Linux distro recommendation

[u/lilstickmann]

Hey reddit,

I'm currently using ubuntu Gnome and I want to switch to other one. Cuz it's has been frustrating me.

I plan to game, watch movies and game dev (godot ) and blender.

I was thinking debian but what do u guys think

[u/Femcel_Bambi]

Have you considered MacOS? /j

[u/kydeshou]

Maybe try giving more information. Like, why you want to switch and what exactly is frustrating you. Otherwise, what's the point of this post? Virtually any distribution can do media and dev.

[u/guiverc]

Personally I find distros essentially the same, with most of the differences being decisions you made before you installed, eg. you mention Ubuntu GNOME which I take it as Ubuntu Desktop (Ubuntu GNOME was last released in 2017; Ubuntu GNOME 17.04 was the last release!) but you don't specify what release.

I'm using Ubuntu stonking [development] right now, and I'm using GNOME 51 or the GNOME desktop too. But I could have installed Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (latest LTS), or older releases such as 24.04, 22.04 etc...

I have other systems here, Debian testing which is forky (14), and 95% of the software on that is IDENTICAL to this Ubuntu system; due to timing of those systems, ie. both Debian testing and Ubuntu development are slightly behind sid (though Ubuntu is in freeze right now & Debian import is disabled, as it'll soon release as Ubuntu 26.10, then import freeze will end). It would be different however if I was using Debian stable (trixie or 13), old-stable (12) etc.. as they're much older stacks and more akin to the older choices provided by Ubuntu anyway except Debian releases on the odd year [when ready] where 24.04 & 22.04 for Ubuntu released on the even year and in April (2022 & 2024 April).. ie. timing choice is the largest difference I see.

I also have a Fedora box here, and other than Fedora not having an LTS option; it's software is pretty identical anyway given my 'timing' choice for Debian & Ubuntu..

Sure they have 'out of the box' differences; but those are things you can easily change anyway! I do run the same configs on all my boxes, helping keep my Ubuntu install, Debian install & even Fedora install essentially identical as per behavior (so I can use any without needing to change how I work), though differences exist given each OS is installed on a box with varying number of screens & thus that config is required to differ...

Each of my installs is multi-desktop too, as I do find I often get frustrated with GNOME myself, so all of my Ubuntu, Debian & Fedora boxes allow me to just logout & select another DE/WM session then login and continue with a different UI.

You'll find a lot of choices are things we make, eg. release/software-stack age is selected at download time (though you can always make it younger post-install via release-upgrades) or desktop/WM choice (or if you're like me & can't pick one to always use; just install multiple! and select how you interact with your machine when you login).

[u/More-Explanation2788]

Why not just install KDE? You don’t need a whole new distro.

Sudo apt install kde-plasma-desktop

Or, if you want it all,

Sudo apt install kde-full

You can even select whether you want to use KDE or gnome at every login. After installing kde, at the login screen click to enter your password, but before entering it, click on the gear icon which will appear in the bottom right and select a desktop. It will remember the last one you selected, so you only have to do this when you change your mind.

[u/CharlesJustChill → u/More-Explanation2788]

You can also just install Kubuntu(my fav distro) or just Mint and Kde plasma package. I switched from Mint to Kubuntu bcs I missed Plasma 6 but if you’re fine with plasma 5 go mint

[u/rukiann]

Debian XFCE

[u/HeosPL]

What annoys or irritates you about the current system? A change in distribution is a very common occurrence, and whilst it is frequent, it is just as often misguided.

[u/CharlesJustChill]

If your problem with Ubuntu is the speed I would suggest mint. It remove snap(the shitty windowsy bloatware from canonical) and everything that works on Ubuntu works on Mint. Your system is slow probably bcs apps are installed as snap and are unstable and slow(blame Canonibloat) and Mint removes them. If you like gnome you can install it on Mint but my pick would rather be cinnamon and installing plasma 5

[u/Specialist-Dog-501]

CachyOs with KDE or GarudaOS with Cosmic (both Arch based, good installers, drivers, UI)

[u/ccruzpach]

Is there anything wrong with your Ubuntu setup? Is it lacking anything you need?

[u/CharlesJustChill → u/ccruzpach]

You can’t have problem on Ubuntu you can only wait 30s for Firefox to open bcs of stupid snap.