For me it was:

Windows (for many years) -> Ubuntu (for a year) -> Arch Linux (for half a year) -> Void Linux (literally 2 days) -> Artix Linux with runit (a month) -> Gentoo Linux (another month) -> Debian (finally, I don’t plan on changing it).

Also, when trying to switch from Gentoo to Debian, I fucked up all my data with no backup.

What was your journey?

EDIT: Added Windows

  • @Zangoose
    1•23 days ago

    I’m not the biggest distrohopper but I have tried a few, both on my laptop and desktop. I still keep windows around on a dual-boot but I’m basically only using it for the odd game or two and also onenote (obsidian + excalidraw comes close but nothing really has a seamless transition between pen and typing text like OneNote)

    Early 2018 and before:

    Windows only

    2018-19:

    • Ubuntu 18.04 (desktop),
    • Ubuntu 18.04/18.10/19.04 (laptop)

    2019-2022:

    • Manjaro w/ KDE (desktop),
    • Arch Linux w/ GNOME (laptop)

    2022-2023:

    • NixOS (laptop, for literally a day because it didn’t have a package I needed to make my laptop work correctly)
    • EndeavourOS (kde on laptop, qtile on desktop)

    2024:

    • No changes to the desktop setup,
    • NixOS w/ KDE and also a half-functioning hyprland setup on the laptop now that the package got added.

    Future?

    Maybe if I can get my NixOS config to a point where I’m happy with it I’ll switch my desktop setup to that as well, in theory it should be pretty painless since i’m already using a flake setup split across multiple modules. I do really like that I can experiment with my setup without the risk of actually breaking anything since NixOS is semi-immutable.

    If I don’t stick with NixOS I’ve also been thinking about trying fedora, opensuse, or an immutable distro, or otherwise just moving my laptop back to either Arch or EndeavourOS since that’s what I’m familiar with.