Edit: Tumbleweed and bazzite are currently the most attractive options based on what I’ve learned from the comments. I will trial run those and 1 or 2 others.

I am currently on Pop OS.

I am dissatisfied with the DE/UI and I’ve been playing with others but half the point of this distro is it’s custom UI. So I figured I would try another. I have several criteria that may narrow it down.

  1. I am going to use KDE or KDE Plasma (preferred). This is the only non-negotiable criteria.

  2. I will be gaming. This means I would like relatively up to date kernel and software. Rolling or semi-rolling releases are preferred.

2.5. I also work from this pc. This mainly entails using discord and Firefox though so no special requirements. I do have 4 different sized monitors with 3 different refresh rates that I use for work. Only one for gaming. One is vertical. I can tell I’m pushing x to its limits with that setup.

  1. I would prefer Debian-based as that is what I’m used to and because .deb packages are so common.

  2. I don’t want it to be a ton of effort to set up. Pop OS worked out of the box with my Nvidia GPU and all other hardware. I am willing to put in some effort though.

  3. I have been using and very much like apt and flatpak. This is not a requirement, just an observation.

  4. Wayland is neat

  5. Active community with lots of support to search through. Pop OS has been good for this as it’s Ubuntu based and has its own great community.

Ultimately I want an easy to use desktop OS that uses some sort of KDE, supports up to date packages and drivers, supports most games and isn’t a pain to maintain.

Here are some contenders that fit at least some of my requirements.

KDE Neon user edition

Opensuse tumbleweed

Kubuntu

Endeavor OS

Debian

Manjaro

Bazzite

Mint Debian edition

Right now I’m leaning toward KDE Neon, Kubuntu, or Debian (whatever the rolling release version is), but the others all have their draws. I’ve heard the aur is great but I have come across several applications only available in website downloads of Deb packages so I’m hesitant.

I have been using pop as my first desktop distro after Windows and I’ve enjoyed it a lot. I barely run into anything I can’t solve with some effort and headache and not a single game I can’t play. I’d like to keep it that way.

Now that that’s out of the way, does anyone have suggestions? Am I looking in the wrong direction? Am I asking the wrong questions? Should I just install arch, live in the terminal, and throw away my mouse? /s

Thank you all for your advice in advance.

  • Contramuffin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    21 days ago

    Would definitely not recommend KDE Neon. It’s more of a showcase of new KDE features than an actual usable OS. I currently use Kubuntu and it’s fine. I wish it updated more frequently but the update frequency isn’t slow enough to really be a deal breaker.

    I disabled snap Firefox, not really because I’m ideologically against snap, but because snap Firefox is annoying to use. Other than that, the OS generally just works out of the box.

    I’ve heard good things about OpenSUSE, but I’ve never tried it. My personal opinion is that I want to stick to the most common distros so that it’s easier to find troubleshooting advice

      • Contramuffin@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        21 days ago

        Yes, you can add the Mozilla ppa and they offer a non-snap version. I think the Deb that you download from their website also isn’t snap, but I haven’t tried it

  • Jure Repinc@lemmy.mlEnglish
    4·
    21 days ago

    I am also gaming a lot and used nvidia in the past and by the description you give I would say openSUSE Tumbleweed is the one. It is rolling release, but they also have extensive QA tests before letting packages get released as updates so it is very stable for a rolling release. And another thing that openSUSE is awesome for is that they have BTRFS snappshotting very nicely configured out of the box so before and after each update it creates a snappshot and if something goes wrong you can just select an old working snappshot from GRUB boot menu. And with Nvidia this breakage was happening well more often the I would like. I also like their Open Build Service where you can find many additional packages which might not be packaged by distro people themselves.

    • Alk@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      3·
      21 days ago

      Thank you for this. From the replies in both of my posts, I’m leaning towards either tumbleweed or bazzite/aurora. Both seem great, but maybe tumbleweed is slightly ahead in my mind. I’ll probably try 2 or 3 distros anyway.

  • sorrybookbroke@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    2·
    21 days ago

    Of course there’s the suggestion of installing KDE plasma on PopOS! Which will work quite well but to give some info on the others:

    KDE neon is mostly for devs and is less well maintained than other distros. Still definitly not a bad choice.

    Tumbleweed stronk. Definitly out of what you say my preference though yes, it’s not deb based. You should be able to get what you want though through the app store and the open build service. Really it’s discouraged to find random .debs online and install but OpenSUSE runs on .rpm which are fairly commom.

    Kubuntu is also good. Last time I checked it’s a bit slower moving than pop but that’s not inherently bad. Definitly a great “It-just-works” distro. Some people, myself included, dislike snaps which are built in but if you don’t know what they are I doubt you’ll care. Most of the hate is overblown.

    I’d caution against endeavor as it’s arch based. It’ll demand more from you, stuff will definitly not just work all the time,and if an issue arises it’ll be the first to catch it. Like the grub rescue error that showed up about a year or so ago.

    Don’t use Manjaro. The devs are incompetent and destructive to the ecosystem.

    Debian is also chill. There’s always unstable (can’t remember the current name. Debian Trixie?) For something that’s more up to date

    Last thing no matter what distro, just like an exe, a .deb is just an archival format like .zip and can be taken apart to be manually installed. I understand not wanting to do this though lol and it’s not always that simple

    • Alk@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      2·
      21 days ago

      Thank you, that was helpful. Right now, Tumbleweed is currently in the lead, though I’m going to trial several of them.

    • Alk@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      2·
      22 days ago

      I did, which is why KDE is a hard requirement here. But pop OS and its many useful tools are dependent on gnome so I feel the need to switch distros to one that isn’t packaged with an entire suite of software I don’t want to use, and one that has more common support for KDE.