Ask HN: Go-to Linux distro for general use and development?
I always went with Ubuntu because it was considered the "default" / "go-to" option, given I don't have the time or patience to keep trying different distros.
In 2024, is there any other distro that "just works" and that you recommend for general use but also development? I always recommend Debian because it's the distro that has given me the least amount of trouble. Ubuntu gives me a lot of trouble. My go-to has been NixOS for a long time, and I recommend it to all of my technical friends for server use. (Desktop use is also good but perhaps requires more commitment.) For conventional distros, I have loved openSUSE for a long time. The package manager is flexible and easy to use, there are nice GUI configurators for systemwide settings, the KDE implementation is very polished, and the rolling release is stable. People in my life who are technical and smart but not particularly interested in Linux as a hobby have done well with openSUSE Tumbleweed in the past. Been using and contributing to (and working for) Ubuntu on everything since 2005 or so. I still use it for everything. I don't have time or inclination to switch. However I have been somewhat convinced to take a look at Nix (packaging) for some of the tools I use. But all my existing systems are fine. So likely when I next get a work machine (next week) I'll probably (if allowed) use Nix to install anything developer related over and above the stock image and supplied packages. Curious how that works out for you. I've taken to installing most packages on my Mac with Homebrew (especially stuff like Inkscape, Firefox, etc) and it would be interesting to add nix as a layer on that on my next Mac. LinuxMint, because it's based on Ubuntu and Debian. I recently realised that I've been using LinuxMint for about 12 years. I periodically use Debian as a rescue distro in one of my 3 root partitions. (3? One root partition for the 'daily driver'. One root partition as the rescue distro if disaster strikes. And one more spare root partition if I happen to feel like doing some experimenting with a different distro on my actual hardware.) PopOS has been pretty good. I started using it since it came pre-loaded on a System 76 laptop I bought. I had assumed I'd ditch it quickly in favor of something I was more familiar with (like Fedora) but it's been 2+ years now and I'm still using Pop. It's been fine. To the point I'm considering installing it on the next PC I'm building for AI/ML work. HTH, YMMV, OMGPONIES. Ubuntu/Debian, Fedora, OpenSuSE are all solid choices. Arch if you want something different but I’ve not used it much. AlmaLinux, before that CentOS. The least annoying linux I've found. Forced to choose something else, would probably go with debian. It used to be Xubuntu, but I moved all my stuff to Debian about a year ago. I've pretty much made Debian my default, server or desktop. I‘m using arch for server and desktop