this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2023
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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.
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Here’s my answer to this same question from an old thread on Reddit:
I might need to switch over as well, but I really don't like rpm (or whatever that's called on fedora, zypper or something? or was that suse?). I've been a Debian user since woody was a new thing and then at some point I gradually moved to ubuntu due to better desktop experience and more up to date packages (back then Debian stable really wasn't anywhere close of bleeding edge) and PPA support was great for my needs. Now I have ubuntu installations which have gone trough upgrades for years and installations I have doesn't seem to work like I want them to. Some of the issues will most likely stay (as RMS said, nvidia rapes babies or something like that) but in general I don't like my browser, signal client and whatnot to notify me that I need to shut them down NOW since they'll upgrade at some point in next 3-6 months. Simple apt dist-upgrade isn't enough anymore and the systems require more and more TLC than I'm willing to give to them. Snapd is at least related to the issues I have 8 times out of 10.
Ubuntu just doesn't have the feel it used to and it's getting annoying enough that the simpler way would be just to reinstall everything and switch to something else, even if it takes some time and effort to migrate 5+ year old installations to new system.
If you don't want something completely different, PopOS is a great, snap free, distribution based on Ubuntu. It's what Ubuntu should have been.
Mint also packages stuff that Ubuntu has rolled into snaps
Maybe LM:DE (Linux Mint: Debian Edition)? Obscure software can be a pain to install for the usual reason, but otherwise I'm finding this to be a great distro. Second choice is Solus, but that's even worse when it comes to software.
Or even just Linux Mint (non-debian edition). I've moved to that as it's a familiar Ubuntu base but without snaps.
Fedora uses DNF, with rpms under the hood, not sure how that works, haha. Honestly I have no problems with it. I'm no power user, but it does everything I need. The only downside being kinda slow repo fetches.
dnf is to apt as rpm is to dpkg.
The first pair are the nice user friendly front ends that pull things in and install from the repos.
The latter are the guts that directly handle the raw packages and are used by the frontends.
The next release of Fedora will ship DNF5 as the default package manager, which is supposed to be much faster.
If you want up-to-date packages then just switch to testing
rpms were a pain for me when i transitioned as well but I've learned to love them
One of my biggest gripes about Windows was updates, virus scans and compatibility scans running autonomously while I am trying to get stuff done, sucking up network, drive access and CPU. I didn't need Ubuntu doing the same thing to me - I want to kick off updates manually when I am taking a break for lunch or at the end of the day before shutdown.
As a power use this drives me nuts, but I know plenty of end users who are better off with those things turned on.
I actually think jetbrains are the ones keeping old versions. On my windows machine, when I get an ide update, the old one is saved so I can revert back to it.