Asklemmy

My favorite OS is Gentoo Linux.

The main reason being that you have full control of the system, from the kernel, init (OpenRC or SystemD), to the different packages.

I've also found Gentoo to be very reliable. (I've had some bad experiences with distros like Void with KDE Plasma freezing/crashing).

It's a rolling release distro, but with more stable package versions, unlike ArchLinux. However it also gives you the option to use the lastest packages (By adding them to accept_keywords)

And if you want you can experiment with different setups, for example using musl instead of GNU's GLIBC, or using clang as the default compiler instead of GCC.

Windows. Because I can run WSL alongside the industry standard business tools such as Outlook etc.

It’s the best of both worlds for me.

Server: Freebsd: simple, reliable

Desktop: Linux: Pop os distro

Ubuntu compatibility without any canonical garbage

Works and works well

Out of the box ready for most use cases

Competent engineers and support

I would miss Manjaro if it went away. I like how it (cliche alert) "just works".

Arch, because the documentation and support is really good. And it 'just works.'

When it comes down to it, the only difference between distros is basically just the package manager right?

Qubes OS

The virtual machine workflow has made me completely rethink how I use computers, and there's huge security benefits of compartmentalizing your digital life through Qubes. Qubes OS successfully compartmentalizes your VMs and brings them together under one unified desktop, so even though you have several VMs running, you can see all of them at once because you see their windows as if it was a regular Linux desktop.

There are some issues with it though, such as lack of 3D acceleration for gaming, and its rather picky hardware support. Along with needing hardware that supports Linux drivers, you need a crap ton of RAM (I'm running 20 GBs on my Thinkpad T450s) for all of the VMs you run at one time. It doesn't take as much CPU power as you'd think, though, as it uses Xen's PVH emulation, instead of full-blown virtual machines like you'd see with VirtualBox.

However, if you have the right hardware for it, and you don't mind dual-booting or using another machine for gaming, I urge you to give it a whirl.

plan 9

I don't actually have the patience to run it, mind you. But it's definitely my favorite in principle.

I'm glad you asked. How much time do you have?

I use arch btw.

Gives me the flexibility to do what I want and contrary to the internet I haven't managed to break everything. I managed to break Ubuntu through

My favorite was Linux, but I got really into producing music and fl studio and all of my vsts don't run in Linux afaik. I'm just not willing to throw away the money I've spent and try and find open source alternatives

Fedora and Debian. It just works, can't complain. Need to use windows 11 on a notebook, absolutely hate it.

"arch linux" with EndeavourOs. Simple to set up, light weight, they seem to have good opinions on package choices. What I like about arch is that if something breaks, I know how to fix it since everything is so configurable and modular. If something breaks in Windows/Ubuntu I don't know how to fix it and the os/distro isn't designed to let you solve the issue yourself.

I'm mainly privacy and security focused when it comes to software. My first Linux distro was Whonix. It's like if Tor expanded from the browser into an OS. Its a bit clunky and outdated though, so not a great daily driver. My second and current distro was the KDE spin of Fedora. It's been amazing top to bottom. Unfortunately Red Hat recently started some drama, but Fedora shouldn't be impacted as its upstream. If Red Hat's greasy paws do mess things up, I'm thinking about running OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. Hopefully it's just me over thinking and Fedora will remain a stellar OS option for years to come.

Void Linux. It was the OS that made me stop distro hopping

Between Linux Mint for its reliability and ease of use and Gentoo for just being really nice to use overall with a ton of the control linux is well known for.

My answer isn’t unique, but Arch linux is just my favorite to use. I just really love the ability to assemble things exactly the way I like them during the installation process.

I also really like the idea of a rolling release distro, meaning no major upgrades. I just run pacman -Syu once a day and things have been great.

Lastly, almost any piece of software I could want is available in the official repositories or the AUR, and it’s super convenient to be able to install things right away from the command line.

Editing to add: My work laptop is a MacBook Pro and I love it. macOS is really pleasant to use and anyone who says it’s not is a liar. Apple’s user experience game is on point

RISC OS. It's quite unique, and the UI design is great. Want to save a file? Drag this icon where you want to save it. Access the menu? Middle button, oh and it's all context sensitive, directly under the pointer. Applications are just directories - there are no hidden files.

I've been using Kali for a while now, after only using Windows and Ubuntu for ages. It's surprisingly refreshing!

I use Debian 12. I very recently switched to it from windows after using windows for about 10 years or more.

What do I like about Debian when compared to Windows?

I really enjoy using the terminal. Still a beginner. Yes learning the commands is tough but sometimes I just prefer using the terminal instead of using a gui.

Everything else about debian is also great.

What? No love for ElementaryOS? It runs really well on my Pinebook Pro.

Fedora for its stability. Arch for its customisability.

Mint but replace cinnamon with sway. It just works, is reliable and has minimal bloat

Linux and Windows.

Windows for "just works" functionality and software compatibility

Linux for light weight, customization, and overall support on hardware (ie there is some distro that will run on just about any set of hardware)

Windows. Everything is straight forward and I can still make some custom or niche stuff work.

I don't like Linux, because a lot of programs don't work, and I don't want to create my own 3D application or DAW from scratch. Not worth my time.

I don't like Apple because the money I'd put into that I'd rather put to better use.