Which Linux Distribution? | Understanding Linux Distros

In this video I go over the timeless question "Which Linux Distribution should I choose?" that haunts us Linux users. I'm going to try and demystify this so you can get to understanding Linux Distros. Everyone is very opinionated about this and what works for one person may not work for another. Instead of going over the literally 100s of distributions lets focus on the types to choose from and pick one from each.

Types of Linux
Debian and Ubuntu
Slackware and SUSE
RHEL, CentOS, and Fedora
Arch

Sites to help you choose

[thebreezer]

The more YouTubers spread the word about Linux, the more it will become mainstream. Kudos Chris.

[HK-swvi]

his cat be like: "there we go, he's talking to his screen again"

[GameFreakuser]

Concerning Slackware's lack of dependency resolution, that was done by design since dependencies themselves aren't as concrete as commonly believed. There are two types of dependencies, hard dependencies and optional dependencies. Hard dependencies are libraries and other such software that a package absolutely needs. Optional dependencies are dependencies that might or might not be needed depending on the context. For example, Emacs has both a curses interface and an X11 interface. If your system isn't going to have Xorg, you can disregard that dependency and compile Emacs without X11 support.

In other words, a lack of dependency resolution from the package manager's side gives the user more control in what software gets installed.

[lawrencebenito]

You're channel is so helpful. I am struggling to choose the distro I like and this is I guess the best explanation video I've ever seen. I am a new subscriber and I also enjoyed your other videos specially your journey when you started using linux. You're really helping a lot of newcomers. Thanks a lot.

[tnetroP]

Just a heads up that Debian got its name from the author Ian Murdock and his girlfriend at the time Debra Lynn. So I believe the correct pronounciation of its name is Deb-Ian rather than Deeb-Ian.

[blamb]

You left out one detail that makes Mint a good choice to install. It includes a wide array of drivers and even Flash right from the install. When I was younger and more interested in poking around under the hood that wouldn't have mattered as much but now I just want an OS that works.

[BriansModelTrains]

In 1998 I picked up some Slackware 3.5 disks and that is how I learned Linux. Today I use Linux Mint as my primary Linux desktop. I am always loading new distros in a VM's to check them out. I also use Winddows 10 and appreciate your debloating scripts videos. Keep up the great work!

[danilovilasboas]

I've been using GNU/Linux for 15yrs now, and here is the thing: the distro doesn't matter. Your knowledge matters.

[ROTPx]

Linux Mint is definitely a good option! Peppermint is my personal favorite. POP! OS is great as well. Great video.

[mrdajve]

This has answered a whole host of questions I've had about Linux for many years! Excellent and informative video - thanks! Dave - UK

[kbigdawg]

Debian: “deb’-ee-an”. Ubuntu: “oo-boon’-too”. Suse: “soo’-suh”. Deprecated: “dep’-ruh-kay-tuhd”.

[ivanpatricklambert]

I wonder why you didn’t mention manjaro in the arch section...

[gotchaxp]

I was a Gentoo user for 11 years. Liked it a lot, made it my main Desktop PC... something important about Gentoo is that you can do pretty everything with it too. It's not only meant for one or two specific tasks. I had everything of a Desktop on it. Gentoo and Arch are actually the perfect distros if you want to learn how Linux works.

I only had to give it up because meanwhile I became a dad, so no more time for the updates and all the possible hassles to fix before updating, had no time for the 2-3 hours update time only for the webkitgtk package with the rest of the updates following afterwards. I ended up with Fedora 29, upgrading to 30 soon. It's a great distro, bleeding edge, rock solid and without the troubleshooting, so perfect for me and my kid says thank you :-)

[eznix]

Not that pronunciation matters to me, but so you know, the etymology of Debian is a combination of the names Deb and Ian (Ian Murdock, creator of Debian named it after his girlfriend and his own name), hence Deb - as in Deborah - and Ian.

[othername]

longtime windows/mac user, recently switched to linux with great apprehension and uncertainty.. this helped greatly, thanks much.

[nineironshore]

Very good. So much better than videos that list a bunch of random distributions without any context.

[mintyfresh]

Good explanation. Noting that Ubuntu is dropping 32 bit support, I'd like to see you do a run through of distro's that will still be useful in restoring usability to elderly systems for less tech savvy users. Some of these old beasts are still out there and I've recently switched from using Lubuntu to MX-Linux when I run into them.

[jenkinsj]

Thank you for this video, gave this newbee a (much needed) sense of direction!!

[davesnyder]

Thank you sooo much for helping us to sift through the tons of information that us noobies are standing in front of. It’s daunting, as I’m sure you remember. LOL!

Keep up the great work!!!

[thesleepyguy]

Great video! You explained that very well and I just learned a lot from you, thanks!