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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
  • Seemingly has better out-the-box integration with iOS device file transfers 1)
  • LiveUSBs automatically have persistence even when dd'd directly to flash drives

Bad

  • Keybase is awkward to install 2)
  • 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)
no need to double-hotplug initially like on Fedora 32
2)
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.1599305621.txt.gz · Last modified: 2020/09/05 07:33 by Sean Rhone