Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Why choice of Linux distribution matters (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 day ago by thingsiplay@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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I see often people say that the distro you are using doesn't matter. One can turn any distro into another. And I do not agree with that. If that was true, why do we even have so many distributions? I always said, if distros don't matter...

... why distro hop?
... why don't you use Ubuntu then?
... why don't you recommend Archlinux to a newcomer?
... why don't you use Kali Linux as a server?
... why don't you use Batocera or SteamOS as your daily driver?
... why do you trust a community distro more than a corporate distro? (or vice versa)

I don't think that distros only matter to newcomers. Maybe it matters for experienced users even more.

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[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

If you install home brew 90% of the issues go away.

The problem is that most Linux software assumes it can do whatever it wants, and immutable distros do not let you write to the system files.

This creates confusion, because you see a guide for Fedora and it said dnf install xyz, but dnf doesn’t work. The solution is to add it to your image tree (no) or to create a toolbox with that package (complicated, requires setup, gets complicated if your tool needs access to Wayland for clipboard or something).

Bazzite solves this by using brew, which is a package manager built for macOS which has had immutable systems for years. Brew solves most of the issues.

For me by the time I went immutable it just made more sense to go full declarative with nix, but nix is also a steeper learning curve.