If you have been using Linux for +10 years, what are you using now?
Been using Linux for over a decade, and last few years Ubuntu (on desktops/laptops), plus Debian on servers, but been looking to switch to something less “Canonical”-y for a long time (since the Amazon search fiasco, pretty much).
Appreciate recommendations or just an interesting discussion about people’s experiences, there are no wrong answers.
Edit: Thanks for the lots of interesting answers and discussions. I will try a few of the suggestions in a VM.
Nixos, meaning to try Gnuix but I got projects to finish!
GNOME OS
it’s technically not for everyday use, but it has been simple and trouble free for me.
I’ve been fully daily driving Linux for about 15 years now, and for me it’s almost all Arch now.
I started out distro-hopping between Debian, Mint, Ubuntu, Slack, etc, but once I found Arch (and spent two weeks getting it installed, booted, and customized exactly to my liking) I was finally at home.
I know the meme. I’m not here to claim superiority, or diminish the value of other perfectly good distros. I love Debian, I love Void, Ubuntu can die in a fire, etc.
What I love about Arch is the lack of bloat. You get precisely what you ask for, no more, no less. You can legitimately run htop and recognize literally every program, and know if something’s wrong immediately.
Every one of my Arch boxes is a perfect little snowflake, suited to exactly the task(s) I built it for. And if there was anything I had to learn or configure along the way? That’s just the journey, man.
I have been eyeballing NixOS though…
I’ve been using Linux for more than 20+
First distro: Slackware, then Debian for many years, finally Fedora, since 2014, very happy user.
What I like in Fedora: the 6 months release provides bleeding edge experience without compromising stability.
Fedora
OpenSUSE if you want something non American and not directly related to RedHat
age verification is a world wide effort and opensuse will embrace it as much as redhat when it becomes law
Debian on everything (well except the router is on OpenWrt).
First installed Debian more than 25 years ago. Tried some other stuff, Debian is still best for me.
Debian. I like my computer to work.
Debian.
I’m using Linux.
Approaching 20 years full time., basically Ubuntu or Debian with xfce desktop for desktops. I know it’s not what all the cool kids are using or doing but it works. Going back nearly 30 years I was messing around and failing with all sorts of distros
RIP Mandrake my first ever Linux experience that actually worked
Using Arch for almost a decade now. Started with Ubuntu, fedora, mint but finally landed on arch. But am thinking about switching to gentoo; arch has gone too mainstream that im afraid it might be plagued with “age verification” virus
For almost 30 years Debian somehow.
Depends! Bazzite on ROG Ally X, Debian for servers, CachyOS for my desktop and laptop and Fedora for my sons PC
Debian Trixie headless on my router/server raspberry pi and NixOs on my laptop.
However I’m planning to switch from Nix this summer since one of the maintainers of NixOs is the one which added age verification to systemd, still haven’t decided on which Os I’ll switch to probably Devuan os but may give Alpine a shot since it’s more stable than Arch btw, so I’ll just be ricing and distro hopping this summer until I pick my new favorite again.
Most answers seem to be Debian. Sort of just works for me as well. With KDE Plasma and couldn’t be happier with it. I keep on forgetting how I did stuff though because it’s solid set and forget most of the time.
