We're not in Ubuntu Anymore: The Linux Distros You've (Probably) Never Heard About Before

[Eyeconic]

There always seems to be this circle I find myself in with people who love Linux as their desktop.
They always seem to think Linux works exactly the same on all hardware. (It doesn't)
They seem to think one piece of software solves all their problems. (It doesn't)

Happened with Wine, now it's Proton. I love linux for servers and programming, been using it for 15 years. However, it takes 3 days to setup as a desktop ...

I have been using Linux since Redhat 7.x. I stopped dual-booting around Fedora 9. I have had innumerable computers and hardware and it has NEVER taken me more than a few hours to set up a machine (servers and desktops). Before Fedora Core 1 I really did not know what the hell I was doing and installation was nothing like it is today. Yet it still only took an hour or two.

One thing I strongly recommend is that everyone should install Gentoo on a virtual machine or desktop. It is the best way (IMHO) to learn how Linux really works. You learn by doing. Some of it is frustrating but you remember how you solved problems. It is very satisfying when you achieve a working desktop running from Gentoo.

My advice with WINE is generally to avoid it. Before using WINE:
1. See if there is a native Linux alternative. If not then;
2. determine if your problem is solved with a virtual machine running windows. If not then;
3. try WINE.

These days it should be unnecessary to run Windows programs over Linux. There seems to be a Linux package to handle just about everything. For example, I recently purchased a Razer mouse with programmable buttons. Razer does not offer a Linux package. However, a little searching turned up OpenRazer and three graphical front ends.

 

[Agret]

I miss Mandrake

Mandrake Linux still exists, look up OpenMandriva Lx

 

[Wereweeb]

Too many distros. This is the greatest problem with Linux. I pass.

"There are too many types of fruit, guess I'll eat a cheeseburger instead"

 

[mrSister]

Still using CentOS after the EOL announcement? I recall it was THE secure distro to use if you didn't want to pay for RHEL, but was wondering where companies were planning to go after that change.

After CentOS announced the EOL, two new projects appeared (fragmentation much yeah) Rocky Linux and Alma Linux.

Both are continuations fo what CentOS was doing, but seems like it is Rocky Linux the one that's getting most of the support. I might be wrong though.

 

[Athlonite]

The best thing with Linux is that you get to download all the programs most people need for free, and it's all updated along the the system updates.

With Windows and MacOs, most people download pirated software because it would cost a fortune otherwise, and it's a pain to update separately all the apps and drivers.

well that's just a crock name a program you use for free that a windows user can't

 

[CrisisDog]

Solus is nice, but like may distros, it doesn't support RAID "natively." I really want my RAID when running a desktop. The only two I have found that allow RAID setup during the installation sequence is Ubuntu and openSUSE. I've tried to like Ubuntu, but when I go to install an old game, like UT2004, it says some dependent package :xxx" is missing. Great, but how do I install that? That's why I fell back onto openSUSE. Yast is vastly superior for handling packages. Missing a particular package or file? Do a search in Yast, click the associated package checkbox, and a few seconds later you're good to go. With Ubuntu, you're searching for this info in a web browser, then opening a terminal and typing out commands to install. Too troublesome for me...

 

[Archean]

Most people don't realize that distro actually doesn't matter in the end. You can more or less make any distro look and work like any other distro. The key is to make it look and work the way YOU want it to.

+1

I use Manjaro / Ubuntu + Mint & Arco(Xmonad) on various machines on almost daily basis and the only real UI element I see/use commonly is ulauncher on every single one of them. I tend to hide everything else away as using KB is way faster IMHO anyway.

 

[RudyBob]

Linux is only free if your time has no value.

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