What is the best alternative to&#x20;Bliss OS?

Runs very slow which is not efficient. See More

67 4

score 60 · Answer 2

Android-x86

Top Pro

It's a complete port of Android to x86

Top Con

Slow performance

Top Pro

Has Bluetooth & WiFi support

Top Con

Short list of supported devices

Currently it's tested on only the following devices: ASUS Eee PCs/Laptops Viewsonic Viewpad 10 Dell Inspiron Mini Duo Samsung Q1U Viliv S5 Lenovo ThinkPad x61 Tablet Check them out, download a build and try it for yourself, read their forums and see what is presently happening, from the SurfacePRO 3 work in progress to the older Asus T100 ongoing work and many other PC's, Laptop, 2-in-1's, the older Surface 2, Dell XPS 12, Dell Venue 8, HP Stream, Sony Viao and many others. AOSP KitKat is their present released product, Lollipop version 5.1.1 is their present development cycle. There are builds available for either. See More

Top Pro

Stable device support

Runs on more devices than any other available Android on a PC product presently available, KitKat, Lollipop, all open source. See More

Top Pro

Actively developed

Since 2009 the pet project of running Android on a PC by a highly respected developer, has gathered many developer contributions from the open source community...and in 2015 they are still going strong and delivering. Contributors are welcomed and needed for ongoing development work, any donations are accepted. See More

Top Pro

Open source

Using Open Source Mesa for GPU / Video and presently up to Linux Kernel 4.0.6, with some Kernel 4.1 test builds available from contributors.... See More

Specs

Based On:Android Open Source Project

Default Desktop Environment:Android dalla

Init-System:Android init

Release Schedule:N/A

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

60 23

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

It is stable like Debian. See More

574 167

score 643 · Answer 4

Devuan GNU+Linux

Top Pro

Stability

Top Con

Difficult to install on non-free hardware

Unlike Debian, Devuan offers no unfree netinstall media, so if your system needs unfree drivers (e.g a laptop or a tablet), you'll have to download the Debian firmware on a separate USB. See More

Top Pro

It's Debian

Devuan is Debian just without systemd, it just mirrors the the Debian archive and repacks packages that have hard dependencies on systemd. See More

Top Con

No systemd

Top Pro

Excellent for normal people

It is easy to use and is a good choice for beginners. See More

Top Con

Fragmentation

Forked distributions like Devuan and Artix fragment the Linux community and hurt the original project. Debian users who do not want systemd should use Slackware or BSD instead. See More

Top Pro

No Systemd

Top Pro

Most decent look amongst other XFCE distros

Default XFCE theme is unique of all the XFCE distos including MXLinux, Xubuntu etc. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian

Default Desktop Environment:XFCE

Init-System:SysVinit, runit or OpenRC

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

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

643 105

score 785 · Answer 5

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

XFCE is meant to be lightweight, and it's almost true for other XFCE distros but not for MX Linux. See More

785 143

score 637 · Answer 6

MX Linux

Top Pro

Easy to use

Top Con

Only one Desktop Environment

Top Pro

Supports non-free drivers

Top Con

Its XFCE version is too laggy

Top Pro

MX Snapshot: lets you make your own distro

Can create your own ISO (snapshot) and use it either as live-session and install back when needed. With the (pre-installed) Snapshot tool you can easily create an ISO of your running system and then save it to a USB (or other media) and use "your own" distro as a live session or install back whenever you like (even on a different PC with different specs with no issues). You can even give that customized ISO to friends (selecting "non-personal" ISO when creating the snapshot; thus resetting the accounts & passwords and Home folder etc.). Also you can save that ISO directly encrypted via MX Live USB Maker tool. Again, you can install MX encrypted during installation with just ticking a box, no matter if it's the official ISO or your snapshot. See More

Top Con

Old software

Many software applications are older. See More

Top Pro

Good MX Tools and Package Installer

MX Linux comes with its own set of tools called MX Tools, designed to make life easier for users. See More

Top Con

Remixed Debian testing

It's mainly a Debian stable with some recompiled/backported Debian testing packages. See More

Top Pro

Easy install

Top Con

Includes non-free drivers

Top Pro

Based on Debian

It is based on Debian and not based on Ubuntu. See More

Top Con

More than 50 tweaking softwares pre-installed

Top Pro

Lightweight

Top Con

Longer boot time

Top Pro

Very stable

Top Con

10s of media players preinstalled

Top Pro

No systemd

Top Con

Too much preinstalled applications

Top Pro

Can also be used as an emergency tool

It has almost all tools to repair non booting systems or recover files & folders and save them on a safe place. And when thought together with it starts quick on live-session. In addition, you can do these with "your own", customized distro (snapshot). See More

Top Con

Causes overheating on some hardwares

Other debian based XFCE distros- Xubuntu, Debian XFCE, Devuan leave small footprint on system whereas MXLinux uses too much CPU resources on same system. See More

Top Pro

Live-Session boots fastest after Puppy

After Puppy Linux (which's aimed to run from RAM and which is smaller in size) the second fastest (head & shoulders) booting one (together with the sister project antiX) and also has the option "toram" to run from RAM. Yes, not only when compared to full distros, even far faster than small sized or tiny distros, especially when booted to "live-session", about 2 - 2.5 times faster on an old single core laptop. See More

Top Con

Installer and configuration tools are different

Installer and configuration tools are different and can take some time getting used to. See More

Top Con

Too much customization

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable>antiX

Default Desktop Environment:XFCE

Init-System:SysV-init (default) & systemD

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

637 134

score 1196 · Answer 7

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

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

1196 230

score 2283 · Answer 8

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 9

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

Default Desktop Environment:XFCE, KDE Plasma, GNOME

RAM:64

Init-System:systemd

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

4157 806

score 415 · Answer 10

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

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

415 62

score 726 · Answer 11

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

Lean, fast and surprisingly stable. See More

726 112

score 676 · Answer 12

Endeavour OS

Top Pro

Good overall system quality and performance

Top Con

NET installer on the way

Top Pro

Great hardware support

Top Con

Not for everyone

Top Pro

No restrictive handholding, pure control over everything

The user can do whatever he wishes because the distro IS Arch - with and easy installer and great themes. See More

Top Con

Kalu needs a little refinement

I applaud the developers to carry on the legacy of Antergos, the only niggling thing that I would appreciate is, while it's nice to see news about updates; my opinion is that once you dismiss the notifications they STAY dismissed. And just clicking on the icon brings kalu brings it to the foreground. Or have the functionality of turning off the news altogether would be well received. Good distro. See More

Top Pro

Fast and simple package management

There can only be one Package Manager (pacman) ;) See More

Top Con

Same Cons that apply for Arch Linux

Since it is based on Arch, it is harder to install and can easily break. See More

Top Pro

Easy installer

Top Con

Uses systemd

Top Pro

Great for low performance hardware

Easy on the specs and still blazingly fast. See More

Top Pro

Lightweight

Top Pro

Arch Linux Wiki

Being an "easy to install version of Arch" means it is exactly easy to use the famous Arch Wiki! See More

Top Pro

As slim as you want it

Based on Arch, Endevour OS keeps its core repositories slim and free of unnecessary dependencies. The distro comes with no bloatware, only the necessary packages. The repositories are nearly as full as those of Ubuntu, while they are often more up to date. See More

Top Pro

AUR support

One of the best reasons to use an Arch based distro. You can find almost every package there is in the Linux world! See More

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

Top Pro

Great XFCE implementation

Their use of themes and configuration look great! See More

Top Pro

Not based on Ubuntu

Top Pro

Cutting edge rolling release

Exactly as Arch - allows users to stay on the most up-to-date versions of the software they are using. See More

Top Pro

Support for a large variety of new hardware

Rolling release means newer, up to date, mesa and kernel versions able to handle newer hardware with better performance! See More

Top Pro

Helpful community

Great team of developers and excellent forum support on their official website. See More

Top Pro

Great community

Specs

Default Desktop Environment:Budgie, Cinnamon, Deepin, GNOME, i3, KDE Plasma, LXQt, MATE, Xfce

Package Manager:pacman

It is a full stage 4 build that is fully compatible with Gentoo. See More

676 107

score 133 · Answer 13

Redcore Linux

Top Pro

Stage 4 build of Gentoo

Top Pro

Focuses Qt-Software

It focuses Qt-desktops and software but it also has GTK+ software available if you need them. See More

Top Pro

Easy to use

Best Gentoo based distro. See More

Specs

Based On:Gentoo

Default Desktop Environment:KDE, LXQt

Init-System:OpenRC

Package Manager:Portage

Has a 70-90MB memory footprint. See More

133 30

score 455 · Answer 14

antiX

Top Pro

Extremely lightweight

Top Con

Not really free and not available for download in Iran

Top Pro

Quick installation

The installation procedure for antiX is quick and painless. It installs the OS and grub in no time. See More

Top Pro

Works well on 32-bit PC

Fewer distros are available to work on 32-bit machines. This works well on old Toshiba. Quick enough on older machines not to notice any lagging. See More

Top Pro

Stats appear on the desktop

Top Pro

Works very well on ASUS 1005HA netbook

Faster than other distros tested, including many on this list. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable

Default Desktop Environment:IceWM

Init-System:SysVInit

Freedom for the users. See More

455 87

score 164 · Answer 15

Obarun

Top Pro

No telemetry

Top Con

Installer

The instasller is abysmal. Is there really no way to install this distro without using it ? See More

Top Con

Complex for newbies

Because freedom in the world today is not simple See More

Specs

Package Manager:pacman

OS Family:GNU/Linux

Release Schedule:Rolling

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

164 38

score 939 · Answer 16

Pop!_OS

Top Pro

Pop! makes GNOME look really good

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

Top Pro

User-friendly installer

The visually appealing and easy to use installer makes dual booting as easy as it can be. See More

Top Pro

Nice gnome theme dy default

Has nice gnome theme looks really good. See More

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

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

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

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

Debian offers stable and testing CD images specifically built for GNOME (the default), KDE Plasma Workspaces, Xfce and LXDE. Less common window managers such as Enlightenment, Openbox, Fluxbox, GNUstep, IceWM, Window Maker and others can also be installed. See More

939 167

score 2859 · Answer 17

Debian GNU/Linux

Top Pro

Wide choice in desktop environments

Top Con

Stable release contains extremely outdated packages

If you want the newest packages, you'll have to do a minimal installation of Debian stable then upgrade to testing or you need to install testing directly. See More

Top Pro

Standard vanilla Linux desktop

Debian runs standard Gnome, XFCE, KDE - it doesn't use its own special desktop environment or debian specific modifications or customisations, which means that users benefit from the work of the whole Linux community, Debian developers can focus on the distribution itself, and any support for your desktop environment on other distributions should work on Debian as well. See More

Top Con

No default support for unfree drivers

Debian does not official support unfree software so if you have a wifi card or anything elese that requires an unfree driver you will need to download the unofficial/non-advertised non-free iso image which contains all unfree driver packages. See More

Top Pro

Wide choice of hardware platforms

Debian has the widest choice of hardware platforms, including: amd64, armel, armhf, i386, ia64, kfreebsd-i386, kfreebsd-amd64, mips, mipsel, powerpc, sparc, s390, s390x, source, multi-arch. See More

Top Con

Ridiculous package splitting

Even though it makes sense to split devel and the actual binary of an application, the splitting has become as mess in debian and its derivates: for example the nvidia driver is splitted into over 40 different packages. See More

Top Pro

Very stable

Debian has a Stable branch, where packages are thoroughly tested before release. Furthermore Debian is know to be the definition of stable when it comes to production systems. See More

Top Con

Internal quarrels harm the project

Instead of working all together to provide the best Operating System, some maintainers are just ignorant and aggressive to new ideas or new maintainers. That led to many crises and controversy in Debian's history. See More

Top Pro

Install and forget

Once installed you can almost forget about it and start to use your desktop for your daily tasks. See More

Top Con

Systemd is everywhere

Systemd is very hard to debug by itself, and can break in very strange ways (such as not being able to mount a single partition on bootup), but the increasing number of desktops that are relying on specific functionality provided only by systemd (policy kit, dbus, etc) makes the entire system more fragile and harder to debug. See More

Top Pro

Easy to find help with any problem

Debian is one of the oldest and most popular distros out there. Debian's popularity means that you will always be able to find a solution for your problem just by searching on Google, or if by chance nobody has had the problem you are having it's very easy to ask the community and quickly get a solution. See More

Top Con

Outdated kernel of the live system

Since the LiveCD is based on Debian stable the kernel is old, outdated but stable. See More

Top Pro

Comes with over 55.500 packages

Because of its popularity, Debian has a lot of applications available which range from productivity programs to business software, games and development tools. It comes with over 55.500 packages (software that is precompiled and ready to be installed on a local machine) -- all of them for free. See More

Top Con

Not designed for general desktop usage

By default, Debian Stable is not that great of a distro for general desktop usage, since the packages are very outdated. You'll have to spend a while configuring the system in order to make it work. See More

Top Pro

Highly secure system

Known for being consistent in maintaining a highly secure system. Several other popular distros use Debian as a base or core for their own Linux OS, the security being one of the main factors why it's so commonly used. See More

Top Con

No choices

Debian basically doesn't give you any choices, even dpkg supports this feature with virtual packages: for example, it is very hard to use a different sound system than ALSA, like OSS4 or to use ALSA with pulse audio emulation, and the same goes for different init systems. See More

Top Pro

Rolling or Release based

Every Debian Release can either use a Rolling or Release based model. See More

Top Con

Inconsistent init systems

While Linux uses systemd, non-Linux ports use the traditional sysvinit. See More

Top Pro

Well-working team

The developer works very well so the the code is one of the best written out there. See More

Top Con

Hard to learn

Top Pro

A lot of ways to install software

You can either use aptitude, apt or apt-build to install software from the Debian package archives. See More

Top Con

Breaks if you suspend/resume

Breaks when you resume the activity on the system if you use nvidia cards. See More

Top Pro

Great for gaming

As Debian is the base for SteamOS and because Ubuntu is based on it, it's almost certain that all Linux games will run properly and require no hacks like creating symbolic links because of some hardcoded paths. See More

Top Con

Buggy and non-user friendly

You need to know almost as much as Arch and deal with documentation not as good as the Arch wiki in order for Debian to work. See More

Top Pro

Big open-source project

The Debian project is one of the biggest open source projects with over 5000 active contributors. See More

Top Con

No good choices of fresh desktop environments

GNOME is quite outdated and buggy; KDE is too old, even in Sid it is at 5.14 branch (at Jun 13 2019 Plasma 5.16 is available in many rolling/fresh distros); XFCE behaves like crooked, visual artifacts at the taskbar and so on; Cinnamon as far as I know works better in Linux Mint compared to (almost) any other distro; For other desktop environments (e.g. MATE) can't say - these are too new (as projects) and possibly incomplete, thus might have many bugs. See More

Top Pro

Supports SecureBoot

You don't have to disable SecureBoot if you use it, which is useful for LiveUSB or dualboot setups. See More

Top Con

Old software is not useful, but is stable

Certainly for the stable and old stable versions. But the testing version has quite up to date software. See More

Top Pro

The Debian Social Contract

Guaranteed commitment to adherence to values, principles, priorities, requirements and guidelines by the Debian project. See More

Top Pro

A real installer

Unlike other distributions that just extract their Live image, Debian offers a real traditional and modular installer to customize the installation. See More

Top Pro

Strict separation of non-free software

Debian is one of the few distros that let the user choose if he wants a free system or not. See More

Top Pro

Debconf

Depending how it is configured debconf does the most of the hard work for you and only asks you with configuration /file conflicts. See More

Top Pro

Widely supported

Almost any software that is available for Linux provides a Debian package. See More

Top Pro

Many ports

Debian supports almost any Kernel maintained CPU instructions set. It has also a few non Linux Ports. See More

Top Pro

Apt-build

It is possible to rebuild the entire system and optimize it for your hardware (of course, it is not as detailed as Gentoo's USE flags). See More

Top Pro

Unique release cycle

The most Linux distros have one or two stages before a release, but Debian has five before a new stable version is released (experimental > unstable > testing > code-freeze/bug hunting > stable). See More

Top Pro

TUI installer

The Debian installer can still be launched as text/curses-like installer which is more compatible and keyboard-friendly than the graphical version. See More

Top Pro

Standard archives

Debs are normal ar and tar archives with shell scripting and additional gz, bz, lzma or xz compression. See More

Top Pro

Live install images for CDs, DVDs and USB thumb drives

Debian releases live install images for CDs, DVDs and USB thumb drives, for the i386 and amd64 architectures, and with a choice of desktop environments. These Debian Live images allow the user to boot from a removable media and run Debian without affecting the contents of their computer. See More

Top Pro

Wise release model

Debian stable does not update a lot and instead provides stability and well tested softwares. You don't get distracted by every shiny new stuff that comes out, and focus on what matters: productivity and reliability of your system. See More

Top Pro

Debian Fast Track for stable

Stable gets backported software from here. See More

Top Pro

Great choice for returning Linux users

If you haven't used Linux for a long time, say 5-10 years, it's a great distro in which you can quickly get in the boat again. You don't have to worry about falling back. Everything is in its place. See More

Top Pro

Has small amount of today's bugs (e.g. no duplicate web cameras in Skype - likely not Skype's fault)

But has quite a few bugs from 2016-2017, apparently for long term. See More

Specs

Based On:NONE

Default Desktop Environment:GNOME

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

Almost all PCs need non-free drivers but Parabola has none to offer. See More

2859 436

score 340 · Answer 18

Parabola GNU/Linux-libre

Top Pro

Protects your freedom, certified free by the FSF

Top Con

Won't work out-of-the-box on the most PC's

Top Pro

Option to use OpenRC or Systemd

Parabola has an OpenRC edition and a Systemd edition, so users can choose which init system they want. See More

Top Con

Same cons that apply to Arch Linux

Top Pro

All the benefits of Arch Linux, only 100% certified free software

Top Con

Not compatible with AUR

Unlike other Arch-based distros, this free distro doesn't support AUR. See More

Top Pro

Very Secure

Top Con

Small repositories

Since Parabola is a completely free distro, there is no non-free software available and the community repositories are small compared to the AUR. See More

Top Pro

Has its own repos

Parabola has its own repos (which are almost as large as Arch Linux) and the IceCat browser is included. See More

Top Con

Incompetent developers

They only care about removing "non-free" software, rather than making a properly working OS. See More

Top Pro

Can be migrated from Arch Linux without a CD/USB

Top Con

Serves no purpose

It's just Arch without non-free software and is basically a niche OS with few users. See More

Top Pro

Based on Arch Linux

Top Con

Not really free

People have to pay hundreds to maintain this distro. See More

Specs

Default Desktop Environment:LXDE

Init-System:Systemd or OpenRC

Package Manager:Pacman

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

340 77

score 1256 · Answer 19

Artix Linux

Top Pro

No systemd

Top Con

No systemd

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

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

Top Pro

Close to bare Arch Linux

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

Top Con

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

Top Pro

Lightweight

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

Top Pro

Compatible with Arch Repositories

It is fully compatible with almost all packages from community, extra, multilib and AUR. See More

Top Pro

Rolling distro

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

Default Desktop Environment:Bash (Unix shell), Cinnamon, KDE Plasma, LXDE, LXQt, MATE and XFCE

Package Manager:Pacman

OS Family: GNU/Linux

The profile system improves portage's usability without losing the soul of Gentoo. See More

1256 236

score 71 · Answer 20

Funtoo

Top Pro

Like Gentoo but more streamlined

Top Pro

Use flags that are suitable for a task or environment are grouped into Profiles

It allows selecting, for example, gnome or desktop profile with most of the sane use flags enabled inside the profile. See More

Top Pro

Portage tree split into kits

This allows more fine-grained control over package updates, and packages can be now tied together inside the kit to minimize dependency breakage while upgrading. See More

Top Pro

`boot-update` to take care of bootloader configuration

A tool to update your grub config. See More

Top Pro

Funtoo Linux offers a variety of stage3 builds

Customized to a variety of CPU microarchitecture variants from AMD, ARM, and Intel. See More

Top Pro

Stage3 sources are built using the Funtoo Linux tool 'metro'

It's a sophisticated replacement for Gentoo's build tool 'catalyst'. See More

Top Pro

Uses GIt instead of Rsync

THis makes updates so much faster! See More

Top Pro

Stage3 archive coming with pre-compiled kernel based on Debian's kernel

Top Pro

Simpler template-based network configuration

Specs

Based On:Gentoo

Default Desktop Environment:N/A

Init-System:OpenRC

Package Manager:Portage