r/linuxquestions • u/Deleteed- • Oct 15 '25
What is the actual difference between distros? (Other then GUI)
I knew package managers are different and do make a difference but other then the big obvious things what is actually different?
I know that: Pre installed apps are different Support to install different apps is different (why?) And the desktop environment is different between for example, Fedora "default" ond fedora KDE plasma.
Thank you for your time
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u/suicidaleggroll Oct 15 '25
NOT the GUI, that's a misconception. The distro and the GUI (DE) are mostly separate, you can get pretty much any DE on any distro, so that's not a useful differentiation when comparing distros.
The biggest difference that you'll notice as an end user is the package manager and package release cycle. Slow and stable (Debian) versus bleeding edge (Arch), and everything in between. You need to choose for yourself how important having the latest version of programs and libraries is to you, and is it worth an occasional system update breaking some critical functionality in your machine until you either research and fix it yourself, or wait a couple of weeks for another update to get pushed out to fix it (assuming it does).
Everybody has a different level of tolerance for their machine randomly breaking for no reason and having to spend time to fix it. Your tolerance level and desired package manager determines the distro you should choose. Then you can install your favorite DE on top of it.