If you had to pick one distro to use for the next five years, what would it be? Bleeding edge / stable? Rolling / periodic?
What would you prioritise and why?
After 20 years of Gentoo, I don’t see myself switching in the next five. Comfortable, capable, flexible.
Been using Debian stable since Hans reiser got locked up.
It’s fine and it will continue to be fine.
idk bro I’ve been running the same arch install for the last 6 years and I will run it for the next 5 as well.
Gentoo <3
System 76 cosmic, I have been testing it for a couple months and its pretty solid imo
This is a DE not a distro, System76’s distro is named Pop_OS!
If I had to pick one, Arch. I already use it a lot, so it’s familiar. I know my way around the package manager and how to create packages, so even when things aren’t available for Arch out of the box, I can make it work.
It’d be kind of a hassle trying to keep anywhere close to 100% server uptime, but for my own personal stuff that shouldn’t be that big of an issue, as I can fix it when I have the time.
For desktop, I basically can’t do stable release. I frequently mess with new projects requiring the latest versions of everything, which is a near impossible task on stable-release distros.
Debian testing, then upgrade it as they make major releases. I have yet to have a single Debian upgrade go wrong on Desktop or Server. It is basically magic.
likewise.
NixOS. I came a long way and it combines the best of modular, customizable and immutable.
I’ve been on Linux for 14 years now and all the projects I’ve used as my daily driver are still kicking and doing great. Arch, Fedora, Debian, and NixOS. I’m on nix and I’d happily stay here ten more years if the governance stuff settles down, that concerns me. But from a technical and package availability perspective it’s amazing
I asked myself this exact question back in 2020 and chose Arch. At the time I had been using Fedora since 2017. What I ultimately wanted was a system I could install once and continually evolve rather than replace. Several years on, I’m still running that same installation and it has never given me a reason to reconsider…
Depends on what I’m doing.
Workstation or server will be Debian. Personal devices are either Debian or Arch.
I’d prioritize Debian if I could only pick one for all options.
Don’t forget debian on phones (mobian), debian on embedded devices (armbian or even pure debian), debian on gaming machines and debian on vms running on debian hosts
Familiar
So, mint with cinnamon
I’ve been daily driving Debian Stable for the past 5 years and I am more than happy to continue for the next five. It’s also on nearly all of my machines and the majority of my VMs.
I’m honestly not very keen on the latest features or hardware, but I am very keen on my software being predictable and consistent, so the Debian release cycle is perfect for me.
Omnissiah willing, Bazzite.
Last year I would have said Arch. I have been running it for over 15 years with some small breaks to try stuff, or with some machines that have company issued OS. But I have been toying with NixOS, and honestly I’m loving it. If I had to choose only one and couldn’t change it it would have to be Arch, I know I can get 5 years with it easily, but if I was setting a new system today it would almost assuredly be NixOS, I might regret that 3 years down the line when there’s something I can’t get to work, but the more I play around, the less likely I think that would be, and the more comfortable I feel that I will eventually migrate to NixOS fulltime
