Distrochooser: Tool to choose a good Linux distribution for your needs

distrochooser.de

Distrochooser

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I am thinking this could be neat for people new to Linux to help them select a first distribution.
A few more points:
There are a lot of choices
There are also a lot of different valuable qualities.
Consequently, there are no distributions that are "good" or "bad".
It is nice to try out things! And trying out things will change what appeals to you.
That said, perhaps you don't want to try out too many things now, instead right now you'd prefer something that just works....
Also, your needs and your capabilities will change over time. If you are a young student who wants to learn programming, a pc gamer, or somebody who likes to learn and understand Linux in detail, they might be different from when you are a busy parent or a young professional which just needs to write job applications!
So, what matches your needs best will likely also change over time.
Finally, the choice of distributions is not an either-either or black-and-white thing. You can run Linux, and on top Windows in a Virtual Machine (basically an entire simulated computer). You also can run another Linux distribution in a virtual machine, which matches a specific use case.
- There are a lot of choices
  There are too many choices. I’ve tried the chooser and at the end it gave me 9 distributions to choose from (i.e. nine distributions with no marked negatives). I’ve tried again and it gave me 13 distributions to choose from. This is absolutely useless for someone who knows nothing about Linux.
  If someone selects ‘I have little or no knowledge about Linux’ it should go straight to recommending Linux Mint or with no other questions. Or maybe Bazzite if they selected gaming as main use case.
  And if I select Windows experience, why doesn’t it mark Ubuntu with a negative as it has more of a MacOS feel?
  
  last time it got posted here people dismissed it. I don't get why it got a positive reaction this time. It's a kinda cool app but also completely impractical. If you already know if you want systemd on your system or not, you aren't a noob and you already know what you want, or at least know what to search for.
  This thing is more like one of the "What Power Ranger are you?" type of surveys.
  
  You can narrow it down further by looking at the reviews for each suggestion at distrowatch.com - I think these reviews are often spot-on!
  Also, a lot of smaller distributions are derived from a few larger ones. Therefore, they are usually not very different.
  In the end, it is more important to try, after gathering a reasonsble amount of information!
  
  Why am I using the tool if I then have to read through several reviews anyway?
  Also, a lot of smaller distributions are derived from a few larger ones. Therefore, they are usually not very different.
  Yes, that’s the point. That’s why if a newbie asks, recommend one of the big ones.
  In the end, it is more important to try, after gathering a reasonsble amount of information!
  People who know nothing about Linux need a clear choice. If you’re giving them dozen suggestions, than the tool didn’t help them in any way.
  Also, a lot of smaller distributions are derived from a few larger ones. Therefore, they are usually not very different.

27 comments