What are the best Debian-based Linux distributions?

Main Usage:Live Desktop, System Rescue

Many computers are incapable of loading the whole 4 gigabyte DVD into RAM. There is an older CD version, however. See More

Top Pro

Powerful and lightweight

Top Con

LiveDVD version requires a lot of RAM

Top Pro

Great hardware detection

Top Con

Runs off of optical disk by default

You have to enter a special boot option to run Knoppix entirely in RAM. See More

This distro installs without drama and has an intuitive UX. Probably one of the few distro that would woo a person used to Windows. Enjoyable to setup and use, though YMMV. See More

Trisquel GNU/Linux

Top Pro

Easy to use (for a Linux!)

Top Con

Incompatibility with some hardware and rude community

Because the free software out there is inferior in its support to proprietary drivers, Trisquel has problems on some hardware. The community is of little help, is negative in the forums towards people seeking help, insulting at times and generally they respond to people wanting performance with, "switch to Ubuntu." See More

DependableAdephagia's Experience

Great polish and look, but most recent editions (9 and 10) will not give you resolutions above 800x600 on some video cards. With no free solutions even the suggestion of installing proprietary drivers on the forum gets you insulted and trolled by a very rude community. One forum on the topic even has the Trisquel community calling one poor person "disgusting" for suggesting that he may have to install a proprietary droiver. Community members overall answer to problems with Trisquel's lack of hardware support is, switch to Ubuntu and don't ask us for help. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu

Default Desktop Environment:GNOME, LXDE, MATE, Openbox

Main Usage:Desktop without unfree software

Fresh installation looks great. See More

Top Pro

Polished look and feel

Top Con

No non-free drivers by default

What brings you the best and free OS if you can't connect to the internet? See More

Top Pro

Good but not so good

There's been a lot of effort put in this project through the years, there is no question about it. It's 100% free and it's very user-friendly, but it being based on Ubuntu 16.04 isn't the best thing, as you are working with software that still is actual but the versions are not the newest. See More

It is stable enough for desktop usage since all major debian changes are done in experimental/rc-buggy See More

Siduction

Top Pro

Stable for desktop usage

Top Con

Ugly asthetics

It is pretty ugly by default See More

AffableYarikh's Experience

For Sid it is "stable" enaough to run in my everyday rack, never had downtime since years. However, this works if one carefully respects what 'apt' tells us, and if unsure use the forum. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Unstable>Aptosid

Default Desktop Environment:KDE, Xfce, Cinnamon and LXQt

Main Usage:Recent Desktop

Siduction is fully binary compatible with debian unstable/sid. See More

Top Pro

Debian based

Top Con

Big bloated installation

It extractes the LiveCD to your desktop and potentially many packages you will never need. See More

DazzlingNanaya's Experience

Will MESS your home folder if you install this on an existing installation. The installation script is doing some weird things with the settings and mess/delete the .local folder . See More

Top Pro

No packagekit

It does not install Gnome-software, Apper, Discover or any other packagekit solution that can interfere with apt. See More

Top Con

Dropped complete destops

In their recent release they dropped 2 complete desktops (GNOME & MATE) and support now only one complete (KDE) and 3 incomplete desktops (Xfce, Cinnamon & Lxqt). See More

NiceTlilhua's Experience

THe only debian based distro that is still based on Sid See More

Top Pro

Unstable based

Even the debian team recommends the testing or unstable branch for desktop systems. See More

Top Con

Upgrade warings are not included

There is only a forum thread for upgrade warnings. See More

SensibleUksakka's Experience

Great distribution if you want recent packages but at the same time some stability. See More

Top Pro

vanilla packages

since it is based on debian it also uses almost vanilla packages. See More

Top Con

Unstable based

New packages are only tested a very short time in experimental and regular package updates are almost untested. See More

NeighborlyCromCruach's Experience

Pure debian See More

Top Pro

Secure Boot support

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

Top Con

Hardware recognition is bad compared to Ubuntu

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

CaffeinatedTangaroa's Experience

Used it many years with MATE, but now they have dropped it :P See More

Top Pro

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

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

Top Con

Supports many Desktop Environments

It does not focus on one desktop and tries to support multiple at once. See More

Debian has less overhead and customizations than ubuntu which makes it more responsive. See More

Linux Mint Debian Edition

Top Pro

Faster and more responsive than Ubuntu-based editions

Top Con

What is the point?

Nearly all packages in Mint are available in Debian. See More

StrongAbundantia's Experience

easy to use and no problems See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Testing

Default Desktop Environment:Cinnamon

Package Manager:Debian Package manager

Main Usage:Desktop, Showcase for the Cinnamon desktop

Its fully compatible to debian stable so more advanced users can easily switch to the testing or unstable branch. See More

Top Pro

Fully compatible to Debian

Top Con

Requires deeper knowledge

Requires a deeper knowledge and experience with Linux and Debian package management than Ubuntu-based editions. See More

NeighborlyGnowee's Experience

Very stable; very customisable. No Ub See More

Top Pro

Linux Mint based on Debian

Linux Mint Debian Edition was designed as an alternative to the Ubuntu based Linux Mint standard edition and isas fast, stable and responsive as the original, if not more so. See More

Top Con

Fails new install with (some) Intel RST

Unless you can turn off the Intel RST in some of the newer PC like HP has, then you can boot the live session but it can't find the disk to install. See More

CheerfulXmucane's Experience

I loaded this on an older HP laptop with only 4 Gb memory. It is responsive runs great and I was able to totally repurpose this old laptop. All the features work fine. i.e. sound, network, mouse pad, USB, etc. See More

Top Pro

Feature rich

Incredibly lightweight yet feature rich and familiar desktop. Low CPU usage. Low memory usage. Runs VMs super smoothly. Native apps are universally best in class stable open source tools. See More

Top Con

May not work with newer packages from Ubuntu

LMDE is Debian based and while Ubuntu is also Debian based, Ubuntu uses newer packages than the version LMDE is based on, which can lead to some Ubuntu apps not being able to be installed. See More

LuckyMomus's Experience

Very solid project See More

CourteousBieggolmai's Experience

I like this distro as it is a Debian alternative (for those who distrust Ubuntu) and it is a fast, responsive, low requirement, stylish and functional distro. See More

HilariousOrmenos's Experience

Stable, with a load of open source stuff. Best for corporate environments See More

ProductiveAnhur's Experience

iz gud See More

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

MX Linux

Top Pro

Very stable

Top Con

Remixed Debian stable

DiplomaticHoragalles's Experience

MXLinux is the best, all-around Linux Operating System and extremely much better than windows. I always use the MATE iso. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable>antiX

Default Desktop Environment:XFCE

Main Usage:Stable System with backported Desktop

bloat on board.... See More

Top Pro

Lightweight

Top Con

VLC useless

WonderfulLuchtaine's Experience

Top Pro

Based on Debian

Top Con

Uses Debian stable

Even the Debian team recommends the use of testing or unstable for a Desktop system. See More

ResoluteBelili's Experience

laptop overheat and some bloat on board. See More

Top Pro

Easy to use

Top Con

Old software

Many software aplications are older. See More

ReflectiveTriton's Experience

It is a solid, stable and fast operating system. It has great tools to make system administration much easier. Without Systemd but emulates it for certain processes that require it, that is, MX tricks certain applications to work. It works well on older or less powerful hardware. For me it is basically a child of Debian better than Debian. See More

Top Pro

Binary compatible

It is fully binary compatible with debian stable. See More

Top Con

Will not format after multiple downloads

Tried several downloads but will not format drive to install. See More

ConscientiousEndovelicus's Experience

I cant run VLC Media Player without it freezing the whole computer and no way to get out of it except the off switch See More

Top Pro

Easy install

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

IntelQuackCore's Experience

great clean and snappy See More

Top Pro

Supports non-free drivers

Top Con

Too much preinstalled applications

AwareTellumo's Experience

4 year Linux user See More

Top Pro

Supports but doesn't rely on Systemd

Mx linux runs using the sysvinit init system, but it also uses systemd-shim to support systemd without relying on it. See More

Top Con

Not much out of the box

While this might be a pro for some, it is a pain to have to go and find all the software you end up installing anyway. 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

Too much customization

Top Pro

No systemd

Top Con

10s of media players preinstalled

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

Includes non-free drivers

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

Only one desktop environment

Top Pro

Is based on Antix, technically, so the support and community of both is included

So, all the pro's of Antix also apply. MX also has a bunch of it's own utilities and tools, that cover a lot of functionality, and the community is great. See More

Top Pro

Has multiple desktops/ISO source options

Comes in KDE (Qt) and Fluxbox/XFCE (GTK) versions, with an easy to use mirror map for direct downloads, in addition to the usual auto-select and torrent options See More

Top Pro

Includes Debian-Testing backports

Newer stable versions of software are vetted for usability and then backported via compilation against the Debian-Stable branch base, for the best balance of new software, usability, security, and stability. See More

Top Pro

Supports more printers. Before other distros added, my HP printer would only work with MXLinux.

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

Since it is based on Mint/Ubuntu, the deb packages are not binary compatible with Debian. See More

Feren OS

Top Con

Incompatible with Debian

Top Pro

Simple installation

Uses Calamares installer, and has good support, even for obscure hardware. See More

ReverentHuehuecoyotl's Experience

been test this distro work well on my old system See More

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu>Linux Mint

Default Desktop Environment:KDE

Main Usage:Desktop

Especially if you install a bunch of apps, and leave the default software in place. Then again, who does that? See More

Top Con

Can be a little bloated

Top Pro

Comes with Vivaldi as default browser, but has a browser selection tool

Has a tool to install pretty much any browser, and even adds other browsers from APT if you add PPA's. Default choices include Chromium, Google Chrome, Opera, Firefox, Falkon, and more. Tool also lets you set default browser if you install more than one, say for web-dev testing, or for usage segregation workflow. See More

Top Pro

It's basically Ubuntu/Kubuntu

so PPA's, and almost all of their documentation is applicable, but Feren has the extra stuff Canonical preconfigures or tries to pick for you taken out, and instead presents you with options. See More

Top Pro

KDE desktop, but with Nemo as default FM

It's an odd pairing at first glance, but oddly... imo, it works. The melding of styles and theming is actually really well done. See More

Top Pro

KDE only, but with the best out-of-box support for GTK apps that I've seen

Only other QT distro/DE that comes close is Deepin. Some see KDE/Qt only as a con, especially for distros with ZERO GTK support, but I think this strikes a nice balance. See More

Top Pro

Based off of Kubuntu, with some extra sauce

bits and pieces brought over from Zorin and Mint, and a few custom tools, on top of an Ubuntu LTS base. Flatpak and Snaps are both disabled, but either one or both can be enabled from the welcome screen, along with non-free codecs, with a few clicks. See More

Top Pro

A surprising amount of customizability

Preset color and widget themes that go a step farther than basic Qt or GTK styles out of the box, with preconfigured desktop layouts that can be further customized. See More

Has a 70-90MB memory footprint. See More

antiX

Top Pro

Extremely lightweight

Top Con

Spreaded network config

The network configurarion is split into many different apps, with makes difficult to configure it. See More

GenuineAlcyoneus's Experience

It's a quick and lightweight OS. It just works and lets me do the things that I want to do without the OS getting in my way. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable

Default Desktop Environment:IceWM

Main Usage:Desktop

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

Top Pro

Quick installation

Top Con

No config possibility in network assistant

There is nothing else possible on the status tab (except refreshingthe list) - no config possibility. See More

TruthfulUoke's Experience

The best Debian non systemD alternative out there , fast , light weight , stable , and freedom to make it your own. See More

Top Pro

Makes IceWM usable

It adds config tools that give you the same comfort as using Xfce or LXDE just with IceWM . See More

Top Con

Vanishing internet cards and drivers

In network assistant the avaliable network cards (status tab) and loaded drivers (linux drivers tab) can suddenly vanish from the list. See More

SophisticatedRaediengiedte's Experience

Great alternative to a usual distro that comes with the common desktops. It is fast and comfortabe to use and follows the UNIX way more closely than other distributions. See More

Top Pro

Comes without systemD

And has much faster boot times. See More

Top Con

Wifi issues

Even if the Wifi card is correctly detected in the Network assistant visible, Antix is unable to use it. See More

Holo Deck's Experience

nice and fast system that should work on almost any i586-compatible PC. See More

Top Pro

Very fast , stable , freedom.

Top Con

Not really free and not available for download in Iran

Top Pro

Stats appear on the desktop

It is compatible to Debian >=testing. See More

Parrot GNU/Linux

Top Pro

Compatible with Debian

TrustingAtaguchu's Experience

Made for pentesting, but home edition is great as a general distro. Used for over a year would recommend! See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Testing

Default Desktop Environment:MATE, KDE

Main Usage:Desktop, Penetration testing

It is always based on the latest testing release so it includes more recent software than a stable based distribution. See More

Top Pro

Testing based

Top Pro

Focuses just one desktop

It focus the MATE desktop which makes it unique compared to the more general distros. See More

Awesome distro that balances its lightning fast speed with an unusual amount of flexibility (it runs all of my apps regardless of their origins) and has never crashed or failed to deliver the goods for years! See More

BunsenLabs Linux

Top Pro

Lightweight

Top Con

Long lag between when Debian releases and when bunsenlabs releases.

ModestLamia's Experience

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable

Default Desktop Environment:Openbox

Main Usage:Lightweight Desktop

It not just another distribution that ships an already in debian available desktop . See More

Top Pro

Different

ChattyLethe's Experience

I tested it on my Acer Aspire One AO725 notebook. All hardware worked well. Blender worked to with no render smoothly. See More

EagerHeqet's Experience

There's a lot of lag between when Debian releases and when bunsenlabs releases, so I always consider hopping to another distro, but I never do and always wait it out because I just love bunsenlabs so much. See More

Default Desktop Environment:KDE

Whonix

Main Usage:Live Desktop, Privacy

Voyager

Top Pro

Light and fast with a different GUI

Changing from Gnome to Cinnamon or Xfce, makes this distro great to work with, fast and light on resources. See More

Top Con

Gnome is a resource hog

The Debian version (with a change of wallpaper and GUI) works great. Several Voyager extras are really nice, but Gnome is default and such a resource hog that it will not work on an older computer. Install it on a usb HDD attached to an newer computer and change to Cinnamon. Then you can install that HDD in your older desktop or laptop. If Voyager came with Xfce or Cinnamon, it would be something more recommend worthy. See More

DependableAdephagia's Experience

Great distro and reworking of Debian with some extras that are nice, but the problem is Gnome. It is a resource hog and being installed by default means that it cannot perform on older computers. Once you install Cinnamon or Xfce, it runs like a champ. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian/Ubuntu

Default Desktop Environment:GNOME or Xfce

Main Usage:Live System, Desktop

Space theme looks stupid. See More

Top Con

Childish

Top Con

Not user friendly

Even though it is based on Debian unstable, it is still pretty stable and you will hardly ever get a dependency issue. See More

Deepin OS

Top Pro

Very stable

Top Con

Very slow installer

Because the servers are in China. See More

MethodicalEurotas's Experience

Easy install, runs fast, very stable and it looks great See More

Specs

Based On:Debian

Main Usage:Desktop, Showcase for the Deepin Desktop

Origin:China

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

Top Pro

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

Top Con

Based in China

SharpAsterion's Experience

stable. Debian well integrated. good network and printer connections See More

Top Pro

Easy to install

Installing Deepin OS is very easy. Even easier than installing Ubuntu! See More

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

MerryUkanomitama's Experience

Awesome, everything just works :) See More

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

Top Con

Terrible UX

CoolUoke's Experience

Very easy to use. I love the apps. See More

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

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

Top Pro

Based on Debian

It is based on Debian which is the best Linux distribution for desktops. See More

Top Con

Uses al lot of webtechnics like JS

The most apps are not traditional linux apps that use common toolkits like GTK, EFL or Qt. See More

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

Top Con

Deepin store apps not up to date

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

Top Con

Customization is a bit hidden

GUI is not straight forward for changing GTK+ or QT themes. See More

Top Pro

Quite lightweight

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

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

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

Top Con

Strange development organization

There aren't any sort of improvements over Deepin v15.1, though the only changes are icons, that become better. See More

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

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

Top Pro

Great design to the app store

The app store is gorgeous. See More

Top Pro

Best for daily use

Top Pro

Includes both Windows and macOS style interface

Top Pro

Includes a lot of packages in the official repository

The official repository of deepin OS includes over 73,000 packages. See More

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

Top Pro

Not based on Ubuntu

Some people don't like Ubuntu nor its derivatives. See More

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

Top Pro

Supports Flatpak

Deepin OS supports Flatpak. It also has some Flatpak programs installed by default. See More

Top Pro

Rolling release

It is a rolling release Linux distribution which is quite popular these days. See More

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

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

Top Pro

Has its own toolkit

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

Top Pro

Network managment

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

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

Top Pro

Company behind it

The Wuhan Deepin Technology is behind this Linux distribution. See More

What brings you the best and free OS if you can't connect to the internet? See More

PureOS

Top Con

No non-free drivers by default

Top Pro

You can download and install it, without the need to purchase their laptop

PureOS is available from their site for free for anyone to use, no need to purchase any of their laptops in order to check out the OS which is a tweaked build of the Trisquel distro. See More

ConfidentTheros's Experience

I was so inspired to use it, when I turned it on, I wanted to make sure it was based on Debian, I wanted to download screenfetch, and it failed! Downloading anything would result into a fail! See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Testing

Default Desktop Environment:GNOME

Main Usage:Desktop

Init-System:systemd

Top Con

Broken repositories

Nothing downloads, cannot search the repository, cannot download anything from repository too. See More

Top Pro

PureBrowser and TOR

PureBrowser is a modified version of Firefox that comes with security focused plugins. There is also a copy of TOR installed in the OS by default. See More

Top Con

Slower updates??

Updates are slower than an unmodified Debian. See More

You have full access to all debian/raspian packages. See More

DietPi

Top Pro

Highly customizable

Top Con

Keeping Packages up to date

The problems start when you want to update the supported packages beyond what the DIetPI distro has. Things start breaking quickly. Stopped using it because of this. See More

IndustriousPenthus's Experience

Very easy to setup it uses an dialog-like setup wizard to configure the system See More

Specs

Based On:Raspbian/Debian Stable

Default Desktop Environment:NA

Main Usage:Lightweight server and IoT OS

It is a very minimal debian setup that is ideal for DIY projects. See More

Top Pro

Lightweight

DiplomaticBhima's Experience

Bad experience , the install is a nightmare. See More

Top Pro

Configuration tools

It features some curses-based configuration tools/scripts. See More

You can install different init-systems (currently with beowulf SysVinit, OpenRC and runit are available). See More

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Devuan GNU+Linux

Top Pro

Init freedom

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 with WLAN), you will have to use Debian's nonfree firmware on a separate USB stick to install it. See More

InsightfulNefertum's Experience

NO systemd, fully binary compatible to Debian, very stable. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian

Default Desktop Environment:Cinnamon, KDE Plasma, LXQt, MATE and XFCE

Origin:Worldwide

OS Family:GNU/Linux