this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2026
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There's no reason to choose Ubuntu over Debian these days, and plenty of reasons to use Debian over Ubuntu.
For context, Ubuntu is based on Debian, so most of the stuff under the hood is the same, but Ubuntu keeps forcing background decisions about things that are not always in the user's best interests.
As for user interface, if you're used to Ubuntu with Gnome, try Debian with Gnome. If Ubuntu with KDE, try Debian with KDE. That way you get a familiar desktop environment and a sensible base OS.
Could you translate this to stupid please
I'm no expert, but here's my working knowledge: If Debian is the engine/frame of the car, KDE and Gnome are different versions of the body/interior. KDE looks more like windows, Gnome looks more like macos or andriod maybe? Standard Ubuntu does aftermarket mods to Debian with Gnome.
That's pretty good.
I'm gonna piggyback your analogy:
Ubuntu is like an aftermarket car company that put in their own engine. They've started putting locks onto things, and when you ask them to install certain options, they say "yes, here you go" but secretly put in a worse version of that thing that only they can fix.
Then you take it to a shop and say "please fix this part, it's one of these" and they say "that's clearly not what's in here, you're on your own".
KDE and Gnome are like different consoles and steering wheel, if you could bring those with you into your next car. If you're used to where the buttons and knobs are, you have the option to bring the whole thing over into a different car.
So if im most used to windows i should try debian with the kde stuff? Whats wine in this metaphor? Is that the same thing as kde?
Not sure this metaphor can be stretched enough to shoehorn wine into it.
Wine is just an application and it'll work in any desktop environment (KDE, Gnome, etc), and it allows you to run Windows applications. Think of it as an application that lets your system pretend it's actually Windows
(and for the pedantic neckbeards: yes I know this sounds like I'm calling wine an emulator, which it isn't)
Okay so i do know what dual booting is. So wine is sorta like ezpz dual booting without having to restart my pc each time?
Ty for your patience
It's a "compatibility layer".
Wine tricks Windows programs into thinking they're running in Windows.
It sets up a fake C: drive and intercepts requests for built-in Windows features with Linux equivalents that are wearing Groucho Marx glasses and T-shirts that say NORMAL WINDOWS FEATURE.
lol I'm dead
I'd say Debian with KDE would perfectly fit your use case and level of experience.
Debian is your most basic Cheerio cereal. Cereal in a bowl with milk and a spoon. Ready for you to eat.
Ubuntu came along and is all that plus berries, bananas, sugar, and many other toppings. They also give you a fork and knife if you want to eat using those as well as a napkin.
If you like bananas on your Cheerios and nothing else, I mean, sure you can go with Ubuntu and get bananas on your Cheerios with milk and a bowl and spoon, but many people prefer to just go with Debian and then add bananas on top on their own because they don’t want everything else that comes with it. They may not hate it, it’s just going to be a waste of food to get all that extra stuff and have to remove it after the fact.
For some people that only want bananas, they’ll go with Ubuntu because adding bananas on your cereal involves opening the banana and using a knife to cut the banana into slices. Ubuntu may use a machine to cut your bananas into perfect, equal slices, so some people want to go with Ubuntu for those reasons, whether it be because they’ve done the legwork or because they did it in a way that is the most clean method whereas you doing it ended up with you needing to redo the process 3 times and now you have little bits of excess bananas from your past failed attempts and not doing the best job cleaning it up.
TL;DR: Ubuntu took Debian and added a bunch of stuff on top of it for their users. Some people like Ubuntu because of that and it makes it easier because Ubuntu included everything whereas some people want the source Debian because they will add their own stuff on their own the manual way.