I’m currently looking for a new OS, coming from KDE neon and I like it, but the fact I have to FUCKING restart because someone decided to push an OS update that broke my previous install, now the OS freezes my whole PC (never did before!) and I have to restart.

I’m looking for good apps support so Debian? Idk Using it for daily usage (Android/games development) and gaming.

I’m also looking for:

  • Wobbly windows (yes useless but cool lol)
  • Good customization
  • KDE connect support (a must)
  • Krunner or equivalent (MacOS like search)
  • Idk?

Thank you!

  • Onihikage@beehaw.orgEnglish
    2·
    21 hours ago

    I can highly recommend Bazzite for your needs. It has a KDE version which is clearly your favorite Desktop Environment (DE), it’s extremely safe/stable due to being an Atomic distro (you can always boot into the previous image if a system update broke something), has incredible documentation, supports almost any traditional app through Distrobox (VPN requires rpm-ostree for now), has a scripted easy install of Waydroid for native android emulation, and has a few tweaks preconfigured to ensure the desktop gaming experience is a little more seamless out of the box than a stock distro. It really seems to tick all the boxes for what you’re looking for.

    If you want more focus on development and less on gaming, the Universal Blue team also makes Aurora for more developer-focused workloads, but Steam not being included in the image does introduce some usability regressions - Steam running via Flatpak or Distrobox is just plain less capable than a native install, though work is ongoing to make native installs Just Work even on Atomic systems.

    • Cris16228@lemmy.todayOP
      2·
      9 hours ago

      My only problem is I’m used to Debian and I find arch/fedora/etc very confusing, do you have any tips/guide to help transitioning?

      • Onihikage@beehaw.orgEnglish
        1·
        2 hours ago

        Have you ever seen Linux Journey? It’s a very informative set of tutorials on how Linux fundamentally works under the hood; all the separate systems that together create an operating system. The concepts you learn there will apply to almost any distro in some way, even if some distros (like Atomic ones) don’t let you mess with all of it.

        For more top-level transition concerns, given that you’re coming from stock Debian running KDE… Bazzite can also run KDE, so provided you select KDE when you download it, your GUI experience should be pretty much identical. Some minor but important differences would include themes, but there are guides for that, too.

        When it comes to package management, the intent on Atomic systems is you basically don’t install traditional packages (Flatpaks are the preferred option), but Bazzite has frameworks in place such that you can install pretty much any package from any distro, as laid out in their documentation I linked in my previous post and just now. Work is also ongoing to make traditional package-based software installations more seamless with an incoming switch from rpm-ostree to bootc, but that’s getting into the weeds. If you have a deb file for a GUI program that’s not available as a Flatpak, you’ll be using a Distrobox to install it.

        If you have any specific concerns about the differences, let me know and I can hopefully give you more details.

  • merthyr1831@lemmy.mlEnglish
    1·
    20 hours ago

    fedora has a KDE spin, and others have mentioned stuff like Bazzite which is similar. I’m personally planning to switch eventually.

  • Ulrich@feddit.orgEnglish
    4·
    1 day ago

    Atomic distros were created to solve exactly that problem. I like Bazzite because it also has seamless background updates (among other reasons).

    I’m looking for good apps support so Debian?

    Any Debian fork will run .deb packages. But plain Debian is just very vanilla and will be missing a lot of stuff you’ll probably want.

    Wobbly windows (yes useless but cool lol) Good customization KDE connect support (a must) Krunner or equivalent (MacOS like search)

    These are all going to be features of the DE, and you can install any DE on any distro (AFAIK).

    • mrcleanup@lemmy.world
      3·
      23 hours ago

      I tried Bazzite as my first try with Linux for a while and liked it; it was super easy. I didn’t like that the immutability went so far as to lock me out of some parts of the OS that I thought should be open, like lock screen customization.

      Now I am on Garuda Arch and it has been really easy too.

      • Ulrich@feddit.orgEnglish
        1·
        1 day ago

        I see. Deb is definitely the most package-friendly.

        GNOME combines Mac’s “stage manager” and “spotlight” into a single function activated by the Super key (windows key/command). It’s really excellent and probably my favorite thing about GNOME.

          • Ulrich@feddit.orgEnglish
            1·
            1 day ago

            Stage Manager is the one where it zooms out to show all of your open windows and switch between them.

  • HumanPerson@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    24·
    3 days ago

    I’m quite happy with Fedora. It has kde support, many apps (especially with rpmfusion), and is quite stable because it is still a 6 month ish major release schedule. Wobbly windows, kde connect, and krunnuer will definitely work. Good customization is subjective, and honestly I consider c/unixporn to be weird but cool wizardry, but I’m happy with it. One thing to consider is if you have a newer amd CPU with an iGPU being used it will get slow and crash every now and then (few months). It’s a bug in the linux kernel starting around 6.10.

    • Cris16228@lemmy.todayOP
      4·
      3 days ago

      Good customization is subjective

      Yes, but I mean you can customize a lot in settings, themes, icons, etc

      I have a 5800x and a 6950 so it should be okay

          • dave@feddit.ukEnglish
            3·
            2 days ago

            Nothing crashes for no reason. Until you identify the reason, you’re employing stochastic problem solving.

            • Cris16228@lemmy.todayOP
              1·
              2 days ago

              Except my KDE OS. No idea what causes freezes and sometimes (like yesterday) it happened while idle

              • dave@feddit.ukEnglish
                3·
                2 days ago

                Yeah, I was being trite but still there is a reason. Idle doesn’t mean doing nothing. Perhaps it’s obscure, perhaps as impenetrable as some combination of machine state and number of milliseconds since 1970 being an even number. But you could try to track it down.

                And sometimes the easiest thing is to reinstall from scratch.

                • Cris16228@lemmy.todayOP
                  1·
                  2 days ago

                  The problem started after they pushed an update that broke my install and others too. Reinstalled and started to get these problems, probably due to the new update

    • Cris16228@lemmy.todayOP
      4·
      2 days ago

      Because I’m used to Debian and the features listed? Krunner, Wobbly windows (useless but heh), etc

      • silly goose meekah@lemmy.world
        15·
        2 days ago

        Krunner, wobbly windows and KDE connect are features of KDE Plasma, not Debian. You can install KDE plasma on arch and use all of the things you listed. Arch also has good app support through the AUR. Plus the wiki is called the Linux bible for a reason

        • Cris16228@lemmy.todayOP
          1·
          2 days ago

          I know. I’m also used to install package with apt

          Is there an arch based distro with KDE support?

          • Jumuta@sh.itjust.works
            6·
            2 days ago

            i mean arch supports kde?

            you can even have the automatic arch installer ($ archinstall in the live usb) set up a kde environment just like in the debian installer

          • MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml
            7·
            2 days ago

            EndeavourOS is Arch with an installer and a few utilities. You can install offline and it will use KDE or you can install online and choose KDE. The major difference is whether you need to update after installing.

            • Klajan@lemmy.zip
              5·
              2 days ago

              I can also recommend EndeavorOS, mostly seamless install even with a Nvidia Optimus GPU (well that one took a bit of research on what to install exactly, not that it’s easier on other distros)

            • Cris16228@lemmy.todayOP
              1·
              2 days ago

              From all the ones I tried EndeavourOS is the one I liked the most but it doesn’t have apt but yum so I have to learn from 0 and it doesn’t have Plasma’s discover. I tried to install jellyfin package but couldn’t find it in my installed apps and I could only run it through command

              • JTskulk@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                2 days ago

                Endeavor uses yay and has tons of software. The only other package manager I knew before was apt, but learning yay is super easy. Yay by itself is like apt update; apt upgrade, yay package to search for and install a package, yay -Rns package to remove.

                • Cris16228@lemmy.todayOP
                  1·
                  1 day ago

                  I kinda like it, my only “problem” is: It’s not Debian so it’s not just install a deb file and that’s it, most of the programs I install have only a deb file or flatpak and for the latter I have to make my own shortcut (annoying)

              • MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml
                1·
                2 days ago

                It’s basically Arch with a familiar installer and an extra repo for their system maintenance tools. Also the community is friendlier.

  • dustyData@lemmy.world
    81·
    3 days ago

    Try Aurora DX (it means the developer edition). It’s KDE but with a Fedora base and immutability. It means that even if an update breaks something (unlikely but still) you will always have a working system available to fall back to. It does mean that development is meant to be done via containers, but I find this solution to be way cleaner and easier to work with than traditional package conflicts madness. Give it a go.

    • tortiscu@discuss.tchncs.de
      3·
      2 days ago

      It also means updates are just full system images, so no way for a package manager or differential update to mess anything up. It also means no way of downloading tiny differential updates (if I understand everything correctly).

      If you don’t need DX or would like to switch off of KDE, there are other fedora atomic desktop based distributions available.

      Oh right, a distribution is just an image, so switching distributions is as simple as switching the base OS image and rebooting.

  • JackGreenEarth@lemm.eeEnglish
    31·
    2 days ago

    Everyone is recommending KDE, but forgive me if I’m missing something, I don’t see it needing to be KDE support as a requirement on your list?

    Any mainstream GNOME distro, eg Fedora, will have all the features you need through extensions (compiz window effect, gconnect for KDE Konnect, GNOME has the search you want by default and supports lots of customisation via shell themes, GTK themes, icon packs and extensions.

    Edit: )

    • kurcatovium@lemm.eeEnglish
      4·
      2 days ago

      Why cripple Gnome to something Knomeish when OP is already familiar with KDE and there are gazzillions of KDE distros?

    • dustyData@lemmy.world
      43·
      2 days ago

      Gnome is ugly IMO and the extensions and custom themes to make it pretty break at each and every update. I just don’t bother with it anymore. KDE was customized to my liking once and it stays that way through updates without any failure.

    • Cris16228@lemmy.todayOP
      1·
      3 days ago

      Do I really want KDE again? Not sure. The “recent” (a few months old) update broke my previous install and I had to format and now it freezes my whole PC out of nowhere. I’m tired of restarting it at least twice a week for this

        • Cris16228@lemmy.todayOP
          2·
          3 days ago

          I wish people at KDE neon did the same. Broke mine and others installs

          Out of curiosity, can I have /home/<user> in a separate disk? So if I have to reinstall I don’t lose everything nor I have to back up everything

          • Grangle1@lemm.ee
            3·
            3 days ago

            That’s a thing with Neon. It’s the “testing ground” for new KDE releases so they won’t guarantee stability. It literally is just Ubuntu LTS with a KDE repo thrown on top, and the Neon devs themselves only maintain that repo, with just a short delay after the new Ubuntu LTS release comes out. In Neon, the users are the quality control for KDE releases. I was using it for a little over a year until the rebase to Ubintu 24.04 broke my install. I went to Nobara, a gaming focused distro based on Fedora that uses a custom version of KDE as the default. I just upgraded to the newest version not realizing it wasn’t official yet, and it must have been the smoothest major version upgrade I’ve ever had in a non-rolling distro. It’s maintained by GloriousEggroll, who also builds/maintains the customized GE versions of Proton on Steam. I’m finding it’s not just a good gaming distro but a solid and stable distro overall. GloriousEggroll puts a lot of work into ensuring that on top of the Proton work he does. If you don’t want the gaming performance customizations he makes, try Fedora KDE spin, it’s likely to be pretty similar and I rarely ever hear someone have a problem with Fedora.

            On your other question, next time you reinstall you can create a separate Home partition on your drive that should allow you to do what you’re looking for. So you have your boot and swap partitions and the one you install your distro to, and then your home partition, so you just install the new distro over the old distro and it should leave your home partition alone.

            • Cris16228@lemmy.todayOP
              1·
              3 days ago

              i know and I wish there was an update to address the problems/revert them but after months of freezes, I have Christmas vacations to change OS.

              I went to Nobara, a gaming focused distro based on Fedora

              What do you use? Official? What does “gaming focused” means here?

              The official looks tempting but not sure if has any of my “requirements” but I could try the KDE version

              • Grangle1@lemm.ee
                1·
                3 days ago

                I don’t remember if I went with the official or the pure KDE version. Either one should work. You can always try both out in a live USB before installing. The gaming focus refers to some modifications made to some drivers/software for the purpose of improving gaming performance. When you update your software you have to use Nobara’s update program in order to ensure that those mods are applied and preserved.

  • unknown1234_5@kbin.earth
    2·
    3 days ago

    I (after a lot of prior distro hopping) went from neon to tuxedo OS and have had very few issues, and only one that was major (was my own fault).

  • polle@feddit.org
    1·
    2 days ago

    I also had kde neon and switched to kubuntu. Its really nice and only has minor issues. I also tried opensuse beforehand, which was not a good experience, for example the sound did not work (which is a typical probl, at least says their wiki and the fixes were obsolete, but not documented that they were.) and as a final straw, YouTube video played without hw acceleration, even with codecs installed.

    I had less problems with endeavour os (arch), which runs on a second rig as a steamdeck.