I'll probably have to go with FreeBSD for their minimal base and incredibly clean and well-documented code and utilities.
I'm currently using Nobara a Fedora fork and upgraded today to version 38 it was a bit of a stretch. I had to delete many things in my /etc/ to get GNOME 44 working. Bluetooth and the panel on the top right is a bit buggy but it works.
On my laptop I use arch with hyprland
I use NixOS on my pc, laptop, and server, although I dual-boot windows on my pc to play some games.
My phone is android, I have a pinephone but I can't get discord and other things to work well on it so it can't be my daily driver right now. (I know Matrix chat is better than discord, I even host my own instance, but everyone in my school uses discord so there's no way to switch).
How easy is it to setup nowadays? I tried it 3-4 years ago and it was a pain to set almost anything up, even after learning the NixOS way.
Run Arch on my main PC. Proxmox on my home server with Ubuntu server as VM and random containers.
I'm a grumpy old man when it comes to OSes. I started on Gentoo, used Arch for a while, a few years of Ubuntu, then a bunch of different Ubuntu-based distros, Fedora and all the Fedora spins, even ran the Hannah Montana OS as a meme for a week.
Eventually, got bored of the latest shiny things and fixing the best thing ever, and am using Kubuntu with Wayland. It just works, got no complaints.
even ran the Hannah Montana OS as a meme for a week
We should both commit to exclusively using TempleOS and see who can last the longest.
Arch. I got it working 3 years ago, it's still working, stable. On my main laptop, though, I'm running windows, and planning to install Fedora when I get the chance.
My work machine is macOS as the company won't let us use Linux. My home machine is Arch Linux (obligatory "BTW") which I migrated to after Ubuntu dropped Unity and started forcing Snaps on everyone.
However, a nice shameless plug for my Terminal file manager: DF-SHOW which is designed to work on all Unix like systems.
I use whatever is the best fit for the work I need to do. I mainly use macOS, and try to get away with using VM's with macOS as my host system whenever possible.
I used to be on the Arch bandwagon but after migrating to a MacBook for my daily driver computer it's mostly just Debian-based distros when the need arises, Kali for work and headless Debian for homelab stuff. I rarely boot my Windows gaming PC anymore. I do have some Windows VM's for testing exploits and payloads. And emulated Windows 95-98 machines for that OG Oregon Trail fix.
I use windows because that's where I can play overwatch and fortnite. That's literally the only reason. And photoshop, but krita is almost just as good. If I didn't play games not available on Linux I'd probably use Ubuntu instead. Why? Easy to install, very customizable, better for programming, scriptable.
Fortnite will probably never work on Linux. (And to me that's a good thing lmao) But I know Overwatch works perfectly fine at least.
Following my message I tried to dual boot. Turns out my laptop is incompatible with default Nvidia drivers and my screen stopped working with it so after days of research and trying again, I had to go back to Windows, just to get the big monitor to have display.
I want to like macOS but Apple, IMO, is doing scummier and scummier things with it. For instance, I haven't signed in to iCloud. Once a day it seems, I'll get a little notice telling me that not all functionality will work until I've signed in. Ok.. So I click the little 'X' on the notification. It opens the settings to the iCloud setup screen. That's not what 'X' is supposed to do!
I'm mainly using Fedora these days, but for some games I still have to dualboot Windows, which I can't say I'm enjoying. Just over an hour ago the Nvidia drivers crashed. On Windows. Repeatetly.
Anyway, I'm quite happy with Fedora but I haven't tried many OS to be honest. I prefer stability over the slight advantages other OS might have
Sometimes I wonder how people think Linux is harder than windows. It feels like every time I use windows I'm constantly fighting my computer to do anything.
I guess most non-technical people are always fighting their computer. It is really hard to watch my grandma do anything on any device, but she's managing windows pretty well compared to her android phone (with accessibility settings), because she has used it the longest. Even the tech-savvy Windows users are probably used to some windows quirks and work around them, just like GNU/Linux users open a terminal as a reflex. And if anything is different, it will always feel like fighting your OS. I think the problem is the change, not the OS
The issues I have with windows are caused by restrictions in what I am allowed to do for the most part, and that simply doesn't exist for me with Linux. Getting used to a new os is definitely difficult though. When I first switched to linux, the only reason I didn't give up was because I couldn't figure out how to burn windows onto a flash drive from a Linux machine.
When I first switched to linux, the only reason I didn’t give up was because I couldn’t figure out how to burn windows onto a flash drive from a Linux machine.
Okay, that is hilarious
I've always just used ubuntu with i3 because I honestly dont really know what I am potentially missing out on. What is a reason to use something else?
I prefer Debian since Ubuntu is basically just a more bloated version of it.
Linux Mint has always been my recommended for beginners to Linux and if I just want something stable and quick to set up.
Arch (usually EndeavourOS) when I want to do fun stuff.
linux mint is not good if you are trying to have new software.
Arch Linux. It's too convenient. The AUR hosts a massive amount of packages, wiki is super detailed and covers solutions for all sorts of edge cases. Needs a bit of tinkering to get started but once things are set up it's very stable, and still gives you a lot of freedom to tinker with your system however you want. The only other option I've considered is NixOS which has some pretty interesting features
I wonder if we could feed the AUR Wiki into a GPT and get a useful support desk for all Linux distros.
Gentoo when I want to do Linux at an enthusiast level and out of technical interest, and PopOS when I just want everything to work.
Fedora… and MacOS
MacOS for work and most things, Windows for gaming. After years of distro hopping I am now enlightened, free stuff is free for a reason.
SteamOS on my Steam Deck is great though, and gives me hope for the future of Linux gaming, but it's not here just yet.
This is a community that is only for nerds jk. everyone who doesn't scare when seeing UNIX terminal welcome! rules: