Until now I’ve had fedora, opensuse and arch. I don’t really like arch nowadays, so I was thinking more of a fedora cinnamon or LXQT. Opensuse is okay I guess. Any suggestions?

  • Eugenia@lemmy.mlEnglish
    36·
    16 days ago

    Linux Mint is not a “rando ubuntu fork”. It’s the most reliable OS for me, along Debian-Stable. It has prefs for almost everything, sane defaults, and a clear release and support schedule. And it uses Cinnamon. I’ve tried everything under the sun, I always come back to Mint. It works.

  • GaumBeist@lemmy.ml
    6·
    15 days ago

    Reliable, clear release/support schedule: Debian Stable

    Unlike Fedora Spins, most upstream distros don’t come with a DE pre-packaged, you choose it during the install process (or install a custom one from other sources post-install).

    DEs currently offered by the Debian Installer include: Xfce, LXDE, LXQt, MATE, Lomiri, and of course Plasma and GNOME.

    Not in the installer, but in the repository: Cinnamon, Budgie, Enlightenment, FVWM-Crystal, GNUstep/Window Maker, Sugar, “and possibly others” (according to the wiki).

    You can also do what I do on my less-powerful laptops and just install a window-manager and associated utilities—just make sure to uncheck all DE options during install (you will be forced to use the console until you have a display server and window manager, tho). Right now I’m rocking i3 on my laptops; I would use Sway, but for some reason it’s more resource intensive.

    Other offerings in the repository include: Openbox, Fluxbox, Compiz, Awesome, dwm, Notion, and Wmii

    My personal recs are i3 (and recommended packages), Xfce, or MATE. I’ve used and liked all 3. I still use GNOME for my desktop, but those 3 are what I go with otherwise.

    • timmytbt@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      15 days ago

      Even easier if you choose XFCE during install and then add i3. You get all the benefits of a package of desktop tools pre installed and the fantastic i3 window manager to get around.

  • AnarchoEngineer@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    6·
    15 days ago

    Reliable OS: Debian is the standard, or try Fedora if you want to get the latest software features

    Alternate DE’s: xubuntu is a classic and it’s fast. LXQT is also lightweight but not as modern feeling imo. Debian install disks should let you choose either of those DEs (or some others) when installing

  • procapra@lemmy.ml
    4·
    14 days ago

    You said no ubuntu so here’s some debian distros ;) MX linux, Sparkylinux, LMDE, Q4OS

    No seriously though, all of those have their fans and in my opinion deserve a look. MX linux has one of the better xfce setups out of the box imo, sparky has lots of cool DE packages, LMDE is mint but better-nt, and Q4OS is one of the few distros that includes an out of the box trinity setup.

    • janNatan@lemmy.ml
      3·
      14 days ago

      I came here to suggest MX Linux w/XFCE. I use the plasma flavor mostly now but I’ve been using MX as my daily driver for like… 2-3 years now.

  • BastingChemina@slrpnk.net
    1·
    14 days ago

    I stopped distro hoping with NixOS. It’s been very stable for me and even in the few cases I had an issue is so easy to just restart on a previous generation and revert changes that it does not matter.