notes:distro_comparisons
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Table of Contents
Notes
- The following list contains various distros (and Windows), along with what I like and don't like about them
- This is my experiences below; YMMV
- Any other distro or OS not mentioned was either not tested, or isn't worth using
Fedora Workstation
Good
- Secure (SELinux, up-to-date packages)
- GNOME first-class
- Anaconda (installer allows me to set software RAID0 easily with GUI and allows for root/boot XFS filesystem)
Bad
- SELinux is annoying on servers
- Randomly has long boot times seemingly because of Corsair USB devices
- Minor concerns over IBM ownership of RedHat, and it being a US-based company that could be compelled to introduce/enforce backdoors or encryption bans
Conclusions
- Works nicely, and is usable as a primary OS
openSUSE Tumbleweed
Good
- Rolling
- GNOME first-class
- Installer (allows for root/boot XFS filesystem)
- AppArmor isn't annoying
- Various Wine packages (standard, staging, standard with nine, staging with nine)
- Yast is nice for configuring the network on servers
- LiveUSBs automatically have persistence even when
dd
'd directly to flash drives
Bad
- Keybase is awkward to install 1)
- PackageKit is super annoying (it doesn't honor trying to gracefully quit it)
- Repo priority and vendor changes is strange
- GNOME comes with a lot of unnecessary software
Conclusions
- Works nicely, and is usable as a primary OS for both workstations and servers
- As of 2020/09, using it as a primary OS
Ubuntu
Good
- Good package selection
- Good 3rd-party app support
- Plenty of repos (PPAs)
- Bleeding-edge graphics stack available (oibaf or padokaPPA)
- Various 3rd-party kernel options available (xanmod, liquorix, official mainline packages)
- Minimal Install option
Bad
- Doesn't boot at all on a Ryzen 2700X system, even with the 20.04 LTS
Conclusions
- TODO
Arch Linux
Good
- Rolling (enough anyway)
- Can use F2FS
Bad
- Behind openSUSE TW with some packages (took them a while to get GNOME 3.24 and other popular software, which is weird for a distro highly praised for being rolling)
- Installations are tedious (I reinstall frequently; doing everything manually “The Arch Way” is hassle)
- Mandatory access controls are a PITA to install and maintain if using the NVIDIA proprietary driver (not a problem on other distros)
Conclusions
- Arch is a ton of hassle with no real benefits over openSUSE Tumbleweed
- Not worth using
macOS
Good
- Message sync between iPhone and macOS
- 30-bit color at 4K@60Hz
- UI scaling (it somehow scales a lower res to a higher res while maintaining crisp text, and being compatible with programs not expecting this)
- Better performance with windowed applications with eGPU on internal screen
- Screen recording built-in
Bad
- eGPU needs 3rd-party software on “unsupported” Macs (automate-eGPU)
- Creating custom resolutions needs 3rd-party program (SwitchResX, which costs money)
- Some games being bundled in Crossover/Wine instead of native
- Some games have significantly lower performance (FFXIV, GW2, both RS and OSRS)
- No built-in or free deep hardware diagnostics (temp monitor, CPU and/or GPU frequency)
Conclusions
- Usable, but not ideal for gaming or hardware diagnostics in most cases
Windows
Good
- Memory testing programs (notably for Ryzen)
- AMD Wattman for easy overclocking/settings
- BIOS modding guides mostly (if not all) expect Windows
Bad
- Deep settings are cryptic and require a lot of research on registry keys
- 3rd-party software needs to be manually updated
- Drivers also need to be manually updated (WU will download ancient years-old drivers)
- Some Intel drivers (SST, Serial IO) require trial-and-error to get right
- Consistently scores lower than Linux in Geekbench with a Ryzen 2700X, even with the newest 2004/20H1/19041 release and scheduler improvements
Conclusions
- Good for games, and usable for everything else, but not ideal
1)
it's either use the officially-supported command-line version, or use the official repo without proper signing; TODO: is this still the case?
/var/www/wiki/data/attic/notes/distro_comparisons.1599305497.txt.gz · Last modified: 2020/09/05 07:31 by Sean Rhone