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Modest laptop arriving, what new Linux distribution should I try?
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this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2026
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I went with fedora bluefin.
It's an atomic/immutable type OS, based on silverblue, but with a bunch of drivers and software bundled in.
Atomic is not for everyone, but I love it. I tried it on a whim when I got my framework 13 over a year ago, and it's been on there ever since.
I've been using Linux on and off for a couple of decades now, mostly Ubuntu, but some others (OG DSL anyone?).
Really though I've never been able to ditch windows until bluefin. My problem has always been that after a year or two, my system starts to get unstable. And you can forget about complete version upgrades. Out of the question. They never fail to always fail. I just can't stop tinkering with things.
But bluefin? It has everything I want and need in a daily driver. And it's very nature FORCES me to not tinker with the inner gubbins. Thusly, it just works. Every day. Every update. Solid.
I use distrobox for tinkering. Or I spin up a Windows VM in proxmox if I need to get crazy. And I've still got a Windows computer gathering dust in the corner for when Windows on metal is required, but that's only happened once since I started this party.
So yeah, if you haven't given it a try, I highly recommend it.
KDE and Xfce Ubuntu spins have been great last few LTS, just leaving them alone. I've also run DSL.
That's fair. I had 24.04 installed because I needed a Linux de for something, and it eventually became the base of my Plex install for awhile.
I purposely did very little to it, besides periodically update it.
Almost immediately I had display issues where the monitor would shimmy back and forth about 10 pixels, rapidly. No rhyme or reason. I figured it was a Wayland thing.
Then the updater started hanging. That's when I started learning proxmox to properly replace the whole setup.
By the time I got it moved over, you couldn't restart the machine unattended, because it would kernel panic unless you used grub to revert to an older kernel.
I swear I didn't tinker with this thing, it just.. Died.
Of course that's just my experience 🤷♂️ Glad things have been solid for you. I still recommend poking at atomic distros, I think they're the future for a lot of less experienced users. It'll be good to have knowledge of how they work.
I've got my very non-techy buddy running it right now. There are a couple of issues with flatpaks not having extended permissions, but otherwise, smooth sailing.