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Deepin OS

All
39
Experiences
Pros
27
Cons
11
Specs
Monika
Asme
Top Pro

Enjoy the simplicity of Deepin's desktop

The desktop interface and apps feature an intuitive and elegant design. Moving around, sharing and searching, etc. has become simply a joyful experience. See More
Monika
ConscientiousMazu
Top Con

Based in China

See More
Asme
Top Pro

Excellent apps

Having Deepin installed also means you have thousands of quality apps to choose from. The apps which come with installation will suit your needs to browse the Internet, listen to music, watch videos, talk with friends, editing documents or simply any task you want to do at home or in your office. See More
thermoplastics
jbt jbt
Top Con

Customization is a bit hidden

GUI is not straight forward for changing GTK+ or QT themes. See More
Monika
SiamSami
Top Pro

Easy to use

It's very easy to use. You can easily uninstall a program by going to the menu then right-clicking on the preferred app and selecting "Uninstall" option. See More
WhiteLilac
AdaptableHasameli
Top Con

Deepin store apps not up to date

See More
Monika
SiamSami
Top Pro

Blur and transparent design

Deepin has a blur and transparent design throughout the OS, which makes it one of the most beautiful Linux distros. See More
Simona
PreciseTanfana
Top Con

Cannot customize desktop environment

Because the developers have locked down desktop customization is A HUGE detractor against the idea of setting things up how you want. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro

Easy to install

Installing Deepin OS is very easy. Even easier than installing Ubuntu! See More
Monika
thermoplastics
jbt jbt
Top Con

Team doesn't know what to do

Deepin has changed the base 4 times, and the name 3 times. The Desktop Environment also has been changed 4 times. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro

Supports Flatpak

Deepin OS supports Flatpak. It also has some Flatpak programs installed by default. See More
Monika
PrincipledShahar
thermoplastics
Top Con

Slow default repos

Download speed for packages from the default repos, is abnormally slow if you don't choose the correct sever. See More
Monika
SiamSami
Top Pro

Great support for graphics cards

Deepin OS includes a program called "Deepin Graphics Driver Manager" which can easily install a good driver for the graphics card. See More
Simona
Svjatoslavs Krasnikovs
EnchantingMictlantecuhtli
Top Con

There are issues restarting (on a PC)

See More
SiamSami
Top Pro

Very stable

Since it is based on Debian stable, you will hardly ever get a dependency issue. See More
EnchantingMictlantecuhtli
Top Con

Pretty laggy

See More
Monika
SiamSami
Top Pro

Based on Debian

It is based on Debian which is the best Linux distribution for desktops. See More
Simona
Svjatoslavs Krasnikovs
EnchantingMictlantecuhtli
Top Con

Strange development organization

There aren't any sort of improvements over Deepin v15.1. The only changes are icons - they've become better. See More
SiamSami
Ray
Top Pro

Can be made to look like Windows easily

By default, Deepin looks kinda like macOS but it can be made to look like Windows by right-clicking on the dock and changing the mode from "Fashion Mode" to "Efficient Mode". See More
Matthew
10Meisterbälle
Top Con

Very slow installer

Because the servers are in China. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro

Best for daily use

See More
Monika
SiamSami
jbt jbt
Top Con

Installer lacks features

See More
Monika
SiamSami
Top Pro

Rolling release

It is a rolling release Linux distribution which is quite popular these days. See More
Kristaps
thermoplastics
jbt jbt
Top Pro

Great design to the app store

The app store is gorgeous. See More
Monika
SiamSami
Top Pro

Has its own toolkit

It has its own toolkit called "Deepin Tool Kit". And the maintainers themselves use it. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro

VLC media player works without any issue

In some cases, VLC media player has some problems with Ubuntu or Ubuntu-based Linux distros. That isn't the case with Deepin. See More
thermoplastics
Basil Russu
Top Pro

Well-designed in every detail, developers have a professional aproach to the system

Deepin has a sane default set of apps including custom apps of their own design that gives the distro a very consistent look and feel. By working with the community on these tools as well as custom translations there is a great sense of polish when using it that is not often seen when using such a new desktop environment. See More
Monika
SiamSami
Top Pro

Launches programs faster

Programs load and launch faster in Deepin than other Linux distributions. It takes only about 3 seconds to launch Chrome. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro

Company behind it

The Wuhan Deepin Technology is behind this Linux distribution. See More
Monika
PrincipledShahar
Top Pro

PRO Network Managment

Deepin has the facilities to create VLAN and other configuration like Wifi Hostpot on their GUI. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro

Quite lightweight

Deepin 15.7 is lighter than Windows 10 and Ubuntu. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro

Includes a lot of packages in the official repository

The official repository of deepin OS includes over 73,000 packages. See More
Monika
SiamSami
Top Pro

Exciting applications

It has some exciting applications, such as Deepin Graphics Driver Manager which can easily change between free and proprietary drivers without any issue. See More
SiamSami
Top Pro

Automatically cleans package cache

Deepin automatically cleans package cache. Cleaning package cache is a good thing as it will make the OS much faster and lighter. See More
Rūdis
SiamSami
Top Pro

Includes both Windows and macOS style interface

See More
Rūdis
SiamSami
Top Pro

Gives warning messages when upgrading packages using apt

Deepin uses their own modified version of apt. When there is a distribution upgrade available and if we try to upgrade by running "sudo apt upgrade", then this modified version of apt gives this warning message, "DDE programs will work abnormally if run this command. Run sudo apt dist-upgrade or sudo apt full-upgrade instead." See More
SiamSami
Top Pro

Not based on Ubuntu

Some people don't like Ubuntu nor its derivatives. See More
Jacques Thomas
Top Pro

Seemless transition form Windows to Linux

Easy to install, comes with default packages to typical needs e.g. Chrome, WPS office, System Monitor and a bunch of multimedia utilities. Its easy to install and uninstall applications, it has a great app store and is fast. On same laptop run much faster than Windows 10 did. See More
Specs
Based On:Debian
Package Manager:Debian Package Manager
OS Family:GNU+Linux
Origin:China
See All Specs
HideSee All Experiences
903 255

Fedora

All
28
Experiences
Pros
16
Cons
11
Specs
TheNintendoSwitchSpartan - Google
Endi Sukaj
Sergey Porfiriev
Top Pro

Backed by one of the biggest Linux kernel contributors

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
Simona
JM80
DaringGlaucus
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
Slimothy
Megh Parikh
Top Pro

Integration with GNOME

It perhaps has the best integration with GNOME (GNOME software works out of the box). See More
Simona
Monika
TolerantNinkilim
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
Endi Sukaj
thermoplastics
Slimothy
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
Monika
SiamSami
Top Con

Slow

It is quite slow on some computers. See More
Jean Pierrec
Top Pro

Fast and stable updates

See More
Monika
TolerantNinkilim
Endi Sukaj
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
Tim Etler
Slimothy
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
Endi Sukaj
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
Chloe Montanez
The Eye Of Saruon
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
CreativeSirara
Top Con

Controlled by big corpos

See More
DedicatedPyrrhichos
Top Pro

Strong commitment to free software philosophy

See More
JM80
ColorfulMeskhenet
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
Alex
ResoluteDaphne
Top Pro

Fast performance

See More
Alex
EagerDonbettyr
jbt jbt
Top Con

Unstable

Some packages may break, because there isn't an option to test them before rolling them out. See More
Matthew
10Meisterbälle
Top Pro

Very good integration with Flatpak and Snap Packages

See More
Monika
TolerantNinkilim
JM80
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
Francisco
EnthusiasticMelqart
Top Pro

Huge array of binary packages ready to install

See More
Simona
FolkertM
Top Con

86'ed

Description of the word. Support for 32-bit architecture ended with Fedora Release 30. See More
Chloe Montanez
DelightfulThoosa
Top Pro

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

See More
Monika
thibdb13
ResoluteDaphne
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
Monika
UnderstandingMaahes
Top Pro

Linus Torvalds' distro of choice

See More
Matthew
10Meisterbälle
Top Pro

Create user after the installation

Very good for selling PC‘s with Fedora. See More
Monika
TolerantNinkilim
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
Simona
CheerfulAeternitas
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
Nedas Kuzas
LogicalPhilophrosyne
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
Default Desktop Environment:GNOME
Init-System:Systemd
Package Manager:RPM Package Manager, DNF package manager
See All Specs
HideSee All Experiences
1521 280

Ubuntu

All
37
Experiences
Pros
22
Cons
14
Specs
Slimothy
Tim Etler
Tom Raleigh
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
Mantas Zimnickas
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
thermoplastics
Tom Raleigh
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
ReceptivePapatuanuku
thermoplastics
Slimothy
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
Bryan
Ryan
grigio
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
Orif Khodjaev
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
thermoplastics
Slimothy
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
Monika
Holo Deck
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
Paolo
thermoplastics
joelthelion
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
Monika
LivelyEopsin
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
Matthew
10Meisterbälle
Top Pro

Stable

It‘s one of the most stable Linux Distros. See More
DavidDGTNT
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
Endi Sukaj
thermoplastics
Slimothy
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
Monika
PracticalNinsusinak
Top Con

Extremely un-customizable

See More
Slimothy
Tom Raleigh
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
SiamSami
thermoplastics
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
Endi Sukaj
thermoplastics
Laura Kyle
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
Mantas Zimnickas
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
Steve Human
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
Monika
Holo Deck
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
Endi Sukaj
thermoplastics
Tal Ben-Ari
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
WiseProserpina
Top Con

Systemd

See More
Monika
PleasantCheimon
Harum
Top Pro

Company behind it

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

Not so strong at all

See More
JM80
thermoplastics
Peter Zeller
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
thermoplastics
jbt jbt
Top Con

Company stays behind it

See More
PassionateKakka
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
Nedas Kuzas
OrganizedFutsunushi
Top Con

Native apps are still being updated

See More
Chloe Montanez
Lucifer Morningstar
Top Pro

Looks good

Ubuntu looks clean even when running from a LiveCD. See More
Endi Sukaj
tri
Top Pro

Cares about stable drivers

See More
thermoplastics
Slimothy
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
Slimothy
Tim Etler
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
Paolo
Chloe Montanez
Lucifer Morningstar
Top Pro

Has a clean Gnome interface

Gnome has lot of extensions available and can be custmoized rather easily. See More
teadan
LivelyKherty
Top Pro

Runs at low resources

Run far faster than Windows on Dell laptop. See More
PassionateKakka
Top Pro

Support Active Directory

As of Ubuntu version 21.04, Active Directory is supported out of the box. See More
PassionateKakka
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
Default Desktop Environment:GNOME
Init-System:Systemd
See All Specs
HideSee All Experiences
1727 556

Slackware

All
15
Experiences
Pros
8
Cons
6
Specs
nanon
Top Pro

Strong adherence to UNIX Principals

See More
Monika
Svjatoslavs Krasnikovs
JollyZhurong
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
Klaatu von Schlacker
Top Pro

Stable

Uses stable, plain-vanilla packages from upstream. See More
Monika
Karan Forever
Top Con

Large size live ISO

One needs to vain 3GB+ data for downloading one slackware ISO. See More
JollyZhurong
thibdb13
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
Monika
ReliableShara
Top Con

Narrow repos

Doesn't offer the same amount of options as other distros do. See More
Karan Forever
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
Monika
ReliableShara
Top Con

Niche/small community

Slackware is its own niche and has a small community. See More
Monika
TirelessAhriman
ExceptionalChernobog
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
Monika
CompassionateSterquilinus
Top Con

Very slow release cycle

Hasn't updated in 3+ years. See More
Paolo
Klaatu von Schlacker
Top Pro

Package management

Uses standard tar archives with shell scripting as packages. See More
Monika
ReliableShara
Top Con

Dependency issues

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

Super fast

See More
Ray
nanon
Top Pro

No systemd

See More
Specs
Based On:Softlanding Linux System
Default Desktop Environment:KDE SC
Init-System:SysVinit
Package Manager:Pkgtool
See All Specs
HideSee All Experiences
395 61

Arch Linux

All
68
Experiences
Pros
45
Cons
22
Specs
WhiteLilac
DwightR
Slimothy
Top Pro

Excellent documentation

Arch's goal of simplicity means there's usually one preferred way to get things done - through organized and well documented configuration files. This focus, combined with the community's recognition that configuration files can be intimidating, has resulted in excellent documentation that's accessible to newcomers, and very instructive about how Linux actually works. The documentation is often so thorough that, when searching for solutions to problems while using other distributions, such as with video card drivers, oftentimes you'll find the most effective solution in the Arch Linux wiki or on the forums. See More
Monika
Holo Deck
WhiteLilac
Top Con

Not for the faint of heart

You need to be very carefully with updates. See More
Laura Kyle
Tal Ben-Ari
Top Pro

A package for almost everything

If you need to install something, chances are someone in the Arch community has already made a package for it. This makes it incredibly easy for you to install and maintain all of the non-media content on your computer. See More
WittyDeipneus
WhiteLilac
DwightR
Top Con

Manual install process

The installation requires a lot of manual intervention/decisions. See More
WhiteLilac
DwightR
Yoshiyuki
Top Pro

Cutting edge rolling release

Arch Linux follows a rolling release model, which allows users to stay on the most up-to-date versions of the software they are using. See More
Holo Deck
Top Con

Works only on AMD64

It is the only official supported instruction set of CPUs. See More
Monika
nanon
Top Pro

Arch Linux Wiki

The Arch Linux Wiki is very useful not just for Arch Linux users, but for anyone who uses Linux. See More
Monika
thibdb13
Daniel Menelkir
Top Con

Instability can be an issue

Sometimes you can have a surprise, but in most cases it can be fixed quickly. See More
WhiteLilac
DwightR
thermoplastics
Top Pro

No restrictive handholding, pure control over everything

Arch is mainly aimed at experienced Linux users, there is no hand-holding and not much in a way of UI elements when trying to install or tweak settings. See More
Simona
PrincipledNebethetepet
Mark Penguin
Top Con

Highly egotistical community

See More
JM80
Ryan O’Hara
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Fast and simple package management

Pacman has performance advantages over apt-get and yum in both database operations (thanks to being written for speed) and download times (by virtue of using better mirrors than other distributions tend to select by default). There are also fewer default repositories to download from, and all package management is combined into one tool instead of being split into dpkg, apt-get, and apt-cache like on Debian distros. See More
Laura Kyle
thermoplastics
Stoyan Dimkov
Top Con

Requires some background with Linux and the command-line to setup

Going in with zero Linux knowledge is not really recommended when wanting to install Arch, though it can be a good learning experience for those that are dedicated to trial and error as well as reading many faqs. See More
gerald schenk
Top Pro

As slim or copious as you want it

Arch keeps its core repositories slim and free of unnecessary dependencies. At first installation only a bare system is set up. You can easily get the other applications through the package manager. The repositories are nearly as full as those of Ubuntu, while they are often more up to date. That way you don't have to waste time with software you don't need or want. See More
teadan
EagerAsclepius
PatientPapatuanuku
Top Con

No graphical installer

Although some derivatives such as Manjaro and ArcoLinux exist. See More
Chloe Montanez
AgreeableKoalemos
Bence Nagy
Top Pro

Excellent package management with the AUR

The AUR is a repository with a very extensive catalogue of build/install scripts that are contributed by users. While these scripts are inherently less secure than conventional packages maintained by a distro's authors, it's still way easier to verify the security of install scripts than it would be to write them yourself. It's very usefull. See More
Monika
Desulate
Top Con

Occasional upstream package bugs

Most package maintainers look for issues that the packages might have ispecifically for arch. Which means if a package has a bug that applies to all Linux distros regardless of the flavor, the maintainer may not be able to: A) catch it before pushing a update or B) have to wait for the packages developers to fix it. This is a minor issue because most issues are often patched before the end of the day if many users rely on it, or if its a less used package there will be specific troubleshooting instructions on the arch site. See More
nanon
Top Pro

Huge Repositories

Although Arch Linux only comes with around 10,000 packages, you can use the Arch User Repositories (AUR) which will add over 50,000 more packages. See More
Slimothy
gerald schenk
Top Con

Rolling release requires bandwidth

Arch uses a rolling release model for updates. Unlike, for example Ubuntu where a new version is released every six months, packages are updated when they are ready. The advantage is a very up to date system and that the work of upgrading can be spread over a longer span of time to a point where it is hardly noticeably effort. However it can be difficult for people without a high bandwidth connection, or with limits on how many GB can be downloaded imposed by their internet service providers. A GB a month of downloads is quite possible. This can be somewhat offset by Arch being lightweight, besides the relatively small core, the user selects what is installed (and has to be updated). See More
Simona
Monika
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Highly customizable

You can tailor the system to your needs. See More
thermoplastics
Marc Telesha
Top Con

Too many package upgrades that require manual intervention

Every year or so there is a update to ArchLinux that will break your system unless you first read the front page of archlinux.org. This happened with SystemD and with a few other updates that require you to do prior steps befor pacman -Syu. See More
Laura Kyle
Koushik MS
Top Pro

Support for a large variety of hardware

From latest wacom pads to obscure wireless cards in laptops Arch's hw support has been and continues to be good. It has worked on laptops where other leading distro's like debian/ mint/ ubuntu failed to detect and work with all hardware. See More
Ant Super
Top Con

Documentation only makes sense if you know how to adjust it

While the documentation is a very valuable reference for experts, the recipes often don't actually work on your own computer. Some articles are outdated, incomplete, contradictory or duplicated. Only if you are expert enough to know which steps to skip, to adjust or which other documentation parts to plug in, you can make it work. See More
WhiteLilac
DwightR
Slimothy
Top Pro

Simplicity is absolutely the principal objective behind Arch development

The design approach of the development team focuses on elegance, code correctness, minimalism, and simplicity, and expects the user to be willing to make some effort to understand the system's operation. See More
Monika
TranquilApaliunas
PleasantCheimon
Top Con

Uses systemd

See More
Bryan
HarmoniousBassareus
Top Pro

Good overall system quality

QoL of Arch is generally good. You get something more consistent and doable in Arch then you would get with most other OSes. See More
Monika
Holo Deck
Top Con

Lost its way

It aimed to be KISS but it has lost its way and is getting more and more complex, for example, it uses systemd which is anything but KISS. It also has now some kind of package post configuration included. See More
Yoshiyuki
Rachel Hutzley
Top Pro

It is Linux at the core

This distro is barebones enough to make a new distro from. See More
Monika
BraveVainamoinen
RealisticLlefelys
Top Con

Not really for desktop

More like for posting screenshots on Reddit. See More
SincereFreyr
Top Pro

An opportunity to improve

The process of learning to setup and use Arch will improve your skills with Linux and computers in general. See More
JM80
HealthyHouyi
Top Con

Not so great overall

Apart from the ArchBuildSystem/AUR, which brings you very quickly newer package versions, there is not really much where Arch Linux shines. You get better package managers with other systems. The most Linux distributions are far more stable than Arch. You learn more about Linux by using LFS or a source based distribution. You can customize the system much more in LFS or Gentoo. See More
Endi Sukaj
Top Pro

Helpful community

If searching through the wiki or the forums for any problems turns nothing, any question on the official forums, Arch subreddit or the IRC channel will be answered within minutes. There will probably be no hand-holding however, Arch users prefer to point anyone to a resource that may help them instead of trying to outright solve their problem in a forum thread. This is quite helpful for people who want to really learn how their system works but also for other people who may stumble in that thread considering how most problems don’t have a universal solution. See More
keesa
Top Con

Some updates might need extra attention

for example, new grub packages, and new postgresql packages, etc. See More
Monika
Cerebral Mischief
Top Pro

Helpful for understanding how Linux is installed

Arch does not come with an automatic installation process. The user is expected to walk through the installation steps published on the Arch wiki. This is very useful if, later, something happens to the installation as the user will be more familiar with the foundational steps required to get a full blown Arch installation working. See More
Svjatoslavs Krasnikovs
TrustworthyAnanke
Ryan O’Hara
Top Con

Fragile packages

Updating an Arch system is always a gamble. The problem could be as simple as a package having a bug causing a program to crash on start or it may be something bigger like the WiFi or Bluetooth no longer working. There is also the slight chance the system may not even boot at all after a large update. If the user does not plan to read the forums weekly/daily or update fairly often, things can go wrong very fast. See More
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

No need for external repos

The default and community repo of Arch Linux are so vast, that there is barely any need for additional software sources. And if there is, the additional software can be added to AUR, which results in the need actually growing the Arch repos. See More
Monika
VigilantMastorpaz
Top Con

Systemd is bloat

See More
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Vanilla

Learn about Arch, learn about Linux. What works for Arch, works for many other distros too. See More
Monika
Jaime Gianola
Top Con

You have to install everything by hand on a command line

This may be a CON for a lot of people that are new to Linux but a PRO to those who actually want to learn something new. See More
Monika
Desulate
Top Pro

Simple by design

Arch Linux is actually incredibly simple. It's really just a partition scheme, package manager, Linux kernel, file system, systemd and the bare minimum of utilities needed to easily set up your hardware. This makes it super simple to build your desired system using binary packages because there no bloat getting in your way when installing or configuring packages. See More
Monika
Soham
Top Con

Worst OS for beginners in Linux

Very bad OS for beginners as there is no graphical installation and it is a manual installaton process. So, either you have to follow the documentation (that half of the beginners don't understand) or a video (gets outdated on every release). When I was a beginner, I thought that Arch is better and it had graphical installation. I downloaded the iso flashed it in pendrive. After that when I booted I saw ther is a "$Install--". I was so suprised because I moved from windows to linux. It looked like a console. Bugs -- With every release there are bugs. AUR -- Pacman is fully dependant on aur and installing from aur for beginnera is a painful process. See More
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Incredible educational value

Arch gives great insight in the inner workings of operating systems, computers and data manipulation. See More
tri
Top Con

Problems with driver/kernel/gpu consistency

Arch has no proper desktop support, you must craft your system together. Things may work for the first but generally it takes days to configure a stable and working system. This is NOT ideal for a desktop user. See More
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Great for low performance hardware

Arch Linux works quite well with low performance hardware like netbooks. See More
Yoshiyuki
Monika
IndependentBuchis
Top Con

Package manager is so naive

For example, it doesn't allow you to purge (remove package and its configuration files). See More
JM80
Alex
DazzlingDemeter
Top Pro

Stripped down to the bone

Since its stripped down, it is fast and you don't have to deal with bloatware. See More
Monika
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Flexible upgrades

Upgrade once a day, once a week, once a month,... three times a day... automate it, upgrade manually, add packages to the ignore list. See More
Desulate
Top Pro

Ultimate mid-range OS for Tinkering

If you like to tinker with things and see how they work you don't get much better than arch linux unless you commit to building your own kernel and using flags manually when installing your packages. See More
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Supports various desktop environments and window managers

Doesn't limit you in terms of desktop environments or graphical servers (X, Wayland). See More
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Low maintenance

To basically keep your Arch setup up and running, it takes very little to barely any maintenance. See More
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Incredibly easy to manage

Arch is very simple to maintain, backup and in rare cases repair and recover. For example, the manual to recover your boot manager is already in the install guide! See More
WhiteLilac
DwightR
Monika
Top Pro

Helpful 3rd-party installers

There are extremely helpful 3rd-party installers such as Anarchy Linux (Formerly Arch Anywhere). See More
PrincipledNane
Top Pro

Minimal

If you need something, you should install it. It has nothing as default and you can build your system from zero. See More
Monika
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Great hardware support

Out of the box Arch comes with great hardware support. See More
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Highly reliable and stable build

See experts working on the packages and upgrades. Given Arch splits the load among people who care and have the experience, the overall setup is very stable and reliable, even though very broad too. See More
Monika
Desulate
Top Pro

On average only 1 manual intervention needed a year now

The comments about issues with upgrades are over-exaggerated. Those comments assume that : A) They happen often, B) you are using a specific package with an issue, C) that package maintainers can't release a patch to the package that will work around the issue for you, and that D) Manual intervention or system recovery from such issues is hard to fix. On average once or twice a year a user may have to cut and paste some commands in the terminal to fix an issue, but that's about it. Additionally any system recovery required from such missed interventions is easy, just follow the wiki and make a live USB if your using a desktop or laptop. See More
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Highly reliable upgrades

Always works. No matter if you upgrade 7 or 700 packages. See More
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Experts working on the packages

Providers only provide the basic system and do a great job doing so. While with AUR people who actually use the packages, provide and maintain them. They CARE about making them work. See More
Monika
Desulate
Top Pro

Easier to review the distributions packages

Unlike other some distributions, it's super simple to review the packages you download on the official arch repos or arch user repository. See More
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Great security out of the box

Even a default Arch setup offers great security with the minimum number of open ports and very little information on the system for outsiders. See More
TolerantMwari
Monika
TirelessTibertus
Top Pro

Good for ricing for r/unixporn

Arch Linux provides a minimal user experience and tons of packages, which means that ‘ricing’ (customising your desktop to it’s limits) will be unrestrictive and you won’t have to worry about bloating your system. See More
Monika
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Vast variety of use and purpose

With its vast repos, Arch offers tons of applications for all kinds of use. See More
Monika
SupportiveBeaivi
Top Pro

Multilib support is just around the corner

Just uncomment the according entries in the pacman.conf. See More
Jaime Gianola
Top Pro

You actually learn a LOT of the inner workings of your OS.

Since you do everything by hand and a LOT of it, you actually learn very useful things even for other distros. See More
ExceptionalPyroeis
Top Pro

Completely signed repos by default

Arch-based distros, or even Arch installers, often use unsigned repositories. See More
VigilantMastorpaz
Top Pro

Highly customizable

See More
ColorfulKakka
Top Pro

Arch Linux Archive lets you choose your own update schedule

Despite being rolling release Arch Linux lets you be flexible about your update policy. If distro repos moved forward, but you don't want to update, you can temporarily switch to Arch Linux Archive, which stores repo snapshots across time. Later, when you're ready to update, you switch back to bleeding edge. See More
jiem
Top Pro

Lets you choose what is pre-installed before installation

The official install script has the "Additional packages" option, which lets you choose additional packages that won't be installed from the terminal. This is helpful for custom configurations (e.g. if you wanted to take advantage of web development) because it is compatible with most packages from the AUR. This also diminishes the need for manual installation with Pacman. See More
Specs
Based On:Independent
Default Desktop Environment:N/A
Init-System:Systemd
Package Manager:Pacman
See All Specs
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3453 556

Zorin OS

All
14
Experiences
Pros
11
Cons
2
Specs
gilch
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Ubuntu-based

Zorin is compatible with Ubuntu's sizable repositories of Free Software. See More
Awesome1pc2 o-:
Top Con

Limited desktop styles in Free Version

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
thermoplastics
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
Monika
RespectableAernus
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
Slimothy
Walid Flouss
Top Pro

Stable

See More
Slimothy
Walid Flouss
Top Pro

Bundles tools for changing the look and feel of the distribution

Zorin includes look changer and theme changer. See More
gilch
Top Pro

Accessibility features

See More
thermoplastics
gilch
Top Pro

Partial Windows compatibility

Zorin includes WINE and PlayOnLinux to run many Windows applications and games. See More
thermoplastics
Slimothy
Walid Flouss
Top Pro

Windows desktop style

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

Installer can set up dual boot

See More
Monika
HelpfulSuwaliyat
Top Pro

Zorin Connect

Allows syncing notifications with your phone. See More
Simona
EnterprisingMetztli
Top Pro

Ubuntu got too big

Ubuntu uses too much resources, Zorin uses less. See More
Slimothy
Walid Flouss
Top Pro

Low resources consumption

See More
Specs
Based On:Debian>Ubuntu LTS
Default Desktop Environment:Gnome / Xfce
Init-System:Systemd
Package Manager:Debian Package Manager
See All Specs
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553 158

Elementary OS

All
28
Experiences
Pros
10
Cons
17
Specs
Laura Kyle
HansBKK
Kubrick
Top Pro

UI design consistency

Excellent uniformity between all the stock application and an overall extremely clean design with simple animations. See More
Monika
PersistentDagda
Top Con

UI doesn't let you change anything

Every installation of elementaryOS looks exactly like the same. See More
Endi Sukaj
Laura Kyle
thermoplastics
Top Pro

Lightweight & fast

Runs well on limited-resources hardware, including netbooks or chromebooks. See More
thermoplastics
Wernight
ano
Top Con

Old base and applications

The slow release schedule makes the applications outdated. It drags behind Ubuntu LTS (on which it's based) which itself drags behind Ubuntu which is often still quite far behind Arch for example. See More
thermoplastics
Daniel Foré
Kubrick
Top Pro

Built on Ubuntu

Built on Ubuntu LTS with all its qualities and support. See More
tri
Top Con

Outdated or bad default applications

See More
Cristian Molina
Top Pro

If you like MacOSX the UI/UX is similar

See More
SiamSami
Top Con

Quite buggy

See More
Endi Sukaj
Laura Kyle
Slimothy
Top Pro

Extremely user-friendly

This distribution promises you a very tailored user experience and it does deliver on that promise. The developers provide you with a custom desktop environment and a set of neat programs. And the whole desktop looks simply gorgeous. See More
Monika
thermoplastics
Top Con

Very slow development cycle

Elementary does not offer any release date for their stable releases going more with an "it's done when it's done" attitude. Making depending on newer apps a difficulty as well as a poor choice for those that need consistent release schedules for their OS. See More
Monika
Slimothy
Timo Reimerdes
Top Pro

Active Google+ community

There is a place where Elementary users can ask their questions and usually get answers pretty quickly. Not only by the other users, but the devs are pretty active themselves, often engaging in the discussions on the hows, whys, and plans of the OS. See More
SiamSami
Top Con

Not very configurable

See More
thermoplastics
HansBKK
Top Pro

Simplicity, limited configurability

Sane defaults with less confusion for new users. See More
thermoplastics
Top Con

Poor Linux community reputation

The devs of elementary OS feel anyone not paying for their Ubuntu respin are not worthy of using it. Which upset a good bit of people. Obviously the core dev team have issues with their community outreach and PR. See More
thermoplastics
Ryan DeBeasi
Top Pro

Consistent development practices

All Elementary apps are written in Vala and hosted on Launchpad, and there are standard APIs such as contractor for applications to interact with one another. This is different from most distros, in which apps are written in a variety of languages. This design decision makes it easy to get started developing for Elementary and to understand how the various pieces fit together. See More
SiamSami
Top Con

The desktop doesn't let you to put icons by default

See More
Monika
Laura Kyle
Daniel Foré
Top Pro

A dedicated StackExchange site

Elementary OS has a dedicated StackExchange site where users can easily find answers to common questions. See More
Monika
LearnedAhriman
Top Con

Limited and outdated packages

Packages can be very outdated, and many can't be installed from official repos. See More
Sanket Mohapatra
Slimothy
Esch
Top Pro

With new tweak tools customisation is not a problem

Now the OS is amazingly customisable See More
Karan Forever
Top Con

Doesn't support 32-bit hardwares anymore

One can install pantheon DE from new ubuntu's repo but Elementry OS is not making new ISO's nor is it supporting them. It makes confuzzled to new users. See More
SiamSami
Top Con

Upper panel requires extra spaces

The upper panel in Elementary OS requires more space. This can be a problem for computers with small monitors. See More
thermoplastics
green7ea
Top Con

Emacs doesn't work

Emacs crashes due to a partial gnome library update. See More
Monika
Matthew
10Meisterbälle
Top Con

Heavy animations

It has some animations that don‘t run well on older hardware. See More
Coa
thermoplastics
Slimothy
Top Con

Window control button placement may be unintuitive to some

elementary OS has window controls on the left side of the window. It may be less intuitive to users coming from other operating systems that put window controls on the right. See More
10Meisterbälle
Top Con

No proprietary driver installer

Elementary OS removed the driver installer of Ubuntu. See More
Alex
thermoplastics
Chris Bristol
Top Con

Problems with basic functions

Problems often arise with functions like keyboard layout and touchpad. See More
jbt jbt
Top Con

Boring UI

It can be very boring. See More
Specs
Based On:Debian>Ubuntu
Default Desktop Environment:Pantheon
Init-System:Systemd
Origin:UK
See All Specs
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1064 299

Ubuntu MATE

All
11
Experiences
Pros
6
Cons
4
Specs
Chloe Montanez
Lennox84
Top Pro

Simplicity of Gnome with the power of Ubuntu

Debian was good to use but has limited documentation and is difficult to pick up. Ubuntu MATE brings the ease of design and logic of the Gnome 2 style desktop so it's easy to get around coupled with the vast documentation, forums and ease of learning/using the Ubuntu system. See More
10Meisterbälle
Top Con

No very good Software Center by default

The Software Boutique is not good. You can install Gnome Software from it. See More
Endi Sukaj
2b Realist
Top Pro

Works great on old laptops

It does not have a lot of system requirements so it works pretty well even on older laptops. See More
ImaginativeCharon
Top Con

Too much bloat included by default

See More
Chloe Montanez
Endi Sukaj
Slimothy
Top Pro

Perfect for people who like Gnome 2

The goal of MATE is to maintain the look and feel of Gnome 2, while maintaining compatibility with Gnome 3. To that end, it has also forked and renamed many of Gnome's core applications. It benefits from the years of work and polish that have gone into the Gnome project. See More
Holo Deck
Top Con

Redundant

There is absolutely no reason to install it, since it uses the same package repositories as Ubuntu and you can transform any Ubuntu install into a Ubuntu MATE install. See More
Chloe Montanez
Marc Draco
Robert Orzanna
Top Pro

Highly configurable

Comes with an option to configure as Windows-like, Mac-like, Gnome-like, etc. in a single click. Wonderful to get you started without having to learn it all from scratch. See More
Laura Kyle
Top Con

Not bleeding edge

Users who want the latest and greatest software would be happier using Arch Linux, Antergos or another rolling release distro. However, because Ubuntu MATE is based on Ubuntu, users still have access to a large repository of recent software. See More
Matthew
Harum
Top Pro

Behaves like Ubuntu with Unity - after Ubuntu-Gnome transformation

No better place to continue Unity experience with Ubuntu (Left-side panel, HUD) and not as awkward as Gnome. See More
10Meisterbälle
Top Pro

Based on Ubuntu

See More
Specs
Based On:Debian>Ubuntu
Default Desktop Environment:MATE
Init-System:Systemd
Package Manager:Debian Package Manger
See All Specs
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369 134

Void Linux

All
21
Experiences
Pros
15
Cons
5
Specs
SplendidAgdistis
Monika
VERSION4
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
Alex
Nedas Kuzas
MellowPhrike
Top Con

Not suitable for those new to Linux

Documentation is scarce, NTFS partitions aren't automatically mounted, etc. See More
Monika
WhiteLilac
VERSION4
Top Pro

Very minimal

More minimalistic than Arch since it doesn't use systemd. See More
Nedas Kuzas
MethodicalNefertum
SiamSami
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
WhiteLilac
VERSION4
Alex
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
TirelessTengri
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
Monika
WhiteLilac
VERSION4
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
Nedas Kuzas
CapablePerkunas
Top Con

No packages

Void developers refuse to package brave. See More
Nedas Kuzas
CourteousCaishen
Monika
Top Pro

Runit is fast and easy to configure

Runit init system is incredibly fast to boot and very simple to use. See More
Nedas Kuzas
IntuitiveShullat
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
Karan Forever
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
Svjatoslavs Krasnikovs
Semi
Top Pro

Very lightweight

Base installation can idle at less than 250 megabytes of RAM. See More
Monika
WhiteLilac
VERSION4
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
MetalUpa
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
Monika
SOLAR VERSION 3
TirelessAhriman
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
Alex
Nedas Kuzas
Semi
Top Pro

Friendly forum

Unlike the Arch Forum, it is a friendly forum (although small). See More
Monika
VERSION4
Nedas Kuzas
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
Monika
SOLAR VERSION 3
Begs
Top Pro

Many packages

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

Cool Neofetch logo

Neofetch looks good. See More
WhiteLilac
VERSION4
Alex
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
See All Specs
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764 133

Pop!_OS

All
8
Experiences
Pros
7
Cons
1
Ahmed Almeleh (Advanro Systems)
Top Pro

Pop! makes GNOME look really good

If you're a fan of flat desktop interfaces reminiscent of Material design on Android, you'll like the theme that comes as a default in Pop! OS. The desktop and title bars all use a bright turquoise theme that makes the interface feel happy and borderline retro-chic. I found it to be like something you'd find printed on a ringer t-shirt. See More
Paolo
Ahmed Almeleh (Advanro Systems)
Alex
Top Con

64-bit only

Some older PCs still have 32 Bit processors. This limitation will be a major con for those who use an older PC since they will not be able to install, run it in a VM or live media See More
Alex
FerventKusuh
Top Pro

User-friendly installer

The visually appealing and easy to use installer makes dual booting as easy as it can be. See More
Alex
Yon Connor
Top Pro

Nice gnome theme dy default

Has nice gnome theme looks really good. See More
Monika
Shaun Prince
Top Pro

Ready to play games, out of the box

If you still miss how easy it was to just click-install and play games in Windows, Pop! will give you that similar expectation. See More
Paolo
Alex
Ahmed Almeleh (Advanro Systems)
Top Pro

A separate NVIDIA version

Most linux distros seem to hate Nvidia's graphics cards e.g. Fedora and OpenSUSE. System76 have decided to be kind. They have decided to form a good relationship with Nvidia fans and Nvidia itself. By creating a separate installation media that is dedicated for providing support to Nvidia's graphics cards. Even going as far as putting Nvidia's driver updates on Pop!_Shop for users to easily access and install. See More
Shaun Prince
Top Pro

Optimized for modern hardware

Whereas normally, to use a brand new computer with a Linux OS, you would typically try to use unstable and sometimes buggy drivers - or struggle without hardware support until a stable release comes along. See More
Ahmed Almeleh (Advanro Systems)
Top Pro

Made by a hardware seller

System76 is a hardware company. It configures machines to ship with Linux pre-installed. This means its entire business model centers around delivering a quality desktop Linux experience. As a result, the company pours more attention onto the desktop. It can fix visual issues and may be able to provide a smoother overall experience than you would have installing a different version of Linux on your machine yourself. Providing Pop!_OS also empowers System76 to make certain fixes for users directly rather than having to coordinate with Canonical or the broader Ubuntu community. See More
HideSee All Experiences
906 156

Artix Linux

All
11
Experiences
Pros
7
Cons
3
Specs
Monika
IngeniousKurunta
DedicatedInshushinak
Top Pro

No systemd

See More
OpinionatedBeletSeri
Monika
IngeniousKurunta
Top Con

No systemd

Some packages flat out won't work because systemd is non existent, sadly pipewire needs systemd to run. Hopefully Pipewire becomes usable soon. Edit: Pipewire does work but you will have to make a startup script. See More
Simona
teadan
Yoši Yoda
Top Pro

Runit

Artix actively supports the runit init system known from Void Linux. (Equally besides the OpenRC init system known from Gentoo). See More
AmiableAzimua
Endi Sukaj
Inguna Gudareva
Top Con

Few Arch packages might not be available yet

Developers are working migrating all packages into their own repositories while ensuring there's no systemd malware. See More
AmiableAzimua
Top Pro

Lightweight

Only the software you would need like Terminal emulator, file manager, media player and a browser. See More
Simona
EnchantingDiJun
Top Con

No tiling WM (i3/sway) out of the box

See More
ExcitedOzwiena
Top Pro

Compatible with Arch Repositories

It is fully compatible with almost all packages from community, extra, multilib and AUR. See More
teadan
AmiableAzimua
OptimisticCantzicnal
Top Pro

Close to bare Arch Linux

No learning curve if you're coming from Arch or any of its derivatives. See More
AmiableAzimua
Top Pro

Rolling distro

See More
teadan
AmiableAzimua
Top Pro

Flexibility

You can have a functional system in less than 10 mins using GUI installer OR you can do it "the Arch way". See More
Specs
Based On:Arch Linux
Default Desktop Environment:Bash (Unix shell), Cinnamon, KDE Plasma, LXDE, LXQt, MATE and XFCE
Package Manager:Pacman
OS Family: GNU/Linux
See All Specs
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1212 217

KDE Neon

All
6
Experiences
Pros
4
Cons
1
Specs
Alex Lowe
Top Pro

Works out of the box

Since it's built on the strong Ubuntu base, KDE Neon works seamlessly with a huge variety of hardware. See More
Endi Sukaj
Andy Gait
Top Con

Steep learning curve for beginners

It's a really sparse, bare-bones system, no automatic driver install for example. It can be quite hard for someone not used to Linux. See More
Alex Lowe
Top Pro

Configurability

KDE Neon uses KDE as its desktop environment, which is highly configurable, but also has great defaults. See More
Andy Gait
Top Pro

The best looking Linux OS

It really is a great and stunning looking OS. See More
Rūdis
IndependentIdunn
Top Pro

Works well on low-end computers

See More
Specs
Based On:Debian>Ubuntu LTS
Default Desktop Environment:KDE
Init-System:Systemd
Package Manager:Debian Package Manager
See All Specs
Hide
1060 198

Gentoo Linux

All
19
Experiences
Pros
13
Cons
6
Deuxis
Slimothy
Top Pro

Full control of the software

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
Deuxis
Alex
Chloe Montanez
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
BlueManCZ
Slimothy
Top Pro

Portage's emerge is powerful

Portage is a package management system with a huge amount of options and features. See More
Chloe Montanez
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
LikableTellervo
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
Chloe Montanez
thermoplastics
Joal Heagney
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
Chloe Montanez
Top Pro

Fully customizable

The usage of advanced features like USE flags makes it more customizable than any binary distribution. See More
Yoshiyuki
Deuxis
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
thermoplastics
mike walker
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
BlueManCZ
Top Con

No default installer

Installation must be done manually by following instructions in the handbook. See More
Deuxis
Chloe Montanez
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
teadan
NobleCoventina
Top Con

Too hard

See More
CoolDamasen
Slimothy
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
Chloe Montanez
Slimothy
Top Pro

Documentation and community are second to none

Provides a whole handbook to refer to during setup and usage. See More
Alex
CoolDamasen
Slimothy
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
Monika
SOLAR VERSION 3
Chloe Montanez
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
Simona
ResponsibleEiresione
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
Slimothy
Top Pro

Gentoo does not impose a standard look-and-feel

See More
Bobbbay Bobbayan
Slimothy
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
HideSee All Experiences
1166 220

Solus

All
27
Experiences
Pros
16
Cons
10
Specs
Simona
Alonso Zamorano
Top Pro

Rolling release

Which means you don't have to suffer from version to version updates that can break it. See More
10Meisterbälle
Top Con

Not much software

There is not much software available. See More
Endi Sukaj
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
SuccessfulBelisama
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
Endi Sukaj
Robert Orzanna
Top Pro

Modern desktop environment

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

There is often a black screen after update

See More
Monika
Michał Mielczyński
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
SiamSami
Top Con

An upgrade breaks the system quite often

See More
SkillfulAoide
Top Pro

Responsive

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

Forums are not very friendly

See More
10Meisterbälle
Top Pro

Most stable Rolling Release Distro

See More
WiseProserpina
Top Con

Systemd

See More
Robert Orzanna
Top Pro

Exclusively for desktop systems

See More
WhiteLilac
SiamSami
Top Con

No USB Image writer

See More
Rūdis
Endi Sukaj
Alonso Zamorano
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
Endi Sukaj
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
LearnedCyamites
Top Pro

Rock-solid Distro

Very stable and well curated. See More
SiamSami
Top Con

Slow development

See More
Simona
LearnedCyamites
Top Pro

Lightning fast boot time

See More
WhiteLilac
SiamSami
Top Con

Software a bit slower to launch than for other distributions

See More
Monika
ExuberantVedenemo
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
SuccessfulBelisama
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
Simona
LearnedCyamites
Top Pro

Friendly towards proprietary codecs, firmware and drivers

So you won't have to enable PPAs or extra repos for that. See More
LearnedCyamites
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
Luck Is With Me
Top Pro

Friendly community

The only community who values the newcomers. Very helpful community. See More
Robert Orzanna
Top Pro

Built from scratch

See More
Specs
Based On:Scratch
Init-System:systemd
Package Manager:eopkg package manager (PiSi fork)
Release Schedule:Rolling
See All Specs
HideSee All Experiences
723 156

Linux Mint

All
38
Experiences
Pros
20
Cons
17
Specs
Slimothy
Tom Raleigh
Top Pro

Familiar user interface

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
Alex
ConfidentDaichinTengri
Top Con

Outdated software centers

Many of the offered options are older versions. See More
Endi Sukaj
Tim Etler
Slimothy
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
ResponsiveSaubarag
Monika
thibdb13
Top Con

Does not handle multiple languages well

See More
Monika
Endi Sukaj
Slimothy
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
DiplomaticNanaya
Madis
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
Monika
ReverentTsukiyomi
Chris Taylor
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
Alex
Madis
Top Con

Looks ugly

The default theme and wallpaper looks outdated and bland. Luckily that is easy to change in the settings. See More
Monika
J Allestad
Heinrich Göbl
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
Harley James Faggetter
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
Harley James Faggetter
Heinrich Göbl
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
Monika
IntuitiveAnat
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
Harley James Faggetter
Phillip Smith
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
Endi Sukaj
thermoplastics
David Pérez
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
Monika
Jeff Kroll
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
stalliondrift
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
Monika
Tim Etler
Slimothy
Top Pro

Popular

Linux Mint is currently the most hit page on DistroWatch. Because of its popularity, long-term support is pretty guaranteed. See More
VigorousGanymede
Top Con

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

See More
Monika
WhiteLilac
Tuvia Tuvia
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
DeterminedTrebaruna
Top Con

The Update doesn't work sometimes

Sometimes the update failed to configure a package. See More
Monika
ReverentTsukiyomi
Top Pro

Not from a big company

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

Nothing new

Just another fork of Ubuntu. Produces nothing that can't be found in another Debian-based distros See More
Monika
Tuvia Tuvia
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
Monika
Lucifer Morningstar
Top Con

Cheap Windows substitute

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

The easiest option ever

The distro is the easiest operating system to run ever. See More
CreativeShurpanakha
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
Monika
ReverentTsukiyomi
Top Pro

Pretty desktop

Linux Mint has a quite pretty default desktop. Cinnamon is adopted by other distros also. See More
Alex
Monika
SiamSami
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
WhiteLilac
Tuvia Tuvia
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
Endi Sukaj
Joal Heagney
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
Monika
10Meisterbälle
Top Pro

Has more desktop options

You can choose between Cinnamon, MATE and XFCE. See More
CreativeShurpanakha
Monika
sulaiman alsajari
Top Con

Very boring to boring people

See More
CreativeShurpanakha
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
DreamerLugus
Chloe Montanez
CompetentArebati
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
CromulentYiDeokchun
Top Pro

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

See More
CromulentYiDeokchun
Top Pro

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

See More
Heinrich Göbl
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
Init-System:Systemd
Package Manager:Debian Package Manager
See All Specs
HideSee All Experiences
2219 461

Kubuntu

All
12
Experiences
Pros
10
Cons
1
Specs
thermoplastics
Sojan Janso
Top Pro

Full featured desktop environment that is actively developed

Unlike some abandoned, unfinished distros, Kubuntu is up to date and offers a fully functional desktop environment that targets workstation users. See More
Monika
thermoplastics
Endi Sukaj
Top Con

Often unstable

There have been several bugs reported. Some of these bugs are: shutting down randomly, refusing to boot, refusing to shut down, menus may act strange, icons may disappear, etc. See More
Monika
PerfectLeto
Top Pro

Stable as hell

Super stable, never crashes. See More
Ganton
Top Pro

Everything is highly customizable

See More
Ganton
Top Pro

Good hardware recognition

See More
Simona
Ganton
Top Pro

An outstanding number of packages and PPAs, backports PPA

See More
Ganton
Top Pro

Comes preinstalled in several laptops and desktops

Comes preinstalled in several laptops and desktops. (Tuxedo, Slimbook, laptopWithLinux.com, Kubuntu Focus, Vant and other companies). See More
Ganton
Top Pro

It also has paid technical support available

See More
Monika
ImaginativePudicitia
Top Pro

Very stable

Kubuntu is very stable, you can easily install the appropriate Nvidia drivers for your machines, and not have dependency problems whatsoever. KDE offers a great user experience, and Dolphin is a great file manager. See More
Endi Sukaj
deric
Top Pro

Customizable

You can easily adjust the workspace to your needs. See More
AmiableHecate
Top Pro

Light

See More
Specs
Based On:Debian>Ubuntu
Default Desktop Environment:KDE
Init-System:Systemd
Package Manager:Debian Package Manager
See All Specs
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416 152