(Also extends to people who refuse to use Linux too!)
Every unique Linux Desktop setup tells a story, about the user’s journey and their trials. I feel like every decision, ranging from theming to functional choices, is a direct reflection of who we are on the inside.
An open-ended question for the Linux users here: Why do you use what you do? What are the choices you’ve had to make when planning it out?
I’ll go first: I use OpenSUSE Tumbleweed with the Niri Scrolling Compositor(Rofi, Alacritty and Waybar), recently switched from CosmicDE
I run this setup because I keep coming back to use shiny new-ish software on a daily basis.
I prefer this over arch(which I used for 2 years in the covid arc), because it’s quite a bit more stable despite being a rolling release distro.
I chose niri because I miss having a dual monitor on the go, and tiling windows isn’t good enough for me. Scrolling feels smooth, fancy and just right. The overview menu is very addicting, and I may not be able to go back to Windows after this!
This was my first standalone WM/Compositor setup, so there were many little pains, but no regrets.
Would love to hear more thoughts, perspectives and experiences!
I use secureblue, because it offers the (AFAIK unique) intersection between:
- a security-first[1] approach while being fit for general computing
- a first-class citizen of the
‘immutable’reprovisionable, anti-hysteresis paradigm - a well-maintained project with many active contributors that exhibit a proactive stance when it comes to implementing (security) improvements
To be precise, it’s actually Linux-first and security-second. For an actual security-first approach, consider taking a look at Sculpt OS employed with the seL4 kernel run on ARM or 64-bit RISC-V. ↩︎
Arch because it just works once you set it up (yeah, paradoxically), and both AUR and the official repos are fresh yet reliable
The only bad OS is one that won’t do what you want when you want to do it.
I run a mixed environment at home, Windows machine for work, personal Windows machine for interoperability, Linux on the Steam Deck since that what it comes with, external Windows SSD for the Steam Deck since some games absolutely require Windows, Linux NAS for media, Linux Raspberry Pis for some fun side projects, my wife runs MacOS because she’s an Apple Fangirl, Android phone and tablet, iOS work phone for testing. Xbox, Playstation, Switch consoles for gaming.
Because it lets me decide how my computers are supposed to work, instead of some cocaine-fueled asshole manager in Redmond or Cupertino.
I use Linux because it is free and good enough to do most stuff I want to do on a computer.
I use windows at work because I get paid - so from my perspective it is cheaper than free. It makes it frustrating to do the stuff I’m supposed to do but my employers are fucking idiots so it doesn’t really matter.
Astrology, but penguin themed.
You are such a Debian.
Arch and Gentoos never got along.
If you are a Nix do not install KDE on the first monday of the month, it’s bad luck.
I use arch with kde with very little modification apart from changing wallpapers and taskbar stuff to make it more windows like. I’m a boring guy who still can’t get away from the Windows feel
It’s something that has followed me to this day! Many of my keybindings are modeled after small windows things
Yeah especially all the keybindings. I’ve become accustomed to them.
Simple things like ctrl+shift+alt+windows+L for linkedin
I use Mint, with Cinnamon. It looks like Windows, and 99% of the time works like it too. The only issue I have is the lack of good small accessibility tools, and the difficulty of using arbitrary executables. It’s easy to use, and it works reliably.
The more Windows-like an OS is, the happier I am to use it. Note that Win11 is not very Windows-like in my view. It cuts out power user functions and adds so much useless bloat and tracking that I don’t want to ever touch it. If I ever have to, outside of work, the first day or six will be spent with the thing offline, basically deleting out half of the OS and remodeling the half that’s left.
Mint Cinnamon. I’m very new to Linux, only switched about a month ago after using Windows for almost 35 years (my first computer was a windows 95).
Really enjoying it so far, and it’s actually a fun learning experience.
I use NixOS to document all of the choices I make. I can transfer my whole setup between computers and it just works. I don’t have random modifications anywhere
Do you run it impermenant? Or traditional Nix style? I been thinking about running NIX with impermenance and then persisting all the important files so I can hardware swap, or just keep a lean, clean, more secure, self maintained system over time.
Just traditional, since wine prefixes are basically a bunch of state and games are huge
I had configured a windows/linux mint dual boot a few years ago because I thought it would be a cool and fun thing to do. Flash forward to now, and I’m using the mint OS 99% of the time.
I’m old and not keen on tinkering around anymore, that’s why I use Linux Mint Cinnamon. It just works and doesn’t take much time to maintain.
Same. I have installed so many systems that I just want the defaults to be what I’m used to. The OS itself is just a tool to let me work on the things I actually find interesting.
I used to run SUSE on a laptop i only used once every three years or so. Because of the “full open source” principle i couldn’t run a lot of online Videos because the codecs were free but proprietary. When i decided to get a new computer as my tower was getting 15, i wanted to switch to a Linux distro as my daily system. Bought a laptop without windows preinstalled and decided to roll with Manjaro as it has KDE and was recommended as suitable for gaming.
Works fine for the most part. The last wave of updates caused some fuss with the desktop, but i can just do everything important from the terminal, while waiting for the next release.
Well, I use Void Linux, Fedora, and NetBSD. All for different purposes. I just love the freedom to modify my system 'till my heart’s content. I’m generally a tiling WM (sdorfehs) on laptops and openbox/lxde on desktop.
I appreciate minimal clean code.
I use Arch with hyprland, waybar, walker, pcman-qt, Kitty.
Reason is I hate mouse or touchpads I try to use them less. Hyprland is a tiling wm but I am not a fan of tiling at all. Most of the time I switch through workspaces with command+tab and only one window on each workspace.
