Ask HN: Which is your Linux desktop distro of choice in 2020?
Key requirements, seamless to get up and running and regular upgrades.
10 comments
The requirements seem a bit thin. They also echo the cliche that the main end-user problem with Linux is installation. I think this hasn't been the case for many years - in the simplest case (no dual boot, a well-supported machine), installation and initial setup is usually dead simple.
The real problem is usually troubleshooting post-install problems. There are a myriad of sources of advice, often mutually contradictory, constantly changing, and frequently with a weird underlying air of hostility towards questioners.
I'm not an expert but by no means a complete novice, and I frequently have issues I just can't fix (eg. right now I haven't been able to discover why my laptop just won't stay asleep).
As far as just getting up & running is concerned, I've had no problems with either Fedora or Ubuntu.
The real problem is usually troubleshooting post-install problems. There are a myriad of sources of advice, often mutually contradictory, constantly changing, and frequently with a weird underlying air of hostility towards questioners.
I'm not an expert but by no means a complete novice, and I frequently have issues I just can't fix (eg. right now I haven't been able to discover why my laptop just won't stay asleep).
As far as just getting up & running is concerned, I've had no problems with either Fedora or Ubuntu.
For me, I have a lot of systems and do try different flavors but generally Ubuntu is my go to since it “just works.” 19.10 (not an LTS release) includes nvidia support out the box so you don’t even need to deal with nouveau.modeset=0 [1]
[1] If you dealt with this you know what I mean haha ;)
[1] If you dealt with this you know what I mean haha ;)
I've been using Debian (Unstable and Testing) for approximately 10 years and have been very satisfied. However, I intend to stray away from the ominous *d soon. FreeBSD interests me, but I've been procrastinating, and of course, that's not Linux.
I have setup Debian systems over the years for a handful of people, all who've been pleased, so far - and these are first time Linux users. I do, however, spend a lot of time configuring and customizing their setups, typically with Mate as the DM.
I'm not quite sure what seamless means, so pardon me if my ¢2 isn't relevant.
Edit: maybe worth mentioning that I've run Arch, Slackware, PCLinuxOS, Ubuntu, Mint and one or two others. I settled on Deb. The one distro I'd (personally) advise against is Ubuntu. While it had a rather glorious beginning, it ultimately devolved.
I have setup Debian systems over the years for a handful of people, all who've been pleased, so far - and these are first time Linux users. I do, however, spend a lot of time configuring and customizing their setups, typically with Mate as the DM.
I'm not quite sure what seamless means, so pardon me if my ¢2 isn't relevant.
Edit: maybe worth mentioning that I've run Arch, Slackware, PCLinuxOS, Ubuntu, Mint and one or two others. I settled on Deb. The one distro I'd (personally) advise against is Ubuntu. While it had a rather glorious beginning, it ultimately devolved.
Pretty much any popular one will do. All of them will be simple to setup (with Debian and fedora needing extra steps for non-free driver/codec). And the regular updates in the distro are getting less and less important due to:
Flatpak / snap / appimage on the app side.
Projects like Ubuntu lts enablement stack https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack
Things are getting really smooth and simple these days.
Flatpak / snap / appimage on the app side.
Projects like Ubuntu lts enablement stack https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack
Things are getting really smooth and simple these days.
OpenSUSE Tumbleweed with KDE Plasma desktop. It is a rolling release and so it is very up to date. And if something goes wrong with an update (happened once in 2 years) there is root filesystem snapshoting via BTRFS can roll back to the state before update. Also I like the Yast settings manager and OpenSUSE has one of the best KDE apps support. So these are the main reasons for using it as my main home and work GNU/Linux desktop.
Fedora. Works out of the box, very (too "very" in some cases) up-to-date packages, and one of the two platforms supported by Steam / Valve -- been gaming on Linux w/ Proton for a few months now and it's grand.
I also do IT for a living at a shop that runs exclusively RHEL, so it's an easy choice.
I still have Mint on an old laptop I use as well, works fine, no reason to change it. Have used Ubuntu, OpenSuSE, Debian, and Gentoo in the past. Considered Arch and Manjaro but there isn't enough pull to get me away from Fedora.
If I didn't plan on gaming or running it on a laptop I might consider the latest FreeBSD.
I also do IT for a living at a shop that runs exclusively RHEL, so it's an easy choice.
I still have Mint on an old laptop I use as well, works fine, no reason to change it. Have used Ubuntu, OpenSuSE, Debian, and Gentoo in the past. Considered Arch and Manjaro but there isn't enough pull to get me away from Fedora.
If I didn't plan on gaming or running it on a laptop I might consider the latest FreeBSD.
I used Antergos before, and switched to EndeavourOS after the former was discontinued. I really like Arch's flexibility, and while the regular Arch setup is fun for the first couple of times, after a while I'd rather just get it over with.
Same here. Used Antergos before and after the project ended, I used Fedora for a number of months, but recently switched to EndeavourOS. Arch is just so flexible--I find it easier to install the things I need.
Lubuntu on an old laptop because it just works and is nice enough. I find it less irritating than Fedora.
Batocera because I'm exploring easier ways for emulation and this seems okay, but there are probably better choices.
Batocera because I'm exploring easier ways for emulation and this seems okay, but there are probably better choices.
Mint MATE
Simple uncluttered desktop.
Simple uncluttered desktop.