's wrong with Linux
kernel development atmosphere, code quality, bloat, ...
I think the question is made badly. For most distros it comes down to personal preference. You could make a best and worst for each category. For example beginner friendliness: best Mint worst LFS. Distros like Ubuntu with weird stuff going on can still be best for you if it otherwise covers your needs. The worst distro overall is probably some random, no longer supported distro without active repos. The overall best I find is EndeavorOS. It has a good combination of user friendliness and advanced stuff.
Best distro: the ones that are working towards declarative configs. NixOS is cool, but I'm very excited for the potential of blendOS, which doesn't require learning a whole new language because the config is written in YAML.
Worst distro: Manjaro, obviously. Just use EndeavourOS instead.
Woah, first time I've heard of blendOS, looks super cool!
Best: depends on needs and usecases. Obviously, the majority will name the distro they use here, because if they would think another distro is better they would switch.
Worst: either Pop_OS (the most pointless, with the killer feature of "nvidia blob out of the box", saving literally one command after installation), or Fedora (RedHat + too unstable + and too much RedHat new experimental shit being tested). Sorry for those who like those distros, but that's my opinion.
I've been looking at Pop! OS recently because I want to start using Linux again but I feel like it's a standard Ubuntu-based distro with a few things preinstalled. How's that different to any other distro with GNOME UI after I install the same packages?
Everyone has their own opinions. I tried a ton of different distros, the tiling windows manager in Pop! OS was the feature that I couldn't move away from once I adjusted to it. The OS just gets out of the way and lets me work, and my efficiency is up.
It depends, best for what?
Generally, I'd say Linux Mint is the best distro since it's general purpose and easy-to-use.
But for gaming on bleeding-edge hardware where you need latest graphics drivers or a kernel update with better game performance, the best ones are Arch Linux and EndeavourOS.
Or maybe you've got the opposite situation, you have a really old device. The best one would be something lightweight, although I'm not aware of any Linux distros that specifically fill that requirement.
For servers, Debian is a good choice, and in my (not-at-all-experienced with servers) opinion, it's one of the best distros for a server since it is pretty stable.
And, for developers, I think the best one would be NixOS since, from what I've heard, it's great with package management and is also immutable, meaning you should have less issues with having multiple versions of packages.
as for the worst one, it's ubuntu because i hate it and canonical is the devil ^/s^
For my use cases at workstation level, Manjaro makes it really easy to work with whatever tooling I need - but I’m comfortable on CLI and aware of the risks/benefits.
Wouldn’t suggest it to a noob, ofc, but for me it’s a good middle ground where I can get things done, and also easily work with edge cases.
Not that I can’t build whatever I need to in the deb world, but I prefer to work with instead of against a distro’s packaging.