I am currently running Xubuntu on all my systems but there are so many things that feel rather unstable/buggy - I am sure it is not all Xubuntus/Xfce’s fault, but my knowledge is limited so I just attribute it to that.
Therefore, I am currently considering switching to Fedora. I feel like it is time trying out a new desktop (KDE) and a more up to date kernel. I am not entirely sure what I am hoping from this post, but maybe a “yea, it is worth it” would ease my mind a bit.
Also, I am a bit unsure how to easily move between them (programs and data).
To name a few of the bugs I encountered in the past:
- When connecting screens, quite often the created profile is ignored, screens get disabled, overlapped, … By applying the profile multiple times eventually you can overcome this issue
- Dell specific: Webcam does not work, system sometimes freezes after closing the laptop lid even if sleep mode is deactivated
- Certain shortcuts are bugged (WIN+Left works, WIN+Right doesn’t. When you reset WIN+Right, it works until the next restart)
Only downside is Debian 13 will likely forever be stuck with KDE 6.3.6, which has some noticeable bugs on my hardware that won’t be fixed until Debian 14.
KDE really benefits from distros that keep it more up to date, to the point where even the KDE devs suggest avoiding KDE on Debian.
That’s why also mentioned OpenSUSE slowroll which brings latest and lesser update frequency
I’m personally a bit hesitant to recommend Slowroll (despite really liking the idea of it), since it’s still considered experimental by openSUSE, and I personally had some issues with it borking the Nvidia driver from an update.
OpenSUSE also comes with some… odd design choices, like the package patterns that can trip people up when they uninstall things, and the lack of a GUI updater for tumbleweed/slowroll (unless that’s changed?).
It updates via discover or gnome’s software manager
From what I recall, that way isn’t recommended on Tumbleweed/Slowroll. Looking it up now, the openSUSE website still appears to recommend using either the terminal or Myrlyn.
I assume Packman would be considered an external repository, which I suspect most people will want to use.
However I wasn’t familiar with Myrlyn until now. It looks a bit like Synaptic (which could be intimidating to newbies due to how old/enterpise-y it looks), but at least there is now a recommended GUI way to do updates.
Do you happen to know if Tumbleweed/Slowroll now mention in a welcome screen anywhere to use those update methods instead? From my time with it there wasn’t any good new user info presented, ya kinda had to dig to find out that sorta stuff.
But if you use only flatpaks which Slowroll and Kalpa suggests then KDE discover and Gnome software manager will work. Currently I am not using OpenSUSE to test this out.
True, though I believe the Packman repo is still needed for access to patent encumbered codecs, so it’s hard to avoid. It also used to be needed for Nvidia drivers and Steam (and the Flatpak steam is usually not recommended, can have issues over the standard package), though I’m unsure if that’s still the case.
He even hints to it being the case for any LTS distribution. This could be problematic for companies that might want to use LTS for their machines.
Btw I use KDE on Debian Stable
I thought perhaps Ubuntu’s LTS point releases might update it, but after checking, it appears they do not. Kubuntu seems to suggest that they use PPA’s for users who want a newer KDE on an LTS, though I’m unsure how stable that method would be in practice.
Overall it does seem that LTS distros tend not to bother updating KDE, unlike Gnome (which Ubuntu does seem to update in their point releases).
Some KDE devs have spoken about someday making LTS versions of KDE that line-up with major LTS distros release schedules (KDE once had an LTS release but dropped it since none of the distros used it for it being out of sync with their schedules, IIRC), but I haven’t heard any news on that front.