What Linux distro without opt-out telemetry would you recommend a Manjaro user?
Hello, I'm looking for a new distro that aligns with my privacy preferences and offers a wide range of packages without requiring me to search for PPAs, similar to Manjaro. I've grown uneasy about Manjaro's decision to collect unique data like MAC addresses and disk serial numbers by default, even if it's for diagnostic purposes.
In light of this, I'd like to ask for your recommendations on a Linux distro that meets the following criteria:
No opt-out telemetry: I'm looking for a distro that doesn't collect any unique data by default.
Access to a wide range of packages: I prefer a distro that offers a vast repository of packages, so I don't have to search for PPAs or third-party repositories.
User-friendly: I'm not a fan of complicated configurations or steep learning curves, so a distro with a user-friendly approach would be ideal.
I'm curious to hear any recommendations you might have. Thanks!
Came here to say the same. Such a great distro, and it'll be an easy switch from manjaro.
I've been running it with btrfs and it has been rock solid stability wise. If you go btrfs I recommend grub btrfs for easy boot time snapshots and btrfs-assistant in the aur if you want a GUI to manage btrfs maintenance.
I saw one commenter suggested Arch itself. IMO it's even a better idea than EOS.
archinstall doesn't have GUI, but it has very nice TUI (like what you have when you use htop), and you could finish selecting the options in very few minutes.
Maybe I'm a dumbass and it's my fault, but I find that archinstall always has an issue when you run it. It's easier to install arch manually than run the and troubleshoot.
I really like Pop!_OS, AFAIK it doesn't have any telemetry. It's basically a Ubuntu fork but without the stupid Ubuntu stuff, and they're currently even working on their own Desktop Environment.
Second this. Tumbleweed is a great distro. Nearly everything you'll need can be found in default repos. Then there are several endorsed (semi) official add-on repos, and if that fails there's always OBS (opi is your friend for searching those).
* You will need hardware that works with fully free hardware drivers (for printer, WiFi, GPU etc). Drivers with binary-blobs are not included, due to potential security risks or spyware.