What distros would you recommend for use on a (non-gaming) Laptop?

I know you said you want something Debian-based, but Fedora is my go-to distro for daily driver workstations. Rock solid, has up to date software, and the release upgrade process has never failed me.

I don't think distro choice is that important. If you're already comfortable with something deb based get that.

Why not directly Debian ?

You've named three great suggestions. There was a new stable Debian release two days ago. A decade ago, I found Debian stable a bit too stale and testing buggy, but things have changed for the better with flatpak being as ubiquitous as it is.

Just make sure to get the non-free firmware iso if you think you might need it for something like wifi.

I find snap on Ubuntu annoying, slow and the cli tool cryptic. I'd probably use PopOS in preference to Ubuntu just because of that.

Finally, the difference between using a Debian vs Fedora vs Arch derivative isn't as much as it's hyped up to be. It's really the release cycle and QA that matter and that's personal taste.

Pop!_OS. I use it on my laptop and the track pad gestures are a treat. Also, stability and performance are as expected and the devs are really cool.

Consider Fedora Linux! It strikes a thoughtful balance between being up-to-date (e.g. Arch) vs stable (e.g. Ubuntu LTS): its kernel and packages are very recent but tested thoroughly on the system before release.

Fedora is also known for pushing forward new Linux technologies like Wayland, Pipewire, Flatpak, as well as the latest versions of GNOME.

I use Fedora on my Framework laptop, and it works great! Specifically, I use Silverblue, an official variant that makes the system immutable and image-based, which has various stability/maintenance benefits.

Whatever distro you choose, be sure to check Framework's docs for setting it up: https://frame.work/linux

Mint is great, it comes pre loaded with a lot of the basics and has got to be one of the most easy to recommend options out there. If you do go with Mint I would highly recommend adding flatpaks for anything proprietary if you use things like Spotify, Discord, or other similar stuff (you probably will want to make sure that gets updates imminently since those kinds of services usually update quickly and somewhat sporadically). Mint is based on Ubuntu but is without all the Telemetry and forced snaps.

Alternatively, if you want a more basic install (pros: less bloat, cons: more manual work) Debian itself would work great. It'll probably eek out a tiny bit more performance and slightly faster security updates than anything downstream. I like manually installing by starting from zero, but I can understand if you want a "plug and play" option and want a Debian derivative instead.

Ubuntu is also fine. I'm still salty about seeing Amazon ads on my search screen a while back, but in all reality it would work just fine, you can still opt out of the Telemetry, and if you prefer Snaps over Flatpaks then it'd be a good choice to go with. If you don't know of or care about snaps or flatpaks then in all reality either should work fine for you.

I've never used PopOs. I'm sure it's fine, though I've heard people online complain it's a bit unstable sometimes as compared to the more established Debian based distros. Can't say either way though since I haven't used it.

Beyond Debian, like some people are saying here too, Fedora is an option. It's not Debian based and might have a bit of a higher learning curve (both if you've never used Linux or if you learned on Debian based Linux). Their packages and device drivers are usually a bit more up to date. That said, as they move more towards Flatpaks instead of traditional package management that benefit is eroding a bit. But if you do find yourself needing more current packages (and can't solve with flatpaks/snaps), or have a device with drivers too new for Debian and it's derivatives, then Fedora would be the first place I'd recommend going.

Last, Manjaro might be an option as well (also not Debian based). Honestly I've heard a lot of bad things about it and never used it, but a co-worker likes it so it's worth a mention. It'd be great if you need really recent drivers, but if you don't know what you're doing (so I've been told) you probably want to be cautions of the AUR.

If you have the time I'd recommend firing up a virtual machine and checking anything that sound interesting. Good luck!

@Gamer153
Debian 12 is actually a good option. This latest release has really transformed it into a much more viable option.

I just recently switched from my favourite distro (Linux Mint), and I have no regrets.

generally any distro would work, my suggestion would be to find one you like and stick with that.

distro doesn't matter nearly as much nowadays as distrobox and flatpak will make most of the programs available on almost any distro.

Kubuntu

I hate to be /that guy/ but Arch Linux has been the most stable in my experience. The AUR is also great for software not in the normal repos. You can set it up with whatever desktop environment you want, and the wiki/forums have tons of information.

I've using Pop!_OS on my 11th Gen Intel since I got it three years ago and have been pretty happy with it. I would suggest some of these tweaks for fingerprint/power etc, you don't have to apply them all but you can see what makes sense for you: https://github.com/lightrush/framework-laptop-formula

Congrats on your new framework? Intel 13th Gen?

Pop_OS has the most impressive window management I’ve ever seen in any distro. It’s a joy to use on laptops. And since it’s based in Ubuntu you’ll have no trouble finding support.

Depends on how tech-savvy you are and what DE you like.

• You don't like to tinker much, but want a system that just works with sane defaults? Mint it is
• You want to know how a Linux system works or might want to fine tune and put your own bits and pieces together? Debian

Those are the two I usually recommend. I don't like Ubuntu, because Canonical has a history of enforcing its experiments on users and disregards them after some years. Fedora does that more subtle, but I'm not a fan of flatpaks and that you basically cannot find most of the programs I'm used to from other distros in the package manager.

In the end I'd say that most users should be more focused on the decision what desktop environment they want to use, because that influences your day-to-day work more than the distro (after you have set it up to your liking, of course).

I'm a big fan of Linux Mint myself.

I've got a shitty old laptop that barely ran on windows. I put Linux Cinnamon (mint) on it, and it runs pretty good now. Maybe less applicable on your new machine tho.

I discovered NixOS 3years ago I’ve never switched back

Those three (and their variants, à la Kubuntu/Xubuntu) are all good - I probably wouldn't look at others unless you have a strong desire for something else.

If you want something that 'just works' on a framework, I recommend Fedora 38. Everything from the touchpad gestures to the fingerprint reader work out of the box and I didn't even need to dig into the terminal to configure.

dnf is really easy to use and works similarly to apt. Apps and programs stay reasonably up to date without breaking anything, and if you need a more recent version, Flatpack is installed already.

Tumbleweed

Either PopOS or Fedora would be my choice for a no hassle distro. The new Cosmic DE that System76 is making for PopOS looks pretty nice.

Honestly, Ubuntu just works and has an awesome community. After using a few distros I came back to Ubuntu and I use it everyday

Why not Debian they recently released new version so for some time it will be quite up to date.

I've been using Mint for 6 months or so and really like it.

I'm using MXLinux with Xfce on all my laptops and desktop, standard one for old computers and the AHS version for new ones. No problem with it.

If plane and simple debian it's out of the list, I can't recommend kde neon enough.

I would go with either Fedora or Debian. I've been using Fedora KDE on my Framework Laptop since F36 released and I've been quite happy with it. Currently on F38 KDE and had no issues with the upgrades.

Be bold, install Slackware.

I like Fedora. It is simple to use and I haven't managed to break it even with app the stupid things I do on there. In case you didn't know it is also available with a variety of desktop environments from spins.fedoraproject.org. There are some rare cases where software from Debian based distros isn't available on Fedora, but that is only for fairly niche things.

Probably Nobara but to be honest at this point you can just use whatever you prefer.

Do you intend to use wayland?

If so, you may want something up to date, since that's rapidly changing/improving.

Warzone

Trisquel would be my choice although not sure if the Framework wifi is compatible witht he libre kernel. If not I would probably use Linux Mint or Garuda.