im attempting to select a linux distribution to put on a computer
and im getting kind of overwhelmed with all the differences that i don't know the implications of. like, foobar linux uses x desktop environment and y package manager and z init system, but bazqux linux uses a whole different set of stuff
and it's not really clear to me how much committing to one locks me out of other stuff. like, iirc there's a bunch of stuff that depends on systemd? so what if i get a distro with runit instead
im trying to graduate away from being the kind of computer user who just accepts what is put in front of them. but it feels like it's really not a gentle slope, with linux, between "pick ubuntu or debian and don't worry too much about it" and the expectation of mastery over your preferences. it's a lot to take in
@typhlosion Yeah. I don't have any advice but I wanted to say that I relate to this a lot, it's a very real problem
@typhlosion You have to start somewhere, and learn the nuances once you have a baseline. For what it's worth: I use Debian with XFCE because it's exceptionally stable, at the cost of included apps being always ancient, and system administration being done from the command line. Aside from performance issues on machines older than 15 years, you probably don't need to worry about systemd versus other init systems; that's a pain for distro maintainers. Do learn about partitions and keep your /home separated if you can. Also Qemu is a great way to try out alternatives.
@typhlosion I mean, it's not a permanent choice.
I've been using fedora on a laptop for a few years and honestly? Instructions for Debian and Ubuntu are just more common.
Just start with Ubuntu until you gain enough understanding to have opinions about the differences.
@typhlosion what is your goal? If it is to learn how Linux works, then reading all those details and trying a few distros make sense. If it's to use your computer to do usual stuff, those distinctions don't really matter. Just get something with systemd because for some reason it makes the desktop work better. Or something. It's something the big distros are standardizing on. Everything else is... exotic.