Which one(s) and why?
At 1st it was arch, used it for about a year and a half, but dropped it after they broke grub. Then I went to fedora for a while, which I like a lot, however I’m running Gentoo atm
Bodhi Linux (when trying out on a 32 bit laptop) -> Xubuntu (main laptop) -> Linux mint (the distro I’ve used for the longest time, both on main laptop and a desktop got along the way). On the side, I briefly tried Arch first on a wm (as well as Haiku and TempleOS), and later, debian on that 32 bit laptop for earlier. That’s when I first went for a minimal install with i3. Later switched to Arch with i3 on tower, and just yesterday, Debian, also with i3 on main laptop.
My reasoning behind using these two different distros for essentially the same type of setup is that my laptop is more likely to be the only computer I have at my disposal when I urgently need it, so stability is more important, I can’t run the risk of having an update break it. I can be bolder and test more stuff on my desktop knowing I have a backup if mess up. Arch on my desktop is also partly because I use it to play games on Steam, and since SteamOS is based on Arch, I figured it’d have better integration.
Fedora and I can’t point down a specific reason other than it kinda just works. Their jank, because every distro has some time of “jank”, feel more reasonable than other distros jank.
Mandrake > Debian > Ubuntu > Mint & Arco Linux & MX Linux.
These three distros are the chosen ones in my case. I’ve been using them in my main computers for a couple of years now. It’s the right mixture.
I’m probably going to stick with Arch, or maybe EndeavourOS.
I’ve hopped from distro to distro but I always keep coming back to Arch. The reason I use Arch is that it’s my weird sweet spot of “DIY” and “it just works”. It gives me a blank slate at first, but it lets me paint the canvas with whatever I want, however I want. It allows for some weird setups (like VFIO, for instance) and the wiki really helps with that. I don’t really use the AUR nowadays unless it’s for a package only available there, so I can’t say anything about that. I use Flatpak nowadays. Some people might prefer the AUR, that’s good for them! Right now it’s just not for me.
If I do distro-hop again, I’ll probably go for EndeavourOS just to have an Arch install that leans heavier on the “just works” side of things.
