What is the best alternative to&#x20;Nix?

Package Manager:dpkg with apt, aptitude or apt-build

You build the package from a source you can see and read. You decide which features you want to build in and which aren't needed. You can choose build options, optimisation and whatever else fancy stuff you want modified. With a binary distribution this simply isn't possible. See More

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score 1196 · Answer 2

Gentoo Linux

Top Pro

Full control of the software

Top Con

Not beginner-friendly

You have to read a lot of instructions to start, even if you are familiar with Linux. Furthermore, as you have to configure the kernel and init system, expect some boot failures at beginning. See More

Top Pro

Portage's emerge is powerful

Portage is a package management system with a huge amount of options and features. See More

Top Con

Since everything must be compiled it takes a lot longer to update

And if you have to update the kernel or some heavy software like Chromium it can takes hours if not more on weaker hardware. See More

Top Pro

Fully customizable

The usage of advanced features like USE flags makes it more customizable than any binary distribution. See More

Top Con

No default installer

Installation must be done manually by following instructions in the handbook. See More

Top Pro

Freedom

You are free to do whatever you want with it. As a result, its configuration reflects your unique taste and personality. See More

Top Con

Customized package installation can take a long time and cause installation failures

The Gentoo package management system allows you to configure what compilation flags packages should support - i.e. specific processor flag support (SSE, SSE2, etc.), -O1, -O2, -O3 optimization, etc. If you accept one of the default flags, Gentoo downloads binaries from the server. However, if you decide to optimise, it can and will download all source packages and start compiling allthe programs and libraries on your system. If your chosen flags don't work with a particular library, installation will fail. See More

Top Pro

Great for anyone who is serious about learning the intricacies of Linux

It's useful for both beginners and professionals. For the installation, Gentoo offers various types, which are referred to as stages. Basically meaning how in depth you would want to go into the process of installation. For beginners it's useful to choose for a starting distro due to its various stages that can be very time consuming but beneficial as you learn the composition in general of Linux. See More

Top Con

Somewhat outdated solutions

While being outdated per se is virtually impossible for a rolling-release distro with a large community, a large portion of said community sticks to outdated solutions. For example, Gentoo's primary init system is OpenRC, which is cumbersome and awkward to use and provides little control over the system. While you can just choose systemd, it will require some tinkering. Other examples include stubbornly declaring an initramfs a last resort and an "oh my god 1337 H4XX0RZ surely have nothing better to do than trying for a month to exploit some vulnerability to steal my pony art, I have to fortify so hard my performance and ease of use will suffer" 90s security mentality. Because of just how much freedom Gentoo provides you with, this usually isn't a big deal though. See More

Top Pro

Can by optimized to any given CPU by using proper compile flags

Since everything is being built on your PC you can fine-tune the code to make use of your CPU. And all it requires is two lines of string variables in a global config. See More

Top Con

Too hard

Top Pro

Portability

There are many architectures available for Gentoo : i386, x86-64, PowerPC, PowerPC 64, sparc, DEC Alpha, ARM, MIPS, PA-RISC, S390, IA-64, sh, m68k. See More

Top Pro

Can be officially systemd-free

Gentoo's default init system is OpenRC. Gentoo also officially supports systemd-free Gnome and udev. Users are free to choose any init system they want. See More

Top Pro

Documentation and community are second to none

Provides a whole handbook to refer to during setup and usage. See More

Top Pro

A very large collection of software is available

There are more than 19.000 packages available in the official repository. And even more with overlays. See More

Top Pro

Gentoo does not impose a standard look-and-feel

Top Pro

Superiority and smartness

You get superiority and get called smart daily for going through the processes of punishing yourself to a compile install you also get a cool neofetch logo. See More

Top Pro

Live USB installation

Installation via a Live USB allows you to go back and fix mistakes from it without having to restart the whole installation process. See More

Specs

Based On:NONE

Default Desktop Environment:NONE

Init-System:OpenRC

Package Manager:Portage

All free editions only offer Windows XP, 2000, and 7 and Gnome 2. You have to pay $9-10 in order to get Unity (Ubuntu) and Mac OS X themes. See More

1196 230

score 574 · Answer 3

Zorin OS

Top Pro

Stable

Top Con

Limited desktop styles in Free Version

Top Pro

Good Selection of pre-installed software

New users may be unaware of what software is available for Linux, but Zorin includes a good selection for everyday tasks out of the box. See More

Top Con

Even with v16 Pro, zero tech support replies

Do not pay for Pro. You’re supposed to get tech support with your $39 purchase. After contacting them a few months ago about the inability to install build tools due to their wonky custom versions, to date there has been no answer. You could find a friend and get them to send you the theme and look packages. The rest is all available easily in the Ubuntu catalog. See More

Top Pro

Windows desktop style

The desktop UI was made to resemble Windows 7, but alternative settings are available. See More

Top Pro

Ubuntu-based

Zorin is compatible with Ubuntu's sizable repositories of Free Software. See More

Top Pro

Bundles tools for changing the look and feel of the distribution

Zorin includes look changer and theme changer. See More

Top Pro

Partial Windows compatibility

Zorin includes WINE and PlayOnLinux to run many Windows applications and games. See More

Top Pro

Installer can set up dual boot

Top Pro

Ubuntu got too big

Ubuntu uses too much resources, Zorin uses less. See More

Top Pro

Accessibility features

Top Pro

Zorin Connect

Allows syncing notifications with your phone. See More

Top Pro

Low resources consumption

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu LTS

Default Desktop Environment:Gnome / Xfce

Tails is a privacy focused Linux distro. The updates that you will receive are only for improving privacy and not for improving user experience. See More

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score 325 · Answer 4

Tails

Top Pro

Privacy focused

Top Con

Not for daily use

Top Pro

Has TOR built-in

Use the Internet anonymously and circumvent censorship; all connections to the Internet are forced to go through the Tor network. See More

Top Con

You can't install it to a hard drive

Top Pro

Easy to use with an USB key

Top Con

Saved states are not present for security

For security reasons, saved states are not supported in Tails. Files can be stored in a separate, persistent volume which must be accessed with a root password. Personal settings (e.g. -- keyboard layout, window settings, etc.) are not saved persistently across reboots. This can be a hindrance for anyone not using English as their language, or not using a QWERTY keyboard layout. See More

Top Con

Only GNOME desktop environment

Top Con

Slow internet

Tails uses the TOR network and as a result the internet on your computer will be very slow. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian

Puppy Linux requires 128MB of RAM and 333Mhz of CPU, although 256MB of RAM is recommended. See More

325 54

score 726 · Answer 5

Puppy Linux

Top Pro

Extremely low minimum system requirements

Top Con

A bit ugly

Using puppy makes you feel like you just jumped 20 years into the past. Being that the purpose of Puppy Linux is to run or really low resource machines the software used is often on the older side, which is precisely why it has a 20 year old look. See More

Top Pro

The whole OS runs off of RAM

Since Puppy Linux is completely loaded and run off of RAM instead of HDD, it's read/write speed is not a factor. See More

Top Con

Not as light as it used to be

It's light, but not as light as it was 1-2 years ago. See More

Top Pro

Designed to run as a live USB/CD

A portable version, that can be carried on a thumb drive without requiring installation, weighs less than 100MB; a Live CD - less than 150MB. You can even save your settings and files for Puppy on the external device/media. Running off a live CD also has security benefits, as your system will reset to the known config after each boot. See More

Top Con

Smallest software library ever

You can barely find any precompiled packages for Puppy. See More

Top Pro

Different distro based versions available

Puppy Linux offers a few different releases. The first is an Ubuntu based release called Tahrpup, by using this version the user is able to take advantage of all software and support from Ubuntu. The second version is called Slacko, which is built upon the Slackware binaries. The third is called Wary and it is built to support older hardware than the rest. And the fourth is called Quirky, which is used as a base to explore new ideas. See More

Top Con

No built in compositing

Being a low resource distro there is zero built in compositing for the JWM window manager. Though one can be added through a bit of work. See More

Top Pro

Linux distro designed for this exact purpose

Top Pro

Offers a long term support release

Puppy Linux offers an LTS release called Precise. See More

Top Pro

It can be the only distro that works

Sometimes, Puppy Linux is the only distro that works on an old machine: all other distros are more demanding. See More

Top Pro

JWM used as window manager

JWM is a low resource window manager that is used in most Puppy Linux installs. See More

Documentation is scarce, NTFS partitions aren't automatically mounted, etc. See More

726 112

score 785 · Answer 6

Void Linux

Top Con

Not suitable for those new to Linux

Top Pro

Rolling release

A single instance of Void will be supported forever without needing to reinstall (you can update the system every day instead of having to install one major update every 6 months or so). See More

Top Con

Not popular

Void Linux is not a popular Linux distro. So, if you run into a problem then it's likely you won't find any fix except from the maintainers. See More

Top Pro

Very minimal

More minimalistic than Arch since it doesn't use systemd. See More

Top Con

Manual unclear about base configuration

Manual does not explain how to fix GRUB and gives no partition hints to the available options. See More

Top Pro

Runit init system

An init system with the "do one thing and do it right" mentality. Void Linux does not support systemd. See More

Top Con

Niche distro

Fewer developers, smaller community, fewer packages than other distros. See More

Top Pro

Easy to use installer

Unlike it's closest competitor, Arch, Void includes a very user-friendly and simple installer in the ISO. See More

Top Con

Nvidia CUDA cumbersome to setup

If your using a Nvidia card with programs that require CUDA for fast rendering (Blender), you can expect some trouble getting it to work as it's not included with the Nvidiadriver of the nonfree repo. See More

Top Pro

Runit is fast and easy to configure

Runit init system is incredibly fast to boot and very simple to use. See More

Top Con

No packages

Void developers refuse to package brave. See More

Top Pro

Different DE's live ISO's are available

Arch Linux doesn't make ISO's with different DE's. One need to manually install it through CLI version. But Void which is competitor of Arch, provides a wide range of DE's ISOs. See More

Top Pro

Very lightweight

Base installation can idle at less than 250 megabytes of RAM. See More

Top Pro

XBPS (X Binary Package System)

A brand new package manager that is fast, full-featured, and tailored specifically for Void Linux. See More

Top Pro

BSD-like improvements with Linux

Full support for LibreSSL, an OpenSSL fork focused on maximizing security. The xbps-src package builder works in a similar manner to BSD's ports collection. See More

Top Pro

Musl image available

Musl libc is lighter and faster than bloated glibc. Musl has been argued to be more secure overall than glibc also but is also not supported by all software. See More

Top Pro

Friendly forum

Unlike the Arch Forum, it is a friendly forum (although small). See More

Top Pro

Xbps-src

Xbps-src is a source packages collection which is pretty similar to FreeBSD's ports and may replace AUR for Void users. See More

Top Pro

Many packages

There are some packages in official repos, than may be found only in AUR. See More

Top Pro

Cool Neofetch logo

Neofetch looks good. See More

Top Pro

No systemd

Uses runit instead of systemd. See More

Specs

Based On:Independent

Default Desktop Environment:CLI, XFCE, Cinnamon, Enlightenment, LXDE, LXQt, MATE, GNOME

Init-System:runit

Package Manager:XBPS & xbps-src

The XFCE Whisker menus and dark theme are well designed. Easy to move the panel to the top and add plank on the bottom. See More

785 143

score 396 · Answer 7

Peppermint Linux OS

Top Pro

Looks great

Top Con

Since it is based on Lubuntu, the double click speed needs to be slowed down

It's false that Peppermint 7 is tout court based on Lubuntu. Take a look at this: "Peppermint Seven makes use of the Xfwm4 window manager and Xfce bottom panel in the LXDE desktop environment. This is unlike other Linux distributions that use LXDE as the default desktop environment where it is common to use the Openbox window manager and lxpanel." And more: "Peppermint Seven is built on the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS code base and makes use of its package repositories." Contrarily to other Linux distributions, Peppermint creators never said Peppermint 7 is based on Lubuntu, like LXLE. Using LXDE and being based on Ubuntu is very different from being simply based on Lubuntu. In fact, Lubuntu is not faster than Peppermint and has loads of lacks for a nowadays OS experience. See More

Top Pro

Friendly and helpful forum

Top Pro

Fast and light on resources

RAM consumption is the same as LxLE, but more efficient and because of Whisker Menu and other tweaks that let us feel more like we have a XFCE desktop environment, as keyboard shortcuts, for instance, it looks like we got here the fastest and lightest, globally speaking. Very good on performance. Download Respin 7 (March 2017), install Libreoffice and then compare, for example, opening Libreoffice Writer inside Peppermint 7, Extix 17.04, Lubuntu 16.10, Xubuntu 16.04, Backbox 4.7, Linux Mint 18.1 Xfce an Mate or Linux Lite 3.4 (and others). Finally, you'll find out that after opening a few apps in Peppermint it remains smooth and light. Nemo file explorer on Peppermint is incredibly faster than on Mint Cinnamon; lx terminal is very fast when opening; updating is fast. And after all this, distro keeps working and working very solidly and consistently along the time. And yet the look and feel of the environment is pleasant. See More

Top Pro

Comes with a variety of helpful tools

Works great with Teamviewer, Synaptic, XNview, KODI, and Pdf-Xchange editor (via playonlinux). Netflix works awesome with Chrome browser. The ICE SSB tool is great for creating web apps that run as if you installed them locally. The Software Boutique (packaged with The MATE Welcome software Center) recognizes all software and installs it with one click. See More

Top Pro

It works well "Out Of The Box"

There are enough useful back end packages installed by default to make the system useable for normal use right after the installation of the base distro. See More

Top Pro

Peppermint 7 is stable

Peppermint 7OS (32 and 64 bit) has been updated to the Respin PPA . Kernel updated to 4.9.24 on 23-April -2017 with no issues and all software still runs great. See More

Top Pro

Peppermint 10 is Stable

Top Pro

Peppermint9 is stable

Peppermint 9OS (32 and 64 bit) has been updated to the Respin PPA. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian and Devuan

Default Desktop Environment:Xfce

Init-System:Systemd (not in Devuan base)

Fedora is backed by RedHat, the 2nd biggest Linux kernel contributor in the world. Using a distribution made by RedHat means that it will be fine-tuned to work as efficiently as possible since it's made by the same people who work extensively on the kernel and know its ins and outs. See More

396 86

score 1554 · Answer 8

Fedora

Top Pro

Backed by one of the biggest Linux kernel contributors

Top Con

Updating to a new release can be problematic

While there are a few tools on offer that will upgrade an old Fedora release to the newest, there can often be problems with these methods. Some that may not even crop up at first but will show later down the road. Being that upgrading can be an issue, it can be exacerbated by the fact that Fedora updates every six month, which means twice a year there is a risk of completely borking ones install. See More

Top Pro

Integration with GNOME

It perhaps has the best integration with GNOME (GNOME software works out of the box). See More

Top Con

Proprietary drivers are unsupported

Fedora does not support proprietary drivers, meaning that users may have problems with a lot of hardware when using Fedora. The software to make that kind of hardware work can be installed, but it can be done only through third-parties and it's not easy for the average user. See More

Top Pro

Focuses on innovation

By using bleeding edge software, Fedora allows for innovation to take place by testing out things which other distros are not willing to try due to fears of having instability issues. See More

Top Con

Unstable

Some packages may break, because there isn't an option to test them before rolling them out. See More

Top Pro

Fast and stable updates

Top Con

Dnfdragora needs work

As the default package installer, this piece of software needs a lot more polish. It's not explicit in saying things are installed, more granularity in package selection is needed, and the ability to move columns around to see if you're installing the correct version. See More

Top Pro

Frees developers from some backward compatibility restraints

Fedora has a relatively short life cycle: version X is supported only until 1 month after version X+2 and with approximately 6 months between versions this means that a version of Fedora is supported for approximately 13 months. This promotes leading-edge software because it frees developers from some backward compatibility restraints. See More

Top Con

Optimus support is straight terrible

Running on a laptop with optimus gpu or the driver for your powerful gpu is not gonna happen. See More

Top Pro

Spins and Labs

Spins are images with a different WM/DE, and Labs are filled with a specific theme of packages. See More

Top Con

Not for beginners

It is not a user-friendly distro like ubuntu, PCLos. You will be required to learn a lot of commands even for simple activities. See More

Top Pro

Strong commitment to free software philosophy

Top Con

Slow

It is quite slow on some computers. See More

Top Pro

Fast performance

Top Con

Basically owned by RedHat

Community? Forget it! RedHat says what Fedora must do. See More

Top Pro

Very good integration with Flatpak and Snap Packages

Top Con

Too many changes to upstream packages leading to a "Fedora way" of doing things

Linux should be Linux, but Fedora is constantly introducing breakage and changes which move things in the wrong direction and make things worse for everyone. See More

Top Pro

Huge array of binary packages ready to install

Top Con

Controlled by big corpos

Top Pro

Can still be installed in a bad sector on the hard disk

Top Con

86'ed

Description of the word. Support for 32-bit architecture ended with Fedora Release 30. See More

Top Pro

Linus Torvalds' distro of choice

Top Con

Wayland does not work with Prime/Optimus

On a pc with hybrid video, you must use Gnome on Xorg to let the Prime or Optimus technology work. See More

Top Pro

Create user after the installation

Very good for selling PC‘s with Fedora. See More

Top Pro

Frequent updates to latest versions of software, so quick security and other bug fixes

Latest version software often means quick bug fixes, more useful features. For example, for a daily user of TeX, the latest TeX distro is a must. It's also useful to be able to use recent external hardware such as USB Wi-Fi dongles or printers. See More

Top Pro

Minimalist GNOME

Fedora Workshop does not come with bloatware. It is a minimal GNOME installation, which makes it very simple and nice to use out of the box. See More

Top Pro

The best choice for sysAdmin and developers

Nearly flawless, perfect performance and consistency with development and operational software. See More

Specs

Based On:Independent

Package Manager:RPM Package Manager, DNF package manager

Which means you don't have to suffer from version to version updates that can break it. See More

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score 734 · Answer 9

Solus

Top Pro

Rolling release

Top Con

Not much software

There is not much software available. See More

Top Pro

Easy installation

The installation procedure for this distribution is quite simple. It's GUI based and all you have to do is to follow the instructions given by the installation window itself. See More

Top Con

Lack of software in repositories

There is a lack of software in the repositories. This is the only OS where I have had to build some applications from source or install from the app's site within the first month os usage. Though this is most likely because the distro is still relatively new. See More

Top Pro

Modern desktop environment

The default desktop environment used by Solus is called Budgie and is quite nice and minimalistic. See More

Top Con

There is often a black screen after update

Top Pro

Stable

The system itself is very stable. All packages in the repository seem to be carefully picked, well prepared and run stable. See More

Top Con

An upgrade breaks the system quite often

Top Pro

Responsive

System boots quickly and stays responsive. Does what operating system should do, and does it really well. See More

Top Con

Forums are not very friendly

Top Pro

Most stable Rolling Release Distro

Top Con

Systemd

Top Pro

Exclusively for desktop systems

Top Con

No USB Image writer

Top Pro

Great package management

The software center makes it really easy to install the latest software through Snappy and Flatpak. Including third party software. See More

Top Con

The default desktop environment is not very customizable

Maybe because it's a relatively new project still in its infancy and this may be fixed in the future, but Budgie is not very customizable. You can only change the theme and wallpaper. See More

Top Pro

Rock-solid Distro

Very stable and well curated. See More

Top Con

Slow development

Top Pro

Lightning fast boot time

Top Con

Software a bit slower to launch than for other distributions

Top Pro

Seamless packages

It may not have the most obscure packages, but the packages it does have is a good number of everything a Linux user needs. Gamers, developers, desktop users, etc. all have the necessary packages and then some. The packages themselves are integrated perfectly and are very well updated. See More

Top Pro

Default experience is clean and easy

The default desktop experience on the Budgie version is very clean and streamlined. Although the Budgie DE isn't the most customisable, but it's customisable enough for me to recreate the desktop style of ElementaryOS with the dock and bar at the top. See More

Top Pro

Friendly towards proprietary codecs, firmware and drivers

So you won't have to enable PPAs or extra repos for that. See More

Top Pro

Well curated software

The software is well curated in the repos, you have access to flatpaks and snaps, so virtually, all the software you'll ever need is there for you. See More

Top Pro

Friendly community

The only community who values the newcomers. Very helpful community. See More

Top Pro

Built from scratch

Specs

Based On:Scratch

Package Manager:eopkg package manager (PiSi fork)

Release Schedule:Rolling

Mint is highly recommended for both users coming from Windows, as well as users coming from Ubuntu, but unhappy with Ubuntu's recent, rather dramatic interface changes. Mint provides an updated interface with a look and feel similar to Gnome 2, with an application menu reminiscent of the Windows 7 Start Menu, with categorization and search. See More

734 164

score 2283 · Answer 10

Linux Mint

Top Pro

Familiar user interface

Top Con

The Update doesn't work sometimes

Sometimes the update failed to configure a package. See More

Top Pro

Already functional out-of-the-box

Mint comes bundled with software for browsing the web, editing pictures, browsing files, watching videos and even a full office suite (LibreOffice). An average user can use Mint right away after a fresh install, using all the software that comes with the distribution to complete most of their daily tasks. See More

Top Con

Outdated software centers

Many of the offered options are older versions. See More

Top Pro

Compatibility with Debian and Ubuntu software builds and repositories

Mint gains a very strong package ecosystem and software manager of Debian, including more than 30,000 packages available from the Debian repositories. See More

Top Con

Does not handle multiple languages well

Top Pro

Complete and stable

It's based upon Ubuntu LTS or Debian. It depends on which one you select - Linux Mint or Linux Mint Debian Edition. The Debian Edition is even more stable. See More

Top Con

The Linux Mint website once provided spyware

The website for Linux Mint was hacked in 2016 and its download links led to a modified ISO, which contained spyware. See More

Top Pro

Easy installation and configuration

Linux Mint uses the same installer as Ubuntu. It is very easy to use for beginners, and also allows more advanced users to choose their own partitions. Linux Mint's Cinnamon desktop is highly customizable and can be made to look however preferred. See More

Top Con

Political

Clement Lefebvre, the lead developer of Linux Mint said “I don’t want any money or help coming from people who support the actions of the Israeli government.” See More

Top Pro

Provides LTS (long term support) versions

Long Term Support versions are versions of software that are continuously updated for an extended period of time, even after newer versions are launched. LTS versions will typically get feature additions and enhancements for an extended period of time, then security updates up until its End of Life. An LTS release should typically be considered good for at least 5 years. See More

Top Con

Looks ugly

The default theme and wallpaper looks outdated and bland. Luckily that is easy to change in the settings. See More

Top Pro

Good community support

There are several different ways to get support for this distribution, including the forums, their IRC channel, or their github repositories if you think their software isn't behaving as it should. See More

Top Con

Upgrade process between version can be painful

The Linux Mint team offers a method to upgrade the OS between versions but they tend to recommend clean installs, which isn't always suitable for everyone. However, following the upgrade process currently is less than straightforward and is easily capable of leaving your system in a confused state. See More

Top Pro

Dedicated upgrade process

The Linux Mint team is very dedicated to upgrading and improving Mint, to the point where the releases are fairly predictable. They are also dedicated to their users, meaning that they are responsive to critiques, suggestions, etc. See More

Top Con

System updates can lead the system to being unstable

While a new installed system is stable, after an update, there is a slight chance of something not working. See More

Top Pro

The OS is great for both beginners and advanced users

The OS has different update settings for different users and has easy manual within the OS. See More

Top Con

Mint 19 forces unwanted updates

Since version 19 Mint adopted Windows 10's policy to force the user to install unwanted updates and even if the user deselects them and marks them not to be installed, they're still being installed. See More

Top Pro

Supports proprietary software

Linux Mint does maintain a free software environment, however, it does offer full support to proprietary software (Chrome, Skype, Teamviewer). See More

Top Con

Cinamon environment is not beautiful and in the same time KDE environment is no longer used.

Top Pro

Not from a big company

Linux Mint is not Canonical, while based upon Ubuntu. See More

Top Con

Nothing new

Just another fork of Ubuntu. Produces nothing that can't be found in another Debian-based distros See More

Top Pro

Cheap Windows substitute

Mint tries to be like Windows when it could be different and provide options. See More

Top Pro

The easiest option ever

The distro is the easiest operating system to run ever. See More

Top Con

Limits to the support of propriatary hardware drivers

Mint has limited support for older graphics cards beyond the generic nouveau driver, and some software (like Stremio) only works with official Nvidia drivers (for example). See More

Top Pro

There is a "system restore" tool to restore the OS if something breaks

This tool backs up the core OS files to an external drive with an option for full encryption. See More

Top Con

Many proprietary (closed-source) packages

By default, Linux Mint includes almost all the proprietary packages just to improve the user experience. See More

Top Pro

Has more desktop options

You can choose between Cinnamon, MATE and XFCE. See More

Top Con

Linux Mint tries to force people to use less powerful custom package management system

The custom package management system is slow, frustrating, and forces you to select and install one package at a time. Can't select a whole load of packages and then run the installations in one go. See More

Top Pro

Pretty desktop

Linux Mint has a quite pretty default desktop. Cinnamon is adopted by other distros also. See More

Top Con

Very boring to boring people

Top Pro

Low learning curve to go from installation to advanced configuration

Mint is extremely easy to install, and with community support, easy to move onto adjusting the OS to meet your specific needs. The vast majority of instructions for undertaking configuration work and are easy to understand. See More

Top Con

Too many kernel crashes

Linux Mint Xfce keeps crashing 5-6 times a day with no way to fix it. Endless rebooting. It is the most unstable distro. See More

Top Pro

Mint 20 will actively avoid the Snap landmine planted by Canonical in Ubuntu 20.04.

Top Pro

2016 hack listed here as a Con, was very quickly dealt with and is a non-issue over 4 years later.

Top Pro

MATE desktop (as an option)

MATE is a classic desktop as opposed to the newer "Unity" desktop. For people who prefer the classic style this is one of only few modern distributions with still active MATE desktop development. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu LTS

Default Desktop Environment:Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce

Manjaro allows the user to access of the Arch User Repository, a very large user-maintained repository of packages for Arch Linux and derivatives. See More

2283 481

score 4157 · Answer 11

Manjaro Linux

Top Pro

Arch User Repository access

Top Con

Slightly bloated

Top Pro

Support for multiple kernels

Manjaro has built-in support for multiple kernels as well as a way to easily install them. Using LTS kernel makes this distro stable and less buggy. See More

Top Con

Can still be unstable

Here are the details of it. See More

Top Pro

Based on Arch and user friendly

Manjaro is an Arch-based distribution with all the benefits of the Arch ecosystem and community but with the added benefit of being much more user-friendly than Arch.The overall features it provides is hard to beat. Arguably be the best desktop distro with lts kernel. Consumes very less ram. See More

Top Con

Bad dependencies

This is similar to the mac0S experience in that you're not allowed to remove plank. See More

Top Pro

Excellent graphical package manager (Pamac)

Features include: providing notifications of available updates; mirror management; Snap support, Flatpak support and AUR support (with the option to suppress unnecessary confirmations during the install process); update settings (frequency, whether to check for updates from the AUR, packages to ignore updates for); and a history of packages installed, updated, or removed (from the official repositories - AUR packages are not currently tracked). See More

Top Con

All the small community editions are gone

No architect edition anymore, no edition with a tiny stacking WM like openbox or fluxbox that could be used as install base. See More

Top Pro

Improved stability due to a longer testing period for new packages

Packages from Arch's repositories are tested (about two weeks) longer for stability and compatibility issues. Patches are applied, when necessary, before being made available in the stable repositories. See More

Top Con

No real installer

It just boots the livecd and copies the livecd to the disk which gives you no choices in software selection. See More

Top Pro

Friendly community

If you ask questions of users in their forums or on other platforms, they are willing to help you. Also according to the developers, they are open to new ideas in order to make the distro better. See More

Top Con

Installation is extremely buggy

There's no easy way to switch from local keyboard layout if non-Latin installer language is selected. See More

Top Pro

Very good looking desktops

All desktops look good by default. See More

Top Con

Very slow development for 32-bit hardwares

ArchLinux-32 community maintain their forums every day. They upload new ISO's every month. But Manjaro-32 community upload new ISO's in every 6 month. And provide only a DE-mate. See More

Top Pro

Stable and consistently up to date

Manjaro receives regular updates, but more importantly these updates are stable. The updates are rolled out, which means you can easily update the software without needing to re-install. See More

Top Con

Weekly manual updates

Since it is rolling release, it needs updates nearly every week, which (though are checked for automatically) must be manually downloaded, confirmed and installed. That may annoy or scare off many new users. See More

Top Pro

Installation is a breeze

Calamares installer and MHWD is the reason why this distribution is good for desktop user- friendliness! Audio codecs, latest packages,latest kernel and easy upgrade to the latest build makes it the best choice for new users. See More

Top Con

The Manjaro unstable repository is slow to sync with the Arch stable repository

The Manjaro unstable repository syncs with the Arch stable repository and if any package has moved, it gets moved to stable. Manjaro gets package updates a bit than Arch. See More

Top Pro

Good documentation and forum

The Manjaro community is very helpful, and there are lots of tutorials. See More

Top Con

Imcompatible with Arch User Repository and archlinuxcn

Because Manjaro packages are not synced with Arch, using AUR or archlinuxcn could break dependencies. See More

Top Pro

A rolling-release distribution

Manjaro uses a rolling release method for all updates, so once a system is installed, as long as the user regularly updates there is no need to re-install. See More

Top Con

You can't change the default theme in certain applications

Although it is possible to change the default dark theme, this has no effect on Firefox, which appears to have the dark theme "hard coded". Hardened Linux pros may find a way to change this, but for the rest, it renders an otherwise nice distro a no-go. See More

Top Pro

All major desktops and even less common ones like Budgie, Lumina, LXQT, Deepin, Enlightenment, etc. can be directly installed from official repositories

Also available as independent variants. See More

Top Con

Deepin desktop environment is not a worthy attraction, there is a problem with changing Multi language layout

Top Pro

Uses low memory

By using Xfce or Plasma (or LXDE, Fluxbox, supported by community) as default desktop environments, Manjaro is able to have a low memory footprint. See More

Top Con

Nothing new

There is nothing new in Manjaro compared to any other Arch based distribution. See More

Top Pro

Manjaro provides its own distribution-specific tools such as the Manjaro Hardware Detection (mhwd) utility, and the Manjaro Settings Manager (msm)

Run automatically during the installation process, it allows for Manjaro to work fully on your system 'straight out of the box', without the need to manually identify and install the necessary drivers or to manually edit the appropriate configuration files. Also usable via the terminal after installation, the features of the mhwd command include: The choice of free (i.e. open-source) or non-free (i.e. proprietary) drivers Identification and listing (general or detailed) of your system's hardware Identification and listing (general or detailed) of installed drivers Listing of available drivers for installation (free and proprietary) Support of hybrid graphics cards (e.g. Nvidia Optimus) Easy removal and installation of drivers (selected automatically, or you can identify and choose your own) See More

Top Con

Redundant

It's just Arch Linux with an easier installer so there is no reason to use it. See More

Top Pro

Different editions to select from + Manjaro community

You can choose between different Manjaro editions which have their own change in features, and there is also Manjaro community editions where the community can make their own changes. See More

Top Con

Same cons that apply to Arch Linux

Since it is based on Arch Linux. See More

Top Pro

Steam installed by default

Top Con

It's Archbuntu

Top Pro

Deepin desktop environment is worthy attraction

Top Con

Black screen after boot, no login possibility

Top Pro

Full access to AUR

Top Con

No gfvs pre-installed

So no Trash (and possibly smartphone file system access via USB) support. See More

Top Pro

an Nvidia ISO version with drivers pre-installed.

Works perfectly. See More

Top Con

Bad way of handling dependencies

Manjaro is based on Arch Linux. Arch Linux and its derivatives have a bad way of handling dependencies. To handle dependencies, it installs a whole another program which contains the required dependencies. See More

Specs

Based On:Arch Linux

RAM:64

Default Desktop Environment:XFCE, KDE Plasma, GNOME

Contains too many tools for hacking. Those tools are not already included in BackBox or ParrotOS. See More

4157 806

score 271 · Answer 12

Kali Linux

Top Pro

Better than ParrotOS, BackBox for hacking purpose

Top Con

Not intended to be a daily driver

This distro was written for pen testing and security work. It is not meant to be a day-to-day OS (unless that's your job). See More

Top Pro

Standard pentest tool set

Top Con

Very old packages

E.G. Firefox's current version is 61 but Kali linux consists of its 52th version. Though kernel is not that old. See More

Top Pro

Live session distro used for forensics

271 99

score 1751 · Answer 13

Ubuntu

Top Pro

Lots of support

As the most popular Linux distribution, there's a wide range of sources for support online if you ever need help, including the Ubuntu Wiki, Ubuntu Forums and the Ask Ubuntu Stack Exchange site. See More

Top Con

No rolling release

New Ubuntu versions are released two times a year, during this period almost all software receives only security updates and minor bug fixes. See More

Top Pro

Use it on almost any device

Not just for laptops - Ubuntu was designed with tablets and touchscreen devices in mind, and with phone support on the way. Ubuntu also has Long Term Support releases, as well as a version oriented toward servers, so you can use the same OS at work or on mobile as you do on your desktop. See More

Top Con

Relatively high system requirements

The default GNOME desktop environment is a resource hog which requires hardware accelerated graphics rendering in order to run smoothly, making out of the box Ubuntu unsuitable for low end systems and older hardware. Even mildly aged hardware, you'll get far better performance out of a lighter desktop environment like LXDE or XFCE. See More

Top Pro

Good PPA repositories available

PPA repositories allow you to install the latest version of your preferred software while keeping the rest of the operating system "stable". See More

Top Con

Unstable

Some people pointed out that updating Arch is a high risk affair. And one should carefully read forums before doing it. The same is true about Ubuntu. Making system updates (like it was with 10.04 to 11.04) that screw so many things up became a routine. Even LTS releases should not give confidence that it will work. See More

Top Pro

Simplicity

Ubuntu is designed to be used by everyday people. Because of that, Ubuntu has tried hard to make a user interface that's intuitive and looks pleasant and clean. See More

Top Con

Binary incompatible to Debian

Ubuntu releases are based on Debian testing/unstable, however, unlike other Debian-based distributions they are not binary compatible due to different libc versions, so you can't install Debian packages in Ubuntu and vice versa. See More

Top Pro

Great long term support release schedule (2 years)

This allows for users to always have a new supported release available without long unkown wait times in between. See More

Top Con

Splits the Debian community

The most packages are imported from Debian but Ubuntu uses own bug trackers and develops its own patches. See More

Top Pro

Stable

It‘s one of the most stable Linux Distros. See More

Top Con

Snaps advertised as native packages in apt

When you try to install a normal Firefox package, it instead installs a Firefox snap. See More

Top Pro

Just works out of the box

Lots of support for hardware, lots of pre-installed software, and a smooth install process means less time downloading drivers, less time digging through configuration files, and less time deciding on software to use just to get up and running. It also means less time digging through forums looking for support. See More

Top Con

Extremely un-customizable

Top Pro

Wide range of software out of the box

The default apps available in Ubuntu cover the gamut of most anyone's needs. From music, video or office applications Ubuntu has an app that will cover the users needs. See More

Top Con

Doesn't shutdown/standby properly on Lenovo laptops (b, e & g series) and desktops (Thinkcentre)

Ubuntu has some serious issue with some Lenovo laptops and desktops. Sometimes, it doesn't shutdown correctly. See More

Top Pro

Perfect for collaboration on open source projects

This is probably the best option when collaborating on open source projects in hardware. This is mostly because packages and tools are readily available via software center. See More

Top Con

A tweaked Gnome version

Instead of original Gnome desktop with Ubuntu you get a tweaked Gnome and most of the tweaks makes user experience worse. See More

Top Pro

Flexible

The setup for personal use is simple enough for anyone to achieve, and can easily be modified to act as a server. Programs and all features are easy to find and use, and first-timers can easily pick up on how to use it. See More

Top Con

Redundant

With the removal of Unity, there is no point in choosing Ubuntu over Debian anymore because everything else is imported from Debian to Ubuntu. See More

Top Pro

Dedicated software center

The Ubuntu Software Center offers a GUI interface for installing new apps which is extremely easy and welcoming for beginners to Linux. But it should not be used by more advanced users since the method of installing through the terminal is much faster and easier after one is used to it. See More

Top Con

Systemd

Top Pro

Company behind it

This means that the system must run well, otherwise they will lose money. See More

Top Con

Not so strong at all

Top Pro

Good UI for small monitors

Because the menu usually is in the title bar and the launcher auto-hides, the whole screen can be used by an application. See More

Top Con

Company stays behind it

Top Pro

Snaps

You can get up to date and stable apps right inside the snap store (Ubuntu Software). The snap store has official snaps provided by major publishers, so you can get most of the software you need without having to add third party PPAs to your system. See More

Top Con

Native apps are still being updated

Top Pro

Looks good

Ubuntu looks clean even when running from a LiveCD. See More

Top Pro

Cares about stable drivers

Top Pro

UTF-8 is the default character encoding

Beginning with Ubuntu 5.04, UTF-8 became the default character encoding, which allows for support of a variety of non-Roman scripts. See More

Top Pro

Unified search

Type any query into the Dash Home, and search will look through files, stores and web-pages to find what you are looking for. See More

Top Pro

Has a clean Gnome interface

Gnome has lot of extensions available and can be custmoized rather easily. See More

Top Pro

Runs at low resources

Run far faster than Windows on Dell laptop. See More

Top Pro

Support Active Directory

As of Ubuntu version 21.04, Active Directory is supported out of the box. See More

Top Pro

Beautiful font rendering

Ubuntu has one of the best font rendering on Linux. It is thanks to how good the Ubuntu fonts are crafted by the Ubuntu team. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable(core) Testing/Unstable(universe/multiverse)

Languages:German

You have access to a large user repository, Ubuntu guides can mostly be applied since both are based on Debian. See More

1751 561

score 95 · Answer 14

SparkyLinux

Top Pro

Based on Debian

Top Pro

Rolling or Stable Choice

You have the option for Sparky to be based on Stable or Non-Stable, bringing greater flexibility to user priorities. See More

Top Pro

Lightweight core

Sparky is designed to be lightweight in it's core. It is based on Debian but optimised for old hardware, meaning you can run a full heavy desktop environment on a lightweight foundation, bringing greater performance compared to similar Debian or Ubuntu-based distros. See More

Top Pro

All vanilla desktop environments available

Any Linux desktop in it's vanilla form can be installed on top of Sparky, whether that be alongside a pre-existing environment, or on top of a basic command line system. Furthermore, the command line system is easy to operate due to Sparky's advanced installer utility, from which you can choose whichever desktop environment you desire, straight from the Debian repositories. Guidance is on their website. See More

Top Pro

Rolling Release

Specs

Based On:Debian stable or testing

Default Desktop Environment:LXDE/LXQt, MinimalGUI(Openbox)

The core liveCD is only 35 megabytes. The boot-from-internet option fits on a floppy. See More

95 12

score 140 · Answer 15

SliTaz

Top Pro

One of the smallest distributions with desktop GUI

Top Con

Install instructions are in French

When first booting SliTaz from a USB or from a Live CD, the installation instructions are in French. See More

Top Pro

Very fast

Top Con

Not much variety as to available applications

SliTaz does not have as many applications in its repositories as the bigger distros such as Ubuntu. See More

Top Pro

Can add desktop effects

SliTaz has a feature called "Desktop Effects" which can add shadow or fade effects to windows. See More

Top Pro

Very customizable

SliTaz is very customizable. You can programatically edit and change anything you want on how the OS looks or behaves. See More

140 18

score 276 · Answer 16

feren OS

Top Pro

Post installazione

Nel post installazione si apre la finestra che ti permette di scegliere, in tutta semplicità, impostazioni desktop. Bello per un utente desktop che non vuole perdersi nella miriade di opzioni kde See More

Top Con

...

Top Pro

Stabile

Basata su Mint... la stabilità è assicurata! See More

Top Pro

Bella

Bella da vedere. Permette di lavorare e rilassarsi con semplicità. L’attenzione ai dettagli grafici rende il lavoro più piacevole See More

Top Pro

Scelta kernel

Feren semplifica la scelta del kernel tramite un’apposita sezione. See More

Top Pro

Hardware

Installare hardware è semplificato tramite l’interfaccia di Feren See More

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu>Linux Mint

Default Desktop Environment:KDE

Apt/Aptitude, debconf or the alternatives system. See More

276 32

score 221 · Answer 17

Siduction

Top Pro

Debian based

Top Con

Hardware recognition is bad compared to Ubuntu.

Siduction won't install any non-free drivers by default. See More

Top Pro

Updates are slow, but stable. It is based on Debian after all.

It uses Unstable per default so it is still some kind of stable since all dangerous packages are tested in experimental first. See More

Top Pro

Secure Boot support

It supports secure boot which is great for LiveCDs and dual boot systems. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Unstable>Aptosid

Default Desktop Environment:KDE, Xfce, Cinnamon and LXQt

Uses stable, plain-vanilla packages from upstream. See More

221 30

score 415 · Answer 18

Slackware

Top Pro

Stable

Top Con

Not user-friendly

It is made to be KISS (keep it simple, stupid), so you have to do everything by hand. See More

Top Pro

Strong adherence to UNIX Principals

Top Con

Large size live ISO

One needs to vain 3GB+ data for downloading one slackware ISO. See More

Top Pro

Ideal to learn more of Linux

Follows the original Linux roots. It still sees Linux as a free clone of UNIX so the distribution tries to be UNIX-like. See More

Top Con

Narrow repos

Doesn't offer the same amount of options as other distros do. See More

Top Pro

Package management

Uses standard tar archives with shell scripting as packages. See More

Top Con

Niche/small community

Slackware is its own niche and has a small community. See More

Top Pro

One more distro which is init based

Some users don't like to install systemd based distros because they increase booting and processing speed. See More

Top Con

Very slow release cycle

Hasn't updated in 3+ years. See More

Top Pro

Oldest surviving Linux distro

Besides Debian (which was first released in August 1993), it is the oldest still maintained Linux Distribution and was first released in July 1993. See More

Top Con

Dependency issues

When it comes to dependencies, Slackware shows more issues than many other distros. See More

Top Pro

Super fast

Top Pro

No systemd

Specs

Based On:Softlanding Linux System

Default Desktop Environment:KDE, Xfce, NONE

Init-System:SysVinit

Package Manager:pkgtool

Comes with a taskbar launcher and the Pixel launcher. See More

415 62

score 147 · Answer 19

Bliss OS

Top Pro

Extra launchers

Top Con

Limited hardware support

Like android-x86, it has limited hardware support. See More

Top Pro

Rooted with a few clicks

Similarly to android-x86, it's rooted with just a few clicks, thus allowing the use of AdAway and other Ad Blockers. See More

Top Con

Not for power users

Android is designed for everyone so it might be a bit limited for power users. See More

Top Pro

ARM Virtualization

Like android-x86, it comes with ARM virtualization support, so you can run many Android ARM apps on your x-86 device. See More

Top Pro

Google Play Store

Google Play Store is installed by default. See More

Top Pro

Simple Linux distro

Like ChromiumOS it has a very simple(stipped down) user interface that is easy to understand and use. See More

Top Pro

Android Apps

There exist an app for any task. See More

Top Pro

Unique

It is unique compared to taditional GNU-based Linux distributions. See More

Top Pro

Multi-platform

Android is available for PCs, Phones, Tablets, TVs and even Clocks. See More

Top Pro

Familiar UI/Design

Everyone who owns an android device already know the OS. See More

Top Pro

Fully opensource

It is fully opensource and there is no company behind it. See More

Specs

Based On:AOSP>Android-x86

Default Desktop Environment:Android

Init-System:Android-init

Package Manager:AOSP Package Installer

It works! Whereas neither the calamares installer used by arcolinux or manjaro nor the archlabs installer produces a working result. See More

147 28

score 406 · Answer 20

Anarchy Linux

Top Pro

LVM on LUKS encryption of whole disk possible

Top Con

Nothing new

It's just Arch with a graphical installer. See More

Top Pro

The end result is a well configured standard Archlinux system

Top Con

Anarchy Repo is completely unsigned

Ridiculous security risk. See More

Top Pro

Saves a lot of time to set up an Archlinux system

Once you had your experience to set up an Archlinux system manually from scratch this distro saves a lot of setup time. See More

Top Con

TUI can be confusing for the uninitiated

The TUI is as good as can be expected, but if you're not comfortable with the command line, this isn't where you want to be. See More

Top Pro

Full access to Arch repositories as well as Aur

Top Con

Just an Installer

Anarchy isn't its own distro, it's just an installer for Arch. That's great if it's what you're after, but don't expect bells and whistles. See More

Top Pro

Many preconfigured Desktop environments supported

Top Con

Redundant

It's just Arch with a graphical installer and ArchLabs already has this. See More

Top Pro

Fully developed in Bash

Being programmed entirely in Bash, it is relatively easy to find and solve errors or propose improvements. See More

Top Con

The installer has many bugs

Especially during the manually partitioning and the additional software installing procedure. If you do the automatic partitioning and you don't install additional softwares it's ok. See More

Top Pro

Everything you need in a small and fast Arch distro

Top Pro

Low setup time

Even a person without prior knowledge will figure out how to set it up quite quickly. See More

Top Pro

Looks good by default

Top Pro

Supports 32-bit architecture

Use ArchLinux32 instead of the traditional Arch Linux to support 32-bit architectures. See More

Top Pro

Friendly community

The community and developers are willing to solve any kind of inconvenience. See More

Top Pro

Good for gaming

Smooth and cool. Easy to get going. See More

Specs

Based On:Arch Linux

Default Desktop Environment:Budgie, Cinnamon, Gnome, OpenBox, Xfce

Actual Download Link:https://gitlab.com/anarchyinstaller/installer/-/releases