this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2026
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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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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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[–] Juice@midwest.social 1 points 23 hours ago

Ive been using fedora, my first distro, for about 5 years. I'm about to switch because it just doesn't do some things I want, or not without a ton of config. I got it because it came up as "best distro for coding" when I googled it, and I was just beginning to code.

I can't imagine its that much better than like Ubuntu though, which is what I think I'll switch to. Meanwhile there's several just complete and total roadblocks ive hit because of the distro. Kubernettes and Docker just doesn't work for me. I was trying a teat install of CiviCRM and never got past the download. Recently, when trying to install Graphene on a new phone, Fedora in fastboot just refuses to recognize it. In the process of trying to work around this limitation, I somehow removed myself from the sudo su group, and fixing it has been a chore.

Its like every time I want to do x, it isn't supported. Coding and developing on it is fine, for my personal projects. If I wanna do anything more than run a script though, its been nothing but hardship.

Its been a pretty good distro for me, but I have a dislike for extended config and sysadmin tasks and troubleshooting, and on my personal projects I keep hitting roadblocks over and over on Fedora. Open to other suggestions, but Ubuntu seems the most straightforward