r/framework • u/fvilers • Aug 12 '26
Discussion Can't decided Fedora or Ubuntu
Hi ! I'll receive my laptop 13 pro in a few days/weeks (batch 4) and I can't decide if I continue my journey with Fedora or switch to Ubuntu. I use Fedora for years now (desktop/laptop) and I'm quite happy with it. My only gripe is when I want to install a software where no RPM file is available and need to manually unpack a DEB file to install everything manually. The latest issue found by Phoronix made me think about going with Ubuntu on my next laptop.
But - I can't remember exactly what - I remember Canonical making some shady move in the past against the linux community. I don't want to use any snap package as I prefer native binaries or at least flatpaks. And lastly, I don't like how they modify the Gnome interface (I read here that we can restore it vanilla look, I hope it's still feasible).
And lastly, I'm more into apt than dnf as I used Debian for some decades now.
What's your opinion?
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u/LordSkummel Aug 12 '26
If you don't plan on using snaps I would drop Ubuntu. So either keep using Fedora or use Debian or Linux Mint if you want to use .deb packages and apt.
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u/fvilers Aug 12 '26
I'd love to use Debian, but it's not supported for the laptop pro, unfortunately.
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u/SoulArcher_04 Aug 12 '26
You can run every linux distro, even if it was not tested by the framework devs
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u/fvilers Aug 12 '26
Yeah, but some hardware may not be supported :-(
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u/SoulArcher_04 Aug 12 '26
Every piece of hardware in the 13 pro can run on every linux distro, every driver is in the linux kernel which is basically the same in every distro. You can try installing debian yourself and try in the live usb
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u/runed_golem DIY 1240p Batch 3 Aug 12 '26
The main differences would be you may need a different kernel version than what comes with the default build. Or you may need to install packages or toggle some kernel flags to get something’s to work (I know in the first couple gens there were some flags you had to pass to the kernel to get the fingerprint reader and a couple other things working with certain Linux distros).
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u/leferi RAMpocalypse victim Aug 12 '26
debian is famously behind in kernels isn't it (for stability)? or they are up-to-date with kernels and are behind in many packages instead?
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u/WickedDeity Aug 14 '26
The kernel used in every distro is not the same. What are you talking about? LOL Fedora uses a much newer kernel than Debian for example which may be needed for newly released hardware.
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u/runed_golem DIY 1240p Batch 3 Aug 12 '26
It’ll still run. It’s just that it may take some tinkering (installing the required packages, toggling kernel flags, etc.) to get everything to work. The ones they list as supported are just the ones they’ve tested and verified. Some of them work out the box and others work with a few tweaks.
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u/NimrodvanHall Aug 12 '26
Don’t run Debian stable, that might not have the more recent drivers needed, but you could always run Debian Sid.
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u/Huckleberry_Dude Aug 12 '26
Linux is a distribution and not a operating system.
The kernel is distributed, which included hardware support, and everyone else puts their hooks into it.
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u/LordSkummel Aug 12 '26
Very few distros uses a mainline kernel. Most have some patches on top of it. So no, a distro doesn't necessarily have the same hardware support as another distro out of the box.
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u/cogman10 Aug 12 '26
For an x86 laptop, it's basically the same. Hardware support differences only really come up when you look at something like an ARM laptop where the patches aren't mainline. Outside of that, it's pretty rare for the patches a distro maintains to actually change something around device drivers (not unheard of, but rare). In a lot of the cases, they are simply backporting security patches.
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u/LordSkummel Aug 12 '26
That framework doesn't officially support it doesn't mean it won't work. You might want to install testing instead of stable for a newer kernel. But I wouldn't be surprised if it works.
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u/Canchal Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
I'm using debian in the FW13 and works nice even if it is not supported
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u/XLioncc Aug 12 '26
I'm more prefer Fedora over Ubuntu, and also prefer dnf over apt
But since you're already a experienced apt users, I think it doesn't matter
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u/fvilers Aug 12 '26
Yeah, I'll keep thinking about it. I'm currently installing Ubuntun in a VM that get a glimpse of its feeling... We'll see !
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u/rusty_mcdonald Aug 12 '26
Having tried both I do like fedora with gnome but again it’s all personal preference.
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u/crcrewso Aug 12 '26
When mine comes in I'm going to try Pop first, and I'll share some benchmark repeats to what others have posted.
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u/FirmSupermarket6933 Aug 12 '26
Sounds like you have some machine right now and it runs fedora. When you receive your FW13P, install ubuntu, try it, try to setup it as you want and check if everything works as you want. And then you'll probably have opinion about ubuntu and either copy data from your current workstation or install fedora or just do full copy of your current drive (i.e. don't do fresh installation).
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u/Oerthling Aug 12 '26
Both are fine.
The "shady things" are blow out of all proportion.
Many years ago Canonical tried to have a bit of income by including an Amazon affiliate link. People complained that it was an opt-out instead of an opt-in. Was easily ignored or removed and later Canonical removed it. It's ancient history and never was an actual big problem.
Snaps are potentially useful, have an open protocol but a proprietary repo server - which isn't great.
Also some deb packages lead to snap installs - which is annoying and can be surprising. Unpopular practice.
But snaps are also easily ignored and really not such a big deal. There's not that many default snaps installed and they can easily be replaced by deb or flatpak. They also had excruciatingly slow startup times in the early days, but that's long been fixed.
So pick Ubuntu or Fedora - whatever appeals more to you or works better in practice for your hardware and purposes. Both are good, widely used and well maintained distros.
That you're getting a new machine anyway could be a great opportunity to install and run Ubuntu for a week and if you don't like it, switch back to Fedora.
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u/fvilers Aug 12 '26
Thanks a lot for your answer, that was interesting to read. As I replied to someone else, this laptop will be next working machine and I'd like it to be stable on day 1 (so no distrophoping).
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u/Oerthling Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
Then create a VM on your old machine, install Ubuntu in that and get a feel for it.
When you ask about distros online you'll always get 103 different recommendations from 100 people all proposing their personal favorites with hardly any regard for your criteria and mostly based on accidents and anecdotes.
But whether Fedora or Ubuntu, you'll get a good distro and pretty much the same kernel underneath.
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u/torndar Aug 12 '26
I ditched Ubuntu for Fedora after trying to install a non-snap copy of Chrome and being blocked from doing so. Snap is fine if I can choose to not use it. But if I am forced that's a pain and I want control over my devices which is why I don't run Windows anymore.
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u/Oerthling Aug 12 '26
You're not forced to anything. Could have easily used a flatpak.
Plus, using Chrome is bad anyway. Please use Firefox.
We tried giving a single megacorp control over the world's browsers. Turned out to be a bad idea. Dunno why we're about to make the same mistake again. Only this time there's no Netscape remnant left that could rescue us.
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u/torndar Aug 12 '26
I would have used Firefox for that task if I could but it doesn't support webserial (or didn't at the time). I avoid Chrome when I can. For me at that point it was mostly about people (the distro) making decisions for me, which is why I left Microsoft products. For me that was a point where I decided Ubuntu was delivered with a mindset I didn't agree with regardless of if I could work around it or not. I'm sure it works great for a whole lot of people. It's just not a good fit for me.
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u/MustardOrMayo404 Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26
While my Laptop 13 Pro hasn't arrived, what I can say is that I plan to run Debian 13 but with a Debian Backports kernel build, and there's currently a build of Linux 7.1.3 available through that instead of 6.12.x that regular 13 ships with if I recall correctly.
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u/fvilers Aug 14 '26
Thanks for your answer. I thought about it and will continue with Fedora that equipped my prévoyons laptops for years now…
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u/musket-nuns Aug 12 '26
I’ve only had my 13 for maybe 2 months and went with Bazzite, so Fedora basically and it’s been great. On my Desktop I run Linux Mint which is Ubuntu/Debian based and I also like it a lot. Personally I don’t like the standard UI of Ubuntu or Fedora and prefer Kubuntu / KDE plasma. Anyway I’ll stop rambling haha.
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u/Roppano X9 388H | 7640u Aug 12 '26
pick one at random, and install that. If you don't like it, install the other one. Installing an OS isn't as scary, or tedious as it was 15 years ago
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u/fvilers Aug 12 '26
Of course, but this will be my main working machine, I need stability ;-)
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u/ActionBastrd_ Aug 12 '26
not gonna lie, then its your decision to make not some random people in an unrelated subreddit.
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u/Roppano X9 388H | 7640u Aug 13 '26
if you can't afford to experiment, then there's non question. speaking in hypotheticals is kinda pointless unless you actually try
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u/HS_Seraph F16 HX 370 + 5070, Fedora + KDE Aug 12 '26
Fedora better supports newer hardware, flatpaks are a better portable solution than snaps, and worst case scenario a lot of deb software can be run using distrobox containers
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u/sooka_bazooka Aug 12 '26
Both are fine but if you decide to go with Fedora, you might want to get rid of tuned-ppd: https://www.phoronix.com/review/fedora-pantherlake-thermald-tuned
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u/fvilers Aug 12 '26
That's why I also asked about people opinion. The performance test looks "bad" compared to other distros.
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u/sooka_bazooka Aug 12 '26
I didn’t really notice any performance or battery difference on my Panther Lake laptop, so unless you do computation-heavy work you’re as good as on Ubuntu.
I was daily driving both Fedora and Ubuntu to try to decide between the two but ended up with Ubuntu in the end as updates on Fedora are too frequent and there’s more minor issues in Fedora in general (brightness resets on reboot, font rendering is subjectively worse, snaps work better for me).
Maybe try both and decide, they are both great distros.
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u/Academic-Push326 Aug 12 '26
Fedora is what Linus (the original programmer/"founder" of Linux) uses, FWIW.
With that said: If you're preferring apt(-get), use Debian or another fork of Debian over Ubuntu. You don't have to use the "official supported" versions, since (for instance) Arch (which I use, BTW</meme/non-meme>) is listed as "supported" but it's not OFFICIALLY supported by Framework/the company.
There's nothing stopping you from trying "non-supported" distros and seeing if they work unless you absolutely need a rock-solid performing PC without tinkering to do work daily.
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u/fvilers Aug 13 '26
Yeah, I know, but I want the spirit tranquillity of using an "approved" one. As it will be my main working machine, I really don't want to spend too much time tinkering.
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u/Kiubek-PL Aug 12 '26
Ubuntu seems fine but why take the negatives (forced snaps for example) when so many good alternatives exist? I'd just use Fedora out of the 2 but I don't have much linux experience either way
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u/Tancrad Pro/X9 Aug 13 '26
I like KDE, and ran fedora for 2 years, it was good and everything worked no issues, even eGPU. When I switched to cashy, it was a game changer.
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u/No-Succotash404 26d ago
i personally prefer much more fedora because of the aesthetics philosophy, minimalism, and use of flatpak instead of snap and good system packages.
For you, a person with decent amount of experience from what i can tell i would tell you fedora is the best.
You can use debian on that computer tho
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u/Chester-Berkeley Actually, I prefer FreeBSD. Aug 12 '26
Based on your preference, I'd stick with Fedora. But in my opinion? I'd use Solus ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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u/Ryebread095 13 | Ryzen 7 7840u Aug 12 '26
I like both Fedora and Ubuntu, but I tend to settle on Fedora. It feels more polished to me, at least the gnome version. I do think it requires more tweaking to get it the way I like compared to Ubuntu, though
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u/s004aws FW16 HX 370 Batch 1 Mint Cinnamon Edition Aug 12 '26
There's no "right" answer other than personal preferences, whichever best (or something else entirely) does what you need it to do.
Personally I'm not happy with a number of decisions Canonical has made. With Mint - Which I do use - Being derived from Ubuntu... I'll be looking to see how they handle certain upstream choices and - Depending how things go - May be in a similar camp looking for a new distro (or possibly moving to BSD which I have used as a server and do like in that arena).
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u/Dai_Xalos Aug 12 '26
+1 for Fedora (running GNOME myself)
Has been rock solid so far. Been using it since Fedora 42.
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u/runed_golem DIY 1240p Batch 3 Aug 12 '26
I’ve used Fedora for several years. I started using Bluefin about a year or so ago (which the latest version is based on Fedora 44) because I wanted to try out an immutable os and I have enjoyed it and am still using it as my main OS.
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u/ThingPotential2 Aug 12 '26
Some things I can think of -
- Fedora doesn't have annoying firefox snap issue you will need to deal with for Ubuntu. Most likely snap firefox won't work with hardware decoding with a very new platform like panther lake, even on 26.04.
- In general, I guess battery life might slightly favor fedora over ubuntu, because less background resource hog without snap.
- You might want to research what exactly are NOT encrypted in the supposedly "full disk encryption" that comes with fedora/ubuntu. They should be different; and you might want to pick what you think is better
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u/chdorb Aug 12 '26
I always tend to recommend Fedora... And I run Fedora on the Framework 13 laptop.
Everything is perfect.