this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2024
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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).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Distrochooser says following about fedora
Without any context. Distrochooser is a fun little game but you shouldn't rely on it or quote it.
Moreover, it would be nice if there was any hint about the choices.
Show which distros are free as in beer and which are not.
And more importantly, you pay a fee for support. If you are a home user you most likely do not need paid support.
That avoiding systemd is even a choise is nuts
Yes, there are people who avoid systemd but thhere's nothing to fear about systemd and this topic shouldn't be brought up.
And the answers are windows or mac. Please go away from that mantra. Many would say GNOME is macish but GNOME's workflow is different from macos. It is not macos and it doesn't want to be macos, afaik. GNOME's workflow is revolutionary and saying it's like mac isn't nice. Neither is KDE windows, it breaks with microsoft design choices.
Asking 32 or 64 bit is outdated. Which computer even ships 32 now
Where does following question lead me?
Fedora is for everyone. Linux mint is used by everyone. Opensuse is used by everyone. Arch is used if you want to go deeper. Nixos is maybe not plug and play. Even if you are a linux pro, you may use ubuntu. It just doesn't feel right.
I really want to know what the crossover is on people who know what systemd is, much less have any actual reason to decide they wish to actively avoid it, and those who would find this the best way of determining their next distro. That has to be a vanishingly small group of people.
Good luck finding one https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Linux_distributions_without_systemd
Deceptive list that appears to include only distros that don't package systemd at all. A distro can offer more than one init system. For instance, Gentoo defaults to OpenRC but offers systemd as an option for users who want it for whatever reason. It isn't on that list.
(But I agree that if you know what systemd is and that you don't want it, you're not using Distrochooser. You're not looking up your next distro in Wikipedia, either.)
Keep in mind that you are an experienced user of linux.
This site is probably about people who are both inexperienced, and also may not have time to adequately learn the system the way you have.
And no, as someone who has gone through Fedora, Mint, and Arch, saying they're for "everyone" just assumes everyone is going to use linux the same way you do. Which is a huge mistake. Arch didn't even have a normal installer up until a year ago, the process even with the arch wiki guide is completely unwieldy for most users to do. Many distros disable popular codecs by default, which a lot of users wouldn't have the patience for. Some will have Nvidia drivers for up to date for gaming, and some won't.
And most of all, you're also running new users into the choice dilemma, where there's so many options they just won't know what to pick.
Good points.
Sry for not being clear enough. Arch is for someone who wants to go deeper into linux. I'd never recommend arch for new users,
If someone was able to add a printer to windows, she's able to add codecs to linux.
I understand your point, yet (e.g.) fedora doesn't hide codecs, they are just not preinstalled. Could it be better? Yes. But it's not like it was unsuitable.
Imo the choice dilemma isn't really a dilemma. If you choose any of the 5 or 10 big distros, you are good to go. Neither is a really bad choice. Oftentimes it's just the default that's not perfect. But as soon as you're on one distro, a default value is no reason to switch distros.
Btrfs, snapper, immutability, etc. those are reasons to switch, not the default values.
Fedora is not for everyone. I think the assessment of that site is correct. When I first installed it, it came with KDE and Wayland installed. Wayland couldn't share screens at the time and my webcam didn't work. Which new user has the time to understand the difference between X11 and Wayland? I also wanted to install OBSStudio and finding an rpm repo was no fun at all.
In the end, I uninstalled Fedora.
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I agree that Fedora's habit for pushing (sometimes breaking) changes is definitely something to keep an eye out. However, it has been so good over the last (almost) two years. I would even argue that Fedora has become more self-conscious of the consequences and (especially) how this might affect their more casual user base.
Btw, how long ago did you try out Fedora? FWIW, Fedora (Silverblue; to be more precise^[1]^) was the first distro that I've tried and while I've had some experiences with other distros over time (mostly through dual boot), Fedora (Atomic) seems to have become the distro I call home.
Fedora must've been during COVID, because I can't remember the year. If things are better now, then maybe distrochooser has to be updated. It's on github, so if you believe it's become user-friendly, do contribute.
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That explains a lot of why you felt that way about Fedora. Thank you for enlightening us on that!
Can't agree more.
Honestly, I've tried to contribute in the past; but it didn't feel as if they got implemented. Perhaps the maintainer has implemented them without making it noticeable to met, but in its current iteration it doesn't feel as if that's case. I've since given up on it.