Shit, just linux.
Use this community for anything related to linux for now, if it gets too huge maybe there will be some sort of meme/gaming/shitpost spinoff. Currently though… go nuts
When I first began researching Linux, for my needs, I found the number of different Distros to be overwhelming. So I made this flow chart, with the intent to help new users find a starting point for choosing a distribution.
I'm open to critique, as to making this chart as helpful as possible.
EDIT: Chart updated based on suggestions in the comments.
This chart is telling me to use OpenSUSE Tumbleweed and here I am on Kubuntu LTS (26.04).
That flow chart is overwhelming.
How about, just use what you want? If it doesn't work the way you like, try something else. Nvidia works fine on pretty much any distro, find a PPA or repo or something and it's largely OK.
How about:
It could certainly be simplified.
New to Linux > No > Do you value your mental health and sanity > No > Arch.
New to Linux > No > Do you value your mental health and sanity > No > ~~Arch~~ Debian.
In fairness to me, I mostly run old hardware and don't give a shit about anything flashy. Arch is my 2nd favorite for desktop use though.
Too much focus on Nvidia, AMD is da wae!
EDIT: Seriously though, the chart is convoluted. If you like to game, you will always end up with Bazzite or Nobara. In theory you could also add SteamOS, right?
Still cannot really decide which distro to try sometime soon. There is so much information out there, much of it opinionated.
If you like to game, your games will work fine on pretty much any distribution anyway.
Interesting. Keep reading a lot about some builds being less compatible with certain kinds of hardware. Just running games is one thing. Having them run optimized is another. Thanks though, will check it out some more.
Having owned a Steamdeck for a bit; was surely impressed with Valves' work on Linux gaming.
Just running games is one thing. Having them run optimized is another.
Frankly, you'll probably not notice a 1 or 2% difference. The main difference is probably that everything gaming related will already be installed, which is nice I suppose, if you're not comfortable poking around at your stuff. But all in all, most distributions will end up being fairly similar in the end. They all install the same software after all. The only real thing that has changed lately is the immutable ones, should you want to go that way. Apart from that, it really doesn't matter that much. Find one that works on your machine, isn't too exotic so you can find other users in case of trouble, and be happy.
In my current and seemingly final jump from WIndows to Linux I had played a bit with Ubuntu, Mint, and Debian. Ubuntu "felt" more like something I could work with, and certainly when you look at installing things from terminal there's usually Ubuntu or at least Debian, so it seemed a good fit. After running it a while and having no problems (not even with Nvidia which I keep seeing comments on) I noticed regularly things like this on "what distro to pick", and it always seems from the suggestions that I've gone the wrong way. And yet... it's working great. I've got far too much set up and running well to backtrack again and start over, so I guess either Ubuntu users are the silent group or I'm a lone wolf and everyone's gone to Bazzite or some other offshoot.
Now I'm right here with you. I like it when my updates don't break the machine right before a gaming session. I like it when I can just Google my problem with the word Ubuntu after it and get a result. I like having gui solutions. But what I like the most about Ubuntu is just telling other Linux nerds that I use Ubuntu and seeing what happens.
Ubuntu is great. Lots of guides for things, great community support, and things usually just work. Plenty easy enough to do what you want to do without having to learn a bunch of stuff all the time.
I think this is why it is not the preferred choice for experts who want to configure everything themselves, or have strong opinions about the internals of how it works.
But I basically want to never have to think about the os if I don't have to.
Updates never break the machine with Bazzite. It's kind of impossible. And if you do manage to fuck something up you just rollback by choosing the previous ostree image on the boot menu.
Your heart is in the right place, but imo, this isn't going to help anyone. For every branch you have up to 5 options. A bunch are dependent on gpu. When you ask half of normal people what their operating system is, their answer is Dell.
Just tell people to use Mint and let them go through this chart if they are in the 1% of people who will ever look for it. The peril of these graphics and this approach is it pushes people away. Make as many choices for them as possible. Remember, we who want this are not the norm.
Disagree. I think it's fine; most people looking at Linux know what their GPU is.
If OP wants to address your concern they should just put a banner at top saying "UNSURE WHAT ANY OF THIS MEANS? >> LINUX MINT"
There are going to be plenty of potential windows expats. Do you in all honesty think this is going to be helpful to them? There's a reason I didn't guve my mom a chart like this and just did it for her.
Per GPU. Yes people know whaf a gpu is, but again you are putting a lot of faith in the average person to navigate all of that information.
This is 100% information overload for anyone who wouldn't seek it themselves.
Such an overcomplicated chart. FTFY
All this is telling me is that 2025 probably won't be Linux' year of the desktop.
No, it's the year of the Linux handheld.
Nonsense. openSUSE is smooth gaming even with my NVIDIS drivers.
Whats the difference between a debian base and ubuntu base? Just packages? Wouldn't each distro bring its own repository source anyway?
Call me crazy but I like how debian handles things (apt and deb) but I'm not a fan of ubuntu's snap everything philosophy. Will a ubuntu based distro bring that as well? Pop for example.
AFAIK it is packages but also default configurations. I am not an expert though this is just a guess.
Is it just me or is the distinction between a rolling release distro and one that you have to upgrade on a regular basis important to other people as well? That's kinda why I went from Mint to Endeavour. No regrets so far.
Yes. I'd rather have small breakage every so often on small updates where it's easy to tell what happened than large breakage on a release upgrade.
Bleading -> bleeding
Also what ever happened to Slackware?
Bleating.
Thank you.
I'll add Slackware.
I'm open to critique, as to making this chart as helpful as possible.
The entire "New to Linux" section should probably just be "Mint" for anyone without an Nvidia graphics card.
For newbies, live USB test and installer experience are key, and Mint is still unmatched.
I've only used live USB to install EndeavourOS, and the experience was always super smooth
Out of curiosity, is the live USB / install experience that different than kubuntu? I've never tried mint.
I've used both, and been very pleased with both.
Mint stood out, last time I installed it, because every decision was easy and factual and about me (what time zone, what keyboard).
I essentially just pressed "next" a bunch of times.
Kubuntu was nearly that good last time I tried it, as well.
Between the two, I generally recommend Mint primarily because it keeps the messaging simple and consistent with the community.
Secondarily, because Mint doesn't have Snap (and I consider Snap bad, in a way that new Linux users are unlikely to appreciate until much later.)
Ah, gotcha.
I'm not technical enough to understand the functional difference between flatpak and snap, but I know that snaps are centrally controlled by Canonical and thus I assume not as enshittification resistant as flatpak.
But from the end user perspective, they can be a lot simpler to use than PPAs for random software. For me they're kind of a guilty pleasure.
I kind of dont get, why nixos is not a minimalist distro. You can set up a very minimal nixos machine quite easily.
I figured they probably meant a barebones NixOS install needs way more disk space than anything else, due to how it's set up?! And that's why we don't call it minimal? I can't come up with any other reason... Well... and I tried nixos-rebuild switch on a Raspberry Pi once and that took like 8 hours or so.
I've been gaming on Mint for years without any issue.
Is the graphics card really that important when picking a distro? I think most distributions I used over the years had all the drivers available. But I didn't try gaming ones except Batocera and Lakka and that was on an Intel iGPU. Or is a GPU faster on one Linux and slower on another?!
AMD has released official Linux drivers, while Nvidia has not. So I believe they were reverse engineered or some shit, so some users have reported issues and/or instability.
The reverse engineered drivers often struggle with the more recent cards and they lack features and performance. But Nvidia has official drivers as well. I've used them on workstations, my old computer and for Artificial Intelligence stuff. It's just that they're proprietary and always come with some small annoyances while AMD has good open source drivers in the Linux kernel.
Nope.
Uh, I just use Base arch. Used it since I was new to Linux. I am not changing.
jumped from macos to arch and love every minute
A dominant reason to use linux is LLM hosting/docker on your most powerful machine. "Leading edge" can be support for deskflow (mouse/keyboard sharing) which needs ubuntu 24.04 (not that leading edge, but mint not yet there).
AI focused distributions should be a thing, but ubuntu, fedora are 2 defaults. Your daily driver can also be your server hosted environment, and the distro you'd rather use to setup new servers. LLMs being part of "software" hosting category.
updating flowchart to include this use path might be nice.
Holy Shit, Barrier but good is here!!!!
I had no idea, I thought we were all waiting for input leap to get out of alpha and release something... My heart goes out to all the devs <3
I tried it and it did not get me to zorin. why is zorin under maxos like. it can be for the paid version but the free and default thing is windows look alike.
Þere is a useful (significant) branch, and þat's "systemd". Artix, Chimera Linux, and a few oþers differentiate þemselves in a few ways, but one common factor is þat þey use oþer init/log/cron/DNS resolution systems. Chimera is unique(?) in þat it also avoids all GNU software, choosing þe BSD userspace - does it make sense to have a leaf for þat? Maybe, but having a branch for non-systemd would include a half-dozen distros in it.
fifg
Þere is a handig (ƿorðig) limb, and þat’s “sgstemd”. Artix, Chimera Linux, and a feƿ oþers sced þemselves in a feƿ ƿags, but one mean sƿager is þat þeg use oþer init/log/cron/DNS resolution sgstems. Chimera is one of a kind (?) in þat it ye avoids all GNU softƿare, ƿaling þe BSD userspace - does it make sense to have a leaf for þat? Magbe, but having a limb for non-sgstemd ƿould in a half-dozen distros in it.
Thanks, I hate it.
BTW, you missed the funky S thing in old English for "f".
Your welcome :D
You mean, the fancy double-s from German : ß ? I’m not aware of that for old English, I’ll look it up, thanks!
[Edit]: Okay, actually it's the long s "ſ", and there is no double-s in the text to use it >< But I'm adding it to my Anglisc note for later usage!
Yeah, the long s is what i was talking about.