What's your favorite Linux distro?

[jdrakeh]

I've started fooling around with Linux again, using Manjaro as the primary OS on my older Dell Latitude 3350. They finally seem to have battery/power management under control, which is a HUGE leap forward for laptop users (the last time that I looked at using any flavor of Linux on laptops, power management was so poor that you could drain a new battery in about an hour under heavy load). It's also very stable for a rolling release distro, and quite customizable if you enable the AUR repository (this is where things like Google Chrome proper among other things live). So, fellow Linux users, what's your favorite distro (bonus points for explaining why)?

 

[SableWyvern]

Ten or fifteen years ago, I installed Ubuntu on a laptop. I ended up breaking it after a few months (constantly playing around with settings) and went back to Windows.

About 18 months ago I suddenly realised I was getting no value from Windows or MS Office generally, but I was getting less and less control of my own system and more and more intrusive crap. All that being the case, I decided to give Linux another try. I went with Fedora with KDE Plasma. Part of the reason for that is that I had recently moved to Okular as a pdf reader, which put KDE on my radar. The customisation options with Plasma were a big selling point (knowing Windows was going to cripple my taskbars in Win 11 was part of my motivation to shift). Fedora seemed to sit in a nice zone where it's a long-term, stable, well-supported distro but also not a typical first choice so I can feel a little more unique (further enhanced by my choice to go with Plasma).

Overall, I've been very happy. I picked up a new laptop a while back and, within an hour of arriving home, it was also running Fedora.

 

[jdrakeh]

Overall, I've been very happy. I picked up a new laptop a while back and, within an hour of arriving home, it was also running Fedora.

I haven't fooled around with Red Hat/Fedora for a long time (1999-2003), when my boss used it to run the on-site file server at our home office. I'm sure it has evolved a LOT since then, but even back in those days it was stable, dependable, and almost always up. Bonus, it was hard for hackers to crack (I think we had one successful intrusion during the entire time that I worked there).

 

[Koloth]

Ubuntu or its lighter sibling, Lubuntu. Running Lubuntu on a Dell thin client used as a media server for both ripped media and streamed stuff. No fan so silent. The ripping PC uses Ubuntu in a case that has four 5.25 bays. Odd how often a DVD/BR won't read in one drive but will be fine in a different one. A 3rd PC with Ubuntu is my general experimental PC plus it has my PCGen install. This one is a Habitat store find. $5 from a parts bin basket but works fine. Came with 32G Ram(bought a couple of months before the great price hikes but I still count it a lucky find)
Even on my Windows PC, use LibreOffice and Firefox.

 

[jdrakeh]

Ubuntu or its lighter sibling, Lubuntu.

I really liked Lubuntu and Xubuntu the last time I used them (it's been a few years). Both worked very well on my old, slow, budget Lenovo laptop.

 

[Deset Gled]

I haven't fooled around with Red Hat/Fedora for a long time (1999-2003), when my boss used it to run the on-site file server at our home office. I'm sure it has evolved a LOT since then, but even back in those days it was stable, dependable, and almost always up. Bonus, it was hard for hackers to crack (I think we had one successful intrusion during the entire time that I worked there).

That takes me back. Red Hat was my first ever Linux install, circa ~1999, when I got my hands on a used 486 box for free.

I know Linux popularity ebbs and flows. Personally, I'm at a major ebb. Pretty much everything I would consider using it for have been switched over to Android, Chrome, or an Apple thing.

 

[jdrakeh]

I know Linux popularity ebbs and flows. Personally, I'm at a major ebb. Pretty much everything I would consider using it for have been switched over to Android, Chrome, or an Apple thing.

My daily driver laptop is actually a high end Chromebook Plus. I do almost everything through that. Except print labels (my legacy Samsung laser printer isn't supported). So I print labels using my Manjaro laptop or my MacBook Air (ancient, but updated via Open Core). I have pretty much abandoned Windows at this point.

 

[BrokenTwin]

I work primarily with RedHat servers at work, so I started running Fedora at home to make things easier. Ran Manjaro and Ubuntu before then, tried a few others in shorter stints.

Still use Ubuntu when I'm introducing friends and family to Linux.

 

[jdrakeh]

I work primarily with RedHat servers at work, so I started running Fedora at home to make things easier. Ran Manjaro and Ubuntu before then, tried a few others in shorter stints.

I think if I was still working in an environment that involved server support or maintenance, I'd be doing the exact same thing.

 

[Enaknomolos]

Ubuntu since I abandoned Windows a few years ago. It does 95% of what I want out of the box and has been as solid as a rock, so I haven't felt much need to experiment with other distros.