Linux

I use Fedora simply because I got a Framework and the fingerprint reader didn’t work in (K)Ubuntu so I tried Fedora as a little test. It worked, so I just stuck with it - everything else worked as I wanted, and it gave me the opportunity to try a completely new distribution.

Lubuntu

My first foray into unix-likes was oprnbsd with fluxbox. I eventually moved to openbox. Lubuntu with lxqt gives a nice simple openbox experience with a menu and stuff. I customize it to have openbox present the mouse menu instead of the whole pcmanfm desktop thing.

Began moving all my hardware to Linux this year since none of them will run win11 without fk-about-ing - and I just don't want to. So my server, media box and laptop are all cut over, only my main desktop left on windows a bit longer but it's goose is cooked too.

I've tried dozens of distros over the years but I've settled on Fedora KDE.

The why:

• Skipping x11 and head straight into Wayland so I don't have to worry about that in the future.
• I wanted something more up to date than debian-based and less cutting edge then Arch-based.
• Stability and support of being in the RHEL family
• Flatpaks
• Tried to get on with gnome to get away from the 'start menu' paradigm but ended up getting on with kde better.

btw i use Arch, i use it because i found lot less effort it takes to do anything and it's stable, i do think there is some bug with QTcreator, gotta see it's os issue or QT issue.

Debian Testing. It isn't "recommended" but it works fine.

Obviously if you want AUR you need an Arch variant, in which case just pick Arch.

Edit: I needed the why, it's up to date enough for me and I know apt well.

Arch, cause I set it up to my liking once out of curiosity when I was procrastinating, wrote a script that automates https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/System_maintenance and now am too lazy to switch to something else.
Especially since maintenance involves typing Update.sh once a week or so, and nothing else.

Kubuntu, because it's the most solid distro I've used that meets my needs.

NixOS for most things, Debian on some servers as a docker host

Opensuse TW. It is rolling release and rock solid. Also amazing btrfs implementation.

im a notorious distro hopper lmao, right now i am using manjaro for the first time. previously i was using Pop OS where i had plasma installed for the DE rather than using cosmic or whatev they call it... but it seemed like there were a few issues between Pop and plasma, so i hopped to manjaro

first time using a distro that uses pacman so there are a few growing pains for me

Fedora, it has KDE spin and quite recent packages.

I use Fedora on my desktop, and mint on my laptop (this one is going to get wiped soon for Fedora as well). I tried manjaro but it just wasn't for me. I installed it on the recommendation of my friend, and I like it a lot. Except for it not staying asleep because a part on the motherboard kept sending a wake command -__- . But a CMD fixed that issue.

I use Arch with Hyprland because it's great.

I use Debian on my server and Arch on my gaming PC and laptop. Both distros offer minimal installs so I can just add the packages I need and avoid the ones I don't. Debian offers a nice stable base for running my services with minimal downtime and Arch has the most up to date packages for all the cutting edge features I want on desktop.

Gentoo for anything my I use a mouse with, Arch for everything else. I like Gentoo for the customization. For things where I want to run a service, Arch is my go to as it keeps working without drama. Anything complicated, Gentoo is better.

Currently, Arch btw. I was on Ubuntu in the 12* days, but arch wiki had the solutions to every problem I encountered, so naturally migrated. I want to switch to NixOS but ran into some issues getting my finicky nvidia/amdgpu laptop to work. I might go blendOS as a holdover, it seems like a good mix of the two. Also I have some issues with Manjaro (tried for a while) but pamac cli at least handles all of my aur and pacman needs properly.

Gentoo on my home computer. Started way back in the day when you had to recompile source RPMs on RPM-based distros to get CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) language support. Debian language support was excellent, but I didn't enjoy always being 5 package versions behind, especially as fast as some software was being developed.

CJK isn't an issue anywhere anymore, but I stay on Gentoo because it has all the packages I want, and it doesn't force systemd on me.

Will be moving away from Ubuntu on my work computer because of all the foolishness with 'is it deb or is it snap?'. Not sure what I'll go to.

Void because I don't like gnome, primarily because it uses more than 50% of my resources, so I need something lightweight and have had bad experience with arch. I've had some hiccups with void but it wasn't something I couldn't fix. The downside is that it there are no package repository mirrors in my region, and sometimes I have to change mirrors to install packages, and some applications are not packages for void, so I have to look for open source alternatives that I have to compile.

Fedora Kinoite. I like KDE, atomic distros and the fact that Fedora is the only (at least that I know of) distro that has proper SELinux implementation.

I also play games on this system, so having newer kernel and Mesa versions help.

Linux sub, post with 40 comments under 1 hour

Is this the year...

Damn, not a single pop-os enjoyer here?!

Guix SD because i like editing declarative ((`scheme)) config for my system in emacs

CachyOS. I use it because I am a fan of Arch based systems, rolling releases etc, but CachyOS is optimised for my generation of hardware, and has lots of good default configurations for various apps. They have a customised proton version, a good default fish profile etc.

tl;dr It's Arch, but optimised, and slightly more pre-configured out of the box.

Arch. I need the AUR for certain applications, and the high degree of customizability and opportunity for learning appeal to me as a relatively new-ish Linux user (going on a few years now, most of that time having been on Arch).

NixOS because it's the only usable stab at sustainable system configuration.

Fedora Silverblue. It does what I need so I can get on with my life.

Elementary OS.

I really like the focus on delivering a solid, intuitive and snappy desktop environment. It is absolutely what I recommend to newbies, who are looking for a Windows or macOS replacement.