16h ago

Suggestions for my next distro

I am looking to switch to a different Linux distribution (or BSD). I currently use openSUSE Tumbleweed, which is quite nice, but I'm having issues with my USB ports and it takes a hot second to boot up.

However, the reason I'm asking here instead of going straight to DistroWatch is that my laptop has a problem. When I turn it on, it bootloops unless it's connected to power when I press the button. As such, this distribution would need to be able to handle running for weeks on end without a reboot.

I could get this repaired or replaced, but I have neither the time nor the money to spare.

So, does anyone have any suggestions? Or should I just slap Fedora Kinoite on it and call it a day?

EDIT: I went for Debian, as well as running fwupd, and it's all working now. Thanks!

43 comments

Debian and a BSD (FreeBSD is nice) can run for years without a reboot.
Certain activities will often push a machine to crash. 3D gaming, network drive mounts on an unstable network, and some drivers.
No distro is going to fix a true hardware problem.

Debian... but also to clarify it's not "old" at all. I'm using Debian on my servers, yes, but also on my desktop that use daily, to work and to play video games on, including VR. So... don't think because it's "old" and "stable" it means it's outdated.

When maximizing uptime, Debian is the no-fuss way to go.

Vanilla Debian is very stable, it can keep running for years without a reboot, I can't say if it fixes your USB problem tho

If I were you I would definitely use Debian 12.

I think almost any distro would be good at uptimes for days or weeks on end, but personally:
If you have newer harder, Fedora will have newer packages and drivers for that hardware.
If you have anything older than 2 years, Debian should be fine as long as you don't mind older editions of your favorite desktop environment.
I think something to consider is that most distros don't care when you update, as long as you update properly.
Arch for example doesn't care of you update daily, weekly, or monthly. They just want you to update all packages at once instead of partial upgrades to help solve errors and ensure everyone is on the same page when needing help.
My personal vote would be Debian, as that can stay up for months without issue, but I get distracted by new bells and whistles on KDE releases so I use Fedora.

I mean, if you are already on openSUSE, why not just use Leap? You won't need to update it a lot hence you won't need to reboot.

As such, this distribution would need to be able to handle running for weeks on end without a reboot.
So, it has to be something stable (i.e. receive little to no updates) that's capable of updating without requiring a reboot. That makes any stable distro a candidate. As such, choose either:
Debian or something based on it
Gentoo (stable branch)
Nixos (stable channel)
openSUSE Leap
Ubuntu or something based on it
- Ubuntu or something based on it
  I would not recommend ubuntu, specially on this case. System updates, snapd mostly, have gone downhill and it's nearly impossible to avoid reboots for extended periods. Debian seems to be still as solid as it's always been.
  
  It's like people forget Ubuntu is based on Debian but I guess with Snapd that may no longer be true.
- Might even be worth checking if https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware has a straight-up fix for the issue.

Just installed Pop! OS and am very happy with it, very stable, no problems so far! In the past I've tested Mint, Manjaro and openSUSE I think. Switched back from windows as I don't need remote access anymore and there's nothing that makes me want to go back

I've been using Linux since 1998 on and off, and in the last few years, exclusively. I like Debian-Testing, and Linux Mint. Nothing else seems to work as I want it, it seems.

If youre coming on Nixos, I have a lot of resources in the bookmarks section here: https://codeberg.org/BlastboomStrice/LinuxPlan/src/branch/main/LinuxPlan.md#nixos-bookmarks
(This was a guide I made for myself in the span of ~4months to transition to linux and I still update it some times.)

LFS is the only true distro

Just settle with Gentoo, like I have since 2004. No need for switching. 😇

My debian machines usually only have their uptime interrupted by power outages or the like. They’re not my daily drivers, but very stable and reliable.
I have Linux mint on my “daily driver” (used for work and gaming) desktop and I’m also very pleased with it - most updates can be installed without rebooting and it’s over-all a pretty trouble-free experience!
Hope this helps!

When I turn it on, it bootloops unless it's connected to power when I press the button.
Have you tried updating your BIOS?
- That's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that?
  
  Well I didn't think of it when I had Linux boot issues either until I asked a forum lol

I'm using MX Linux AHS on my PC for years, it is my work PC, 40h/week, for 3 years now, 0 problem with it, no systemd, no flatpak, no snap, and using Xfce is so nice :)
It is debian based and always up to date for firefox etc. For instance we are January 30th, my kernel is 3 days old.
6.12.11-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.12.11-1~mx23ahs (2025-01-27) x86_64 GNU/Linux

Gentoo! Of course!

i will add a question to theirs: Why is Fedora not in the suggestions?
i'm only interested in negative criticism, if you please. What made you avoid or stop using Fedora?
- I have daily driven (a) Fedora(-based distro) ever since I started using Linux. So I'm absolutely biased towards it. However, as Fedora is a semi-rolling release distro that really likes offline updates that involves a reboot, it simply falls flat when it comes to satisfying OP's needs. They would have a very similar experience to their current one with openSUSE Tumbleweed, the very same they actively want to get rid of.
- Three reasons for me:
  DNF can be kinda slow
  Fedora is owned by Red Hat, which is owned by IBM, which is American and also assisted the Axis powers during WWII.
  SELinux was created by the NSA. I know it's FOSS, but I don't feel I can trust any three-letter agency.
  
  Fedora isn't owned by Red Hat. It is a community-driven distro which Red Hat uses as a base for RHEL.
  And you aren't a paying customer. You can use Fedora without giving a single cent, or any telemetry data, to Red Hat.
  Your stance is like saying "I'm not taking this free bread roll, because people I don't like also eat bread rolls."

Basically an distribution that is not a rolling release. Its hard to recommend a specific distribution. You could use one of the Ubuntus, a Fedora Atomic variant, Mint, they should be able to run for weeks without issues. Unless you update a system component that requires a restart to take into effect. Why not openSUSE Leap?
I'm personally on EndeavourOS, a rolling release and update often (even the Kernel). My PC is also on for 24h, usually for days, sometime even a week. One trick to avoid some of the restarts is to just logout and login the user. This should be no problem for you and at least some of the components start fresh due to login.

Ubuntu should be able to. They even have some sort of kernel hot patching service I have not used.
If you do not care about kernal updates then most distros should be fine. Just ignore the reboot suggestions.
Edit: If you do not reboot you might want to make sure critical things are restarted such as you web browser. Or just logout and login again. One hopes the distro appropriately handles service updates but who knows for certain.

this distribution would need to be able to handle running for weeks on end without a reboot.
Any decent distro then.
Slackware ftw
- I never really got on with Slackware, but I might give it another shot...

Put Aurora on it - an improved version of Kinoite.
https://getaurora.dev/
- That requires reboots to update.
  Nothing against Aurora, I might run my customized version of it new systems, but any system update requires you reboot the device.
  
  Sure, I was just expanding on OP's Kinoite comment.
  Aurora can however go weeks or months without a reboot (you don't HAVE to update), so that's still ok.
- Or Bluefin, depending on desktop preference. I've been using both and can recommend either.

If you can boot from USB, I'd look at Ventoy, which will let you put multiple distro ISOs on a single USB stick and then pick one of them to boot from when you boot up. I linked to a tutorial rather than the project page for a quick review.
It could be that OpenSUSE is contributing to your boot issues, and that one of the other distros may have a kernel and configuration that plays more nicely; Ventoy will help you determine this. It'll also let you play with several distros without having to install all of them, and see if you like one more than another.
If your boot problem is hardware related - either an issue with the hardware itself, or just Linux compatability, then you should stay away from rolling release distros like Arch; while you can configure them to minimize reboots, they're managed in such a way as to expect people to upgrade frequently, including the kernel, which requires reboots. For example, I run Arch and I love it, but I also tend to not upgrade it very often and the longer between upgrades, the greater the chance of something going wrong during an update. It's absolutely the least dependency-hellish distro I've used if you update frequently, but something like Debian is better if you're looking for long uptimes.
TL;DR: use Ventoy and try several distros. If you find that your boot problems persist through several distros, ignore rolling-release distros like Arch, Alpine, and Void, and focus on Debian-derived distros like Debian, Ubuntu, or Mint. Or you can try a Redhat derivative, but I hate RPM with the fire of a thousand suns so I'd recommend that last - still, some obviously insane people like it, and it's an option.
- The boot issue is definitely hardware related. The machine doesn't even power on the display before restarting.

43 comments