Hey folks,
I’ve been using Linux on and off for over a year now—not a total newbie, but still learning. I know the basics and usually rely on GPT or forums when I hit a wall. I’ve tried a bunch of distros so far: Kali, Debian, Pop!_OS, KDE Neon, Kubuntu… and currently running Fedora KDE.
Fedora is solid, but I keep finding myself tempted to try something new. Maybe I get bored easily—or maybe I just haven’t found the one yet. That’s why I’m asking for your help.
Here’s what I’m really looking for:
🔹 Large and fast app repository – I want access to a wide range of apps, updated quickly, without weird dependency issues.
🔹 Great UI/UX – KDE is my current favorite. I love how modern and smooth it feels, and I want something that builds on that experience.
🔹 Stability without being outdated – I don’t mind rolling release if it’s reliable. Crashes and breakages are a dealbreaker.
🔹 Good extras – Whether it’s unique tools, deep customization options, or just thoughtful polish, I love a distro with a “complete” feel.
🔹 Active community/support – Docs, forums, or anything that helps when things go wrong.
I’d love your suggestions—especially if you’ve been in the same place: bouncing between distros, loving KDE, and still chasing that “perfect” setup.
What would you recommend and why? Any underrated KDE-based distro I should check out? Or maybe something mainstream but deeply customizable and stable?
Appreciate your thoughts!
Also, if you can, please share some of the best (and free) resources to really learn and master Linux. I’m still learning and only know some basics, but I want to go deeper and really understand how things work under the hood. Even if I don’t feel super advanced yet 😅, I’m curious and willing to grow.
Thanks a ton in advance!
Problem with Manjaro is they have their own opinionated repository that is not always in sync with Arch because they try to introduce more "stability". I found this actually caused the opposite in most cases as there are a lot of dependencies that end up being behind and so you can't install more stable versions of a lot of software. With the complexity of modern software dependencies, it has become a big problem. Also, they have in the past caused lots of problems with AUR and have let their SSL certs expire multiple times. Overall, they just haven't been reliable IMHO, so I moved to Fedora a while back.
With Manjaro, you can solve a lot of the problems by switching to the "unstable" repositories, which mirror the Arch repositories. It doesn't solve the problems with their processes though. There are still better Arch based distros, like EndeavourOS.
Yeah, that kind of defeats the purpose of using a "stable" distro though. As you mentioned, other better distros are available.
Wait this can't be right 🤨