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What are the best Linux distributions for Misanthropes?

129

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1.4K

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Updated

Here’s the Deal

The Best 3 of 129 OptionsWhy?

Best Linux distributions for Misanthropes	Price	Based On	Default Desktop Environment
93 Devuan GNU+Linux	FREE	Debian	Xfce (KDE, MATE, Cinnamon and LXQt are available)
91 Linux Mint	Free	Debian>Ubuntu LTS	Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce
91 MX-Linux	FREE	Debian Stable>antiX	XFCE
89 ArcoLinux	FREE	Arch Linux (Rolling)	Openbox + Xfce + i3
89 KDE Neon	FREE	Debian>Ubuntu LTS	KDE

Devuan GNU+Linux

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Top Pro

It's Debian

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

Top Con

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

Specs

Based On:Debian

Default Desktop Environment:Xfce (KDE, MATE, Cinnamon and LXQt are available)

Init-System:SysVinit, OpenRC or runit

Package Manager:Debian Package Manager

Top Pro

Stability

Top Con

No systemd (pro for some individuals)

Top Pro

Excellent for normal people

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

Top Con

Impossible 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) it's nearly impossible to install Devuan on it. See More

Top Pro

Most decent look amongst other XFCE distros

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

Top Pro

Debian without systemd

Top Pro

Very secure

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

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Linux Mint

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Top Pro

Complete and stable

It's based upon Ubuntu LTS or Debian. It depends on which one you select - Linux Mint or Linux Mint Debian Edition. The Debian Edition is even more stable. See More

Top Con

The Linux Mint website once provided spyware

The website for Linux Mint was hacked in 2016 and its download links led to a modified ISO, which contained spyware. See More

KnowledgeableCacoch's Experience

Perfect for regular users See More

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu LTS

Default Desktop Environment:Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce

Init-System:Systemd

Package Manager:Debian Package Manager

Top Pro

Not from a big company

Linux Mint is not Canonical, while based upon Ubuntu. See More

Top Con

Upgrade process between version can be painful

The Linux Mint team offers a method to upgrade the OS between versions but they tend to recommend clean installs, which isn't always suitable for everyone. However, following the upgrade process currently is less than straightforward and is easily capable of leaving your system in a confused state. See More

Top Pro

Easy installation and configuration

Linux Mint uses the same installer as Ubuntu. It is very easy to use for beginners, and also allows more advanced users to choose their own partitions. Linux Mint's Cinnamon desktop is highly customizable and can be made to look however preferred. See More

Top Con

Does not handle multiple languages well

Top Pro

Already functional out-of-the-box

Mint comes bundled with software for browsing the web, editing pictures, browsing files, watching videos and even a full office suite (LibreOffice). An average user can use Mint right away after a fresh install, using all the software that comes with the distribution to complete most of their daily tasks. See More

Top Con

Limits to the support of propriatary hardware drivers

Mint has limited support for older graphics cards beyond the generic nouveau driver, and some software (like Stremio) only works with official Nvidia drivers (for example). See More

Top Pro

The OS is great for both beginners and advanced users

The OS has different update settings for different users and has easy manual within the OS. See More

Top Con

System updates can lead the system to being unstable

While a new installed system is stable, after an update, there is a slight chance of something not working. See More

Top Pro

Compatibility with Debian and Ubuntu software builds and repositories

Mint gains a very strong package ecosystem and software manager of Debian, including more than 30,000 packages available from the Debian repositories. See More

Top Con

Mint 19 forces unwanted updates

Since version 19 Mint adopted Windows 10's policy to force the user to install unwanted updates and even if the user deselects them and marks them not to be installed, they're still being installed. See More

Top Pro

There is a "system restore" tool to restore the OS if something breaks

This tool backs up the core OS files to an external drive with an option for full encryption. See More

Top Con

Too many kernel crashes

Top Pro

Has more desktop options

You can choose between Cinnamon, MATE and XFCE. See More

Top Con

Political

Clement Lefebvre, the lead developer of Linux Mint said “I don’t want any money or help coming from people who support the actions of the Israeli government.” See More

Top Pro

Provides LTS (long term support) versions

Long Term Support versions are versions of software that are continuously updated for an extended period of time, even after newer versions are launched. LTS versions will typically get feature additions and enhancements for an extended period of time, then security updates up until its End of Life. An LTS release should typically be considered good for at least 5 years. See More

Top Con

The Update doesn't work sometimes

Sometimes the update failed to configure a package. See More

Top Pro

Good community support

There are several different ways to get support for this distribution, including the forums, their IRC channel, or their github repositories if you think their software isn't behaving as it should. See More

Top Con

Outdated software centers

Many of the offered options are older versions. See More

Top Pro

Familiar user interface

Mint is highly recommended for both users coming from Windows, as well as users coming from Ubuntu, but unhappy with Ubuntu's recent, rather dramatic interface changes. Mint provides an updated interface with a look and feel similar to Gnome 2, with an application menu reminiscent of the Windows 7 Start Menu, with categorization and search. See More

Top Pro

The easiest option ever

The distro is the easiest operating system to run ever. See More

Top Pro

Dedicated upgrade process

The Linux Mint team is very dedicated to upgrading and improving Mint, to the point where the releases are fairly predictable. They are also dedicated to their users, meaning that they are responsive to critiques, suggestions, etc. See More

Top Pro

Supports proprietary software

Linux Mint does maintain a free software environment, however, it does offer full support to proprietary software (Chrome, Skype, Teamviewer). See More

Top Pro

2016 hack listed here as a Con, was very quickly dealt with and is a non-issue over 4 years later

Top Pro

Popular

Linux Mint is currently the most hit page on DistroWatch. Because of its popularity, long-term support is pretty guaranteed. See More

Top Pro

Low learning curve to go from installation to advanced configuration

Mint is extremely easy to install, and with community support, easy to move onto adjusting the OS to meet your specific needs. The vast majority of instructions for undertaking configuration work and are easy to understand. See More

Top Pro

Mint 20 will actively avoid the Snap landmine planted by Canonical in Ubuntu 20.04

MX-Linux

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Top Pro

No systemd

Top Con

Only one Desktop Environment

This is no longer true as KDE Plasma is currently supported, and there is also a choice for using Fluxbox. See More

KnowledgeableCacoch's Experience

The best See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable>antiX

Default Desktop Environment:XFCE

Init-System:SysV-init & systemD

Package Manager:Debian Package Manager

Top Pro

Lightweight

Top Con

Is really a combination of two distributions, a command-line distribution and a desktop distribution

This isn't as bad as it sounds. AntiX is a good server distribution that can be extended with MX-linux or not and the two work together harmoniously. However this may not be so apparent to the first-time user or one who doesn't come from a Debian background. See More

AuthenticCethlenn's Experience

Great little stripped-down distro, perfect for the small network services box it runs for me. My only caveat would be that you do need Debian experience to really understand how it is structured. 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

Installer and configuration tools are different

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

Top Pro

Very stable

Top Con

Too much preinstalled applications

Top Pro

Based on Debian

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

Top Con

More than 50 tweaking softwares pre-installed

Top Pro

Easy install

Top Con

10s of media players preinstalled

Top Pro

Supports non-free drivers

Top Con

Includes non-free drivers

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

Too much customization

Top Pro

Easy to use

Top Con

Old software

Many software applications are older. See More

Top Pro

Live-Session boots fastest after Puppy

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

Top Con

Causes overheating on some hardwares

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

Top Pro

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

Remixed Debian testing

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

Top Con

Longer boot time

126 Other Options Considered

ArcoLinux

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Top Pro

Blazingly fast

Startup time, shutdown time, everything in between. See More

Top Con

No single ISO

RespectfulCavillace's Experience

Easier to setup and a bit more stable than Arch, but very up-to-date and customisable compared to Ubuntu & Co. Only finding the right ISO is a pain in the backside See More

Specs

Based On:Arch Linux (Rolling)

Default Desktop Environment:Openbox + Xfce + i3

Top Pro

Easy to isntall desktop environments

Thanks to the manuals provided by the developers it is really easy to install more than 10 different desktop environments that'll work at the same time! See More

Top Con

Small development team

Top Pro

Helps you to become a Arch Linux user

Top Pro

XFCE, Openbox and I3

Finished Product with almost every tool a experienced user will use. See More

Top Pro

Easy to install NVIDIA Drivers

Has option to install NVIDIA proprietary drivers. Runs great. See More

Top Pro

Community support is great

Need to install Discord on cell phone and computer. Fastest way to receive help. Community is mostly European on Discord so getting help at midnight may be a challenge. See More

Top Pro

Learning bash script

Fastest way to reload any Linux desktop is a script that will install all your favorite apps. See More

Top Pro

Easy to install

Unbelievably fast for ArcoLinux with XFCE, Openbox, I3. See More

KDE Neon

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Top Pro

The best looking Linux OS

It really is a great and stunning looking OS. See More

Top Con

Steep learning curve for beginners

It's a really sparse, bare-bones system, no automatic driver install for example. It can be quite hard for someone not used to Linux. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu LTS

Default Desktop Environment:KDE

Init-System:Systemd

Package Manager:Debian Package Manager

Top Pro

Configurability

KDE Neon uses KDE as its desktop environment, which is highly configurable, but also has great defaults. See More

Top Pro

Works well on low-end computers

Top Pro

Works out of the box

Since it's built on the strong Ubuntu base, KDE Neon works seamlessly with a huge variety of hardware. See More

PCLinuxOS

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Top Pro

Can remaster the boot DVD

PCLinuxOS has built-in tools for remastering bootable DVD into a copy of current install. See More

Top Con

Installation fails most of the time, error messages, and hard to go to full screen in virtual box

Specs

Based On:Mandrake Linux

Default Desktop Environment:KDE, MATE

Init-System:SysVinit

Release Schedule:Rolling Release

Top Pro

Multiple desktops available

Mate, LXDE, and KDE desktops are available. See More

Top Con

Uses RPM packaging system

Uses the RPM packaging system with APT, rather than the more popular DEB packages. See More

Top Pro

Stable

PCLinuxOS is designed around stability. See More

Top Pro

Excellent hardware compatibility

Comes with nVidia drivers out of the box. Important if the PC has an nVidia chipset. Most Debian based distros don't have nVidia drivers available at install time. LXDE version works well with older hardware. See More

Top Pro

Rolling release

The distribution is continually updated, so there's no need to install OS upgrades by hand. See More

Debian GNU/Linux

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Top Pro

Highly secure system

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

Top Con

Uses SystemD as default init

Debian has support for other init-systems like SysV, runit or OpenRC, however, there is no way to choose a different init-system in the installer, so all Debian Linux installations will default to SystemD. See More

DiplomaticTongoenabiagus's Experience

Easy and complete, I can do almost everything with it. See More

Specs

Package Manager:dpkg (Debian Package Manager)

Release Schedule:approximately every 24 months

Main Usage:Universal

OS Family:GNU/Linux

Top Pro

Very stable

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

EagerClementia's Experience

Best and stable OS ever See More

Top Pro

Big open-source project

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

Top Pro

Widely supported

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

Top Pro

Comes with over 55.500 packages

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

Top Pro

Easy to find help with any problem

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

Top Pro

A real installer

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

Top Pro

Strict seperation of non-free software

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

Top Pro

Great for gaming

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

Top Pro

Inconsistent init systems

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

Top Pro

Wide choice in desktop environments

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

Top Pro

A lot of ways to install software

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

Top Pro

Well-working team

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

Top Pro

Supports SecureBoot

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

Top Pro

Wide choice of hardware platforms

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

Top Pro

Great choice for returning Linux users

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

Top Pro

Unique release cycle

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

Top Pro

Standard archives

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

Top Pro

Many ports

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

Top Pro

TUI installer

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

Top Pro

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

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

Top Pro

The Debian Social Contract

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

Top Pro

Live install images for CDs, DVDs and USB thumb drives

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

Top Pro

Standard vanilla Linux desktop

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

Top Pro

Debconf

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

Top Pro

Rolling or Release based

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

Top Pro

Install and forget

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

Peppermint Linux OS

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Top Pro

Friendly and helpful forum

Top Con

Web applications

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu

Default Desktop Environment:LXDE, Xfce

Init-System:Systemd

Package Manager:Debian Package Manager

Top Pro

Fast and light on resources

RAM consumption is the same as LxLE, but more efficient and because of Whisker Menu and other tweaks that let you feel more like we have a XFCE desktop environment, as keyboard shortcuts, for instance, it looks like it's the fastest and lightest, globally speaking. Very good on performance. Download Respin 7 (March 2017), install Libreoffice and then compare, for example, opening Libreoffice Writer inside Peppermint 7, Extix 17.04, Lubuntu 16.10, Xubuntu 16.04, Backbox 4.7, Linux Mint 18.1 Xfce an Mate or Linux Lite 3.4 (and others). Finally, you'll find out that after opening a few apps in Peppermint it remains smooth and light. Nemo file explorer on Peppermint is incredibly faster than on Mint Cinnamon; lx terminal is very fast when opening; updating is fast. And after all this, distro keeps working and working very solidly and consistently along the time. And yet the look and feel of the environment is pleasant. See More

Top Con

Since it is based on Lubuntu, the double click speed needs to be slowed down

It's false that Peppermint 7 is tout court based on Lubuntu. Take a look at this: "Peppermint Seven makes use of the Xfwm4 window manager and Xfce bottom panel in the LXDE desktop environment. This is unlike other Linux distributions that use LXDE as the default desktop environment where it is common to use the Openbox window manager and lxpanel." And more: "Peppermint Seven is built on the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS code base and makes use of its package repositories." Contrarily to other Linux distributions, Peppermint creators never said Peppermint 7 is based on Lubuntu, like LXLE. Using LXDE and being based on Ubuntu is very different from being simply based on Lubuntu. In fact, Lubuntu is not faster than Peppermint and has loads of lacks for a nowadays OS experience. See More

Top Pro

Looks great

The XFCE Whisker menus and dark theme are well designed. Easy to move the panel to the top and add plank on the bottom. See More

Top Pro

Peppermint9 is stable

Peppermint 9OS (32 and 64 bit) has been updated to the Respin PPA. See More

Top Pro

Comes with a variety of helpful tools

Works great with Teamviewer, Synaptic, XNview, KODI, and Pdf-Xchange editor (via playonlinux). Netflix works awesome with Chrome browser. The ICE SSB tool is great for creating web apps that run as if you installed them locally. The Software Boutique (packaged with The MATE Welcome software Center) recognizes all software and installs it with one click. See More

Top Pro

It works well "Out Of The Box"

There are enough useful back end packages installed by default to make the system useable for normal use right after the installation of the base distro. See More

Whonix

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Specs

Based On:Debian

Default Desktop Environment:KDE

Main Usage:Live Desktop, Privacy

Ubuntu MATE

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Top Pro

Simplicity of Gnome with the power of Ubuntu

Debian was good to use but has limited documentation and is difficult to pick up. Ubuntu MATE brings the ease of design and logic of the Gnome 2 style desktop so it's easy to get around coupled with the vast documentation, forums and ease of learning/using the Ubuntu system. See More

Top Con

Not bleeding edge

Users who want the latest and greatest software would be happier using Arch Linux, Antergos or another rolling release distro. However, because Ubuntu MATE is based on Ubuntu, users still have access to a large repository of recent software. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian>Ubuntu

Default Desktop Environment:MATE

Init-System:Systemd

Package Manager:Debian Package Manger

Top Pro

Behaves like Ubuntu with Unity - after Ubuntu-Gnome transformation

No better place to continue Unity experience with Ubuntu (Left-side panel, HUD) and not as awkward as Gnome. See More

Top Con

Redundant

There is absolutely no reason to install it, since it uses the same package repositories as Ubuntu and you can transform any Ubuntu install into a Ubuntu MATE install. See More

Top Pro

Highly configurable

Comes with an option to configure as Windows-like, Mac-like, Gnome-like, etc. in a single click. Wonderful to get you started without having to learn it all from scratch. See More

Top Con

Too much bloat included by default

Top Pro

Works great on old laptops

It does not have a lot of system requirements so it works pretty well even on older laptops. See More

Top Con

No very good Software Center by default

The Software Boutique is not good. You can install Gnome Software from it. See More

Top Pro

Perfect for people who like Gnome 2

The goal of MATE is to maintain the look and feel of Gnome 2, while maintaining compatibility with Gnome 3. To that end, it has also forked and renamed many of Gnome's core applications. It benefits from the years of work and polish that have gone into the Gnome project. See More

Top Con

System D

Slackware

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Top Pro

Strong adherence to UNIX Principals

Specs

Based On:Softlanding Linux System

Default Desktop Environment:KDE SC

Init-System:SysVinit

Package Manager:Pkgtool

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

Stable

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

Top Pro

Package management

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

Top Pro

Ideal to learn more of Linux

Follows the original Linux roots. It still sees Linux as a free clone of UNIX so the distribution tries to be UNIX-like. See More

Top 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

No systemd

Neptune

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Specs

Based On:Debian Stable

Default Desktop Environment:KDE

Init-System:Systemd

Package Manager:Debian Package Manager

Budgie

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Top Pro

modern design

Top Con

Does not properly support multi monitor

Having two monitors works, but it's not perfect. See More

Specs

License:mainly GPL

Available On:*nix (GNOME)

Programming Language:mostly C

Widget Toolkit:GTK

Top Pro

Can emulate Gnome 2 desktop look

The Budgie desktop can emulate the classic Gnome 2 look. See More

Top Con

Has not switched to Qt as promised

Very dependable on Gnome See More

Top Pro

It's minimal and gorgeous

Top Con

Not a desktop environment

It's just a replacement for the GNOME-shell and you still need a GNOME-desktop installed at the same time. See More

Top Pro

Very lightweight

Runs well on low-end hardware and gaming PC’s alike. See More

Top Con

Very hard to install

Installing in distros that are not Ubuntu-based can be hard. See More

Top Pro

It's maintained by a dedicated bunch of folks with an eye for detail

Top Con

Still in development

Budgie is still young and in active development, so it may not be as stable as many other desktop environments. See More

Top Pro

No big memory leaks

It can be run for weeks with no noticeable increase in memory usage. That is a vast improvement over gnome-shell. See More

Top Con

Issues with proprietary drivers and Mutter

Mutter causes issues with screen tearing and microstuttering in most applications especially with NVidia GPUs. See More

Top Pro

Built from scratch and integrates into current technolgies

Budgie is built from scratch to integrate with the Gnome stack, this way hopefully having more stability by utilizing technologies that have a lot of community work already behind them. See More

Top Con

Lacks some basic features

Many things you'd take for granted aren't available in Budgie, like an option for showing windows from all workspaces when alt-tabbing. See More

Top Pro

Many large distros support it out of the box

Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, and Budgie's own Solus all support Budgie. See More

Top Con

Less lightweight than you would expect

Budgie has a nice and simple style, but the memory usage is quite high after booting. Thankfully, the lead developer is working to remedy this. See More

Top Pro

Available from a PPA for Ubuntu

Budgie is available from an official EvolveOS PPA for Ubuntu and its derivatives. sudo add-apt-repository ppa:evolve-os/ppa sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install budgie-desktop See More

Top Con

Sometimes buggy

Budgie can sometimes be buggy. See More

Puppy Linux

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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

Smallest software library ever

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

Specs

Based On:N/A (however binaries are usually taken from Debian/Ubuntu or Slackware)

Default Desktop Environment:Usually JWM

Init-System:SysV

Package Manager:Puppy Package Manager

Top Pro

Designed to run as a live USB/CD

A portable version, that can be carried on a thumb drive without requiring installation, weighs less than 100MB; a Live CD - less than 150MB. You can even save your settings and files for Puppy on the external device/media. Running off a live CD also has security benefits, as your system will reset to the known config after each boot. See More

Top Con

A bit ugly

Using Puppy makes you feel like you just jumped 20 years into the past. Being that the purpose of Puppy Linux is to run or really low resource machines the software used is often on the older side, which is precisely why it has a 20 year old look. See More

Top Pro

It can be the only distro that works

Sometimes, Puppy Linux is the only distro that works on an old machine: all other distros are more demanding. See More

Top Con

No built in compositing

Being a low resource distro there is zero built in compositing for the JWM window manager. Though one can be added through a bit of work. See More

Top Pro

Extremely low minimum system requirements

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

Top Con

No built-in compositing

Being a low resource distro there is zero built-in compositing for the JWM window manager. Though one can be added through a bit of work. See More

Top Pro

JWM used as window manager

JWM is a low resource window manager that is used in most Puppy Linux installs. See More

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Offers a long term support release

Puppy Linux offers an LTS release called Precise. See More

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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

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