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Done with Debian Linux distros? Try Fedora next – 7 reasons why
After using a Debian-based distribution, you may find yourself longing for something different. I know exactly what you should try next.
Back when I was constantly distro-hopping, I found it important to have a “what’s next” mentality. That way, I could plan accordingly, instead of jumping in blind. I could prepare myself for the installation, the package management system, the desktop, and other necessary bits and pieces.
Also: Fedora Everything let me build the Linux desktop I actually want
But more than anything, I always found it best to know which type of distribution should be next.
You wouldn’t want to jump from Ubuntu to, say, Gentoo, as the leap in required skills is considerable. You also wouldn’t want to jump from Ubuntu to Debian, since Ubuntu is based on Debian, making it a lateral move. From my experience, when coming from an Ubuntu-based distribution, the best next distro is one based on Fedora.
This statement wouldn’t hold water five years ago because Fedora often required work to get it running properly. Now, Fedora requires no work or effort to get it working out of the box. Hardware support is on par with Ubuntu, modern boot processes are supported, it has an excellent first-boot experience, Nvidia driver support is out of the box, the touchpad works out of the box, suspend and resume work flawlessly, it ships with a newer kernel, it includes built-in support for modern display stacks, and it’s clean and bloat-free.
Like many Linux distributions, Fedora lets you choose your desktop, but it does so better by offering dedicated spins for each. You’ll find Fedora spins for KDE Plasma, Xfce, Cinnamon, Mate-Compiz, i3, LXQT, LXDE, SOAS, Sway, Budgie, Miracle, Plasma Mobile, and COSMIC. Instead of manually installing your desktop of choice, just download the Fedora spin with your desired desktop.
Also: Fedora 44 made me forget I was using Linux – in the best way
Yes, there’s a Debian-based distribution for every desktop, but knowing you can just go to the Fedora Project Spins page and quickly find what you’re looking for makes the process easy. As well, Ubuntu has its own “flavors” (such as Kubuntu, Lubuntu, etc.), so coming from an Ubuntu flavor will make total sense.
When using a Debian-based distribution, if you install/manage software from the command line, you’re used to APT, such as sudo apt install quillmark. Did you know that Fedora’s DNF works in the same way? That’s right: sudo dnf install quillmark will get you the same results as sudo apt install quillmark (so long as the app is found in the Fedora repositories).