Ambitious Linux Distributions in 2018
I try to avoid getting caught up in the search for the best Linux distribution. However, I do think certain distros are more exciting to follow than others and I’ve been looking for a reason to spotlight these particular distros for a while.
In no particular order, here we go!
Solus
Let’s start out a silly list of Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Fully independent
- Well designed software center with 3rd party app support
- Development process is transparent via blog posts & Phabricator
Cons:
- Limited software selection
- Very strict package inclusion policy
- Limited number of software gatekeepers
Obviously my pros & cons are hugely subjective, but I do feel that a detriment to the Solus project is their application & packaging strategy. It’s great that the team wants to ensure quality via strict packing requirements but from my own experience is not finding the software I’m looking for in their repos, this is a problem.
That being said, their software center is really solid and it only keeps getting better. The same can be said about their development process overall, ala Phabricator.
Manjaro
Once again with the Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Based on “tested” repos from Arch with AUR access
- Solid tooling
- Wide variety of desktops
Cons:
- Stability issues after updates
- Support is lackluster
- Advertised as beginner-friendly, but isn’t
My gripes about Manjaro revolve around a single issue — stability. I have to admit that it’s a little surprising based on how old Manjaro is for it to still have teething issues around stability after updates. Especially given that the Arch repos used by Manjaro are “tested”, whatever that means.
On the flip side, the tooling is downright luxurious. From Pamac to the Manjaro Settings Manager, it’s all just awesome stuff and I’ve never had a problem with their tools.
ElementaryOS
Good ole ElementaryOS. Again with the Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Built-from-scratch Pantheon is simply beautiful
- AppCenter is ambitious and shows a ton of promise
- Very open development process
Cons:
- Based on Ubuntu LTS
- Slow development cycle
- Difficult development environment (LTS + no PPAs)
I’ve tried to run ElementaryOS as my daily a few times but I always decide to hop to another distro because LTS distros are such a pain for developers. Coupled with the no PPA policy, it takes me significantly longer to setup my ElementaryOS workstation for development than it does with something like Fedora or even openSUSE.
That being said, the look of ElementaryOS is to die for. Every centimeter of the UX is tweaked to perfection, from the actual look of the desktop to the underlying functionality. It’s truly a joy to use on the desktop.
openSUSE 15
Yes, I know there are two versions of openSUSE but let’s treat them the same for this list:
Pros:
- Enterprise-grade stability
- Outstanding tooling
- Very open and engaging development team
Cons:
- Relatively few packages available despite being RPM-based
- Fix-it-yourself development mentality
- Little to no 3rd party or vendor support
The biggest issue I have with openSUSE by far is the lack of support both from the community and with 3rd parties. Many packages you’ll find from non openSUSE repos are broken because they are packaged for Centos or Fedora and assumed will work on openSUSE.
The biggest difference here is libcrypto and ncurses which use a different namespace and version than their EPL counterparts. Sometimes this is fixable via soft symlinks but usually, it is not.
However, much like Manjaro, openSUSE has outstanding tooling, possibly the best tooling for power users of any Linux distribution out there. Yes, I am talking about YaST.
