The Linux Tier List

The definitive Linux tier list. It will make many upset, but I explain why there are so many pointless distros that score so low on the tier list.
Timestamps:
00:00 Debian and Arch
00:50 What are the Tiers
02:20 Alma Rocky Oracle RHEL Centos and Fedora
03:30 Ubuntu
04:20 Alpine Linux
04:55 AntiX
05:20 Arco Linux
06:25 Manjaro
07:30 Artix
08:05 Clear Linux
09:15 Deepin
09:50 KDE Neon
10:15 Elementary OS
11:20 Endeavor and Garuda
11:37 Feren OS
11:55 Gentoo
12:55 Kali Linux
14:00 Parrot
15:00 Kubuntu
16:10 Linux Mint
16:45 Lubuntu
17:10 MX Linux
17:35 NixOS
17:50 PCLinuxOS
18:17 Peppermint
18:30 PopOS
19:45 Puppy Linux
20:20 Slackware
20:55 Solus
21:30 SUSE and OpenSUSE
22:20 Tails and Qubes
23:10 Void Linux
23:30 TinyCore
23:45 Zorin
24:30 Nobara
25:45 What you should look for in a Distribution .
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[@thehappyhopper]

you forgot about the third supreme tier option templeOS

[@worstedwoolens]

Put some respect on Terry's name he wrote that kernel himself and didn't need to borrow from Linus.

[@bendavis3545]

The Holy Tier ;)

[@hallengard]

Wrong, TempleOS is not linux

[@wizardscrollstudio]

templeOS is God Divine Holy tier. Is above supreme.

[@xavierwindon8968]

@@hallengardTempleOS isn’t linux 🤓

[@mevrickduran]

amount of debian users after watching this video: 📈📈📈

[@ddangelobr]

Debian user for 15 years here, so nothing new 🫵🏻😂

[@cundhi]

Saw Debian at the beginning, left satisfied.

[@arunabraham9382]

Super safe and satisfactory for me it was the most misunderstood distro. But I get it now. No headaeche daily driver for me

[@vaisakhkm783]

I never used debian (vanilla debian) and i am going to watch it... lets see can he make me switch to it... Edit: after watching... tier list did not affected me.... currently i am on fedora after using arch for so long... as stability goes it's really a sweet spot for me.... but due to recent events, i am thinking about switching to nix.... yes debian might be best for me, but packages are really old so i can't use it for dev (yes, neovim is the major reason)

[@Obnomus]

Debian stonks📈📈📈📈

[@Rawrqual]

I agree that you can just install everything on a Debian machine instead of going with Parrot, but when you work in so many different environments it's nice to be able to quickly set up a machine in a few minutes and already have half of the tools you need.

[@patrycjuszsinkiewicz6935]

Well, saving script on you flash drive, or in your repo with all the tools you actually need would be better idea

[@Rawrqual]

@@patrycjuszsinkiewicz6935 I've been meaning to get everything done in Ansible, but I haven't had the time. Definitely the best solution though, I agree.

[@maximofernandez196]

@@patrycjuszsinkiewicz6935 yeah, but that means you have to do that extra work anyway

[@colonelccccc]

Don't say this to him, he said you're a noob if you do that, time doesn't seem to resonate with money in his mind ;)

[@doomfistXD]

or you use ansible after setting up debian for your needs one time and there you go you have a way faster live usb you can plug into any computer which is also bloat free (because you know and chose what stuff you need and what not)

[@purposepowerlove]

One added nice thing about Zorin is that the Zorin team has tested all major applications and when you open the software store, for any application you select to install, it has automatically-selected the one that works best with the OS. It might be a deb, flatpak, or snap, but the default will be whatever was tested and works best. Meanwhile, if you want to select another, you easily can from a dropdown. It takes away the headache of the user having to try each and decide what is best. I am not a new user. I work full-time in Linux both on desktop and on servers, but I appreciate how Zorin just works. The last thing that I want to think about is how to get from point A to point B. I just want to install something and have it work. I hate wasting time customizing stuff and playing.

[@glowinthedark9082]

Isn't it amazing how the most supreme distros are both community based

[@BraydenPrice30]

Isn't it amazing that all of them are community based because Linux is community based?

[@thiagotofano]

@@BraydenPrice30 We just need to make sure that RedHat is also aware of that lmao XD

[@friedrichhayek4862]

@@Aloredia freeloader is a communist concept.

[@trovalds]

​@@BraydenPrice30 wrong. Linux Kernel haves 70%+ of this development from full time employees inside companies like IBM. And most distros also haves full time employees working on them.

[@BraydenPrice30]

@@trovalds That is true, but still, without its community, Linux would be just another operating system that very few people use. Linux started out as a community effort, not by companies. The Linux community is what makes Linux special. Many of these companies would not use Linux and therefore develop it if it weren't for the community, because the "companies" you speak of are made of people. People form communities. Also, while 70% may be a lot, so is the other 30%, and without that 30% Linux would not be anywhere near as developed as it is now.

[@ethernet764]

*Supreme* 00:11 Debian / Arch *Amazing for New Users* 15:00 Kubuntu 16:10 Linux Mint 23:45 Zorin 24:30 Nobara *Best for Business* 02:20 Alma Rocky Oracle 04:20 Alpine Linux 17:35 NixOS 21:30 SUSE and OpenSUSE *Creative and Unique* 07:30 Artix 08:05 Clear Linux 11:55 Gentoo 20:20 Slackware 20:55 Solus 22:20 Tails and Qubes 23:10 Void Linux *Devil* 02:31 RHEL Centos and Fedora 03:30 Ubuntu *Lightweight* 04:55 AntiX 16:45 Lubuntu 18:17 Peppermint 19:45 Puppy Linux 23:30 TinyCore *Pointless* 05:20 Arco Linux 06:25 Manjaro 09:15 Deepin 09:50 KDE Neon 10:15 Elementary OS 11:20 Endeavor and Garuda 11:37 Feren OS 12:55 Kali Linux 14:00 Parrot 17:10 MX Linux 17:50 PCLinuxOS 18:30 PopOS

[@windows99]

Top G

[@beybrain7896]

Thank you!

[@dnkmmr69420]

I would say NixOS is the most unique of them all. Why? Because it doesn't use /usr (other than /usr/bin/env) and it uses a nix store too.

[@blazegaming6097]

tbh i enjoyed Endeavor OS over manjaro

[@fabiandrinksmilk6205]

@@dnkmmr69420 True, but it's also very valuable for business so I can see why Titus put it there.

[@metal_anomaly]

I think EndeavourOS actually has a point, I was an Arch user for a long time, and when it was time to upgrade my laptop I wanted/needed a new setup. Endeavour was the most convenient option, doesn't lack anything Arch has, and is just straight beautiful right out of the box. It's not for complete noobs, but as long as they know to be careful, it's actually a great way to learn for people who maybe don't have a lot of time to set everything up manually. It's for people who want a ready, good base Arch setup to build upon gradually.

[@DDracee]

also he mentioned "pointless for the same reasons as manjaro", but endeavor is basically vanilla arch, you aren't breaking endeavor by doing stuff that wouldn't break vanilla arch if anything, endeavor is less likely to break since they'll push gaming-focused patches faster than arch does, like it's not exactly uncommon for latest nvidia drivers to not work at all on latest arch but work out of the box on endeavor

[@timoteostation]

I completely agree with this tier list! Especially now, when I finally decided to migrate from Fedora to Arch. I could choose Debian, but I'm not happy with the delay of Neovim 0.9+, even in the unstable version Neovim still remains in versions 0.7+. Also, I really like the challenge to my Linux knowledge, it will be my first attempt at working on a window manager. Void, Alpine, Artix and Rocky Linux are also interesting options. Thanks for mentioning them - even you mentioned AlmaLinux along with Rocky, I think it's ok.

[@PS3PCDJ]

Parrot, Kali, Tails and QubesOS should have their own category "Highly specific usage"

[@iFurane]

You missed the point. Kali gets the pointless tier because you can install every tool in it yourself on any distro, plus nobody uses all the tools in it anyway

[@PS3PCDJ]

@@iFurane Fair, but I can see a point in having a readily available distro for that purpose where you just need to spin it up, even if a bit bloated.

[@stamshem12]

Do you remember all the tools there are? No. Do you have the strength to install loads of tools one after the other? No . So it's really not without a point You have everything organized in Kali and if you want to install more things you install

[@itsmeodx]

​@@stamshem12you missed the point again, chris said that if you could install those tools yourself, you understand how they work more than the person who just found them pre-installed out of the box

[@stamshem12]

@@itsmeodx You're right but It is better to have it already installed on the computer if you have space and have a powerful computer Why don't you already have all the software? KALI Its purpose is for HACKING so why is it "unnecessary" It's the operating system.. and that's what it's for. All the necessary tools are there. Instead of starting to install software software There are programs out there that already install if you find out. Any software Then you write in TERMINAL the name of the software, you don't need to install it is already installed. And that's good I love Kali too I think he is just talking nonsense

[@dramaticnormanbates2605]

I think placing Fedora in the devil tier just because a few community members (Red Hat employees are also community members, as they have no privileges over others) submitted a proposal, which was subsequently rejected by a significant majority of the Fedora community even before an official vote, seems like an overreaction. If I were to submit a similar proposal for the next Debian release, and it gets rejected, would Debian also be labeled as devil? I believe it would be the complete opposite, they would be "based", because they rejected it.

[@jackasome58]

Yea just seems like he's hating Fedora to hate Fedora. I like arch a lot, but Fedora has been a daily driver for me and fedora silverblue is fucking fantastic.

[@elhombre2711]

@@jackasome58 I like Fedora as well but I'm going to give Debian and Arch a try.

[@princesaliya4394]

​@@jackasome58 I'm using workstation. I want to ask that installation of silverblue is similar to workstation or different?? I want to dual boot it with windows 10 so can u suggest me a video to dual boot silverblue??

[@TheIntNinja]

@@elhombre2711 tell me something is it possible to install arch linux without all the cli interface since there is no gui? and if my laptop doesn't even have ethernet cable to be able to connect to the internet for the installer to work?

[@Pgpxd]

I am currently investigating Linux Distros and it has been a cool experience so far. I am currently trying different Linux OS in VirtualBox and Fedora (latest fixed release) is just another candidate. It just looks so sweet and beautiful to me, and Nobara could be my grand "Windows replacement" knowing it's based on Fedora and is pretty much suitable for casual gamers like me. If I could dualboot a fixed release of Nobara with Windows 10 without having to worry about the bootloader screwing up, it would be rad. I also found out Fedora's ISO is COMICALLY lightweight, I wonder why that happens? I don't know but it seemed like a really brightening surprise 😅

[@chasing1ogic]

Would've definitely love to hear the raionale behind Debian and Arch being the only supreme tier picks. I feel like we got great insight on everything on the tier list except the two at the top.

[@isodoubIet]

I have to say I react with some bemusement to gentoo being described as "for tryhards" but not arch.

[@michelle778]

I can live with Debian in the supreme category, but explanation is lacking. It is not supreme in every category. Arch though does not belong there, arch belongs in the pointless category. All other major binary based distros can deliver more usability and stability - if you want customization there is no way around Gentoo or LFS. Arch is pointless - a non debatable fact. Well ok - it is a rolling release - so let's give it half unique half pointless.

[@KingHalbatorix]

Arch is absolutely idiotic, there's a reason it has the reputation of only being used by jobless nerds that are picking a distro to even further differentiate themselves from other linux users. I say jobless because almost nobody who makes an income working with computers is going to jeopardize that income by using arch. If for whatever reason they absolutely NEED rolling release, Fedora Rawhide, OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, and Debian Unstable would be their choice in that order.

[@masaufuku1735]

@@michelle778 Rolling release without requiring building everything from source is literally the entire point of Arch and why it's *not* pointless. Some of us aren't interested in running 2 year old software. That's also why Debian and Arch are the only "supreme" tier picks - Debian for slow/stable distro, Arch for bleeding edge distro that may occasionally break and/or require manual intervention during updates. Arguably either LFS or Gentoo also belong up there as a "from source" distro. But Arch is easier and faster to install, maintain and use then LFS or Gentoo while still providing up to date packages. Of course these days you increasingly have the alternative of installing up to date packages via flatpak or snaps, which can give you the best of both worlds. But if you're doing that, then an immutable distro (like NixOS or Nitrux) is an even more stable option.

[@davidboeger6766]

​@michelle778 Amen. I mean, I'd put it in the unique category just because it's the ultimate tinkerer distro, but one of the things that bugs me is that the Arch loyalists almost always seem to extrapolate that to Arch being best for general productivity, when in reality, those things are not only different, but most often diametrically opposed. An OS is a tool for most people. Tools boost productivity best when they work consistently without tinkering. Imagine how long it would take to build a house if you had to disassemble and reassemble your nail gun for a strange, untested software update every few hours. That's not to say being able to do that isn't valuable, just that it hardly makes it the greatest thing ever.

[@jessejordache1869]

Arch was my personal choice for a while, but shortly after they switched to systemd, the problem I ran into again and again was that their documentation lagged behind their latest packages. And I chose Arch as a Linux novice: a nice middle ground between Gentoo & Fedora or whatever. You write the configs yourself, you watch the chained installations, if you have a problem read the docs. It's still a good model for a distro for people who want finer control but don't know where to begin -- it solves the whole "you don't know what you don't know" issue.

[@blayd_]

What I love about this comment section is everyone is bringing their own experience to the table and contributing their opinions rather than flat-out disagreeing for no apparent reason. Thanks everyone for all the useful info!

[@SMCwasTaken]

It's ok to disagree as long as you do it in a peaceful way

[@7barney914]

I disagree.

[@reeeeedmil]

@@7barney914 I disagree with you.

[@kalackninja]

@@reeeeedmil how dare you boy

[@kiillabytez]

I think ALL Linux distros suck.

[@KenNordin]

It would be nice to see a "Daily Driver" tier. Ones that would really give Windows a run for their money.

[@codeman99-dev]

What would even go there?

[@screenoholic]

The "Amazing for new user" tier does that. You can drive them daily without any thoughts.

[@Xiuhcoatl1]

You can probably use all or any of them as daily driver, even business use.

[@burnstick1380]

Depending on your knowledge level. For me who knows a bit about IT and Linux (got Linux mint basically the same time as i learned about linux) arch runs great. It was a steep learning curve but all things i need run on it (except games).

[@SelectedPeppa]

Debian is a solid daily driver .. It does all for me. Dev stuff, Citrix stuff , and I can even run steam and windows games ...

[@user-jg5of9mj1s]

I am using MX Linux primarily for its remaster and snapshot functionality for live ISOs. Does anything comparable exist for vanilla debian?

[@CZLubosKocman]

There is more to SUSE / openSUSE than a single Enterprise oriented distribution. We have also a rolling distribution, Immutable system with flatpak desktop etc. Otherwise nice and entertaining video. Thank you!

[@EverydayLinuxUser]

The trouble if you steer too many people towards Debian is that they will get stuck and frustrated. Ubuntu, Mint, Pop, MX etc exist because they add the comfort blanket which makes certain things work

[@dadmvdadmv1422]

Hey I did actually get stuck trying to get my usb Wi-Fi working and doing search for solutions for Debian 12 bookworm does not show up half the time it’s older Debian versions so I’m going with mint give it a try

[@user-zb9iu5mf8p]

@@dadmvdadmv1422 i had the same issue but you don't need to connect to the wifi to install debian there is option to ignore/skip network setup and if you choose it you will able to install debian with working ethernet driver, but if you are a beginner like titus showed choose something in "amazing for new user" tier distro list linux mint is *amazing* choice if you are not to familiar with linux

[@michaeldelyjah5696]

I can guarantee you that Debian isn't anywhere as user-friendly as MX. If I have to figure out how to get my Wi-Fi working in Debian, it automatically loses. End of story!!!

[@dadmvdadmv1422]

@michaeldelyjah5696 well I stuck with debian after getting my wifi working for a few months but got tired of going to search for a problem on the web and it's all ubuntu help mostly so I switched to ubuntu only because of that

[@ascrassin]

@@VintageVectors314 I would argue that then you would have to rename “Amazing for New Users” To “Amazing for non Hobbyist” Because some of the one that do that, like the equivalent for arch. I would not classify them as for new users. Plus many of old users, like me. That just want things to work, even tho if it breaks they know how to make it work again (or at least search for a solution). Still use theses as their daily driver.

[@cjuk81]

I totally agree, most distros are pointless, yet people seem obsessed with them

[@TON-vz3pe]

It's not that simple. You need to choose based on use case and ease of use.

[@TON-vz3pe]

I don't understand what's the point of making something difficult to use just because they want to have something difficult to use.

[@kytv9000]

Same. Your distro, another's 'pointless'.

[@ChrisTitusTech]

This... It really doesn't matter which one I end up on. I install the same thing and make it look the same. It really isn't as big of a deal as people make it out to be.

[@fritzbloedow29]

The "difficult" part is usually because a flavor doesn't have exactly what you need, and you have to set it up, or find a system that does "Exactly" what you need out of the box (yeah... right). Linux isn't easy, you have to learn, and that's "difficult" for all of us.

[@PEdulis]

Thanks for this re-evaluation, some interesting thoughts on several distros I am using personally or install on friend's computers who want to get started with Linux. I missed thoughts on Vanilla OS though, any comments on that?

[@coolj9496]

Debian was the first distro I tried to work with, but I kept having issues with video drivers that I just couldn't resolve. Bounced around distros for a while and ended up moving on. I'm here at your video trying to figure out where to start and just a little apprehensive about giving debian another go. For context I guess I should add that I'm extremely comfortable with the linux command line, having a bs in comp sci and especially working in cloud computing devops, but I've never quite been able to get linux to work for my own PC setup at home.

[@verumignis4778]

The think about kali is that its a disposable environment that just has all the tools you need, without the need to reinstall every time you use it on a new device, you just drop it in, use what you need and wipe it.

[@naturalfps]

yeah his reasoning doesn't make any sense. We use it for convenience not because we can't install a tool.

[@ccelik97]

@@naturalfps His reasoning is mostly based on _installing the system for long term continued use._ But then again, he didn't treat Tails the same way as he treated Kali. So I have mixed feelings about it. Though, I agree with almost all of it to the letter: Except for MX Linux & Kali that is. He did them wrong xd.

[@iamsh4r106]

@@ccelik97 as far as I'm aware you can't install tails, which I guess is the reason he differentiates between them.

[@ccelik97]

@@iamsh4r106 So, being _unable_ to do such a thing as *installing an OS* counts as a positive, so much so that it's a *differentiating factor* to go up in the ranks? And you're telling me that such a thing doesn't already exist and isn't called as a "kiosk" e.g. a platform_as_an_app? Hmmm. Then I guess that's how GNOME (& all the iFruit OSes) also came to be then? I see now. Thanks for the valuable insight. _[proceeds to take some random open-source project with immense customization possibilities only to cripple it down, then calls it "revolutionary" in a keynote or some shit like that]_

[@verumignis4778]

@@ccelik97 The whole point of tails is that it runs in memory, you dont install it because that would defeat the purpose.

[@daixso]

ArcoLinux has a lot of resources to help newbies learn Arch and Linux in general. Eric has a ton of great videos you can follow their learning path and get a ton of info. Granted he could do it with Vanilla arch too but he makes learning Arch really approachable

[@MichaelDustter]

At times even better than the Wiki itself honestly, Erik is a godsend and helped me learn a lot of basics.

[@Freakskpp]

i agree , for newbies who want to go into arch , its really efficient on the learning curve and video documentation , i would have put it in the amazing for new user , as the xl iso come with everything installed and explained .

[@joshua_lee732]

Thats not an official Arch resource....

[@snowmean1]

I have vastly different experience with Arco. As an experienced Arch user I just needed a fast option to install Arch on my new laptop, so I started to look around and at that time Arco was the most confusing project around Arch. Overwhelming amount of "variants", documentation also was sketchy with links to the GitHub, etc. I guess I could figure it out, but that would require significantly more time than just installing plain Arch from scratch, so I picked EndeavourOS and it did the job just fine - in 20 minutes I have fully configured Arch running on my laptop without need of reading anything really.

[@WanderingCactus]

@@snowmean1 I second the Endeavour recommendation, nothing real special about it, but easy fast install and just works. I've moved away from Arch (LM:DE now), but if I go back, it's Endeavour.

[@boat378]

I just want to commend how well this tier list video is presented. Most videos tiering this many items would be over an hour long, but so many items are cleared swiftly in a single explanation. Bravo.

[@C-BoT-AU]

Really appreciated this! Wouldn't consider myself a OS Hopper, but I have been playing around with VMs of various distros to learn more and find ones for specific uses. My key takeaways (specific to what I've been playing around with and want to do) are: Linux Mint is still a great starting OS and I chose very well for my 'Base'/Host OS. (Yes I use the host to run VMs and Docker, but I needed something simple to learn on when setting it up at first so it worked for me). To Try: Tails - Good Lightweight for live USB or CD and is essentially 'disposable' Qubes - Privacy and 'compartmentalisation' focussed OS? Nobara - Great Linux gaming OS based on Fedora (good OS to learn Fedora?) Reference: Kubuntu - Good for learning on a KDE Environment Peppermint - Lightweight with a better package selection than Lubuntu Puppy Linux - Lightweight and a bit quirky but nothing amazing Ultimately! I need to just use Debian: Kali - 'pointless', just use Debian and install what you need Parrot - Similar to Kali, lighter but just use Debian MX - used to be a good debian fork, now, just use Debian

[@overlord1995]

Linux Mint is not just a starter, I see no reason to ever move from it. I've been on Ubuntu, I thought hmm I'd like some of the gnome stuff, so I got it on my Linux Mint. No snaps, fking snaps. In fact, this time around I'm smarter and I have no flatpaks either. If it doesn't install through apt, it doesn't belong. I do love experimentation, but from this point onwards, it will be exclusively in the VM. I don't know why I would go to Debian when Mint out of the box is just really solid.

[@C-BoT-AU]

@@overlord1995 Totally agree. I guess when I call Mint a "starter", is that it is great out of the box, and is perfect for users from starter to proficient to whatever. More than then Debian is for those in the advanced or expert level of Linux dev, who use it to build for a specific purpose or use case. I've been playing around and creating a few docker images and rather an Alpine, have been using Debian as a base. Personally I'm with you, I won't be changing from Mint as my OS, just learning the ground up fundamentals from Debian in VM or Docker Containers. By the time someone with my intermediate level of knowledge plays around with Debian to get it working as a OS, it will be slower and worse than Mint anyway so why bother.

[@overlord1995]

@@C-BoT-AU Man I watch these videos, the other day I watched his video on how to install Debian "the right way", and it seems to me these people just have some superiority complex, they wanna feel like they're more important for doing stuff different, even if it adds no value to anything. He made a 13 minute video on how to get "de-bloated" minimal version, and then at the end he suggested you can manually uninstall some apps that came with Debian. But that was against the whole point of the video, which is to say how to get minimum packages you need out of the box. I don't know, I guess it's a job, they're making shit up for views, but they're certainly not doing the Linux community a service. There's really no good reason for someone to distro hop every week, guaranteed that person doesn't get any actual work done on the computer.

[@overlord1995]

@@C-BoT-AU Although I will say, the thing I am looking into is KDE, it seems interesting, seems like I could do more with it than Cinnamon, but it's another time sink

[@ngcolby]

@@overlord1995 KDE is pretty and all, but it feels like a slug compared to cinnamon.

[@ayushmaanraturi]

It's amazing how both supreme distros are so opposite of each other, Arch: The Bleeding Edge; Debian: The Rock Solid. I use Debian BTW

[@falkorskyflyer5666]

Debian is the supreme of the supreme. I use Debian btw. 👀

[@ayushmaanraturi]

@@N95G what kind of personal ids are you talking about? In general, Linux is safer than windows

[@bettermasteryi7043]

@@N95G Linux is safer than windows, no idea what personal ID you are talking about.

[@JamesJacob-lr5gt]

@@bettermasteryi7043 do you have a source for that?

[@joshuacrumley2031]

I wouldn't touch Debian with your 10 foot pole. systemd is RH software. I REFUSE to touch anything that RH has it's hands on.

[@ronaldood4678]

I’ve run Debian, Arch, and Gentoo, and love all 3 for different reasons. That being said I don’t think EndeavourOS should be pointless. It’s beautifully designed and has a good community, plus being so close to base Arch makes it far better than Manjaro. I still prefer building my system from scratch but for installing “Arch” via endeavourOS on other systems or just wanting a convenient method of install with relatively good maintenance, EndeavourOS is admirable.

[@jetstreamsam-296]

I daily EndeavourOS but I basically just use it as an Arch installer. It's possible to strip all the theming and extra packages in the live-boot installer and with maybe 5 minutes of work post-install it can be brought back to basically just base Arch. I do understand why it was placed in the pointless tier (to be fair my use-case alone is borderline proof for it's placement) but I think it's great for someone that wants to try out Arch quickly or just to spin up a fairly bare-bones Arch install quickly.

[@harisahmad7871]

​@jetstreamsam-296 the Endeavour community alone among the Arch community make it worthwhile

[@_Lumiere_]

​@harisahmad7871 it's great for a newcomer to Arch imo (me). Their forums are active and newbie friendly, and they have sane defaults. It's great for dipping your toes into Arch. I came over from Manjaro because I felt like it was kinda weirdly unstable if you use any aur packages (which you're bound to do) and it holds you back from using the terminal.

[@galacticsurf979]

Yeah a bit harsh on Endeavour - I am that noob that wants to try Arch and earlier this year Endeavour is what I used to give Arch a try. Was a great learning experience! Think this guy is way too harsh.

[@ardnys35]

i have started using linux with endeavourOS 7 months ago, and i have been using it daily for all my things for 4 months since my daily windows computer broke. i changed the default endeavourOS stuff to just i3 and it's perfect now. i had to install databases and bunch of programs for my uni classes. it's working really well, and i was able to daily it without breaking anything. I learned a lot and maybe i'll be able to use vanilla arch at some point.

[@chfr]

How viable is debian for multimedia creation? I've been interested in switching from Ubuntu as long as Davinci Resolve, Krita, and Reaper work. I keep seeing that the argument "against" debian stable is "old package versions" but as long as I can do stuff I should be fine

[@chfr]

Also is there really a point to a "really fast" init? One of the reason I'm on linux is so that I only need to restart once every week

[@Kemyo0]

Great video, i know nothing about all of those but i've seen several of your videos from your windows tweak to several linux videos; I mainly play World of Warcraft and always in my quest for getting more fps and smoothness (i have constantly 80+ fps but it NEVER feels like it) i'm now curious about trying out linux gaming and i'm now downloading nobara to see how it'll perform;

[@tumescent]

openSUSE tumbleweed is a great arch alternative. Gets updated faster than arch, more stable due to automated testing, easy rollback with snapper installed by default. If you're irritated by bloatware you'll have to fight the pattern system but once you set it up it's a very rock-solid experience. Also uses RPM packages so software made for Fedora/RHEL is usually compatible

[@dR0L0b]

exactly my thoughts!

[@olafschermann1592]

But they should not make it in german. Even as a german native speaker it is horrible to google non english error messages.

[@PierreMalan]

For a business - daily driver at home NO thanks

[@xeiAiex]

I think a lot of people just don't have any idea what they're talking about in regards to openSUSE because KZbinrs don't talk about it so they think it sucks or it's weird because they don't know anything about it. openSUSE is fantastic for those who know what they're doing. It's not meant for brand new users, but for those who are capable, it really gives you an amazing system to work with. And yes, at home on the desktop too with Tumbleweed.

[@coldisopropyl]

NASA supercomputers run SLES

[@dingokidneys]

As a Debian user, I agree that it is supreme. I also agree that many people fire up Kali to feel like Mr Robot (hell, that's me a bit) but it really is very lightweight and quiet on the network. A standard installation of Debian (maybe not Arch) is actually quite a bit more "chatty" on the network. I like how Kali feels stripped back and doesn't put extraneous stuff out that you need to filter out to analyse network traffic. This also makes it surprisingly good on old under-powered hardware. I have it on a 2008 Dell laptop and it's pretty slick.

[@RSD22.]

So weird I have a dell from 2008/2009, latitude e5400. random I know, sorry just surprising to know

[@UmmarFarooqMahroof]

Can you do a speedtest on which Linux distro boots fastest, the end point being that it launches a browser to a page and instance of LibreOffice calc

[@tejing2001]

The rationales generally made sense to me, but I really expected NixOS to go into the unique tier. I mean, yeah, it *is* good for business, you're not wrong, but if completely throwing out the FHS and turning system configuration and management into a programming exercise isn't unique, I don't know what is. It has a draw of its own entirely outside of the business space, because it keeps the maintenance cost of tweaks so much lower with the declarative config. I've actually made so many customizations, tweaks, and fixes, that I would never make in another distro, because I know that I won't get bogged down or lost regarding how my customizations work. I can go read the code that defines them.

[@stefanplusplus917]

the roblem with this tierlist is that the tiers are not mutually exclusive. both argument are correct, thus the ambiguity.

[@TheRajeshphadke]

I think MX should be amazing for new users simply because it's better handling of proprietary drivers out of the box and it has KDE version which is comparable to Kubuntu. It also comes packed with utilities, tools to help new users.

[@catriona_drummond]

MX start dialogue box has helped me a lot. and it's full of actual local readable help files.

[@foootz]

I think MXlinux is unique for it's portability and persistance, I've olayed a lot with having an OS in my key chain usb drive

[@no-stresscat1519]

It's lightweight for sure, but not really newbie friendly. Been using Linux Mint for quite a few years now, and tried MX on my laptop. It took a lot of Googling and poking around just to figure out how to get the sound to go from the laptop speakers to the HDMI cable so I could watch movies on my tv. The UI wasn't very intuitive. Also, I would never recommend KDE to new user. It's so easy to dive in and mess something up, and there's no default setting to fall back on.

[@catriona_drummond]

@@no-stresscat1519 True about KDE, I usually try XFCE.

[@TheRajeshphadke]

@@no-stresscat1519 Agree about KDE missing back to default feature. About HDMI, did it work seamlessly in Mint? I was and am still fan of Mint. My only gripe is proprietary drivers. Specially faced issues with Broadcom BCM4313 drivers, as it loads open source drivers which work but speed is slow without any clear errors. Very difficult to realise there is issue. Easy to load proprietary drivers but realising there is issue with drivers is complex.

[@gwgux]

I still put Pop_OS! in the amazing for beginner category. I also put Tuxedo OS in there too. Between Pop_OS! and Tuxedo OS, you have two distributions made to run on hardware from their respective companies and have their own tools to handle it, but they can also stand on their own as terrific beginner friendly distributions that go in different directions. Then there's Mint that sits between the two while being more vendor agnostic.

[@ecw0647]

Indeed. I tried out Tuxedo and would rank it with Mint as best for new users. Everything just works.

[@Little-bird-told-me]

I use POP. It needs an urgent update. Heck the vim version is still 0.6. Even Ubuntu is higher. All their softwares are dated and POP shell is not updated for over 3 years. They can't just wait wait and wait to launch reskinned Gnome aka CosmicOS. What ! Are they building a space ship ?

[@gwgux]

@@Little-bird-told-me I think they probably have a tight development team with not a lot of room to spare while they're working on their new COSMIC desktop in Rust. I agree it would help their image if they did more frequent updates or at least updated some utilities more often, but it's a gamble they're taking. If COSMIC rocks the world in the way they're hoping it will, it'll be huge surge for them. If it flops, it'll be forever compared to Ubuntu's controversial Unity desktop that drove many people away from Ubuntu and how to drive people away who would rather distro hop than change the DE themselves.

[@nefrace]

@@Little-bird-told-me well i think building a new desktop environment to compete with Gnome from scratch in Rust really feels like building a space ship

[@Little-bird-told-me]

@@gwgux Trust me I hope so too. I really love PopOs and its tiling window manager. No other DE has an integrated WM. POP has been my daily driver for the past two years but now its showing its age. Even Debian 12 has newer package than POP, that telling something. Personally I don't know what's the craze about this Rust. Is its faster than C ? Or is it because it has the concept of borrow checker which makes every developer standup. I doubt if it would be substantially faster than Gnome, but we will see. I know what they are doing, System76 is trying to create an *Apple ecosystem* with and integrated software and hardware ecosystem, I get that part, but the longer they make every one wait, they more customers they will loose. The Linux eosystem, is brutal and people have many option here. The community even has the power to *cancel* Big boys like Redhat for their shenanigans. I don't even know when POP is launch its cosmic desktop, that why I am considering Debian 12 or even Arch_Gnome44

[@MutanLavers]

Im currently trying debian 12 and i am tormented by the slowness of apt installs, iv tried some mirrors but its really unusable . any tips?

[@explosiver]

Just wait til you do dnf updates. I can go eat a meal before it's done lmao.

[@DarknessRedeemer]

Thank you so much. I am looking to try to switch an old Laptop to Linux, because it was dying, and this helped guiding which one would be suitable for me. Although I am still confused, I have a more clear picture now and might just try out a few to see which works best for me.

[@erfann]

I agree with you on most of your selection. I however find it hard to accept the tier you've chosen for Kali. It's extremely useful to have all those utilities come preinstalled on a distribution and an iso, and run it from a USB stick. It's way too much work to just install these if there aren't scripts for it. Additionally, sometimes and for certain reasons it would not be practical to have them actually installed; running them live makes more sense. They also have specific patches applied to the kernel. Also, MX would be better in the "Creative" or "Amazing for new users" category. It's a systemd-free version of Debian, and the new users, even power users would love all the utilities. I would also bump Gentoo to supreme. Being able to optimize your whole system to your CPU architecture, adjust the compiler and its flags with just a few environment variables, change a dependency according to your needs, harden some parts or the entire OS, etc etc etc makes you the creator of your system, and that's just amazing.

[@joekazama2875]

Definitely agree with the Kali take. When you are working in a live environment more often than the average user then those prepackaged utilities are a god send.

[@krdough]

His view on Kali and Parrot comes from his lack of experience in that field. These aren't OSes you daily. The whole point is they're loaded with tools so you can quickly test things and move on. Installing tools on another distro doesn't teach me anything - it's just an annoyance that gets in the way of me doing my work. These distros are merely a means to an end.

[@timurkravchenko7824]

u can make live cd with all this stuff literally in a FEW commands, with any mainline distro

[@the-lettere]

Imagine a consultant wasting their entire test window by compiling all the required tools from source... 😂

[@timurkravchenko7824]

@@the-lettere Most of the distros distributes precompiled binaries, except you are Gentoo user or something like that.

[@imraan_alam]

KDE team never say that neon is a disstribution

[@gklinger]

This. In fact, they specifically say it is NOT a distribution. It's for testing KDE and that's it.

[@U1TR4F0RCE]

I believe Kubuntu is meant to be the distribution from the KDE team in fact

[@CathrineMacNiel]

@@gklinger it's not? God damn, what am I using then O.o

[@cameronbosch1213]

@U1TR4F0RCE I'd say Tuxedo OS is better than Kubuntu, as it's basically Linux Mint but preloaded onto Tuxedo laptops and with KDE Plasma instead of Cinnamon. And yes, that means it patches out Snap for Flatpak support out of the box. And I think for most users, it's a better beginner option.

[@mariozenarju6461]

@@CathrineMacNiel A KDE testing ground that often breaks itself. Last month I tried doing a fresh install of it, it did *not* want to cooperate. No Downloads/Pictures/Videos/and-so-on folders in the home directory, didn't detect my already existing Plasma settings from Kubuntu so I had to customize it from scratch, PPAs weren't working, all around unstable. Kubuntu with the backports-extra repository is what KDE Neon User should've been

[@sunilkhusial]

Hi, i am going to use for the first time Linux. I have some questions. Bodhi Linux is lightweight, it looks very good, but other Distros have also lightweight options. I am not a programmer or IT guy. But i know basic things about computers. I want something Debian based, because i heard that Debian is most stable. 1) I have an imac from 2009 with 8gb Ram. Which lightweight, user friendly, complete and good looking Linux Distro do you recommend for my Imac? 2) I have also a new laptop from HP. Just bought. It has a i5 processor with 16gb Ram. Which user friendly, complete and good looking Linux Distro do you recommend? 3) If i can use a lightweight Distro on an old computer. Can i use it also on a new computer? 4) What are the benefits to use a lightweight Distro on a new computer, especially a laptop? 5) I was thinking also about KDE plasma, Ultra Marine Linux, Alpine Linux, Open Suse, NixOs Actually, I prefer to use the same Distro on each computer. The same Distro in lightweight and Normal or both in lightweight. I am not a gamer. Only sometimes. I want to do also some simple video editing with the Distros. Vacation videos. I want the best possible option. I will wait for your reply. Thank you very much.

[@holys.]

i know nothing about linux but am wanting to use one as my chromebook cant recieve any more updates and cant download really anything, which linux would you recommend for an old chromebook to not only download extensions and other things but also increase the speed at which my chromebook runs? Appreciate any help!

[@blackjew6827]

"Why don't more people use Linux?" This video...

[@Skulka]

"All the distros are pointless , because you can install the same stuff on arch or Debian " Yeah , duh. But why would you waste your time doing so ?

[@bladman9700]

"Why dont just use Debain?" "HOW DO I DOWNLOAD ISO IMAGE OF DEBAIN??!!" ~ A New User.

[@MichaelDustter]

@@Skulka Cause, like not to dishonest anyone in particular including Chris, but some just tend to think we all have all the time in the world to spend literal days, if not more just on configuring. No, do imagine you out there we have people as us not having that much time, wanting to be up and running with stuff. Arch-baseds such as Endeavour or Arco allowed me to finally do that. Having tools ready for the job I wanted straight away, be it even basic installation in a few minutes. Impossible with the original way of vanilla.

[@arisumego]

He's not saying anything all that controversial, you're just getting way too hurt.

[@urimc]

@@bladman9700 the download is an iq test

[@ex0stasis72]

Just now rejoining the Linux community again after a while, and I had no idea Debian had made a comeback in terms of being user friendly until this video. I'll check it out for my next stop. My last distro was Manjaro in about 2019, and I loved it for it being cutting edge enough to support my hardware and to get all the new bells and whistles, but whenever I got busy with real life and put off updating and maintaining my OS, I'd update everything, and something would break, and it'd be a pain in the neck to fix. Now, I'm looking for something more stable, and if I want cutting edge, it's probably going to application specific, so I can just use a flatpack for that if I need to. I'll try Debian next.

[@jeffdingle9677]

As a SBC user, I have around 12 distros set up for my Raspberry Pi 400 (which is my main go to machine these days), and I usually rotate them on a daily basis. Any views on RASPBERRY Pi OS (Raspbian) TWISTER OS, CHROME OS (with Linux within it). These three also work well on the ARM 64 system.

[@JeanPierreWhite]

Which distros are immutable and are not in the Devil Category? I like the idea of the Atomic update Fedora has, the OS can't be broken during update nor can it be infected. Thoughts on immutable OS's?

[@MetsariSika]

Though I disagree with some of the choices, it was fantastic to hear about your opinions and reasons for ranking certain distros. The video was great food for thought and gave some ideas about the next VM install / distro hop!

[@noah000]

MX Linux does not use Systemd. It does have its niche and not useless. I would have also added Devuan to the tier list.

[@mikclarke64]

I agree.

[@MichaelDustter]

Init system hate 🤡🤡🤡

[@noah000]

@@MichaelDustter It is called init "freedom"

[@MichaelDustter]

@@noah000 No, it's simply called being such a nerd needing to touch grass. Never had issues with systemd. And people wonder why people dislike parts of Linux communities. This exactly is just one of many examples why.

[@noah000]

​@@MichaelDustter That is fine. Freedom is key. If you do not care about freedom perhaps Linux is not for you.

[@sjallard]

I’m planning to switch to MX and was almost convinced by this video to try Debian instead. Thanks to the comments that added perspectives/reminded about the differences and advantages between Debian and MX ! I’ll stick with my MX choice (my motivations : laptop getting old, want to try a snap free systemd free distro, a light desktop, stable but up-to-date softwares availability. I’ve been using Ubuntu for 8 years as my main OS, work in IT, but still definitely wouldn’t consider myself an advanced user)

[@zbiromax9228]

Hello Beautiful People. Does anyone know if there is an equivalent of Ubuntu studio (nicely configured distro for Wizards) in another version, e.g. Arch, Manjaro, Debian, Gentoo? Is it possible to create on another Linux equivalent of Ubuntu studio, to install individual elements (in a sense, duplicating ubuntu studio) programs on another already used distro so manually? Will I get the same? Thank you.

[@kewejuankenobie]

I remember finding a screen in a museum area at a Mont-Blanc observetory in France that had the Debian 11 logo displayed instead of the museum content. I thought that was cool.

[@ilyasabi8920]

Well debian belongs to a museum kinda right I guess 😂

[@leonbishop7404]

@@ilyasabi8920 💀

[@RoryIsNotACabbage]

Not as harsh as I expected. I use endeavour but I still agree with your point of just learn arch; you should already know arch if you use EOS, but I sometimes need to click install and not think too hard

[@MichaelDustter]

I always despised Arch cause of the installation way, the archinstall script was not always good, so no, I see a point in -based distros.

[@penguin2137]

yup, i mean EOS is Arch for people who don't want or aren't ready to install Arch the ArchWiki way. i think that's the main point of this distro and it gets the job done that way

[@MichaelDustter]

@@penguin2137 Exactly. Can't be thankful enough for Endeavour for finally getting me into Arch world.

[@wewduck6874]

I agree with this. I use Arch myself but i think EOS isn't pointless. I often just don't want to bother with installing arch and EOS works amazingly for that. It's a great distro for those who already know arch (or are learning) but don't want to bother with doing it manually

[@notoriog]

I'm actually a big fan of EOS. Always found it more productive than actual arch.. Also some of the terminal packages they ship by default are great, like eos-packagelist for example.

[@Joe.O.]

Love the video and from personal experence I can agree with the "New User", I started with Kubuntu, had a look at Ubuntu but ended up on Mint. I have been looking at trying other distros out and your list here is really helpful. Thanks.

[@huginmunin9529]

I simply like that Kali has pre installed the tools I need, they also came out with Kali purple. With Kali I can quickly move to learning about new security tools without downloading them. It also sets me on a path of learning about applications I've never seen before

[@overlord1995]

I've never used it, but I would've said the same. He says just install the apps yourself, but probably you'd never find out about some of those very niche apps otherwise. Kali Linux has certain connotations, I think it's not pointless, it belongs in the "great for very specific new users" category.

[@sldw3221]

@@overlord1995 There is a script called "katoolin" you can install all tools in kali with one command in your debian.

[@maxmouse3]

It's amazing how Debian became so much better the last years. Not that it was bad, it was great, but it indeed killed the need for many distros. Mostly agree with the list. I still think fedora is pretty good overall and kali fulfils a very specific niche and demand, even though I don't use either :)

[@isteal7427]

I think kali is more useful to boot as a live USB or a small persistent USB instead of the base system. The issue isn't that the software installs are hard but rather it is just a nice list of tools and well organized. I'm not a huge fan of kali, but I use it for bug bounty and CTFs because it is convenient

[@ShadowPriestBear]

Titus why u set on pointelss Fehren os? i feel it kind of new users friendly.

[@lacklustre222]

Wow this is perfect timing seeing this. I watched your video a while back and have been a popos user ever since!!! I’ve been wanting to switch distros lately and you really intrigue me with Debian

[@Korodarn]

I like endeavour, even if it's pointless, I don't need to decide everything from a default arch, and it is close enough that it still gets me into that same ecosystem. I tried garuda and had some weird issues, and the theming is easy enough to get if you want it. I used Manjaro before Endeavour, and Nobara after Endeavour and came back to it because I really prefer the base of Arch to the Fedora base of Nobara. I used gentoo for a number of years but that's when I had more time to toy with compiling and building stage4s and all that, it is a tedious distro, which is fine when you are up for it.

[@nikoraasu6929]

endeavour has a much better community than arch linux too

[@seeibe]

Yeah, what is pointless will be very subjective. If these distros really were pointless, nobody would use them. I don't have an issue with people using these distros if it helps them. What I do have an issue with, is when people like Linus from LTT go straight to a distro like Manjaro or Pop!OS, and then complain about quality issues. Putting these distros in the "pointless" tier makes perfect sense for giving advice to new users. If you know exactly what you want, though, it's totally fine to go for these "pointless" distros.

[@seeibe]

@@nikoraasu6929 Frankly I care less about how "nice" the developers and community are, and more about the quality of their work. You can't deny the quality of the arch main repos, or the value of the AUR and the arch wiki. If I wanted to actually contribute or socialize, yeah I'd probably choose a different community, but that's a totally different story from choosing a daily driver for your desktop.

[@nikoraasu6929]

@@seeibe I've been daily driving EOS for over a year now and I have nothing to complain about, and EOS also uses official AUR and the main arch repos, so I lose nothing and gain a lot by using it over base arch

[@seeibe]

@@nikoraasu6929 Which is what I said? If you know your stuff, it's your decision. But if the EOS devs messed up big time and broke your system, you would know that you can just switch to Arch, instead of declaring that Linux as a whole is bad and unstable.

[@Cardiacman]

Arch/Debain > ALL

[@jeffersonmcgee9560]

Arch divided by Debian is greater than All? Damn, that's a hard equation

[@hardbrocklife]

Fedora will be either a paid OS or a software telemetry device soon

[@MikroLGS]

@@jeffersonmcgee9560 nah, its quite easy. it is: ((round up AUR Package amount) / (round up Arch repo package amount))*(round up Ubuntu based distro number / round up Red Hat based distro) ________________________________________________________________________________________________ (round up openrc distros) * (round up distros with runit) which equals to: (100000/10000) * (60/30) __________________________ 10 * 6 and then equals to: 20/60 so its 1/3

[@victornecromancer]

Debain is the og

[@rahilarious]

After Gentoo, Fedora is the winner for me. Better website, updates, stability, better package manager, drivers. Perfect millenial between boomer debian & genZ arch.

[@carlislenightingale8853]

Am I still running Devil Tier, if I build my own system based on fedora server ?

[@BDawgStudio]

Nice video:) I'm here because I have a couple old desktops I was going to get rid of but then I thought, why not try making one into a linux PC. I would fall into the newbie category for linux but I know Windows pretty well. When taking the best parts of each PC it will be an AMD FX8150 with 16GB of ram and a GTX 1080. I don't really know where to start but I'm thinking Linux mint??? Should I go Debian? Any thoughts from the people in the comment section is most appreciated.

[@pixelstriko1642]

NixOS isnt just for reproducible servers, it has a lot of features that are also attractive to everyday users: reproducibility allows you to replicate your config across, for example, your desktop and your laptop, it also has a very large range of packages, and I have almost never searched for a package and not found it, even lesser known ones.

[@kenrtx]

One thing to consider is the communities of those distributions. EndeavorOS for example is just arch with a calamaras installer. But their community is helpful especially for newer users.

[@ccelik97]

EndeavousOS has, for the same exact reason as Antergos did back then, have a real reason to exist; yes. For as long as Arch Linux itself doesn't provide a nice, "yeah, install me on your actually existing PC" GUI installer, the likes of EndeavourOS will keep on having a real reason to exist.

[@gfrewqpoiu]

Because of their custom GRUB config, their systems got into a bootloop on some hardware when arch had the grub issues. But on the other hand, they were the main people behind the fix so there's that too.

[@bobsmithy3103]

Would someone mind elaborating more on Ubuntu? I've been playing around and getting comfortable with ubuntu servers for the last couple months and thought I would finally start migrating my windows10 comp to ubuntu. Like what is Chris alluding to by saying `apt install firefox`?

[@BionicAngle]

average ubuntu users hate snap ,

[@Schattennebel]

Whats your opinion on Lubuntu? For me it feels a little bit like a lightweight Kubuntu for older hardware. Works Ok with my Q9300, HD 7770, 8GB DDR2 RAM and 120 GB SSD. A bit sluggish from time to time but usable.

[@gabrielyoshinoflorencio198]

I consider myself a noob when it comes to linux and recently installed endeavourOS after trying Mint, so far i'm liking it a lot and when i get more acclimatized with the whole linux environment, maybe i would try to install vanilla arch. Anyways, thanks for your videos, Chris!

[@iFurane]

I started with Linux Mint and it is probably the most newbie-friendly linux distro. I later switched from Manjaro to EndeavourOS because I want my OS to be installed as quick as possible unless I have the time to do it all myself (yeah I have installed Arch Linux myself), plus Manjaro just doesn't feel good anymore.

[@vk8a8]

AMOUNG,

[@leguminosa9]

please explain in depth about debian and arch im using ubuntu till today, and im wondering whether i should consider jumping or not just for development purpose as engineer

[@irenejenna5725]

I been using ubuntu for over a decade too. I think it's fine

[@evandro77]

PopOs is not outdated. Currently is upgrading kernel, Mesa and other important packages. Now ship with kernel 6.5.6 and mesa 23.1.9. The version remain 22.04 but its more like a "rolling release"

[@bayuchandrasukma820]

I have just recently moved over from Windows to Mint, and it might be one of the best decision I've ever made. Everything just works and lightweight while also being very familiar. I do have to say that for some reason, my Kubuntu install has some of the apps straight-up crashes and never work despite coming OOTB (case in point for mine is Elisa and the Discovery apps), but then I just decided to go with Mint and never went back.

[@nimlouth]

Yep, was exactly my experience too. I searched around for a lightweight distro for my oldest laptop after failing with manjaro KDE in my not so old laptop. Ended up installing Mint 21 MATE after trying several other "light" distros (including peppermint) and was totally surprised by just how well everything worked compared to manjaro specially. Plus, thanks to things like flathub, your distro is not so important anymore these days in therms of being stuck to some specific software sources. So having a stable and solid-performing distro is very much a guaranteed smooth experience.

[@defaultdan7923]

i worked in reverse order somehow (started with mint, wasnt too happy, then switched to kubuntu) and ended up quite pleased. i guess linux really does have something for everyone, even if sometimes what works for one person doesn’t work for another.

[@rightwingsafetysquad9872]

If Manjaro didn't mess up and brick updates so often, I'd say they deserve to be in Amazing For New Users for all the same reasons that he cites for Kubuntu and Mint. And I have a hard time saying Red Hat is the Devil in spite of recent events. They have contributed so much to the Linux ecosystem that it would be completely unusable without them. The DE distributions aren't completely pointless, maybe people shouldn't really use them, but the DE developers need a platform to demonstrate their work before they get upstreamed. Lastly, Gentoo should be in God tier.

[@onejdc]

I loved Manjaro for about 3 weeks until update hell. I second your opinions. Gentoo is only God tier if you happen to in fact, be, God. As someone who ran Gentoo as my daily driver for years, I can say that it definitely has the absolute best (extreme customization) and worst (everything you want to do is a labor of love) going for it.

[@PaulaXism]

@@onejdc You have to stay on top of a Manjaro machine. Don't forget your weekly update cycle.. or learn how to neuter pacman security.. lol

[@robertlunderwood]

Manjaro should honestly be in the Devil category due to issues with their security certificate expiring.

[@d-phoenix2198]

As more or less a normie on the whole Linux scene I just installed Manjaro as my first distro and ran with it for the past 1.5 years. Never had any issues with it bricking or anything. The only issue I ever had was OBS stop opening but that solved with a simple Graphics re-install. Maybe I am one of the lucky ones I don't know.

[@gfrewqpoiu]

If you really want a more easy Arch, then use Endeavour OS. Or something like Anarchy-Installer (which is just a TUI installer for regular arch, better than the archinstall script). Sadly Manjaro takes away the two best things of Arch, being always up to date and the AUR. While the AUR mostly works, they don't offer any support for it and updates can quite easily break your system. And they had quite a few issues over the years with certificates and them merging broken stuff from Asahi without the approval from that distro.

[@noahkoelwyn7961]

What are your thoughts on steam os?

[@etherealregions2676]

I used Linux a bit in the 90's but haven't touched it for decades. So I'm kinda, a born again noob. However, I play around with game dev and have smart a$$ neighbors who love to mess with my internet and computers. So I'm thinking about something like vanilla for a base OS, and maybe V-boxing something like kali for the internet. What would you recommend I do?

[@asldfjkalsdfjasdf]

Pop OS can be pre installed an the user can select the username on the first boot. It also has an recovery partition by default. So it has its unique features.

[@iamjaiguy]

I actually like Endeavor just because it’s surprisingly close to vanilla Arch, it just does most of the set up for you

[@flo0010]

so you just reexplained his point. They could just contribute to upstream to make the setup easier and provide their theming/desktop as a separate package

[@vaisakhkm783]

​@@flo0010 honestly, i don't agree with him... , many of these distro are great stepping stones that lead to those upstream OSs... - i started with arco linux to move over to arch - kali linux to learn little bit of hacking... just improve my software skill, not to go into cyber sec... it introduced a lot of tools to me... without it, i wouldn't know many things existed, ( also it started my Linux journy.. ) - Fedora, great stepping stone for RHEL... but then again... they joined dark side... so i can't say much

[@happygofishing]

​@@Don_CoyoteI just thought of something, what if archinstall hosted a local web server so you could get a gui installer, but without needing x/Wayland session?

[@vaisakhkm783]

@@happygofishing just no.. web technologies is more bloated than an xserver.. also we could just use framebuffer to make perfectly fine gui installer without needing x or wayland

[@flo0010]

@@happygofishing how are you gonna view a website without a display server?

[@nes2ouf]

I saw a video talking about Garuda , so i was like "oh that's cool" , so i checked other videos (this one) to see if it was actually okay as i'm on Windows , and i ended this video , and i don't know i might use Nobara , but i'm not sure about going to nobara i'm a bit scared of switching my OS... and i primarly wanna change my OS because windows so slow , the more im on windows , the more my pc is slow...... edit : and why couldn't i pick like one of the Supreme ones ?

[@SnorreSelmer]

Thanks for an excellent tier-list! Since Arch refuses to install on my laptop with full-disk encryption, I decided to go "native" and installed Debian instead two months ago. Haven't regretted it one second.

[@bn40400]

I've used Linux Mint for years now and I've learned quite a bit about Linux from using it. I've really never had a need or a want to distro hop or try different distros. Just satisfied alone with Mint, they do a great job of support as well as making things fresh again with new version releases and features.

[@starspawn4591]

There you go, I have distro hopped for ages and I can tell you : most advice on trying other distro's is overblown. Most distro's are more or less exactly the same. Even the 'stable release' argument is bollocks, I have seen so many 'stable' distro's just break after a few days of using them.... Stick to Mint, I will probably do the same, there really is not much need to switch to anything else. (everything just works, more or less).

[@thegeth4293]

Mint is the best if you just want a desktop experience. And thats it, no elite hacker/programmer stuff, no low power toaster linux, just whatever a normal office worker whos used to windows would do.

[@legitimo1788]

Mint is one of the best distros, you really can stick with it forever

[@DylanDurdle]

@@legitimo1788 I was using Linux Mint Debian Edition since 2012, but I converted the install back to a pure Debian during LMDE 3 because Linux Mint was always 8+ months behind Debian.

[@eruiluvatar236]

Mint is really good. I started before the time was time (late 90s) on redhat, on the very early 2000s I switched to debian because apt is awesome. On the mid 2000s I switched to ubuntu because some debian related drama with wifi firmwares and because it was much less of a headache. On early 2010s I switched to mint when ubuntu tried to make the aberration that is unity the default desktop despite the cries of their users and started to show their corporate side. Since then I have been quite happy with ubuntu mate. If mint goes evil or turns bad I may go back to debian but so far it seems like they will keep being great (ie removing snaps and replacing them with apt packages when possible). Some people will say that it is for noobs but under the really great UI it is just like debian but with more things working out of the box. Some purist may complain about mint being more relaxed about closed source firmwares, codecs and so than debian. But that is unnecessary suffering as if we go to the extreme there is very little in the way of fully open hardware. For me mint is an OS that I can use most of the time without it getting in the way but that will also allow me to tinker as much as I want.

[@stephenanthony5923]

As an intermediate Linux user for work and fun I'm interested to check out Nobara, Alpine, Alma, NixOS, AntiX and maybe even Parrot Linux based on these recommendations. And there's a lot of other great stuff on this list too. Learn something new today. Thanks Chris!

[@PaulaXism]

AntiX is brilliant on old limited hardware. I run it on my 486 ;)

[@user-po7wd3uk2z]

What do you think about Linux lite?

[@nevermindmeijustinjectedaw9988]

any explanation on ubuntu? i'm a total noob and didnt understand what he meant about the ff thing

[@FA-sr6lx]

Over complicated

[@eutral]

I like how your list isn't just like "good, mid, bad, trash" but points out where it is useful

[@Tithis]

I've used Kali quite a few times for work and certainly am glad it exists. I'm not a security researcher, just the security analyst at my company who runs the vulnerability management program. It's been a useful VM to quickly spin up make sure I can replicate the findings of our annual pen test before creating the patch requests to get them fixed. Could install everything in a Debian VM? Of course, but imo that is a waste of time to setup and maintain when I can get basically any of the tools the pen testers used up to date in the time it takes to download the latest Kali vmware image.

[@justatiger6268]

If I have an old laptop with Centrino Duo and I want to use it for HomeAssistant? Which distro for Docker? Yeah, n00b question so pls don't kill me.

[@donut4ever983]

*Moved to the Pointless category* Good video, your bias was high at times. Some systems it felt like you gave a concise description of and some were ignored. I guess you can't make the video too long. I appreciate the effort that was put into the Video.

[@WanderingCactus]

Solus is pretty cool, they just released the first new version in two years, and the Budgie project just did an announcement about what they're up to. Since I was running a Lenovo D525 (Windows version of a netbook) with a distro I was happy with (no trackpad support), I figured I'd give it a shot, and I'm impressed, boot is a little slow, but once it gets going, everything is snappy.

[@Nsund]

Thank you for an interesting overview! A few thoughts: Don't you find all these distros a bit disturbing? From this discussion we could conclude that 6 distros would be sufficient and also free up a tremendous amount of developing capacity for those 6 distros. I come from the PC world and I don't want to dive into the specifics of an operating system any more - I just want to run my applications (e g accounting, music). So for me MINT was a natural choice. Works conveniently and well for me, thank you for not thrashing it 😀. It's so nice to feel the freedom of a 'neutral' system so nowadays I only use Windows for things that don't run on Linux - I refuse Wine. Rather I hope Linux will grow big enough so that Adobe, Ableton etc. can't ignore it. Reducing the number of distros to chose between I think would speed things up...

[@croozerdog]

its how linux works i guess, everyone can create a fork and the users are a nerdy bunch, I've seen people call GNU bloat lmao. debian or mint, which is just windows-y debian, are my goto suggestions for users who just want an os to work

[@quarteratom]

What do you recommend for new users who want Plasma?

[@andrabtedja]

Kubuntu and EndeavourOS (if you want to run Arch based)

[@tuckercase2449]

I'm looking for a new daily driver that looks and acts like a lighter-weight Ubuntu. I'd prefer for it to "just work" most of the time. Thoughts or suggestions?

[@PhirePhlame]

I remember several years ago using a Puppy live CD to save my dad's files from his failing hard drive. It loaded up great, and iirc it takes a unique approach of being small enough to load completely for the sake of in-use performance off the CD.

[@Its-Just-Zip]

My 2 gripes are the kali placement and the fedora one I looked into the proposed telemetry from fedora and its down right ethical, i would prefer it to be opt in instead of opt out but its currently just a proposal and can change. As for Kali, it is kinda pointless to actually install and run as a full distro, but oh man it is good as a live ISO to boot into on demand. Run your work distro of choice and have kali on your key ring for when you need that toolkit.

[@theviniso]

Yeah, I think it's too soon to place Fedora alongside RHEL. RedHat has made some questionable decisions lately but Fedora remains a damn fine distro so far.

[@Sight-Beyond-Sight]

Or run Kali on a VM in your Windows system like I sometimes do.

[@bluenoseixmr]

@@Sight-Beyond-SightI don’t know anyone who doesn’t run kali in a VM or actually runs it as a primary OS.

[@onejdc]

@@bluenoseixmr yep. I don't "run Kali" because I need a security laptop. I boot into an ephemeral environment that already has all the tools I need, do what I need, and get out.

[@TheSillybits]

I’d like to have the names belonging to the logo’s, you have that list somewhere? Thanks!

[@luiswebdev8292]

can you elaborate a bit more on Debian and Arch? What makes them supreme?

[@kekePower]

Great run through. I'm curious what your thoughts are on Devuan and Mageia. Devuan is, as you know, Debian without SystemD and Mageia was one of the big ones back in the day...

[@constantinhirsch7200]

Devuan would belong in "Creative and Unique", following his logic about Artix 07:30

[@kilobytecache6192]

I like how you point out how temporary these charts are, and how things always change. I hope Pop OS continues, it might get me to switch from Fedora.

[@snowmean1]

Debian and Arch are keepers though...

[@BraydenPrice30]

Agreed, I'm on Fedora right now, and loving it up until recently with all this red hat drama. It really hurts because Fedora's community has always seemed great to me. Fedora has also been a great force for change from what I can tell with flatpaks and the immutable space and many more. It really makes me sad that I have a feeling that it will be downhill from here 😢 But hey... Maybe I'm wrong and Fedora will turn ship and become even more amazing. That's unlikely though considering how involved red hat is directly and indirectly in Fedora.

[@snowmean1]

@@BraydenPrice30 I personally feel sorry for Fedora taking piss for just being under RedHat umbrella, while it is still (mostly) community driven project, and community made pretty sane decisions lately. I guess the biggest problem with Fedora is its uncertain future. After RedHat broken promise on CentOS, it's hard to guarantee that Fedora will remain in its current state for long or at all, and this concerns drive people away from this amazing distro. But I totally disagree with Fedora ended up in the same category as RedHat/CentOS, they are different, and currently I would recommend Fedora for immediate installation today, but would be worried to install it for a long-run.

[@Kalasklister1337]

​@@snowmean1exactly what i wanted to say. Well put

[@tomascontreras7760]

what distro would you recommend to install in an old laptop with poor cpu and ram? I'm planning to use it for web and application development and learning pourposes.

[@matbob_]

I would go for one in the lightweight category.

[@emk8231]

Coming from Windows. Thinking about getting SteamOS, but maybe I should try Mint or Debian ? - I cant code though

[@kevinyoliveira68]

For Mint beginners Mint with sure :)

[@kevinyoliveira68]

Only use timeshift for backup because they work well for some "weird" update and perhaps XFCE if your hardware is a little potato :)

[@sebastiansteffens3518]

As a total noob to the Linux world, I cannot tell you how insanely valuable this video is with regards to finding a path through the distro jungle. Thank you so much for creating this. Last weekend I got myself a used Thinkpad, installed Debian with GNOME thanks to your recommendation and am blown by how awesome, beautiful and functional the entire system is - and that everything just works. I cannot believe that all of this is provided free of charge and love the fact that I feel like my device is really mine for the first time in my life. Thank you!

[@mattemathias3242]

Not to mention the minimal amount of resources required to run a linux OS

[@kiillabytez]

Is it really yours though?

[@LemurJovian]

Don't trust this guy

[@michalsvihla1403]

@mattemathias3242 Well, he said he's running GNOME, so maybe not that minimal. :D

[@laniusdev]

I think Chris thinks there are only two types of desktop Linux users: a noob and Chris Titus. A lot of these 'pointless' distros provide so much utility for intermediate users or just users that don't want to waste time running pacstrap manually, or picking and choosing a sets of packages, which just feels like it could be done by the installer. Also many of the quality-of-life things provided by these 'pointless' distros just wouldn't be there if there wasn't a separate project for that. Oh, they could just contribute their packages and tweaks to upstream distro? Well, good luck with that. And if someone wants a badge of honor for installing Arch 'the Arch-way', then they probably are just re-typing commands from Archwiki anyway. Some people might prefer installing just vanilla, some people just prefer to have a ready-to-go system installed quickly that only requires some minor tweaks. And as already mentioned in other comments, these might be a great entry-point for people to become actually an advanced user. That more or less also applies to Debian and Debian-based distros. Vanilla Debian is much easier to get into for a noob for sure, but still distros like Kali or ParrotOS, provide a great utility, not acknowledging that seems outright dumb or just a bait. Also MX Linux and PCLinuxOS seem to have all the prerequisites to be put into your 'creative' tier, but probably you would need to realize that MX doesn't use systemd just like AntiX and PCLinuxOS is actually an independent rolling-release distro that uses apt-rpm and also doesn't use systemd. You cannot recreate these setups on Debian. Maybe MX, but good luck switching the init system.

[@MichaelDustter]

Indeed, really am dissapointed in Chris with this one, considering I love his other content and even the respect to the competition, which is what many parts of Linux communities lack, but he drained it out with this one. If not being for my discovery of Endeavour, I wouldn't even learn how Arch works in the first place. I always hated how installation of baseline Arch works and wanted a GUI installer. Calamares and these distributions finally allowed me to explore the world of Arch as an user that doesn't mind using terminal and loves it at times, but doesn't wanna go too overboard with it. Just to get that job done.

[@SomvenIsHere]

Can Someone tell me why Fedora is in the Devil Tier in more detail because i am currently using it and this is my second Linux Distro is it spyware or something i'm really scared

[@h11mbr54]

what about people who are into cybersecurity ,do i go for kali or debian ??? if i go for debian what are the things to keep in mind. please 🙏