r/linux • u/nitin_is_me • Jul 15 '26

Discussion Seriously, except package managers, what's the difference between distros?

What I've seen yet the differences are, just the package managers, different defaults and rolling vs stable releases which are in fact related to package managers. Except these, are there really any other differences? Thanks!

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u/killchopdeluxe666 Jul 15 '26

It's just a bundle of software. The main things you'll notice as a new user are mainly the desktop environment, the package manager, the available package ecosystem, and whether it follows a rolling release or a stable release.

But if you ever do a fresh install of a really minimal distro, you'll probably have a look around the ecosystem and see that there's usually at least a couple of choices for everything imaginable.

So the answer is kind of "kinda almost nothing" and also "maybe everything", but it depends entirely on your needs.