A lot of really nice updates happened in the last year, and we’re not going to see a lot of them in Debian stable until 2 or 3 years from today.
If you’re already running Debian, you’ll probably just be delighted when they reach Debian stable.
But if I’m recommending a “how’s Linux today?” test, grab something that already includes the latest quality of life features. There’s been some really nice stuff added to Gnome and KDE and various Flatpaks, this year.
Edit: In about two years I’ll probably be back to saying “forget all that, just run Debian Stable, because the very best stuff is already there.”
Of course, if the current trend of great updates continues another two years, I may have to eat my words, lol.
It depends on your hardware if it is Debian. Debian prefers to use an older kernel until the next point release comes, which is nice because a random update likely won’t break your system.
But… speaking from experience: expect issues (missing drivers etc.) if your hardware is too new.
Strange, because in this thread alone I have seen recommendations for PopOS, Arch, Mint Cinnamon, EndeavorOS, Bazzite, NixOS, and Ubuntu.
Even ZorinOS got a mention.
So why isn’t it Debian?
As a ride or die Debian fan, I can answer this:
A lot of really nice updates happened in the last year, and we’re not going to see a lot of them in Debian stable until 2 or 3 years from today.
If you’re already running Debian, you’ll probably just be delighted when they reach Debian stable.
But if I’m recommending a “how’s Linux today?” test, grab something that already includes the latest quality of life features. There’s been some really nice stuff added to Gnome and KDE and various Flatpaks, this year.
Edit: In about two years I’ll probably be back to saying “forget all that, just run Debian Stable, because the very best stuff is already there.”
Of course, if the current trend of great updates continues another two years, I may have to eat my words, lol.
It depends on your hardware if it is Debian. Debian prefers to use an older kernel until the next point release comes, which is nice because a random update likely won’t break your system.
But… speaking from experience: expect issues (missing drivers etc.) if your hardware is too new.