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submitted 4 months ago by Sunshine@piefed.zip to c/linux@programming.dev

We all know about Debian, Fedora and Arch but what about the lesser known ones that are built from the ground up?

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[-] HubertManne@piefed.social 4 points 4 months ago

source mage linux.

[-] mrbutterscotch@feddit.org 3 points 4 months ago

I don't know if it's super obscure, but have not seen it mentioned here generally.

TailsOS

It's a built for the purpose of extreme privacy. It automatically routes all traffic through the TOR Network.

[-] ace_garp@piefed.world 1 points 4 months ago
[-] Digit@lemmy.wtf 1 points 3 months ago

Here are some independent distros I think need more respect/recognition:

  • CRUX - It's proper old school, been around for ages, still does things the old school ways, gets you perhaps more knowledge of your system than even archlinux, slackware, gentoo...
  • KISS (and/or Carbs) - Similarly keeps you hands-on tight to your system.
  • Exherbo - Takes commitment, to go from 0 to 10, users as developers. Godly, if you can.
  • SliTaZ - Still as small as the old small DamnSmallLinux, and more pleasant (comparable to SLAX and Puppy).
  • Gobo - Always needs honorary mention. Unique file system layout ... ~ Would be cool if that were simply something we could toggle on any distro... Surely that's just someone taking an afternoon with an LLM making XDG configurations... no? Okay, probably more complicated than I know. ~ But I digress...
  • GuixSD - Manage your system with guile.
  • PCLinuxOS - Convenient, catering to desktop users. Nice community spins. Oddly uses RPM package format, but with apt interface.
  • BedrockLinux - What I've used for about 14 years as my daily driver. It's cheating. ;) Linux's best kept secret.

Big fan of each of these.

Also peripherally aware of...

  • venom
  • adelie
  • milis
  • side (uses PiSi package manager)
  • ToaruOS (idk, just saw it for the first time now... showing there's always more to explore...)
[-] rosco385@lemmy.wtf 0 points 4 months ago

Less popular distros that I use are NixOS and FreeBSD. I haven't tried Gentoo yet, but I want to.

I want to buy a Framework laptop later this year. FreeBSD with KDE Plasma will be installed first, I might switch to Gentoo later, especially if work on the GNU Hurd kernel progresses far enough.

[-] Digit@lemmy.wtf 2 points 3 months ago

I haven’t tried Gentoo yet, but I want to.

Come. You want to. And it's easy. Here's a video install guide on how to install Gentoo, that's not even 40 seconds long...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t09IbcxAJlU

;)

(... 24 days ago. Oh. Did you do it yet? On Gentoo yet? USE flag convertee now?)

I might switch to Gentoo later, especially if work on the GNU Hurd kernel progresses far enough.

I was briefly using Hurd with debian about 12 years ago... it didn't hurt. Hurd didn't hurt.

... I've been looking over at even more exotic kernels from time to time, yet to seriously dip my toe in... things like ironclad.

[-] yesman@lemmy.world 0 points 4 months ago

TempleOS should be obscure, but everyone knows about it because it's such a joke.

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this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2026
71 points (94.9% liked)

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