Linux distribution that values stability over having cutting-edge software
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What's a good Linux distribution, for someone who values stability over having cutting-edge software? In other words: For someone who's not looking to be a beta tester, and wants a good stable system that works.
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@Eggcorn I find Linux Mint to be quite stable. Plus, you don't have to allow it to update unless you want to - and then only the items you choose. I've only tried about five of the several hundred distros there are, though, so...
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@Ayespy said in Linux distribution that values stability over having cutting-edge software:
Plus, you don't have to allow it to update unless you want to
Oh, I want updates! I want a stable secure system, not a system that lacks security patches. But don't want to be a beta tester. And a lot of the distros out there seem to cater to beta testers, to people who value cutting-edge over stability.
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@Eggcorn Well, like I say, I've grown fond of Mint. I find it stable, so far.
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@Eggcorn
Hi, I am on a rolling release Opensuse Tumbleweed since a few years now and when it breaks it was me.
Some user prefer LTS version of a distro, it may be more stable but it use older kernel, libraries, driver and software.
Latest hardware will not work, you cant install new software sometimes and so forth, but ... It work like a concrete block.
If you are comming from Windows you are used to Beta software anyway.
Cheers, mib
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There are distros out there that are bleeding edge; as an example there's a distro specifically based off of Debian's "Sid" (unstable) branch. (Obviously not what the OP wants, so I won't look it up - but it does have "Sid" in the name) Next would be anything in the level of the current Ubuntu or Fedora. Of those, obviously any LTS version will be slightly more stable. Then there are those designed to be stable - like RHEL or any other "Enterprise" distro, though as most of those include support they are not free (in the "no cost" sense). There are distros which are supposed to be free equivalents to the enterprise versions, like CentOS.
You might try looking at the list in the far right column of Distrowatch, that's the ranking of popular distros, and you can click on any name there to be brought to a description. While I've never used it myself, I presume CentOS or something similar would fit the bill here. (Personally I use Mageia, but recognize it isn't what was requested here.)
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@Eggcorn
MX Linux -
@Eggcorn Slackware.
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hello eggcorn and Miss guigirl and everyone
vivaldi stream snapshot or stable?
gnu/ linux sampling , for us, means looking at a distribution's screencapture pictures of desktops default and it means reading some of the distribution's help documentation, to see how well we understand the manner of its description and if the documentation is comprehensive.
(( I remember when dos 6.0 was 300 pages + windows 3.1 at 300 pages. i remember the netscape manual was 300 pages plus the archie search manual was 300 pages. now often is two pages each says for more information click here and the two pages point at one another. ))as a forum user you surely know the value of support. check out support options for each distribution.
Those few that are stable and that will make it past your scrutiny of looks beauty plus instructions
You can then trial live versions suggested. happy trails. -
Definitely, Debian stable.
Also you can give a try to to CentOS. -
@stilgarwolf
CentOS has revised their model. centos went from stable to centos stream ran as a rolling, testing model. now centos will become an unstable model in line before fedora instead of after fedora.
Take future centos off of your "stable" list. -
@i_ri Thanks, I didn't know about (https://blog.centos.org/2020/12/future-is-centos-stream/).
"Just ahead" releases could be as stable as RHEL, but we'll see. -
I also find Linux Mint very steady. As you don't need to permit it to refresh except if you need to.
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I installed MX Linux (got interested when installing antiX on very old systems) almost a year ago and still use it. I was surprised at how well it works.
In general, when questions like this arise, it's usually a good idea to just look at the distributions that are used by the most people with the same hardware as yours.
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@dandol0enr Hardware support is dependent on the kernel version. And yes, you should do a search for compatibility of components. If one of your components is new you may be forced to go with a rolling distribution initially, or you might find there is no support at all. But it shouldn’t matter whether you go with e.g. Debian or MX or Ubuntu or Mint.
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I have used puppy linux for many years.Very small distro packed with many applications and all for a small 300mb download.
Many variants of puppy out there and is a static os which does not receive ridiculous updates every few weeks.
Puppy has never failed me and is very modular and if an issue does occur than simply restore a saved savefile and your up and running again.
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@eggcorn I'm using openSuse Leap precisely for that reason. The versions of the packages are quite old, but the distro is very stable, and gets updates regularly. The hardware support is very good too, I never had any problem, even with quite recent PCs, and in spite of a kernel version that seems to be ancient (I suspect it is patched to support as much hardware as possible).
But as others have said, don't take our word for it. In addition to the sites others have already mentionned, there's one called Distrochooser that allows you to enter your criteria for a distribution and lists the distros that should be the best ones for you. Note that as I'm writing this, the site seems to be down, but I guess it'll come back later.
