this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2023
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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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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:
--> 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Awesome stuff glad to hear it, I love immutable distros for my work machines silver blue definitely being the trend setter