this post was submitted on 17 Dec 2025
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askchapo

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Maybe a weird question about Linux (hexbear.net)
submitted 1 week ago by 9to5@hexbear.net to c/askchapo@hexbear.net
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Like I hear a lot of people trying a lot of different distros till they find the one they stick with.

Is there a point in Distro hopping ? Like assuming im mostly content with my Mint. Have been using it for about 10 days now.

Ofc Im curious about Desktop enviroments for example. Cinnamon is nice if a bit basic. But beyond that am I missing out on some cool stuff :3

Sorry if this a babys first Linux question.

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[–] invalidusernamelol@hexbear.net 6 points 1 week ago

The biggest difference are defaults and package managers. Linux is a big system, and different distros have different features enabled and exposed in userland.

There are really only a few package managers out there, apt, dnf, pacman, nix are the big ones.

Debian/Ubuntu: apt

Fedora: dnf

Arch: pacman

NixOS: nix (though nix can be used in any distro)

Any distro just has different window managers, default shells, and pre-configured packages. Most are downstream from one of these big ones too.

You can also install almost anything on any distro, but if you're obsessed with configuration just use Gentoo and spend the next 10 years compiling all your own packages and kernels.

Big reason to distro swap while a newbie is to get a feel for the different configurations that exist without having to go through the installation processes yourself. Which is why just using a VM or live USB is best.