I think it’s safe to say that most people here have used more than one Linux distribution, and their first distro wasn’t their last. I’m curious, what were the steps that took you from your first Linux distro to what you currently use? What were the reasons you switched away each time? Would you ever switch back to an old distro? Are you happy with your current one?

  • AgreeableLandscapeOPM
    7·
    4 years ago

    Here’s mine:

    • When I wasn’t using Linux full time (mostly on USB live images and VMs), Linux Mint was my go-to simply because someone I knew recommended it. I also dabbled in Ubuntu which was most likely my first ever exposure to Linux.

    • When I bought a used desktop PC (currently my daily driver), I installed Ubuntu on it. It was my first daily driver Linux distro. However, I later installed an SSD to go with my hard drive, and Ubuntu’s default installer wasn’t able to set it up so that the system was on the SSD and the home folder on the hard drive, and then encrypt all partitions. I tried to set it up manually after installation but failed. I later decided to not go back Ubuntu again because of Canonical’s increasing unfriendliness to FOSS and privacy.

    • Then I tried Manjaro. Worked great, until an Nvidia driver update killed it. I now also have slight reservations about Manjaro’s friendliness toward FOSS

    • Then I tried Debian set to the unstable or “sid” package branch for some applications. Worked great until an app fiddled with the Qt packages and killed it.

    • Then I tried OpenSUSE Tumbleweed (their rolling release version). Worked phenomenally until an Nvidia driver update killed it. Actually, OpenSUSE worked so well that I reinstalled the system multiple times, more times than any of the other distros (which was really easy because the installer let me not even touch the encrypted home partition meaning I didn’t have to shuffle my data around), and each time Nividia driver updates killed it. The moral of the story here is to buy AMD if you want good Linux support, their drivers are open source and, as I’m told, worlds ahead on Linux than Nvidia.

    • Finally, I went to Fedora which is still my daily driver, and I really like it. Though I will probably give OpenSUSE another shot sometime in the near future. I would personally have no problems recommending either Fedora or OpenSUSE (just stay away from the rolling release version if you have Nvidia graphics).