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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

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What distro to choose in parallel to steamos (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hello community!

I come to you for advice. Using an m1 macbook air since 2020, I installed popos on my old 2013 macbook pro and I was quite happy with it but... I bought a steamdeck two weeks ago and exploring its desktop mode made me reconsider some choices. Using distros based on different systems, with different commands, desktop environment, etc. gets a little confusing for someone like me, who doesn't use linux as my main machine. Do you have any advice for me? From what I understand, steamos is debian-based while popos is ubuntu-based: is that the biggest part of how a distribution works, ie commands, etc.? Good ui/ux is important for me so i should maybe use nitrux or deepin, that are debian-based, or is it a bad idea to choose a less common distro for a amateur like me?

Thanks in advance, I'm a bit lost.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I would choose a popular distro instead of a niche one.

The main pro of that is that you'll get a big support community and lots of documentation. When you decide to use a less common one, especially one with only one or a few developers, this can backfire. Maintaining a distro is a lot of hard work and you have to trust them to patch all security-things and don't just stop sending out updates.

Most niche distros are just Debian/ Arch with some custom themes and a few apps pre-installed, which you can do on your own super easily anyway.

My recommendations would be:

Fedora: my favourite distro. Gets major updates twice a year, and therefore is leading in new technologies and software, but not bleeding edge, so it is pretty reliable. There are many spins (editions) available, which differ in their desktop environment (DE), aka GUI and app family. The "Official" (Workstation) is with Gnome, which is a very unique and interesting DE that supports very smooth trackpad gestures (better than MacOS imo!) and looks very clean. But it is very unconventional and minimalist, so not everybody likes it. Hit me up if you have any questions. And the other one is the KDE spin, which looks exactly the same as your desktop mode in your Deck, since it also uses KDE Plasma as DE. Both are user friendly, but require something like a "10 things to do after installing"-tutorial, since there may be a few codecs or so missing.
Mint: THE recommended distro for newcomers. It will take you by the hand and show you the wonderful Linux world. It's a bit more conservative, but therefore very stable. Even my Mum and tech-illiterate friends/ elderly understand it. If you like the UI of the steam deck, you may not enjoy it as much, but even when not, will introduce you
Pop!OS: you already used it, nothing to say
Kubuntu: similar to Fedora KDE, but not liked by the community as much. Would choose Fedora over it, but doesn't matter much tbh
Fedora Silverblue/ Kionite: probably the most similar to the steam deck in this list. It is also immutable, so you can't brick it or fuck up much. But it should be more used by more experienced users.

--> I would recommend you Fedora Workstation if you have a good trackpad or prefer a keyboard based workflow. It would be a quite unique experience and something else than your Steam Deck. Otherwise, if your laptop is a bit older, try Mint.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Thank you for the suggestions, I'll besure to look into it. I think I had an intuition but completely underestimated the importance of the community around a specific distro. When you're not actively using Linux, it's hard to grasp what criteria should be favored and what significance they will have, not just for anybody but for me.

So I should try it, and I must say the more I hear about fedora the more interested I am.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The only reason to not use Silver blue is if you use something like a VPN that requires root functions. Most VPN's will work with network manager or have flatpak clients but there are some like Mullvad that are quite tricky to get sorted.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah. I've just started using SB a few days ago AND decided for Mullvad. What a coincidence...

AFAIK you can just install the rpm via rpm-ostree and reboot. I have to look if this also works with tool- or distrobox.

Or, if you don't rely on the client, just set up your connection using the native import function of Gnome/ KDE.

But for now, Silverblue is great and I don't feel like it restricts me at all tbh. I just wouldn't recommend it to newcomers, since you have to find a few workarounds and try other approaches as with Ubuntu for example.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

rpm-ostree installs the client, but it hasn't worked for me as the service is blocked, it's the same with the ovpn/wireguard method using gnome's network manager. Could be something simple I'm missing with Nix I had to enable it as a service, I haven't used SB for a fair while now but have recently used micro which had the same issue.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm using Mullvad on Silverblue right now, through NetworkManager. Just had to import the wireguard config file they provide. No extra app/package needed!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Awesome stuff glad to hear it, I love immutable distros for my work machines silver blue definitely being the trend setter