I am looking to switch to a different Linux distribution (or BSD). I currently use openSUSE Tumbleweed, which is quite nice, but I’m having issues with my USB ports and it takes a hot second to boot up.
However, the reason I’m asking here instead of going straight to DistroWatch is that my laptop has a problem. When I turn it on, it bootloops unless it’s connected to power when I press the button. As such, this distribution would need to be able to handle running for weeks on end without a reboot.
I could get this repaired or replaced, but I have neither the time nor the money to spare.
So, does anyone have any suggestions? Or should I just slap Fedora Kinoite on it and call it a day?
EDIT: I went for Debian, as well as running fwupd, and it’s all working now. Thanks!
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Debian and a BSD (FreeBSD is nice) can run for years without a reboot.
Certain activities will often push a machine to crash. 3D gaming, network drive mounts on an unstable network, and some drivers.
No distro is going to fix a true hardware problem.
Debian… but also to clarify it’s not “old” at all. I’m using Debian on my servers, yes, but also on my desktop that use daily, to work and to play video games on, including VR. So… don’t think because it’s “old” and “stable” it means it’s outdated.
It’s definitely old, stable, and outdated.
But that doesn’t mean it’s obsolete.
When maximizing uptime, Debian is the no-fuss way to go.
Vanilla Debian is very stable, it can keep running for years without a reboot, I can’t say if it fixes your USB problem tho
If I were you I would definitely use Debian 12.
I’ve been using Linux since 1998 on and off, and in the last few years, exclusively. I like Debian-Testing, and Linux Mint. Nothing else seems to work as I want it, it seems.
If youre coming on Nixos, I have a lot of resources in the bookmarks section here: https://codeberg.org/BlastboomStrice/LinuxPlan/src/branch/main/LinuxPlan.md#nixos-bookmarks
(This was a guide I made for myself in the span of ~4months to transition to linux and I still update it some times.)
LFS is the only true distro
My debian machines usually only have their uptime interrupted by power outages or the like. They’re not my daily drivers, but very stable and reliable.
I have Linux mint on my “daily driver” (used for work and gaming) desktop and I’m also very pleased with it - most updates can be installed without rebooting and it’s over-all a pretty trouble-free experience!
Hope this helps!
As such, this distribution would need to be able to handle running for weeks on end without a reboot.
So, it has to be something stable (i.e. receive little to no updates) that’s capable of updating without requiring a reboot. That makes any stable distro a candidate. As such, choose either:
- Debian or something based on it
- Gentoo (stable branch)
- Nixos (stable channel)
- openSUSE Leap
- Ubuntu or something based on it
Might even be worth checking if https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware has a straight-up fix for the issue.
Ubuntu or something based on it
I would not recommend ubuntu, specially on this case. System updates, snapd mostly, have gone downhill and it’s nearly impossible to avoid reboots for extended periods. Debian seems to be still as solid as it’s always been.
It’s like people forget Ubuntu is based on Debian but I guess with Snapd that may no longer be true.
Also Canonical has added a lot of problems to promote their monetization strategies lately. Mostly aimed at business rather than regular users, but still causes problems for home users.
I generally prefer RHEL based distros over Debian based ones, so Rocky Linux for servers is my current go to and Fedora for desktop, though Fedora is heading in a similar direction as Ubuntu I feel…
Very true I have been a Debian user since 98. I have tried other distros but it only lasts a month or two before I come back. Debian just works and if you need something newer testing works great got home use. I can wait a little when freeze happens and worse case I have flatpak and distrobox to fall back on.
I’m using MX Linux AHS on my PC for years, it is my work PC, 40h/week, for 3 years now, 0 problem with it, no systemd, no flatpak, no snap, and using Xfce is so nice :)
It is debian based and always up to date for firefox etc. For instance we are January 30th, my kernel is 3 days old.
6.12.11-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.12.11-1~mx23ahs (2025-01-27) x86_64 GNU/Linux
If you can boot from USB, I’d look at Ventoy, which will let you put multiple distro ISOs on a single USB stick and then pick one of them to boot from when you boot up. I linked to a tutorial rather than the project page for a quick review.
It could be that OpenSUSE is contributing to your boot issues, and that one of the other distros may have a kernel and configuration that plays more nicely; Ventoy will help you determine this. It’ll also let you play with several distros without having to install all of them, and see if you like one more than another.
If your boot problem is hardware related - either an issue with the hardware itself, or just Linux compatability, then you should stay away from rolling release distros like Arch; while you can configure them to minimize reboots, they’re managed in such a way as to expect people to upgrade frequently, including the kernel, which requires reboots. For example, I run Arch and I love it, but I also tend to not upgrade it very often and the longer between upgrades, the greater the chance of something going wrong during an update. It’s absolutely the least dependency-hellish distro I’ve used if you update frequently, but something like Debian is better if you’re looking for long uptimes.
TL;DR: use Ventoy and try several distros. If you find that your boot problems persist through several distros, ignore rolling-release distros like Arch, Alpine, and Void, and focus on Debian-derived distros like Debian, Ubuntu, or Mint. Or you can try a Redhat derivative, but I hate RPM with the fire of a thousand suns so I’d recommend that last - still, some obviously insane people like it, and it’s an option.
i will add a question to theirs: Why is Fedora not in the suggestions?
i’m only interested in negative criticism, if you please. What made you avoid or stop using Fedora?
I have daily driven (a) Fedora(-based distro) ever since I started using Linux. So I’m absolutely biased towards it. However, as Fedora is a semi-rolling release distro that really likes offline updates that involves a reboot, it simply falls flat when it comes to satisfying OP’s needs. They would have a very similar experience to their current one with openSUSE Tumbleweed, the very same they actively want to get rid of.
Three reasons for me:
- DNF can be kinda slow
- Fedora is owned by Red Hat, which is owned by IBM, which is American and also assisted the Axis powers during WWII.
- SELinux was created by the NSA. I know it’s FOSS, but I don’t feel I can trust any three-letter agency.
Fedora isn’t owned by Red Hat. It is a community-driven distro which Red Hat uses as a base for RHEL.
And you aren’t a paying customer. You can use Fedora without giving a single cent, or any telemetry data, to Red Hat.
Your stance is like saying “I’m not taking this free bread roll, because people I don’t like also eat bread rolls.”Ah, I stand corrected.
Put Aurora on it - an improved version of Kinoite.
That requires reboots to update.
Nothing against Aurora, I might run my customized version of it new systems, but any system update requires you reboot the device.
