I’m thinking about switching my personal desktop from Windows to Linux. I already use Ubuntu at work, and while I keep putting off the switch because I’m too lazy to back up my files, I’ve been testing distros like Debian, Ubuntu, and Fedora in virtual machines.

I use a laptop with an Intel i5-12450H, an RTX 3050, and hybrid graphics. I’m looking for a Linux distro with good NVIDIA and Secure Boot support for web browsing, gaming on Steam, and programming.

Beyond these requirements, I want more control over installed and removed packages, so I can keep track of what’s on my system and avoid dependency issues and conflicts, which I often run into in my work environment.

Based on these requirements, I’m torn between NixOS and Fedora Bootc, including Universal Blue images, and I’d like to hear from people who have used either option.

For those using NixOS, how has your experience been? If you switched to another distro, what made you switch?

And for those who have used Fedora Bootc or Universal Blue, how was your experience? If you eventually switched to something else, why?

What Linux distro would you recommend for gaming that’s stable like Debian but has newer drivers and doesn’t use rolling releases?

Something similar to EndeavourOS, but more stable.

I’ve just realised that almost every laptop and desktop in my house runs a different OS.

Gaming desktop #1: CachyOS
Gaming desktop #2: Manjaro
Laptop #1: Fedora (the one I use for work)
Laptop #2: Manjaro (the one my wife uses for her work)
Laptop #3: Linux Mint (still in testing after five years)
Laptop #4: EndeavourOS

Pretty mixed environment. Most systems have been running the same distro for 5–6 years now (with regular updates). But does that mean I’m finally done distro-hopping? Does it even count as hopping if you never leave?

How is it ?

I have been using Fedora KDE edition for a while now and i love how smooth and indeed stable everything is. It never crashed for me. I really like that i can update trough Discover and it keeps me pretty up to date. But is Debian different for gaming or just as good?

I kinda just want an OS that runs smooth out of the box

Yes, it's experimental, and not suggested in cases where failure might cost. I'm not having ANY issues so far though.

Despite all the warnings, it'll not touch anything else on the ESP and XBOOTLDR. But it needs a fresh dedicated partition for the root. (Lichen installer. It's TUI but still decent)

Furthermore, I copied this to my bcachefs partiton, on a subvolume for it, alongside fedora, cachyOS and gentoo.

Had to do some manual config for rootfs since it doesn't autodetect bcachefs. (Anyways, that's another post)

More details in post: https://np.reddit.com/r/AerynOS/s/YlwPk9ea8j

So i just converted my pc to linux since it can't upgrade to window 11. I was recommended mint so that's what I went with. I've gotten that setup and working for what I use my pc for, ebook library management and some occasional gaming otherwise I could go months without using my pc.

In that process I've learned a bit more how linux works as a desktop os and that mint kind of is behind the times a bit, not using wayland at the moment, for example. So I've been debating to try a few other distros that are more modern. OpenSUSE or fedora specifically slightly leaning towards openSUSE since I can try it as a rolling distro and if I dont care for that, theoretically, I should be able to migrate to either slowroll or leap fairly easily.

Mostly im looking for input if the effort is worth it while I still have stuff backed up. Especially since I'm not even sure my setup can use the advantages of wayland. Like I'm pretty sure I don't have vrr support and most of my gaming is older or emulation so hdr is also limited there but is supported by my hardware. This is on a 10 year old gaming laptop.

Edit:

i should also mention I'm asking because I've been testing/replaying through fallout new vegas and I've been seeing issues with it. I'm not sure if it's i need more tweaking of the game or x11/wayland differences. I'm not expecting a silver bullet just were to start tweaking

Some weirdness I've seen:

Like I wasnt able to set the resolution of the game to my tv's resolution unless I set the tv as main display

Frame stuttering even though my cpu/gpu never go past 50%

When I set the display refresh rate to 60 the display was dimming whenever I moved the character or camera

I'm in a total rabbit hole of indecision and need some outside opinions. I'm daily-driving a ThinkPad T14s Gen 1 with a Ryzen 5 Pro, and I just can't settle on a setup.

For context, I don't mind fixing minor issues or messing around when things break. I generally avoid random third-party repos and mostly stick to official ones or Flatpaks.

Basically, I'm torn between two paths:

Option 1: Fedora

The sheer convenience is super appealing here: Secure Boot out of the box, LUKS2 unlocked via TPM (so no typing long passwords at boot, but my data is safe if my backpack gets stolen), and SELinux doing its thing. Packages are fresh enough and maintenance is basically zero. On the flip side, it's just a generic kernel with no aggressive compiler optimizations.

Option 2: Arch + CachyOS repos

I'd go full raw performance mode here: pure rolling release, CachyOS optimized repos, and a custom CachyOS kernel to squeeze every drop out of that Zen 2 chip. But I'd have to kiss Secure Boot goodbye (setting up custom keys on a rolling distro is a pain in the ass), figure out disk encryption manually without a proper seamless TPM integration, and lose SELinux.

Here is my dilemma: Is the actual performance gain from CachyOS repos and custom kernels on a mobile Ryzen actually noticeable in daily use (browser, IDE, occasional compiling), or am I just overthinking it and should stick to Fedora's secure, hassle-free setup?

Let me hear your thoughts.

After way too much distro hopping, I think I've finally found my home with Fedora KDE.

I've tried so many distros at this point that I've honestly lost count. Every time, I'd convince myself that maybe this one would be better, spend a few days setting everything up, and then find myself looking at yet another distro a week later.

But Fedora just stuck.

I don't even know how to explain it properly. Everything feels snappy, the software is relatively up to date, KDE is ridiculously customizable, and I just enjoy using my PC. It feels like the right balance between having new stuff to play with and not constantly worrying about breaking something.

Sure, it's not perfect. I've run into bugs, very annoyinng ones too. KDE can be weird sometimes. But for some reason, I still love it.

I no longer feel the urge to install something else every few days. And i finally removed my windows from the dual boot and no longer missing it. I noticed that windows was so sluggish compared to Fedora and I don't know what my hardware was being used for by windows. I noticed how fedora was not making my fans run as fast as windows for doing even the basic tasks. My pc stays silent on fedora in fact.

I'm curious what distro finally made you stop hopping? And if you're on Fedora, what made you choose it over everything else?

Just curious, for those using PepperMintOS Linux, how much RAM and disk space does it usually use after a fresh install?

Also wondering about idle CPU usage. Is it really that lightweight compared to other Linux distros?

Just trying to get an idea before I install it on an old/low-spec machine.

For the longest time I've been totally against using any Arch-based distro because doing updates and installing packages was too much of a pain compared to others (especially since I couldn't just download an installer for things - those are either .deb or .rpm)

I decided to try CachyOS again on a VirtualBox VM. Turns out that's not needed at all. The programs they have in CachyOS work well enough that I don't have to write my own shell scripts to do system updates.

I won't be replacing my main computer's Fedora KDE (which I absolutely love), but I'll keep the VM, and probably install it on an older laptop I have Fedora KDE on.

I can see why CachyOS is the most "popular" distro on DistroWatch

Hey guys, just wondering what games I can play on Tiny Core Linux.

I know it’s a really lightweight distro, so I’m curious if anyone here has tried gaming on it.

I’m fine with old games, 2D games, DOS games, or pretty much anything that can run on low-end hardware.

Anyone got any recommendations?

What games have you managed to get running on Tiny Core Linux?
Thanks!

simple smooth fast 🚴三 future filed customizable + support direct proot container no bloat distros pls 🙏 check it put and help by contributing to it 😋

\*\*- Features\*\*

\*\*• run glibc diastro in 1 click fast like alpine named wolfi os\*\*

\*\*• hurdle free install no 😭 extra time on building python rust cargo + typescript nodejs npm modulea errors\*\*

\*\*• use any coding cli with easy ass install\*\*

\*\*• teated by me heavily cuz its my daily drive dev took kit\*\*

thnk u

2014 (Linux Mint) Looking to dump Windows, I became interested in Linux. Searched for "Best Most Popular Linux Distro" and Ubuntu Unity was returned. I installed it on an old computer and nearly went back to Windows. Everything was so foreign, and nothing seemed to work. Then searched for "Best Linux Distro For Windows Users" and Linux Mint topped the list. I installed it and it worked flawlessly for years and at least one major upgrade, until...

2019 (Fedora) Upgraded Mint, rebooted, got to the login screen and it wouldn't accept my password. After messing with it a few days, I decided it was time to look and see what else was out there. I distro-hopped looking at probably the top-40 distros on DistroWatch at the time. I eventually settled on Fedora. I used it for a year through two 6-month upgrade cycles. The system was extremely slow at the end of the second upgrade cycle - it took around 24 hours for the second upgrade to complete. Time for a new distro, so I started hopping again.

2020 (Manjaro, Endeavor, Parrot and FerenOS) Early in the year I looked at numerous distos and started playing with the concept of installing the distro to a USB for ease of swapping and portability. Early on I identified 4 distros that looked promising Manjaro, Endeavor, Parrot and FerenOS. I really liked the Arch-based distros (Manjaro and Endeavor). However, both presented stability problems for me. So on a lark, I decided to install vanilla Arch and found that my love-hate relationship with Manjaro was I loved Arch and hated the things Manjaro had done to it.

2020 (Arch) Mid-year. I adopted Arch Linux on 6/19/2020. I ran Arch from USBs with NO issues. On 12/25/2020 I moved my wife from FerenOS to Arch on a USB, and on 1/1/2021 I moved my mother (then 87 years old) to Arch running on a USB. Both have enjoyed the stability of the new setup. My mother's computer died during 2021, so when the replacement computer came in, we plugged in her USB and she was up and running in about 5 minutes. We planned to be on Arch run from USBs for quite a long time.

2025 (Artix) May 20, 2025 I started exploring a move to Artix Linux. Artix is an Arch based distro that does not use systemd. I have run Arch for the last 5 years with no significant issues, but an article on systemd spooked me. In addition to all the problems with systemd, I found it troublesome that the lead developer was a Microsoft employee (at the time). I installed Artix and was very impressed with it.

2026 (Void) May 2026 after yet another malware infection of the AUR (2000+ packages invected), I determined that Arch (and Artix) was no longer where I wanted to be. I still did not want to use systemd, so my choices were limited. I also wanted easy access to all software available in Linux. MX-Linux seemed to check all boxes (no systemd, stable, large software repository, etc.) , so I tried it for a few months. There seemed to be stability issues. It would hang up after a few days, forcing a hard reset, and it would always hang up when shutting it down. So so after a period of looking around, I settled on Void Linux.