Hey folks,

I’ve been using Linux on and off for over a year now—not a total newbie, but still learning. I know the basics and usually rely on GPT or forums when I hit a wall. I’ve tried a bunch of distros so far: Kali, Debian, Pop!_OS, KDE Neon, Kubuntu… and currently running Fedora KDE.

Fedora is solid, but I keep finding myself tempted to try something new. Maybe I get bored easily—or maybe I just haven’t found the one yet. That’s why I’m asking for your help.

Here’s what I’m really looking for:

🔹 Large and fast app repository – I want access to a wide range of apps, updated quickly, without weird dependency issues.

🔹 Great UI/UX – KDE is my current favorite. I love how modern and smooth it feels, and I want something that builds on that experience.

🔹 Stability without being outdated – I don’t mind rolling release if it’s reliable. Crashes and breakages are a dealbreaker.

🔹 Good extras – Whether it’s unique tools, deep customization options, or just thoughtful polish, I love a distro with a “complete” feel.

🔹 Active community/support – Docs, forums, or anything that helps when things go wrong.

I’d love your suggestions—especially if you’ve been in the same place: bouncing between distros, loving KDE, and still chasing that “perfect” setup.

What would you recommend and why? Any underrated KDE-based distro I should check out? Or maybe something mainstream but deeply customizable and stable?

Appreciate your thoughts!

Also, if you can, please share some of the best (and free) resources to really learn and master Linux. I’m still learning and only know some basics, but I want to go deeper and really understand how things work under the hood. Even if I don’t feel super advanced yet 😅, I’m curious and willing to grow.

Thanks a ton in advance!

  • utopiah@lemmy.ml
    73·
    3 days ago

    Debian stable.

    I don’t understand the “fetish” (for lack of a better word) with updates. Apologies for being provocative.

    The only update one truly needs are :

    • hardware support … but then the process is flipped, namely buy hardware that IS already supported
    • security updates for actually important problems e.g. Heartbleed, not theoretically fancy things like BluePilling out of containers

    … that’s it!

    Everything else might “feel” nice but that’s not up to the distribution. If you want the very latest Blender because you are a 3D artist who needs a very specific feature, get the latest Blender! Get it straight from them, NOT from your distribution. If you really REALLY want the bleeding age, get right from the code repository, get the binaries for your architecture, heck even build it yourself it’s actually rarely that difficult. Maybe the first time you will need some dependencies but the 2nd time it will be way WAY easier.

    Anyway… you get he idea, IMHO your system should be 99.99% boring, only necessary changes. For the few things you genuinely, actively, mindfully NEED (even if it’s just due to curiosity) go wild, get the latest!