What are the best Linux distros?

Question

36

Options
Considered

697

User
Recs.

Sep 25, 2021

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

The Best 1 of 34 OptionsWhy?

Best Linux distros	Price	Based On	Package Manager
90 Arch Linux	-	Independent	Pacman
85 Manjaro Linux	-	-	-
84 Gentoo Linux	-	-	-
81 Void Linux	Free	Independent	XBPS XBPS-Src
-- Qubes OS	-	Fedora/Xen	-

See Full List

33 Other Options Considered

Manjaro Linux

Top Pro

Rolling release

Top Con

Not suitable for those new to Linux

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

Specs

Based On:Independent

See All

Qubes OS

Top Pro

Really secure, maybe the safest Linux distro right now

VersatileAjatar's Experience

it was VERY secure, no bugs. i also liked having apps from multiple OSes. See More

Specs

Based On:Fedora/Xen

Default Desktop Environment:Xfce4

Top Pro

Allows you to easily compartmentalize different applications using virtualization

https://www.qubes-os.org/intro/#how-does-qubes-os-provide-security See More

GenuineRongo's Experience

Between Debian, Fedora, and Whonix you can find pretty much any program you want. You can install other systems as well which pretty neat. Really the only drawback is no 3D acceleration in the dom0, but if you're not really into gaming it's not really noticeable. The security potential is the main seller with Qubes. If you use it right it can provide probably the best security in Linux right now. I've been using it for over year now and although I like to "distro-hop" I'm probably always use qubes for my main system See More

Top Pro

Allows using differents OS seamlessly using virtualization

Top Pro

Whonix out of box

See All

MX-Linux

Top Pro

Lightweight

Top Con

Longer boot time

UpbeatNintinugga's Experience

by far the distro I've tried See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable>antiX

Pros

6

Specs

Top Pro

No systemd

Specs

Based On:Arch Linux

Package Manager:Pacman

Release Schedule:Rolling release

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

Package Manager:Debian Package Manager

Release Schedule:Point

Default Desktop Environment:LXDE, KDE or GNOME

See All Specs

Linux Mint

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

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

Confuddled's Experience

It was easy to install and a very complete package. The Debian Edition runs really well on an older laptop of mine. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu LTS

Package Manager:Debian Package Manager

Top Pro

Focuses on innovation

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

Top Con

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

PioneeringCyamites's Experience

At work I use Red Hat. At home I use Fedora primarily after deciding to switch from Ubuntu around 2013. There are times when I wish the Fedora community were as large as the Ubuntu community, like when trying to set up my Brother printer/scanner and discovering a wealth of Ubuntu information that I then adapt to Fedora. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Super-fast

Uses vram, and a zen kernel. See More

Top Con

Needs a lot of RAM

Minimum is 4GB, for most Linux distributions it's 2GB or less. See More

LoyalDiyanMasalanta's Experience

Garuda is Awesome See More

Specs

Desktop Environments:x11

Top Pro

Themes

The dr460nized KDE theme is awesome. See More

VersatileAjatar's Experience

I found it an easy way to use arch, which i liked, without all of the tweaking See More

Top Pro

Easy entrance to Arch Linux

Filled to the brim with lots of quality-of-life changes and optimizations that are simple enough for long-time Windows, long-time Mac users, and Arch newbies to understand. Though, it also leads to bloat or not necessarily helpful extra software. If you're not into the "bloat" added in, try checking out the barebones version, you'll need to know a lot of things bout Arch to fully use barebones. See More

Top Pro

Unused RAM is wasted RAM

See All

Endeavour OS

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

Uses systemd

niingu's Experience

Easy install with Calamares installer and a beautifully themed XFCE desktop. Built for speed! This is THE best Arch distribution - a perfect replacement for Antergos. And it will become even better in short time. See More

Specs

Top Pro

TONS of Thunar Custom Actions

PsychOS comes with a lot of Thunar Custom Actions, many of which as disabled, but they are there none the less; I'm guessing they are just in case. I even right-clicked a DOOM WAD and there was a menu item to play it directly using LZDoom. See More

Specs

Based On:Devuan

Package Manager:Debian Package manager

Release Schedule:Point, but no official schedule

Default Desktop Environment:XFCE

Top Pro

State of the art package manager

Atomic non-destructive upgrades rollback of a system upgrade declarative reproducible system configuration unprivileged installation of packages transparent source or binary deployment. See More

Henri Williams's Experience

Use it daily as my primary desktop See More

Specs

Package Manager:Nix Package Manager

Release Schedule:Point or Rolling

Init-System:Systemd

Official Supported Architectures:amd64, i386

See All Specs

Top Pro

Robust

Packages don't break after a NixOS upgrade as they are prone to with other distros (especially Arch). See More

Top Pro

Reproducible System

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Arch Linux

Top Pro

Vast variety of use and purpose

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

See All

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What are the best Linux distros?

The Best 1 of 34 OptionsWhy?

Arch Linux

My Recommendation for Arch Linux

My Recommendation for Arch Linux

No restrictive handholding, pure control over everything

Not ready out of the box

Excellent documentation

Highly egotistical community

A package for almost everything

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

Cutting edge rolling release

Not for the faint of heart

Excellent package management with the AUR

Manual install process

Fast and simple package management

Horribly difficult to configure, even for those familiar with Linux

Helpful community

Too many package upgrades that require manual intervention

As slim or copious as you want it

No graphical installer

Simplicity is absolutely the principal objective behind Arch development

Not so great overall

It is Linux at the core

Works only on AMD64

Stripped down to the bone

No Static Release

Support for a large variety of hardware

Not really for desktop

Good overall system quality

Uses Systemd

Helpful 3rd-party installers

Rolling release requires bandwidth

Highly customizable

Fragile packages

Minimal

Pacman is a slow package manager

Experts working on the packages

Instability can be an issue

Good for ricing for r/unixporn

Lost its way

No need for external repos

Occasional upstream package bugs

Huge Repositories

Multiple Aur helpers

Vanilla

Documentation only makes sense if you know how to adjust it

An opportunity to improve

Helpful for understanding how Linux is installed

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

Rolling updates

Arch Linux Wiki

Flexible upgrades

Completely signed repos by default

Easier to review the distributions packages

Highly reliable upgrades

Simple by design

Incredible educational value

On average only 1 manual intervention needed a year now

Great for low performance hardware

Supports various desktop environments and window managers

Highly reliable and stable build

Ultimate mid-range OS for Tinkering

Multilib support is just around the corner

Low maintenance

Incredibly easy to manage

Great hardware support

Great security out of the box

Vast variety of use and purpose

33 Other Options Considered

Manjaro Linux

My Recommendation for Manjaro Linux

My Recommendation for Manjaro Linux

A rolling-release distribution

Nothing new

Based on Arch and user friendly

Can still be unstable

Arch User Repository access

Bad dependencies

Installation is a breeze