What are the best Linux distros that don't use systemd?

It has almost as many packages as Debian. See More

Top Pro

Huge software archive

Top Con

A stable release is several months behind Debian

It takes Devuan several months after a Debian stable release to complete the corresponding Devuan release. See More

PreciseOrcus's Experience

It works out of the box, and has all the packages available that I need for running my servers. Simple to setup and configure without the problems that systemd creates. Wonderful. See More

Top Pro

Uses Debian installer

Using a non-live install medium provides the Debian installer for expert installs, making it easy to choose an init system (sysvinit or OpenRC), a release (Stable, Testing, Unstable), a boot loader (lilo or grub2), install onto multiple disks with mbr or gpt partitions, create lvm volumes, create raid volumes, or encrypt disks. See More

Top Con

Support

The only support seems to be via a rather esoteric Freenode IRC network. Entering more than a few lines of text - in order to describe and impart information - results in you being barred; no warnings, nothing, just barred! See More

RespectableNintulla's Experience

Years on multiple computers with >99% stability. A few minor issues, but runs Steam/Lutris/Emulators/Etc. great. xanmod kernel is a must have for modern features and is highly recommended. See More

Top Pro

"Testing" version is very stable

After installing the release version called Ascii most users will easily be able to upgrade and run the testing version called Beowulf with few or no problems. See More

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

OptimisticSzelatya's Experience

Very reliable and reasonably up to date without all the updates in compare to a rolling release distro. For me als easy to get used to coming from debian. Using OpenRC as init system. See More

Top Pro

Init based

Isn't based on systemd which can spread malware into your system. See More

Top Con

DNG Mailing-list

Support on dyne.org's DNG mailing-list isn't exactly the most welcoming for Devuan n00Bs requiring basic handholding and answers to simple questions that're often much too beneath the dignity of list-members to help out with. See More

CulturedHadad's Experience

I have only two more than ten years old 32 bit laptops so to me support for x86 is mandatory and Devuan has it. Infinite number of binary packages easy to install thank to well burned in package manager, no need of snap, flatpak, appimage or other useless layer which waste only ram loading more than twice the same library. A minimal iso suitable to build a system of your taste but non for everyone cause console only based anyway to me with 18 years linux experience is a must. Standard iso with xfce is suitable also for microcrap. See More

Top Pro

Supports SecureBoot

Just like Debian, it supports SecureBoot so you don't have to disable it on dual boot systems. See More

Top Con

Able to install all required ALSA packages before removing bloated Pulse Audio without breaking the system

LearnedAnnaPerenna's Experience

Stable. Have been using this for about 2 years. See More

Top Pro

Stability

TrustingManat's Experience

Ran into problems running and installing common applications such as zoom. See More

Top Pro

32-bit support

Dzwiedziu's Experience

Clean, zero open ports after a basic installation. See More

Top Pro

debconf

Just lean back your system is doing the hard stuff for you. See More

ExceptionalLyssa's Experience

Good Stability, with little workaround can install AMD GPU PRO for Blender use. The interface is not comfortable like KDEUbuntu, i try XFCE and MATE also KDE. Last release is real performance can't install ROCM cause (not syistemd). Someone hardware not available with Devuan. (Webcam) . Try under. AMD FX 8100/RX560 and Lenovo Ryzen 5 Vega 8 Picasso. See More

Top Pro

Multiple Init systems are supported

It allows you to choose your init system. See More

SuccinctSzelanya's Experience

Also for Devuan for at least reasons of the BEST rendition of without systemd Init, high availability of Debian apps, ease of installation and use, and a decently-configured XFCE desktop that runs surprisingly fast. See More

Top Pro

Excellent for normal people

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

LogicalMatton's Experience

an easy-to-use, stable, configurable, free Debian-derived distribution of SystemD. See More

Top Pro

Very secure

More secure than Debian because it doesn't use Systemd. See More

CromulentLieaibolmmai's Experience

Solid and stable. Some packages may be outdated and need a workaround (appimg, building from source, portable versions, utilizing mx-linux community repo's, devuan backports, ect.) See More

Top Pro

Most decent look amongst other XFCE distros

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

StudiousOdqan's Experience

PRO: stable, fast, durable, reliable CON: stable releases /packages are almost outdated - some over a year See More

Top Pro

No Systemd

ReflectiveEndymion's Experience

GNU/Linux end user since 2002 See More

ModestMomus's Experience

32bit support too, works almost on 99% hardware out of the box, Devuan Minimal Live to build a customized system on a solid base, a bunch of software in repos. Suggested! See More

CoherentNessus's Experience

Running Devuan Beowulf (Testing) for a math / science workstation. Using OpenRC init. Both Cinnamon and Plasma desktops run smoothly. Everything proves very reliable. See More

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

score 50 · Answer 2

Slackware

Top Pro

Stable

Top Con

Very slow release cycle

Hasn't updated in 3+ years. See More

ToughWatatsumi's Experience

Just the smoothest most stable user experience around. Now that I'm running the same programs on Debian-based as well as Slackware machines, the struggles are real, and Slack just wins the day because it just works. See More

Specs

Based On:Softlanding Linux System

Default Desktop Environment:KDE, Xfce, NONE

Init-System:SysVinit

OS Family:GNU+Linux

Unlike Debian, SUSE or Arch, Slackware aims to be as KISS as possible. See More

Top Pro

Keep it stupid simple

Top Con

The introduction of elogind

Elogind is part of systemd. See More

HarmoniousShulpae's Experience

After trying to use Debian and failing the installation, I found and easily installed Slackware. The installation process was no nonsense and simple. The documentation for the installation is also excellent. And support on LinuxQuestions is tremendous. even the lead developer posts occasionally and is always reading the posts of others. The key is the core team of developers are all working from the same base and adding the key applications to keep this an excellent choice for those just starting to learn GNU/Linux. See More

Top Pro

Package management

Uses standard tar archives with shell scripting as packages. See More

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

nooblinux's Experience

Dead and not very friendly See More

Top Pro

Strong adherence to UNIX Principals

Top Con

Terrible community

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 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 Pro

Ideal to learn more of Linux

Top Pro

Super fast

Top Pro

Slackbuilds

Top Pro

No systemd

Offers choices of which init system you want among dinit, openrc, runit & s6, versus other nonsystemd Linux Distros. Fast, lightweight, Arch software packages with AUR, incredible simple, choices of DEs on installation and, of course, you can add any other you may want, like XFCE. A real good choice for Linux Desktop. See More

score 363 · Answer 3

Artix Linux

Top Pro

Choices for everything

Top Con

Missing init scripts

Not all packages have unit scripts. Especially not AUR packages. See More

PioneeringIasion's Experience

I found this the best runit system both for x86_x64 and arm 8; the philosophy of systemd is biased toward big-business needs. See More

Specs

Based On:Arch Linux

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

OS Family: GNU/Linux

Release Type:Binary

Set up just how you want - meta-packages clean, not cluttered. Really fast, responsive OS even on older hardware. See More

Top Pro

Configure your own system from scratch - like Gentoo but no compiling

Top Con

No 32 bit support

It does not support intel-like 32 Bit CPUs. See More

HealthyPalioxis's Experience

After spending a little time with the learning curve that is required for any Arch or other rolling release operating systems I think Artix itself is a great alternative. It is reasonably easy to use and install. That said, It is not recommended for the user that is not willing to learn more about Arch style OS's, their configuration, updating (and possible failures that could occur).I know that this could turn many people away for these styles of OS. However, the knowledge and skills gained from learning about rolling releases is (IMHO) incalculable. The user will develop skills that could easily carry over into their work and/or home & technical life. 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

Mirrors are slower out of the box

Mirros are located all over the world and users can choose whichever they want; this con is frivolous. See More

DecorousGeb's Experience

Super clean. Has everything for immediate production,low resources yet Debian so you can add whatever you "think" you might need. Coolness is the ability to change window manages and tons of themes on the fly to experiment . See More

Top Pro

Lightweight

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

Top Con

Only amd64

It does not support ARM, MIPS or any other CPU architecture than amd64. See More

ExceptionalBaalHammon's Experience

So far my favorite home distro and I keep coming back to it no matter what. See More

Top Pro

Arch documentation

You can use almost all Arch documentation. 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

WonderfulTamanuitera's Experience

Lightweighrt, stable See More

Top Pro

runit

Artix actively supports the runit init system known from Void Linux. Alternately, the OpenRC init system is available (known from Gentoo). Plus, with a little effort it could also be adapted to newer init systems currently being developed. See More

Top Con

No security, not greatly tested

They stuff openrc and runit files directly from the master branch of either Gentoo or Void Linux into a PKGBUILD and call it stable. See More

EfficientAhti's Experience

Genial distro. Ligera,estable,totalmente personalizable y no te ata a ningún init o DE. Tienes 3 inits y muchos DE para elegir. La instalación gráfica es muy fácil y si ya has usado Arch o alguna derivada no te resultara difícil usar esta distro. See More

Top Pro

Install base-only and customize to be your own system

Excellent option for the Linux user with great skills and information on hand. See More

Top Con

Most packages are directly imported from Arch

They're cleaned of systemd dependencies first and built afresh though. See More

PoliteHypnos's Experience

Very close to Arch and friendly dev team and community. The decoupling of the system from the init is a definite plus. You can also use a graphical ISO and install from a tty, base-style; useful if you want to have a working internet connection and browser. See More

Top Pro

Great OpenRC defaults

Fast boot time and multi-core out of the box. See More

Top Con

No secureboot support

After install you won't automatically get secureboot support. See More

SupportiveUtnapishtim's Experience

Compared to other Arch OSs, boot is much faster thanks to the s6 and runit init system. Very nice and friendly forum community. Doesn't impose unnecessary packages - you only take what you need. See More

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

Top Con

Small community

It has only a few developers and a small user-base. Still, this isn't a bad thing. User base is growing. Plus, the smaller developer base allows the Artix developers more control over which way the OS is going. See More

ReceptiveBozTengri's Experience

They have ISOs with a GUI. This is useful for when you want something graphical, systemd-free, and with a GUI. See More

Top Pro

No systemd

Praying this PRO remains so! 01-09-2021 Arch moved to Systemd - how long will Artix stay true to the fork? See More

Top Con

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

's Experience

Extremely lightweight See More

Top Pro

Rolling distro

Applications are always kept up-to-date and there is no static ISO to reinstall from. This is another feature that helps the new user because they can do upgrades when it is convenient and there is no need to install a whole new operating system. Yes, it is true that many users of Linux shy away from rolling system, mostly because they have little or no experience with them. Today's rolling OS' such as Artix Linux are very well designed, extremely functional and, for the most part, very superbly tested. See More

Top Con

Fragmentation

Forks of distros such as artix and devuan fragment the community. users who don't want to use systemd should use gentoo or void. users who want access to AUR should use Arch Linux. See More

HappyLelantos's Experience

Blazing fast , follows unix philosophy . See More

Top Pro

s6 init

Artix actively supports the s6 init system. See More

Top Con

All flaws of Arch Linux

For example like arch it is rolling with no major versions so you need to update if you don't update for a few months/years and there are critical system changes the upgrade process will fail. See More

TactfulTusholi's Experience

Artix is amazing but for me xfce was not good enough with artix See More

Top Pro

Great dark theme

The default dark theme of Artix is well-designed and integrated with most applications, whether Gtk or Qt. This may not seem important at first, but it is a great help for new Linux users. A consistent desktop makes the overall system easier to use. Plus, it is one more thing that the new user need not think about. See More

Top Con

Bloated

For installation it just unpacks the LiveCD to your hard drive. See More

GloriousLeto's Experience

very good distribution, the devs are nice and its based on arch, which is based 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 Con

Not stable at all

No xsane, printer does not work. See More

CuriousAshnan's Experience

Had a laptop that was simply not working under systemd. Arch would die about 40 seconds after booting. Had scoured the forums for days. Finally, a systemd-free setup had solved all of my problems. It was still Arch-OpenRC back then. See More

Top Pro

Easily configured for anyone to use

When you configure it correctly, even your grandmother can use this. You add pamac, add arch repos, and add what she needs. See More

i use artix btw's Experience

its the best distro ive ever had for my pentium :) , light and systemd free See More

Top Pro

It literally can run on anything made in the last 15 years

GraciousKuiXing's Experience

Amazing! Really close to Arch without the systemd horrors! Most desktop managers supported! See More

Top Pro

Super quick startup with Dinit

Faster than Systemd. See More

ArticulateAmeNoUzume's Experience

source based See More

Top Pro

The logo is cute

CaringOdin's Experience

a good one :) You have to dig into the system if you migrate it from manjaro but it works quit well. Just had to dig into pulseaudio and add the pcscd to the init <- was not in the migration docs ... See More

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

ReflectiveEndymion's Experience

Linux end user since 2002 See More

Top Pro

Exceptional User base

Friendly users and knowledgeable developers make Artix OS a joy to use as a daily driver. See More

TirelessTellumo's Experience

2 year user, not much I can complain about! See More

ArtisticLlefelys's Experience

open-rc simpe and best See More

ReasonableEnbilulu's Experience

Very flexible. I use Plasma and it starts fast, very fast. There is not a gazilliion meta packages that create cluttered systems. If you do end up with a cluttered system YOU are to blame, not the distro. See More

FearlessSucellus's Experience

Artix requires some linux knowledge, but it is growing into a very useful operating system for anyone with the skill and knowledge to use it. My last install went smoothly and required little intervention to get a base OS on my drive. See More

DazzlingLamia's Experience

PRO Very responsive and fast compared to most other linux distros. For low latency, use EXT4, JFS or F2FS (in that order), not BTRFS. See More

VersatileEos's Experience

Expert Linux experience required. Documentation to install software nonexistent. Included web browser failed to launch after 10 minutes. Really sad, I was stoked to try this See More

SincereNjorun's Experience

BUGGY!!!!!! See More

AssertiveWuGang's Experience

Overall great experience: fast and easy. See More

LovelyPrabhasa's Experience

Installed with good hardware support for my newish laptop, totally issue free. GUI installer allows for manual partitioning or automatic, anf it even supports disk encryption. Base install allows you to do it through pacstrap and cli. So far I haven't encountered any missing packages. See More

LoyalCorymbus's Experience

Init systems apart, it provides 3 levels of configuration choices: base (i.e. bare minimum CLI install, for advanced users), minimal (moderately preconfigured LXDE, LXQt, MATE, Cinnamon or Plasma desktops, for most users) and community editions (fully loaded and preconfigured GTK or Qt desktops, i.e. MATE/LXDE and Plasma/LXQt, ready for production). All installation media are available in OpenRC, runit or s6 versions. You choose how much you want to configure and you're set. Huge package selection available, as you can use any pacman-based repositories you like (e.g. Black Arch's or Manjaro's) and of course the AUR. Best of all: no systemd Borg and its assorted CVEs. See More

Nathan's Experience

Customize your own system, down to init system of choice: openrc, runnit, s6 See More

DebonairMehetWeret's Experience

Customize your own system, down to which init system you like. See More

Operating Systems's Experience

Artix Linux is what Arch claimed to be, before systemd, a KISS Linux Distro. Even more, provides the widest ISO range for installation in all three init systems. Fast and stable, with in-house-upstream development, has a bright future. See More

More user friendly in comparison to Gentoo, but you should know some things. Works out of the box. See More

score 55 · Answer 4

Calculate Linux

Top Pro

Easier for beginners among Gentoo based

Top Con

It is made in Russia

No freedom. See More

Specs

Default Desktop Environment:KDE, LXQt, MATE, Cinnamon, Xfce, NONE

It's gentoo based and it includes emerge/portage so you can fully customize it after install. See More

Top Pro

Gentoo based

Top Pro

It is made in Russia

Out of the control of the US elite, CIA, etc. See More

Top Pro

High flexibility

Combines pre-built binary packages with portage. On par with FreeBSD in this regard. See More

An init system with the "do one thing and do it right" mentality. Void Linux does not support systemd. See More

score 152 · Answer 5

Void Linux

Top Pro

Runit init system

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

LovelyAristaeus's Experience

Void Linux is the perfect replacement for Arch Linux for ADVANCED USERS, which is a firm requirement to successfully use and appreciate the systemd-free experience. There are two variants, one using musl c library and the other uses the more common glibc. If going the musl route, you will lack access to a lot of closed source software otherwise available and in that case should try using Alpine Linux first as it is a little better in the musl world in terms of software available and fixes for musl and personally I prefer the openrc init system as implemented there (not on Artix). Needing to use some closed source software here and there, I settled on Void Linux with glibc which is my current distro for the last 8 months or so. The community exists solely on Reddit, which I prefer to the Arch forums style echo chambers personally. I have not needed to personally ask any question I could not already find someone asked and was answered which is nice. The runit rc system is easy enough to use (especially after installing vsv to check what's running quickly) and while seemingly simple, accomplishes all of what it is supposed to effectively. This alone accounts for the SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN SYSTEM SPEED AND RESPONSIVENESS to be had switching from Arch Linux, already a fast distro (using Alpine Linux was the fastest I have yet seen but the musl not being compatible with some of my required software thing stood in the way). The package manager is on the level with apk from Alpine in being really fast and not prone to breaking the system unlike pacman, which is itself a huge plus. Package installations are fast and the additional repos add in most things I need or some variant of the thing that works well enough. If any software exists that I want that isn't in the repos, I can easily just build it myself using the source code and make + sudo make install or whatever the README says to do. So no AUR support works out just fine. There is also the void-packages repository that enables you to build the whole repo, including some extra packages that include things like MS Fonts..., from template files that helps bridge the gap between AUR support and an Arch free Linux life. With void-packages you can easily build google-chrome and other packages of that kind on your local system and even add your own templates that you contribute back upstream (like the dev version of awesome wm). See More

Specs

Based On:Independent

Default Desktop Environment:CLI, XFCE, Cinnamon, Enlightenment, LXDE, LXQt, MATE, GNOME

Init-System:runit

A single instance of Void will be supported forever without needing to reinstall. See More

Top Pro

Rolling distribution

Top Con

Not about fanboyism

If you want to use a distro because you want to have membership in a community and defend whatever garbage the devs push out, stay on Arch or move to Artix. Void Linux is for people who try it, discover it is the best tool for the job they are doing and then use it. Some people may make it wallpapers, but really the thing about void is that is minimal as possible and is for those of us who would rather make the decisions as to what software we include in our systems and not for those who want those choices made easy for them with minimal work while bragging about their use of the system due to an onerous installation process. See More

ArtisticMneme's Experience

I've been using Void Linux for 4 years as my main desktop computer and it has been very stable. I prefer its simplicity and like how the OS was putting together, especially with the choice of using runit as the init system and xbps package management system. Void linux boot process is very very fast and the xbps software package management system works very quick. If you are familiar with any other Unix flavors then you would have no issues with setting up and maintaining a Void Linux system. See More

Top Pro

Very minimal

More minimalistic than Arch since it doesn't use systemd. See More

Top Con

Less packages than AUR

CromulentLieaibolmmai's Experience

Great OS with some minor issues here and there 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 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

BraveMorpheus's Experience

Very fast, not least fast updates. Quite new versions of most programs. Kernel config is horrible, compile your own. 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

Manual unclear about base configuration

Manual does not explain how to fix GRUB and gives no partition hints to the available options. See More

UnbiasedEmpusa's Experience

Easy to install for more experienced people. Boot very fast - lightning fast, light weight, easy to maintain and update/upgrade. No worries about not getting help because it just works. See More

Top Pro

Very lightweight

Base installation can idle at less than 50 megabytes of RAM. See More

Top Con

No packages

Void developers refuse to package Brave. See More

EmbiggenedPanacea's Experience

fast 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. See More

Top Con

No news in XBPS like in Portage when emerging

Cannot read news about package updates and changes whilst updating in the XBPS without setting up the mailing list or Git. See More

RespectableTuireann's Experience

The only distro that gets broken if you really insist. ( Count this: It doesn't come with 'avahi' crap (you can actually remove it for good and never reinstall it back)(at-spi2 crap also's missing)(etc...) The one CON would be that none of those distros instead of debian family have the power of 'apt purge x(*)' That asterix(I forgot how is properly called that function) is tremendous and I think I saw it only in Fedora's 'dnf'(but I don't remember to see it work as good as with 'apt) ... Also, 'apt autoremove' is far easy than 'pacman -Rcs $(pacman -Qdtq)' but we we're talkig about 'xbps' .. The main problem with xbps is that it's not simply 'xbps' you have to call -install/-remove' which is pretty wasting if you're really playing hard with it ... Also, I don't remember ntpd to run clearly in Void... I hate seeing reinvented weels instead of core software that simply worked. And for the sake of easiness, 'rc-update' feels far better than ln -s + many 'ls' stuff ... I'm really a simle user, I don't know much and I don't want to complicate my life more than I already done. I'm using GNU/Linux for 6 years now (+/- half year when I stood without a PC + max few months on Microosft(in 6 years)...but I really like to extract all the juice from my hardware and Voidlinux seems the only way for now. (Fastest rolling distro by far)(I will actually reinstall it because I can't see 5.10 kernel in Arch yet ... (no 'testing' mirrors enabled: It works or it doesn't, I don't have to risk .) 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 Con

Not suitable for those new to Linux

It may be scarry to install it without 'Anaconda' & Co. ... + you really have to know the Basics. See More

FerventSerket's Experience

Minimalistic fast linux distro. See More

Top Pro

Many packages

There are some packages in official repos that may be found only in AUR. See More

Top Con

'xbps' is not as powerful as 'apt with *(asterix)'

Example: apt purge python* " God bless America ! : apt autoremove ... xbps-install/-remove instead of simply 'xbps' ... <-- great if you want to break the system by removing the wrong packages even advanced users with this will fry a good install on accident. See More

AgreeableToci's Experience

Lightweight linux distro with runit and xbps. 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 Con

Too much drama behind the doors and disorder with the packages

Too much drama behind the doors and disorder with the packages, some packages are broken, and the documentation is horrible, the manual needs additional contributors (they are seeking actively), wiki was deprecated and the community is almost nonexistent. See More

MerryHebat's Experience

Fast and lightweight disribution wihout systemd. See More

Top Pro

Simply the best

They balance everything, there are no surprises. See More

Top Con

No ppp package in installation ISO

May become a problem for certain people. See More

CulturedHadad's Experience

Simply incomplete and not working. Tried two times within months and it worsen instead to be better. See More

Top Pro

Never breaks

Top Con

Truly minimal

This is a bad thing for most people, who expect the system to just work. Which is why Arch has dove head first into making stupid decisions left and right that make it somewhat more bloated and feature systemd (an excellent tool in some contexts, in mine absolutely trash). Like a BSD variant, which it takes a lot from, this requires you to do the leg work yourself (I write scripts to streamline this part, search Github for void post-install scripts for examples). While not as painful as Gentoo, being that you don't need to build everything locally, and not as opinionated as NixOS' whole thing, there is a dash of both in what is included in the XFCE image if you choose to install it, but even so uninstalling that meta-package will not break the whole system like other distros, so you aren't married to anything with it either (again both good and bad at various times) . See More

AwesomestNehebkau's Experience

Very clean, installation is light and maintenance too. for some aspects: like Package-Manager, kernel update and remove, clean on all the aspect and very light and spee management. I think this is the best distro I see in the last 20 years. See More

Top Pro

Easy installation

Void includes a very user-friendly installer that makes it much easier to install for beginners than alternatives like Arch. See More

Top Con

Niche distro

Fewer developers, smaller community, fewer packages than other distros. See More

Semi's Experience

Void Linux has been quite a breath of fresh air compared to distros that I've used in the past, such as Arch, Manjaro, and Ubuntu. On my (not very minimal) install, it idles at ~450 megabytes of ram, which is far better than Windows's 4 gigabytes. The package manager has more support for packages than a lot of people shape it up to have. Although I'm not one who considers SystemD the spawn of the devil like some more adamant supporters of this distro, I find that runit runs at least parallel to SystemD's performance. Overall, Void has absolutely been my favorite distro I've used, and I'm planning on sticking with it for a while. See More

Top Pro

Friendly forum

Unlike Elite Arch Forum, it is a friendly forum, although it's small. See More

Top Con

Slower than pacman

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 Con

Post install operations don't work on Mac hardware

Problem verified on Macbook pro 1286, 1398, 1465: track pad does not work, mouse doesn't work and screen flickers. There is no other go than force hardware shutdown See More

Top Pro

Extensible using xbps tools like xbps-pkgdb

Can hold/unhold, repolock and configure packages in a similar way to Portage masking and unmasking. See More

Top Pro

Updated version of IceCat included in the default repositories

GNU IceCat is available and updated. See More

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

score 70 · Answer 6

Gentoo Linux

Top Pro

Full control of the software

Top Con

Some packages can take a long time to compile

This makes sense, but can be annoying. There are some binary packages in the repos though if you're in a pinch. See More

CheerfulCoronus's Experience

I have been using Gentoo for so long, I can't remember when I started. I play with other distros but Gentoo is the workhorse. I choose it because it's great for non-standard packages and for building my own software. If you have to build, might as well start with Gentoo. See More

Specs

Based On:NONE

Default Desktop Environment:NONE

The usage of advanced features like USE flags makes it more customizable than any binary distribution. See More

Top Pro

Fully customizable

Top Con

Dependencies can be a pain

If you install a lot of packages you can get a bit stuck at upgrade time. Sometimes you have to unmerge packages in order to update, then reinstall them. Not always though! Aside: At least with Gentoo you have the option, rather than getting stuck in library-version-hell. See More

VigilantWhaitiri's Experience

Gentoo is the freedom to build the system environment you need! 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

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

ResponsiveEupraxia's Experience

I've been using linux since I switched from Coherent on a 80386; Slackware, Ygg, SuSE, RH, Gentoo among them. Whatever frustrations I've had with Gentoo have been overcome by the hassles setting up anything else to run simply. I boot off of LVM. Simply trying to set this up with GUI package installers can be a reason to drink. 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

Has no live images with graphical interface

Full installation is hand-made with a CLI (Command-Line Interface). See More

SincereKrotos's Experience

Best distro I've ever used 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 Con

No default installer

Installation must be done manually by following instructions in the handbook. See More

Top Pro

Portage's emerge is powerful

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

Amazing for learning the deep workings of Linux

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

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

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 Pro

Gentoo does not impose a standard look-and-feel

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

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

Top Pro

Easier to install & manage

I've been using the same initrd for ~15 years, basically a 12-line shell script that does vgscan, mount, switch_root. I can build a kernel, install it, reboot without twiddling grub. Kernel installs are just make all modules_install install. Done. I boot LVM: no partitions to fight with, thankfully don't need EFI. Thinks may take a few minutes, but 90% of the package upgrades happen at 3pm with cron so I don't really care. See More

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

score 33 · Answer 7

Knoppix

Top Con

DVD version requires a lot of RAM

Top Pro

Contains a great variety of tools

CuriousHephaestus's Experience

Knoppix packs a punch, and it has been a reliable on-the-hoof OS for years. Currently, it provides an extremely well-integrated TOR, and this is the number one reason I use it daily. With other distributions, making TOR run is a major hassle, and I do not have time for that. Persistence works flawlessly, too. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian

Default Desktop Environment:LXDE, KDE or GNOME

Init-System:SysV, knoppix-autoconfig

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

Top Con

Runs off of optical disk by default

Top Pro

Powerful and lightweight

FunResheph's Experience

quick boot, fast response, lot of tools, very easy for daily activities. See More

Top Con

32-bit only

A lot of the programs are already set up for you. Just boot it and go. This is definitely one of the better SHTF distro's. See More

score 35 · Answer 8

PsychOS

Top Pro

No fuss. Just works.

Specs

Based On:Devuan

Default Desktop Environment:XFCE

Init-System:SysVinit

It uses the BSD ports system as package manager. See More

score 23 · Answer 9

CRUX

Top Pro

Ports

Top Con

Very small user community

CrediblePhilomelus's Experience

I use this now since 15 years and it is stillone of my favorite linux distros. See More

Specs

Based On:NONE

Default Desktop Environment:NONE

Init-System:BSD-style initscripts

You have to do everything by yourself, there are no helpers! See More

Top Pro

Very BSD/UNIX-like

Top Con

KISS

EncouragingKyrbas's Experience

If you really whant to know how Linux works your should consider CRUX or Linux from Souce. See More

Top Pro

Learning

Nice if you want to learn some stuff about Linux. See More

Top Pro

Very knowledgeable and helpful user comunity via IRC

You can install a lot of software from Debian repos or elsewhere, with systemd dependencies present, but not using systemd as init. Best of both worlds. See More

score 43 · Answer 10

MX Linux

Top Pro

Systemd shim

Top Con

Married to a desktop

You cannot remove the xfce desktop without messing up the system. You can add other ones though. See More

Chris The Green Man's Experience

Rock solid and end user friendly. Guis for almost everything. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable>antiX

Default Desktop Environment:Xfce

Init-System:SysV

Beautifully themed, lightweight xfce desktop. See More

Top Pro

Theme

Top Con

Lack of flexibility

Removing stuff you do not need/want is way too time consuming. See More

GutsyConand's Experience

This is the most put together and polished feel of any systemd-free distros I've tested (Deuvan was a hot mess). I run it on all my work systems, personal system , and am thinking about migrating my CentOS server to it. See More

Top Pro

MX tools put other distros to shame

Lots of MX specific tools that make it a joy to use. Mx tools are everything most users would need all in one place. See More

Top Con

Wine doesn't work as well as in some other distros

Not a con for most people, not even me, but I did get Starcraft to install on another distro (with wine) and it doesn't on MX . See More

CompassionatePoseidon's Experience

Works well on AMD Ryzen laptop See More

Top Pro

Great tools, installer etc. packaged in by default

Fast and easy install, great compatibility and software repos. See More

ReceptivePhlegethon's Experience

Happy MX Linux user from 2016, it never let me down. See More

Top Pro

Debian based

Related to AntiX, uses nicely customized Xfce desktop, still pretty light on system resources. See More

Top Pro

Stable

Top Pro

User friendly

Top Pro

Great community, very helpful

Great support on Facebook and forum. See More

Top Pro

Just works & looks beautiful

Freedom for the users. See More

score 69 · Answer 11

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

nooblinux's Experience

Not user friendly See More

Specs

Based On:Arch Linux

Release Type:Binary

Package Manager:pacman

Because freedom in the world today is not simple See More

Top Con

Complex for newbies

Since this is completely "free", you won't find many packages available, so there isn't a lot you can do with Parabola. See More

score 67 · Answer 12

Parabola GNU/Linux-libre

Top Pro

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

Top Con

Very few packages

Specs

Based On:Arch Linux

Default Desktop Environment:LXDE

Init-System:Systemd or OpenRC

As always with full libre distros you have to make compromises. See More

Top Pro

Protects your freedom, certified free by the FSF

Top Con

Hard to find non-free stuff

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

Small Repositories

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

Top Pro

Very secure

Top Con

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

Almost all PCs need unfree drivers but parabola has none to offer. See More

Top Pro

Option to use OpenRC or Systemd

Top Con

Limited hardware support

Only free drivers are available. See More

Top Pro

Can be migrated from Arch Linux without a CD/USB

Top Pro

Very Secure

Top Pro

Based on Arch Linux

Has a 70-90MB memory footprint. See More

score 44 · Answer 13

antiX

Top Pro

Extremely lightweight

Top Con

It has elogind

Elogind is a part of systemd. See More

KindKamrusepa's Experience

Light on resources, easy to install and use, still available for 32bit pc's difficult to find something better. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable

Default Desktop Environment:IceWM

Init-System:SysVInit

Release Type:Binary

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

Not really free and not available for download in Iran

nooblinux's Experience

Looks old See More

Top Pro

Debian based, works well on even old and/or low spec hardware

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

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

score 31 · Answer 14

Redcore Linux

Top Pro

Stage 4 build of Gentoo

EnterprisingMehen's Experience

I would prefer a normal funtoo or gentoo install but if you dont care about customization it is a great way to discover gentoo. See More

Specs

Default Desktop Environment:KDE, LXQt

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

Top Pro

Focuses Qt-Software

LearnedSopdet's Experience

The project started out nice, but then each update became worse. It's very unstable especially for being Gentoo based. See More

Top Pro

Easy to use

Best Gentoo based distro. See More

Minimal install to build upon. See More

score 22 · Answer 15

CloverOS

Top Pro

Minimal

Top Con

No UEFI support

If you have a system that can only boot EFI you are fu**ed! See More

Holo Deck's Experience

great minimal Gentoo distro See More

Specs

Default Desktop Environment:fvwm

It is fully compatible to Gentoo. See More

Top Pro

Fully Gentoo compatible

Top Pro

No UEFI support

If you use older computers and want neither UEFI nor systemd. See More

For those with a clear focused concept of what is wanted, after building, the build can be replicated in a blink on countless machines. Both GUIX and shephard are complex but also a breath of fresh air. See More

score 7 · Answer 16

Guix

Top Pro

Atomic package management without bloated init/supervision systems

Top Con

Not for newbies, neither for seasoned professionals, unless raging against conformity with artful purpose

Specs

Based On:N/A

Default Desktop Environment:GNOME

Init-System:GNU Shepherd

While the whole system can be configured using a declarative file with sufficient privileges. Users can install any package in their own local profile with a single command without root. See More

Top Pro

Secure rootless installation

Top Pro

A truly advanced operating system

Solves modern problems of software management in one concise, coherent, and fully integrated system. See More

It is almost a Stock AOSP-Android with no huge modifications. See More

score 16 · Answer 17

Bliss OS

Top Pro

Almost stock

Top Con

Too simple

It might be too simple for more advanced users. See More

nooblinux's Experience

No features See More

Specs

Based On:AOSP>Android-x86

Default Desktop Environment:Android

Init-System:Android-init

OS Family:Linux (AOSP-based)

It is made by individuals not by a company that needs to make money. See More

Top Pro

No ADs

Top Con

No GNU userland

There is no classic GNU userland. See More

Top Pro

OS for Dummies

Everyone can use it and if you don't root it you can't even kill it See More

Top Con

Limited hardware support

Like android-x86, it has limited hardware support. See More

Top Pro

Rooted with a few clicks

Similarly to android-x86, it's rooted with just a few clicks, thus allowing the use of AdAway and other Ad Blockers. See More

Top Con

Not for power users

Android is designed for everyone so it might be a bit limited for power users. See More

Top Pro

ARM Virtualization

Like android-x86, it comes with ARM virtualization support, so you can run many Android ARM apps on your x-86 device. See More

Top Pro

Google Play Store

Google Play Store is installed by default. See More

Top Pro

Android Apps

There exist an app for any task. See More

Top Pro

Unique

It is unique compared to taditional GNU-based Linux distributions. See More

Top Pro

Familiar UI/Design

Everyone who owns an android device already know the OS. See More

Top Pro

Extra launchers

Comes with a taskbar launcher and the Pixel launcher. See More

Top Pro

Fully opensource

It is fully opensource and there is no company behind it. See More

Top Pro

Multi-platform

Android is available for PCs, Phones, Tablets, TVs and even Clocks. See More

Top Pro

Simple Linux distro

Like ChromiumOS it has a very simple(stipped down) user interface that is easy to understand and use. See More

If you have a life to live, compiling is not worth it. See More

score 12 · Answer 18

Funtoo

Top Con

Compiling time

Top Pro

Works pretty fast

SincereNjorun's Experience

It's awesome! See More

Specs

Default Desktop Environment:N/A

There are no official stage 4 builds available. There is also no installer that will install you a light base system. See More

Top Con

Manual install

Top Pro

Like Gentoo but more streamlined

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

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

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

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

It is an opportunity for the learner to learn what's behind every piece of program in the system, because you will install and configure all the packages manually. It is also as an advantage to expand your knowledge by searching the possibilities of crafting your unique flavor, for example your own package manager and update schemes. See More

score 9 · Answer 19

Linux From Scratch

Top Pro

Best for learning the components, libraries and configurations of the whole system one-by-one

Top Con

Takes a while to create the system. Only for those people who would like to create their very own distribution, or just to understand what makes a Linux system tick

Linux From Scratch, requires the user to download and compile, all the various required system libraries and programs in a ch-rooted environment. This is usually done from within an existing and already running Linux system. This is not really a con, just a note to the new user. See More

Specs

Based On:N/A

Default Desktop Environment:N/A

Init-System:SysV-init

It's a very useful learning experience; showing the user what is required and in what order, to obtain a running Linux system - from the inside out. See More

Top Pro

For those who wonder what it takes to create an actual Linux distribution

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

score 14 · Answer 20

Puppy Linux

Top Pro

Designed to run as a live USB/CD

Top Con

Smallest software library ever

You can barely find any precompiled packages for Puppy. See More

DynamicHorme's Experience

Used it for many years. Thinkgs that re hard to get it to do are often hard to get going in other O/S's. Different flavors are available. Well worth using, it does not treat you like an idiot. 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

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

AmbitiousAchilles's Experience

Have been using Puppy on and off, for years. Currently my favourite on low-spec Intel NUC machine - beats all comers for speed. 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

Top Pro

Offers a long term support release

Puppy Linux offers an LTS release called Precise. 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 Pro

Extremely low minimum system requirements

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