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InternetPirate@lemmy.fmhy.ml to Linux@lemmy.ml – -8 points –

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39

Linux Mint Cinnamon Edition

  • very stable - I haven't managed to break it yet
  • lets me focus on getting shit done.
  • very little system maintenance required, just applying updated
  • feels like there's a gui for everything

Personally, I currently prefer Arch for the following reasons.

  • AUR
  • The Wiki
  • The many vanilla packages
  • Because you can easily create your own packages with the PKBGUILD files.
  • Because, based on my own experience, Arch is quite usable despite the current packages.

If I had to choose another distribution, it would definitely be OpenSuse. Their rolling version, Tumbleweed, is also highly recommended.

Arch Linux

  • Great Wiki
  • It just works comparing to other distros like Ubuntu
  • My home PC for programming, I just love it
  • I’m not a heavy gamer but games are much better on Arch Linux, including Steam Deck

Fedora

  • Better defaults than Ubuntu
  • Stable enough for production servers
  • I have many self hosted apps and containers and I have only a few issues time to time which is easily fixable

Arch

It's lightweight and efficient

Arch is also not more lightweight than other distributions.

With Arch, unlike other distributions, there are no extra dev packages. Thus, everything is present in a single package, so they require more storage space.

Arch's packages also have fixed dependencies on other packages, which in turn have other dependencies. So you can't only install what you actually want, which is often claimed. For example, I would like to uninstall various Bluetooth packages, but I can't because they are dependencies for packages I use.

The basic installation including base-devel requires more than 1 GB of storage space without the GUI. Some distributions need less including the GUI.

There are indeed more lightweight distros. But if you want something that "works out of the box", contrary to, say, PuppyLinux or Gentoo, then Arch is interesting.

It is however harder to configure than Fedora, Manjaro, SuSE, etc. It's a great inbetween.

Debian

  • It’s just stable and fast
  • My 2 servers are running on debian for years without any single issue

Manjaro

I don't need to manually install anything thanks to the AUR being the most extensive package repository I know about.

You should carefully review anything you install from AUR. No review happens there at all. Everyone can upload anything he likes.

Yes, and PKGBUILD files with bad intentions have been published there in the past (https://lists.archlinux.org/pipermail/aur-general/2018-July/034151.html).

But both Manjaro (https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/Arch_User_Repository) and vanilla Arch (https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_User_Repository) point out the possible dangers clearly enough in my opinion. Apart from that, it is definitely easier for users to check for example the PKBUILD files in the AUR than ready-made packages in a PPA for Ubuntu.