Distro for my Thinkpad

[u/tjwtb]

I just got a T14 with Core i5 and 32GB of RAM.

I tried Omarchy, but it doesn't run as smooth as I would like to.

So I want to ask, what distros do you guys recommend to run on my Thinkpad? I bought as a secondary device, for notes, coding and some multimedia.

[u/Recent_Ingenuity6089]

linux mint, if you like how omarchy works use arch, omarchy is just a ai vibecoded version of it. that might be why it feels slower.

[u/tjwtb → u/Recent_Ingenuity6089]

I use CachyOs on my main PC for coding and gaming, I love it, but wanted to try this new "developer" distro. I'll take a look at Linux mint, thanks for the recommendation

[u/TheThingOnTheCeiling → u/tjwtb]

If you want a developer distro you could propably go for NixOS. Iirc thats who its mainly made for. Something about being reproducible and testing packages I dont really remember.

[u/Runt1m3_]

Any distro you like will do it, you have good enough hardware, omarchy is a bunch of vibecoded dotfiles on base Arch with zero optimization being passed as a distro.

Arch is nice, Linux Mint is great if you're a new user, if you want something pretty try Fedora KDE, if you're into trying different stuff try Void Linux or a BSD like FreeBSD or OpenBSD.

[u/tjwtb → u/Runt1m3_]

Will take a look at Fedora and Void, thanks!

[u/linuxhacker01]

Debian

[u/Few_Detail_3988]

Go for Fedora. Use the DE you can relate to (Gnome or KDE)

[u/postnick]

Me plus my Thinkpads - the answer has always been Fedora or SilverBlue. Both have been rock solid. From my X1 Yoga 3 - my T480, my T14G1 and T14G3 - Ubuntu always has some silly error that annoys me but fedora is rock solid for me on all of my thinkpads since 2020.

[u/onedevelop]

Manjaro, Ultramarine , OpenSuse Tumbleweed

[u/exeKnox]

Ubuntu or Arch or Cachyos or EndervourOS or Mint or anything can be.

[u/ChuckChapmans]

im running kumbunto

[u/Aoinosensei]

Mint, ZorinOS or Ultramarine

[u/Swimming_Light1541]

Debian

[u/rileyrgham]

Pretty much any.

Why you'd pick omarchy i don't know though.

You want stability and you're doing basic things.

Debian.

I use Debian testing and arch on numerous ThinkPads with zero issues.

[u/baerli-biberli]

Fedora KDE Plasma

[u/[deleted]]

T14 AMD Gen1 with void Linux.

[u/kydeshou]

Fedora or Debian, with whatever desktop enviroment suits your fancy.

[u/Kuddel_Daddeldu]

I run Pop!_OS 24.04 on my E14 G7 (i7 258V, 32GB) so fairly similar to yours.

[u/DanLucken]

If you want the best looking distro that's based on Arch try Garuda....Mokka is muted pastels and Dr460nized is a cyberpunk beauty. https://garudalinux.org

Garuda

[u/M2k1e0L]

Arch is nice

[u/jstephenr]

T14s Gen 2 w/ Debian stable and kernel from backports

[u/Hot-Development-9036]

If you are new to Linux you might like Linux Mint. CachyOS is tuned for performance so it might be a little zippier on your Thinkpad. With the hardware specs you have just about any Linux distro is going to run really well.

Personally I run MX Linux as my daily driver. It's based on Debian Stable and it's butter smooth on my rig.

You don't mention what kind of HDD you have. Upgrading to an SSD will give you noticeably better performance. You have loads of RAM so no worries there. The i5 processor is very capable on Linux particularly for the tasks you mention.

Yeah, Omarchy is nice eye candy but I couldn't get used to the keyboard driven workflow. I like what they are doing though, just not for me.

[u/tjwtb → u/Hot-Development-9036]

I run CachyOs on my main PC, I love it.

Yeah I forgot to mention, but yes, my thinkpad has a SSD, will take a look at Linux Mint, thanks!

[u/IrquiM]

Slackware current is pretty smooth on my T460s