Hey folks,
Iāve been using Linux on and off for over a year nowānot a total newbie, but still learning. I know the basics and usually rely on GPT or forums when I hit a wall. Iāve tried a bunch of distros so far: Kali, Debian, Pop!_OS, KDE Neon, Kubuntuā¦ and currently running Fedora KDE.
Fedora is solid, but I keep finding myself tempted to try something new. Maybe I get bored easilyāor maybe I just havenāt found the one yet. Thatās why Iām asking for your help.
Hereās what Iām really looking for:
š¹ Large and fast app repository ā I want access to a wide range of apps, updated quickly, without weird dependency issues.
š¹ Great UI/UX ā KDE is my current favorite. I love how modern and smooth it feels, and I want something that builds on that experience.
š¹ Stability without being outdated ā I donāt mind rolling release if itās reliable. Crashes and breakages are a dealbreaker.
š¹ Good extras ā Whether itās unique tools, deep customization options, or just thoughtful polish, I love a distro with a ācompleteā feel.
š¹ Active community/support ā Docs, forums, or anything that helps when things go wrong.
Iād love your suggestionsāespecially if youāve been in the same place: bouncing between distros, loving KDE, and still chasing that āperfectā setup.
What would you recommend and why? Any underrated KDE-based distro I should check out? Or maybe something mainstream but deeply customizable and stable?
Appreciate your thoughts!
Also, if you can, please share some of the best (and free) resources to really learn and master Linux. Iām still learning and only know some basics, but I want to go deeper and really understand how things work under the hood. Even if I donāt feel super advanced yet š , Iām curious and willing to grow.
Thanks a ton in advance!
I switched Fedora KDE -> Manjaro KDE. Manjaro has less unnecessary software, a larger repository with more applications, and fewer issues with drivers. After updating to Fedora 42, I encountered problems with video drivers on my laptop. That was the final reason for switching to Manjaro.
Problem with Manjaro is they have their own opinionated repository that is not always in sync with Arch because they try to introduce more āstabilityā. I found this actually caused the opposite in most cases as there are a lot of dependencies that end up being behind and so you canāt install more stable versions of a lot of software. With the complexity of modern software dependencies, it has become a big problem. Also, they have in the past caused lots of problems with AUR and have let their SSL certs expire multiple times. Overall, they just havenāt been reliable IMHO, so I moved to Fedora a while back.
With Manjaro, you can solve a lot of the problems by switching to the āunstableā repositories, which mirror the Arch repositories. It doesnāt solve the problems with their processes though. There are still better Arch based distros, like EndeavourOS.
Yeah, that kind of defeats the purpose of using a āstableā distro though. As you mentioned, other better distros are available.
Wait this canāt be right š¤Ø
Manjaro seems to be a word that gets you down voted pretty quickly.
Iāve been using it for years with few issues, but then Iām not using AUR.
I also use EndeavorOS, Xubuntu, Debian in other machines. One thing that annoys me about EndeavorOS is that using a graphical package manager is not recommended but Iāve grown to like using those.
By the way i need to know i have watched alot of YouTube videos videos and they sucks manjaro as a very very bad distro. Hows your experience going with it can u elaborate pleaseā¦?
I do not like being accused of attacking Manjaro but since you askedā¦.
the project has had lots of governance and quality problems. Maybe those are all in the past. Maybe.
By design, Manjaro is not compatible with the Arch repos or the AUR. One of the biggest problems is that they hold their software back a few weeks. In theory this is for quality (not my experience). Regardless, many people have had problems, especially with the AUR. I am one. Others say they have not. Some even claim the rest of us have not either. Manajaro has ābrought downā AUR itself (compared to a DDOS attack but really just quality again).
I used Manjaro for over 2 years and would never touch it again. And if what you want is an Arch based distro with an easy install, there is EOS. I have used EndeavousOS for I think maybe 5 years and I love it. Recently I have moved to Chimera Linux, which is not for everyone (it is awesome but I am not recommending it). It is not because of anything wrong with EOS.