The Linux ecosystem is vast and diverse, offering a multitude of distributions to suit every need and preference. With hundreds of distros to choose from, it’s a pity that most are rarely mentioned while the popular ones are constantly being regurgitated.

This thread aims to celebrate this diversity and shine a light on smaller projects with passionate developers. I invite you to pitch your favorite underappreciated distro and share your experiences with those lesser-known Linux distributions that deserve more attention.

While there are no strict rules or banlists, I encourage you to focus on truly niche or exotic distributions rather than the more commonly discussed ones. Consider touching upon what makes your chosen distro unique:

  • What features or philosophies set it apart?
  • Why do you favor it over other distros, including the popular ones? (Beyond “It just works.”)
  • In what situations would you recommend it to others?

Whether it’s a specialized distro for a particular use case or a general-purpose OS with a unique twist, let’s explore the road less traveled in the Linux landscape. Your insights could introduce fellow enthusiasts to their next favorite distribution!

  • puppy@lemmy.world
    342·
    2 months ago

    Haha nice try. If everyone starts liking it then it won’t be niche anymore. So I won’t share it! /s

  • pr06lefs@lemmy.ml
    262·
    2 months ago

    I think nixos is still niche, but seems to be gaining momentum. It has some unique features:

    • Every package has its own dependencies, so you can install a 7 year old firefox alongside the latest, and have no interference.
    • Packages with dependencies in common still share them (for space savings).
    • Abandons the HFS, but can still fake it for apps that need it.
    • Can make dev environments that are exactly reproducible across machines, and only exist within a specific shell session. So you can have a project that relies on an out of date version of a compiler, and another that uses the latest, and run both at the same time.
    • Make your own packages that other people can install using a git repo address.
    • The package language can also describe a machine’s configuration; systemd services, default packages, user accounts, etc.
    • You can build and remotely deploy a machine config in one line.
    • You can cross compile a machine config for another cpu architecture, like ARM.
    • OS upgrades are atomic, and reversible. If it doesn’t work out, you can go back to the previous config.
    • No reason to ever reinstall. Recently upgraded a machine that had sat in a closet for 5 years to the newest release. Flawless upgrade.
    • Nixos boasts more packages than any other distro, over 100,000.

    There are certainly downsides - poor docs, confusing core language. Instructions for installing something on say debian will not work on nixos. I do think this style of package management is the future, if perhaps not this specific implementation. It can be a pain but its also super solid.

    • thejevans@lemmy.ml
      9·
      2 months ago

      I use NixOS on my workstations, and I’m slowly migrating many of my server VMs over to it.

      NixOS w/flakes + home-manager + impermanence on zfs + disko w/ nixos-anywhere is amazing and gives an insane amount of declarative control over your system.

      That said, the current state of the leadership gives me pause to recommend it to anyone, and I do have a few devil’s advocate responses to some of what you said:

      Every package has its own dependencies, so you can install a 7 year old firefox alongside the latest, and have no interference.

      Unless the dependency is Qt, then it better all be the same version.

      Abandons the HFS, but can still fake it for apps that need it.

      Using ldd and nix-alien to patch in dynamic libraries still sucks, and often doesn’t work without a lot of extra effort. If what I want isn’t in nixpkgs, and I can’t get nix-alien to work on the first try, I just end up not using whatever I was trying to run.

      • pr06lefs@lemmy.ml
        7·
        2 months ago

        I hear you, its great for most cases, but when a package isn’t available or downloads binaries that depend on hfs it sucks. I’ve been going through hell with android dev lately and am currently doing my compiles on debian, lol.

      • LalSalaamComrade@lemmy.ml
        5·
        2 months ago

        Once the Prescheme project is revived, Guix will be even more faster, with the option to manage memory manually, wherever required.

        • Baleine@jlai.lu
          3·
          2 months ago

          It says on the webpage it has received a grant from NLnet, has it died since ?

          • LalSalaamComrade@lemmy.ml
            3·
            2 months ago

            It was announced a few months ago, so we’ll have to wait and see. If the maintain is open to mentorship, I’m jobless anyway, so I’d love to contribute.

  • Presi300@lemmy.worldEnglish
    18·
    2 months ago

    Alpine. The Linux, not GNU/Linux joke aside, Alpine’s kinda great. Light, fast, stable, great package manager. I’ve daily driven it on both a server and as my main distro and it’s pretty nice for both… Unless you’re on Nvidia.

    • tetris11@lemmy.ml
      5·
      2 months ago

      My first intro to it was with postmarketOS, and I have to say it felt super light and stable

    • JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl
      3·
      2 months ago

      More niche? Opensuse Kalpa.

      I started running it and their are some pains like figuring out which layer to install tablet driver software, undervolting software, and kde connect. Seam flatpak still sucks dick and the tray icon for it doesn’t work at all and it needs a ton of modifications to get things to where the native steam runtime just works, but still a fun experiment.

  • makeasnek@lemmy.mlEnglish
    91·
    2 months ago

    Not a distro but Qubes. Incredible security and privacy out of the box. Not for everyone but absolutely one of the most interesting developments in the OS world in the past decade or two.

      • bsergay@discuss.onlineOP
        2·
        2 months ago

        Not the person you asked, but they might have referred to the fact that (technically) Qubes OS is not a Linux distro because it’s based on Xen instead. Though, even then, we might refer to it as a Xen distro (if anything).

  • hitwright@lemmy.world
    7·
    2 months ago

    Guix - It’s basically an abstraction over software compilation and distribution. It uses guile lisp language as glue to bind it all together. (Full programming language to configure with)

    The beauty arises if you want to get a minimal os running with a single application and package it either as a full iso or a docker container you can. Or if you need to get an OS to run as your router.

    It’s also highly encourages free software to the point, that proprietary software actually feels like huge downgrade to include. (Compilation from source is always available)

    I’ve been using this only for 11 months. I’ve barely scratched the surface on what is possible. So I’m pretty sure I’m not making it justice on what a gem it is. For example: Only recently I started to use programs in an immutable way.

      • hitwright@lemmy.world
        2·
        2 months ago

        Since there are not many developers there are some build systems that are more prioritized than others. If you come from emacs side of things, it’s great. Rust is around 4 versions older. And the single developer recently burned out. The package manager is a lot like nixos, so every package requires work to introduce to the system.

          • hitwright@lemmy.world
            2·
            2 months ago

            Thanks for the info, although versioning afaik not the thing that keeps it behind. There are tools to import the necessary packages with ‘guix import crate’. It automatically selects the necessary packages.

            Difficulties arise when Cargo.toml for example uses git as source. Then you have to pull and write specifications for not a standard package. The build system is isolated and cannot download anything off the internet.

            • iopq@lemmy.world
              3·
              2 months ago

              So what nix does is it hashes the inputs, so git still works even immutably if the hash matches

              • hitwright@lemmy.world
                2·
                2 months ago

                Does nix require the exact commit be written out for the package, or does it generate a hash during the build taking the newest git commit?

  • bsergay@discuss.onlineOP
    82·
    2 months ago

    May as well contribute my own 😜.

    I’m an absolute sucker for exquisitely hardened distros. Hence, distros like Qubes OS and Kicksecure have rightfully caught my interest. However, the former’s hardware requirements are too harsh on the devices I currently own. While the latter relies on backports for security updates; which I’m not a fan of. Thankfully, there is also secureblue.

    Contrary to the others, secureblue is built on top of an ‘immutable’ and/or atomic base distro; namely Fedora Atomic. By which:

    • It’s protected against certain attacks.
    • Enables it to benefit from more recent advancements and developments that benefit security without foregoing robustness.

    If security is your top priority, Qubes OS is the gold standard. However, secureblue is a decent (albeit inferior) alternative if you prefer current and/or ‘immutable’/atomic distros.

  • GustavoM@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    2 months ago

    Dietpi for me. It is meant for sbc’s, but it can (also) be installed on x86 pcs. And its focus is on minimalism – as much as possible.

    • tetris11@lemmy.ml
      4·
      2 months ago

      I love dietpi. The entire software install is a huge 1000 line bash script. If that sounds horrific, it’s genuinely well structured and readable

  • TexasDrunk@lemmy.world
    2·
    2 months ago

    I have HoloISO running around on mini PCs because they just work as remote steam machines, can play games in their own right, and I can use them as media boxes if I want. I don’t necessarily recommend it, but it was super easy to install and configure except for the Bluetooth issue that cropped up occasionally where I had to unload and reload the Bluetooth module. Now I just have a script that automatically does that on boot because I can’t give a shit about fixing it.

    I also have a couple of Slax USBs running around. They used to be relatively popular with folks who fixed computers. I like building from modules and I’m familiar with Slackware so it was a good fit for a live environment.