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Looking for distro recommendations

Between wanting to do more with local LLMs, wsl annoyances, and the direction tech companies have been going lately, I think it’s time I start exploring a full Linux migration

I’m a software dev, I’m comfortable in the command line, and I used to write the node configuration piece of something similar to chef (flavor/version agnostic setup of cloud environments)

So for me, Linux has always been a “modify the script and rebuild fresh” kind of deal… Even my dev VMs involved a lot of scripts and snapshots. I don’t enjoy configuration and I really hate debugging it, but I can muddle through when I have to

Web searches have pushed me towards Ubuntu for LLM work, but I’ve never been a big fan of the window Managers. I like little flourishes like animation and lots of options I can set graphically, I use multiple desktop multiple monitors

I’ve tried the one it comes standard with, gnome, and kde (although it’s been about 5 years since I’ve last given them a real shot).

I’m mostly looking for the most reasonable footprint that is “good enough”, something that feels polished to at least the Windows XP level - subtle animations instead of instant popups, rounded borders, maybe a bit of transparency here and there.

I’m looking at Ubuntu w/

  • kde w/ plasma (I understand it’s very configurable, I don’t love the look and it seems to be a bigger footprint
  • budgie (looks nice, never heard of it before today)
  • kylin (looks very Windows 10 which is nice, a bit skeptical about the Chinese focus)
  • mate (I like the look, but it seems a bit dubiously centralized)
  • unity (looks like the standard Ubuntu taken to it’s natural conclusion)
  • rhino Linux (something new which makes me skeptical, but pretty and seems more like existing tools packaged together which makes me think the issues might not impact actual workflow)
  • anything the community is big on for this, personally I’d pick opensuze, but I need to maximize compatibility with bleeding edge LLM projects

My hardware and hard requirements are:

  • nvidia 1060ti
  • ryzen 5500u
  • 16g ram
  • 4 drives nearly full, because it’s a computer of Theseus running the same (upgraded) vista license that came with the case like 15 years ago
  • multi desktop, multi monitor
  • can handle a lot of browser Windows/tabs
  • ideally the setup is just a package mana ger install script with all my dependencies
  • gaming support would be nice, but I’ll be dual booting for VR anyways

I’ve been out of the game for a while, I’d love to hear what the feeling is in the community these days

(Side note, is pine as cool a company as it seems?)

cerement ,
@cerement@slrpnk.net avatar
  • “I don’t enjoy configuration and I really hate debugging it, but I can muddle through when I have to”
  • “but I’ve never been a big fan of the window Managers”
  • as for “bleeding edge” distros
    • NixOS (above)
    • Debian Sid (unstable branch) – Ubuntu is based on Debian but is community run, you’re not subject to the whims of Canonical’s choices
    • Arch or EndeavourOS (Arch based) – most of the problems people have is indiscriminate use of AUR (user packages) rather than sticking with official package channels
    • openSUSE Tumbleweed – rolling release channel of openSUSE, uses btrfs snapshots for rollback and recovery
PipedLinkBot ,

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owenfromcanada ,
@owenfromcanada@lemmy.world avatar

I’ve been using Mint as a daily driver and it’s the first distro/de that has worked as a full replacement. Everything working out of the box, though I changed the default Nvidia driver from the open source to the proprietary one (and Mint even provided a handy utility for that). My dual monitor setup works great.

I don’t even dual boot for gaming–with Lutris, most things work right away or with a little tweaking. Though admittedly I don’t play the newest games.

All the benefits of Ubuntu, with flatpak and a nice DE.

Diplomjodler ,

Seconded. If you want something that just works so you can get on with your other stuff, Mint fits the bill perfectly.

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