Distro recommendations and experiences
Distro recommendations and experiences
Hello,
I just purchased an AMD framework 13 and while I wait (im)patiently for it to arrive, I was wondering what Linux distros people here are using.
I've only ever use Ubuntu on desktop, but I think I'm ready to move away from it now, which I guess leaves fedora and mint as officially supported distros.
What have you tried? What are your experiences?
I'm on CachyOS and it has been pretty rock solid. Was also on OpenSUSE Tumbleweed for a while and that also worked well.
I like CachyOS as the performance difference was actually noticeable and there are a couple things on the AUR that I prefer to not be installed as flatpaks.
I have run Fedora and NixOS on my framework. Both run well, Fedora is equal/close equal to Ubuntu in ease of use.
This may be of interest to you. I run Debian testing on mine.
I would recommend you Aurora or Bluefin. They're both the same, but one is KDE, and the other is Gnome.
They are pretty much indestructible, ultra-low maintenence (staged automatic updates, etc.), different branches, great quality of life tweaks and more included.
It's a bit similar to how Android works, but powered by a common PC.
With the great touchpad both KDE and Gnome would shine due to their smooth gestures they offer.
Mint personally didn't stick with me, and I settled on Kubuntu. I felt like troubleshooting ended up being a lot more opaque and frustrating on mint than on kubuntu, and I felt like there were a lot of little accessibility features that were missing on mint.
Kubuntu (KDE in general) is more overwhelming at first, but I feel like it's much more of a "set it and forget it" experience
Slightly off topic, but whatever distro you choose you probably want to use the kernel parameter
amdgpu.abmlevel=0because without it the display gets super washed out and low contrast when the laptop is in power saving mode which drove me insane until I figured out that parameter.Thank you, that's good to know
Mint if you are coming from Windows.
Pop!_OS if you are coming from Mac.
Pop!_OS on a Thinkpad has been my daily driver for five years now. Not a single problem, ever. Rock solid.
Have you tried pop on the framework? Have you had any compatibility issues?
I do not have a Framework but it is my understanding that they are designed for maximum flexibility and compatibility. I doubt that you will have any issues.
Frankly, anything with KDE Plasma (like Fedora), is a pretty solid choice too for people coming from Windows.
@JoMiran @anytimesoon
RedHat if you're coming from OS/2. 25 years now, going strong.
Mint is my goto for newer Linux users, and users that want something that #justworks.
I use Mint on all my personal laptops with the default Cinnamon desktop environment and it's always incredibly stable.
Mint just announced a few weeks ago that they are partnering officially with the Framework team to make sure compatibility is top notch, so the already good compatibility will become even better over the coming months and years.
The only real downside with Mint, and specifically Cinnamon, is that it looks a little dated. You can get it looking pretty modern and clean, but it doesn't look nearly as modern and sleek as KDE Plasma or Cosmic. It doesn't look bad though, and honestly, when I need to just get work done, I don't need it looking ultra sexy-sleek.
Is Mint using Wayland? If not, how well does it work with touchpad gestures? I'm asking because at least on Fedora, when I try it on X11, it does not have the same level of advanced touchpad gestures as on Wayland.
They have an experimental Wayland session, but it is still in early beta and not ready for regular use.
I don't use any special touchpad gestures on my laptops, so unfortunately I don't know that one.
After Ubuntu for many years I switched to Arch because they packaged a number of things I wanted that Ubuntu did not.
If you are happy with Ubuntu stick with that. I have friends and family that use it and it’s fine.
Ive been using Gnome with Fedora ever since I switched to Linux. So far it has been smooth sailing. I would say the choice of distro doesn't matter that much, both Mint and Fedora are very easy to use. Just pick one with the Desktop Environment you like the most. If you are not sure, test them on a Virtual Machine.
I've used UbuntuDDE and Manjaro, and they both ran fine, although that was back on my Intel mainboard. Now, on my AMD mainboard, I currently use ZorinOS and my roommate uses Kubuntu on his. I didn't need to switch, I just wanted to check out Zorin again. You used to have to run a script to install an OEM kernel but I think as of some recent updates that's no longer necessary. My only negative is the battery drains a lot in sleep mode, so it's better to shut down.
That battery drain issue is one I've ready a lot, unfortunately.
Just checked out zorin, since this is the first I've heard of it. Sounds like being able to run windows apps is it's main USP, if I'm not mistaken. What's your experience with thatm
So you can set up other distributions to run Windows apps as well, Zorin just makes it a little easier. When you first try to run a Windows executable you'll be prompted to install the necessary components to run Windows apps. After everything is set up, a decent number of windows apps can be run straight from the file browser without having to open up bottles or something. Not everything will run though, and for games you may get better performance running through bottles or lutris.
I run Garuda on my 16 and my desktop PC.
It's basically a KDE-centric Arch build but with some quality of life tools and XTREME GAMER default theming, plus you're not legally required to say you're using Arch all the time.
No complaints so far. Sure, you're expected to update all packages on your computer about once per day but I find that process to be fairly smooth. You can always configure your desktop to stop looking like a bordello for dragons and I rather like how
garuda-updateautomates some of the housekeeping involved with the package manager.If I had to pick a different distro I'd probably try out something immutable but so far I have no intention to switch.