What are the best Linux distros?

Question

28

Options
Considered

554

User
Recs.

Oct 21, 2020

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

The Best 1 of 26 OptionsWhy?

Best Linux distros	Price	Based On	Init-System
90 Arch Linux	-	N/A	Systemd
86 Gentoo Linux	-	N/A	OpenRC
83 Manjaro Linux	-	Arch Linux	systemd
-- Artix Linux	-	Arch Linux	OpenRC, runit, s6
81 Debian GNU/Linux	-	N/A	-

See Full List

25 Other Options Considered

Gentoo Linux

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

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

CoolPilnitis's Experience

Switched from redhat 7.3 and just never consider any others anymore. See More

Specs

Based On:N/A

Top Pro

Gentoo does not impose a standard look-and-feel

See All

Manjaro Linux

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

Specs

Based On:Arch Linux

Init-System:OpenRC, runit, s6

Release Schedule:Rolling

Official Supported Architectures:x86_64, Aarch64

Top Pro

Whonix out of box

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

Specs

Based On:Fedora/Xen

Default Desktop Environment:Xfce4

Top Pro

Really secure, maybe the safest Linux distro right now

Top Pro

Allows using differents OS seamlessly using virtualization

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

See All

Void Linux

Top Pro

Rolling release

Top Con

Small amount of packages

Specs

Based On:Independent

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

See All

MX-Linux

Init-System:SysV, knoppix-autoconfig

Release Schedule:Point

Package Manager:Debian Package Manager

See All Specs

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

Integration with GNOME

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

Top Con

Proprietary drivers are unsupported

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

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

Based On:Red Hat Linux 1

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

Init-System:Systemd

Release Schedule:Point or Rolling

Package Manager:Nix Package Manager

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

NixOS is configured using the Nix package manager, allowing your system to be replicated and kept in sync across multiple machines. Great for keeping a laptop and desktop in sync. See More

Top Pro

Minimal

You can start with a minimal environment and add packages and software to suit your needs as you go along. See More

See All

PsychOS

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

Init-System:SysVinit

Release Schedule:Point, but no official schedule

Package Manager:apt, pip, gem, rpm, yum, pacapt, and alien, as well as GUI options like Synaptic Package Manager and MX's Package Installer so as to have a flatpack option.

Top Pro

Stable

Crashes and lockups are very rare. See More

Top Con

Synaptic Package Manager UI looks similar to what the old email client Eudora did.

All text; no images, or screenshots; and terse descriptions that are somtimes confusing. See More

Daniel Presley's Experience

Stable, compatible, and customizable. When other distros wouldn't boot, this one has always come through. See More

Specs

Based On:Mandrake Linux

Init-System:SysVinit

Release Schedule:Rolling Release

Default Desktop Environment:KDE, MATE

Top Pro

Stable

Tumbleweed is stable enough to use every day. Updates are OpenQA tested to ensure stability before being released for Tumbleweed. Bleeding edge untested software can be tried using OpenSUSE factory. See More

Top Con

High bandwidth requirements

The constant upgrades can consume lots of internet bandwitdh. If you have a metered internet connection you may not want to use tumbleweed. See More

Ryan Decker's Experience

Tumbleweed is an amazing distribution. Tumbleweed is a rolling release so every update is a distribution upgrade. If you are looking for a very polished rolling release give tumbleweed a try! See More

Specs

Based On:SLS Linux>Slackware>SuSE

Init-System:Systemd

Release Schedule:Rolling

Origin:Germany

Specs

Based On: SLS Linux > Slackware > SuSE

Init-System:Systemd

Release Schedule:Point (1 year minor releases, 3 years major releases)

Package Manager:RPM Package Manager

See All Specs

Ubuntu

Top Pro

Lots of support

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

Top Con

Canonical (author) is proprietary

Canonical is focused on making money so you can see many proprietary offers by them and the OS has built-in trackers (Amazon). See More

Raghu Ranganathan's Experience

Ubuntu is the most well maintained, widely used, simple, easy to install linux distro. It is the most used distro on this list and is even included in some laptops by default. It's based off of the rock solid debain, and is probably the most well supported and documented OS in this list. See More

Specs

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

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

Top 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

See All

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Arch Linux

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What are the best Linux distros?

The Best 1 of 26 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

Not for the faint of heart

A package for almost everything

Horribly difficult to configure. Even for those who is familiar with Linux.

Cutting edge rolling release

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

Excellent package management with the AUR

No Graphical installer

Fast and simple package management

Not really for desktop

As slim or copious as you want it

Highly egotistical community

Helpful community

Uses Systemd

Simplicity is absolutely the principal objective behind Arch development

Manual install process

Stripped down to the bone

Rolling release requires bandwidth

It is Linux at the core

Fragile packages

Good overall system quality

Not so great overall

Minimal

Pacman is a slow package manager

Experts working on the packages

Instability can be an issue

Vanilla

Lost its way

No need for external repos

No graphical installer

Highly customizable

Works only on AMD64

Huge Repositories

Too many package upgrades that require manual intervention

An opportunity to improve

Multiple Aur helpers

Arch Linux Wiki

Occasional upstream package bugs

Good for ricing for r/unixporn

Documentation only makes sense if you know how to adjust it

Support for a large variety of hardware

Helpful 3rd-party installers

Helpful for understanding how Linux is installed.

25 Other Options Considered

Gentoo Linux

My Recommendation for Gentoo Linux

My Recommendation for Gentoo Linux

Full control of the software

Not beginner-friendly

Portability

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

Portage's emerge is powerful

No default installer

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

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

Documentation and community are second to none

Somewhat outdated solutions

A very large collection of software is available

Fully customizable

Freedom

Can be officially systemd-free

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

Live USB

Gentoo does not impose a standard look-and-feel

Manjaro Linux

My Recommendation for Manjaro Linux

My Recommendation for Manjaro Linux

A rolling-release distribution

Can still be unstable

Based on Arch and user friendly

Nothing new

Arch User Repository access

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