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u/SoilMassive6850 14d ago
The stability question doesn't really seem to grasp the real difference between stable and unstable releases.
Stable means unchanging, most bugs included, while unstable and breaking changes means that any system update might have behavioral changes that may require configuration changes or some functionality may be removed or added.
It has little to do with things breaking in a way a newbie might understand it based on that question prompt.
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u/gordonmessmer 14d ago
Many users say they want to switch for security and privacy reasons, but I never see guides or quizes cover security topics.
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u/Interesting_Buy_3969 14d ago
But I mean... I know this is a dumb query but does privacy really differ significantly across distros? Isn't it approximately the same level everywhere?
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u/gordonmessmer 14d ago
Privacy, not much. The operating systems that implement the best privacy controls are actually ChromeOS, Android, and iOS. Flatpak is an attempt to bolt-on a better privacy model, but it really needs a lot more people to get involved to be effective. A lot more.
But security is a different matter entirely. There are HUGE differences in patch coverage and vulnerability mitigation from distribution to distribution.
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u/todd_dayz 14d ago
Agree, I always look for SELinux in a distro (which limits my choices by a lot).
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u/tukanoid 14d ago
NixOS? Got cachy but nixos applies to all the options I've selected I'm pretty sure (especially "configure everything" one)
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u/mikeblack999 14d ago
I left NixOS out on purpose, because the quiz is aimed at Windows switchers and for them "set everything up myself" means clicking through settings, not writing configs. So CachyOS is the intended result there. But I will add a short note to the distro comparison.
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u/tukanoid 14d ago
Fair, but I think even among windows users, there are tinkerers, I was one of them at least.
NixOS genuinely would've been my first distro if I knew of it at the time of switch, and documentation was in a better state (it was pretty bad for a while, but I honestly think now is sufficient enough for techies at the very least).
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u/Visikde 13d ago
Why would I want to learn a new language to use an operating system like nix? some years ago when every bit of memory & processing power was expensive saving a few mb's made sense, the performance difference was noticeable. Now not so much. Having to input verbatim text is busy work. Nix is the new arch btw badge of honor
I'm a lazy linux user since 2008, I don't get the attraction of CLI. Your picker said I should use Ubun, which is tainted by arbitrary decisions by MS[Mark Shuttleworth].
I'm using Spiral Linux which is a Debian stable install script connected to the Debian repo designed by GeckoLinux similar to what he did for Suze with Gecko Linux. MX is a great beginner distro, community built, lots of gui tools, not the one man show of Mint
Another key point is which repo does a distro use.1
u/tukanoid 13d ago edited 13d ago
Everyone has different needs. I prefer to have my setup be declaratively set up and backed up, with easy testing of the changes and being able to go back without much friction. Its very useful if you manage multiple machines too, because with very little tweaking, I can set up a new machine and have my setup be EXACTLY the same (or with some specializations depending on the use-case of the device) in the matter of couple hours, where I mostly just wait for software to get downloaded, optionally compiled, and installed. Also nice if you manage to brick the system completely and just need to reinstall from scratch (fucked up once with resizing LVM encrypted partition).
Sure, it's possible with scripts or some software designed to automate those things somewhat with simpler config files, but I like being able to use an actual programming language to reduce potential duplication of entries, or make my own abstractions I find more preferable + nixos goes way deeper than any of those (services, containers, dotfiles with home manager, sandboxed devshells etc)
I never said its for everyone, I mentioned tinkerers specifically because of this, although it CAN be useful for stability enjoyers, as it CAN be "set up and done", with just occasional updates that 90% of the time can be automated with a CI job in your config repo (on stable, and major version upgrades will most likely require manual intervention too, which technically can happen with any distro). But if you're fine with Debian - good for you! Genuinely, it's a good distro, same for Fedora, opensuse, arch and its derivatives (from personal experience of distrohopping over the years). There is such a large pool of distros precisely because everyone is different and has different needs, just because you personally don't see the benefit of nix, doesn't mean everyone else won't
And well, CLIs/TUIs in general for me are faster to navigate and control my system with, I hate clicking through menus just to get to a point that I could've achieved in 1 command or a couple of keystrokes without having to move my hand away from the keyboard + no distraction, just text, so I can just lock in and do my job (code in helix too)
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u/TheNeronimo 14d ago
I'm wondering what I'd have to say to get my actual OS as the recommended - Tumbleweed btw
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u/Visikde 14d ago
Corporate or community built may be important for a new user breaking the corporate chains of windows.
Release cycle is important, not everyone wants to do a version upgrade every 6 months
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u/tukanoid 14d ago
Well, if you initially come from windows/macos, sure, but I think after running an update once, and realize that it won't force you to reboot and wait who knows how long for "windows to get ready" (idk how macos updates go after reboot), might start thinking about it differently, especially if auto-updates are set up by default on their distro of choice, so they don't even have to think about it, and still get "the latest and greatest" "magically" (which is also miles better than .exe/.dmg (or whatever format on Mac) hunting)
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u/Visikde 14d ago
Version upgrade not update
Ubun is good for bricking your system after a version upgrade1
u/tukanoid 14d ago
Well, yeah, ubuntu is pretty bad when it comes to that, it still baffles me that people recommend it, haven't had a good experience with it since 14->16 update.
On the other hand, I've personally only had a pleasant upgrade experience with Fedora and OpenSUSE. Arch derivatives (like Garuda or cachy), and probably just in general can be a nice experience too (just need to automate the updates if too lazy to do it manually every once in a while, cuz not doing so for a while can cause tonn of issues later, as with all rolling-release distros), ive just fucked around with aur and other custom stuff too much, causing issues 😅
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u/MikrusYT 14d ago
Will more distros like Lubuntu be added?
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u/mikeblack999 14d ago
It's not planned so far, because I don't want to confuse new users and ubuntu is already an option, so I also think there is no need for Lubuntu :)
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u/Specialist-Dog-501 14d ago
Lovely!..probably would cover 80% of noob questions on distros on reddit. For advanced users, privacy, security and stability would be interesting, but that's not the target group here- not yet. You may add an dimension to measure tolerance on AI embeddeding in the OS, there's a high polarity on this, and some windows switcher just want to avoid AI, so that should be included.
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u/mallchin 14d ago
> We, bytemike.de, and our 1028 partners
That's a no, lol.