No, there's no point in distro hopping. If you install a well-supported base distribution like Fedora or Debian, they have metapackages for installing different desktop environments, and you can install those to try them out. I just installed Pop!OS's COSMIC environment on Fedora to give it a test drive, for example. Mint probably has them, too. You don't have to distro-hop to change desktop environments.

The only exceptions are:

• You want to try out an immutable distro like Fedora SilverBlue or Bazzite
• You want to try out a declaratively-configured distro like NixOS or Guix

An immutable distro might be a good choice for a newbie, but NixOS or Guix probably wouldn't.

LEARN HOW TO USE THE PACKAGE MANAGER.

Based on how you wrote this post, I feel like you at least read my comment on your previous post.

The main difference between Linux Distros is the software repository. The software repository contains all of the system software packages for the Linux Distro. All of the system updates come from the Distro repository.

There are some niche distro such as Kali Linux (DO NOT USE), which have specialized repositories for specific purposes. Kali Linux repository is filled with hacking tool. Kali is not intended for daily use.

Another example of a niche distro is Devuan, which was forked from Debian to used sysvinit instead of systemd. Around 10 years ago, Debian and most distros changed to use systemd. There's all kinds of conspiracy theories around systemd. Some people claim that systemd is against Unix development principles. I'm not recommending Devuan.

The Debian Linux repository is based around providing stable and secure software. The Arch Linux repository is based around having the latest software. Gentoo Linux repository is made on the principle of compiling software yourself.

If you pick a less used distro, it could have less developers and receive security updates less frequently. Distros with less developers will have less software in the repository.

You should use the distro which meet your needs in term of software release cycle, whether you want to compile your own software, your preference on software licenses, your preferences on what software is available in the repository. Pick the distro based on the repository, not the default DE.

The system package manager on the Debian-based systems including Ubuntu and Mint is called 'apt'. apt is the program which installs and updates all of the system software on the distro. apt is the program which communicates to the distro repository. There are different user interfaces for apt.

INSTALL SYNAPTIC SO THAT YOU CAN EXPLORE THE REPOSITORY

Open your system terminal and type:

sudo apt install synaptic

type your password and press y when it asks for install confirmation.

Then open synaptic. It should be in your programs menu.

You will a list of all of the packages that have been installed on your computer. You will see a list of all packages which can be installed from the repository. You can click on the packages to see a description of what the software does and what other packages it depended on

When I started using Linux over a decade ago, I spent a lot of time exploring the package manager. I was fixated on having as few packages as possible for a minimal system. When I saw a package that I did not think was used, I would uninstall it. This is the wrong way of doing things; the correct way would be to do a minimal install from the start. However, reading the package descriptions and knowing what different parts of your system does is helpful for knowing how Linux works.

You will see that there are many different DEs or WMs available to be installed from the apt repository. Some of them may even conflict with each other, meaning you can't install both.

DE (Desktop Environment) is a full system interface. DM (Desktop Manager) is the name of the user log in screen. WM (Window Manager) is the software which puts borders on your windows and moves the windows, ( _ [] x ) buttons is the WM.

Some WMs are designed to work without a DE. Some nerds like to use a WM without a DE for minimalism purposes. Custom WMs is a whole rabbit hole. If you're a turbo nerd, look for i3wm or dwm or awesomewm or something.

You can install different DEs from the repository. If you want to have the GNOME DE, you would install the 'gnome-core' package.

Some of the popular DEs available in the Debian repository includes GNOME, KDE, XFCE, LXDE, LXQT, MATE, Lomori (Unity fork), Cinnamon (Mint DE). There are even more in the repository which are not list on the wiki. For example, there is a phone/tablet DE versions of GNOME and KDE in the repository.

https://wiki.debian.org/DesktopEnvironment

Distrohopping is useful in that it's a great way to work out that you should just have stuck with Debian with KDE installed on top of it in the first place.

Mostly the distro doesn’t make nearly as much difference to your experience as what desktop environment you are using. The package manager is the biggest difference. If you like a distro just stick with it. Maybe if you refresh your computer choose a different one for kicks. Or if you’re very technically inclined check out NixOS or something else weird like that.

Honestly, just stick to what you like. I've been using Linux for years now and didn't really distrohop. I started with Manjaro, shortly after went to Solus, after a long time then went Nobara and now I'm on Bazzite for more than year, but it was mostly because of issues I found along the way until I got to the one where I basically have none right now.

It's cool to do if you're into trying it or if you want to try other DEs, but it would probably be best to test it on a virtual machine or on your browser.

But I do think atomic distros are generally better and should be more recommended.

Look at the chart https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Linux_Distribution_Timeline.svg

Most things are just Debian reskins (oversimplification I know) so there isn't much of a point in trying them all.

I hesitate to say this because I've messed up installs in the past doing this but you can install multiple Desktop Environments on Mint(or other distros) and swap them out at the login screen.

For the rest of what Linux is, really just figure out what package manager you like and stick to that family of distros. If you like APT, then cool. If you check out PACMAN and ARU on Arch and like that, cool. If you have space for some VMs, do some installs and check some distros out, then if you find what you like, go with that.

Distro hopping can be tiring but also helps with understanding what you need in an OS. But it is way easier to distro hop with VMs.

im not a distro hopper per se but i'll tell you what is my process. i install a new distro and begin to try it out, doing my own stuff and try out its features. usually it works great right out of the box and im happy with it. as time passes and i begin to try different usecases, there are bound to be stuff i find annoying or irritating to do, no distro is perfect at everything. alongside that there's some sort of "cruft" that progressively grows in every installation as you use it, unused dependencies apps or configs causing weird behaviour, the general bloat creeping in, just trash accumulating. right about then i'll think about doing a new clean install, and instead of installing the same distro i install a new one out of curiosity.

that's basically it. if you're happy with your distro there is literally no point in distro hopping. if something is irritating you, you're curious and you need to do a new install anyway, then why not change your distro? it's kind of fun setting up stuff for the first time and you'll learn stuff about software too.

I mean if you're curious, spin up a VM and have a poke around. Why not? It can be useful to see how other distros do things. Power users might distro hop a bit trying to find one they "vibe" with in terms of update cycle, atomic and/or immutable, pre-packaged software and drivers, package manager, init scheme, glibc vs. musl, or any one of a bazillion other nerdy things. Some distros follow particular design philosophies, for example being intentionally packaged to be more barebones to run on lower-end hardware.

The differences in day-to-day usage now are a lot less than they used to be, and a lot of it is functionally irrelevant for a desktop user. Things like flatpak and appimage mean more or less anything that runs on Linux can run on any distro. If you start moving outside of that and your distro's repos you might find some of the above stuff becomes relevant. Regarding desktop environments, some distros may only focus on making sure everything works cleanly and looks good in one or two, so installing a different one, though technically available, might not look and/or work the best. Available themes and colour schemes might be different (although you should be able to install those with varying degrees of ease), along with any distro-specific management software (OpenSUSE's YaST, for example, if that's still a thing).

If you're happy where you're at, stick with it. Especially if you're new to Linux. By the time you run up against any potential limitations you'll have a much better idea of what you want out of a distro and you'll be in a better position to judge. Personally I've been thru Slackware, OpenSuSE, Debian, Fedora, CentOS, Arch (btw), Alpine, Ubuntu and a couple of the BSDs (not in that order). I've settled on Bazzite now because it does everything I realistically need to do on a daily basis with near-zero fuss. For weird shit there's always VMs or distrobox.

People like playing around and exploring. As long as they're having fun and understand that it's for fun, then by all means.

I ran Ubuntu when it was first released (oh God I'm old) and it's fine. It has some annoying things that I don't like (unattended upgrades, why are you shit) but it's fine. I just want to enjoy being on the computer, playing my games on Steam on Linux and just going on with my life. I don't need to run Gentoo. I don't need that kind of excitement

Different distros have slightly different uses so the main purpose is to find the one that works best for you if the one that you installed is giving friction. Other times I do it cos im bored and want to play with something different. For me i started with Fedora and hopped to basically ever major distro over the last 10 years and came back to Fedora.

Distro hopping is not a mandate. The point is to discover the way some distros work, how you interact with them, how to tinker.

If your first (or current) distro meets your needs, you're golden.

For reference I went Ubuntu -> Debian -> Arch (btw). Now I run Debian at work and Arch at home. Feel like I need nothing else.

Is there a point in Distro hopping ?

There's honestly little point especially if you're just hopping between distros that use the same package manager/come from the same distro family, but everyone who starts out on Linux does it, so you might as well. In my first year using Linux, I basically went:

Laptop: Ubuntu -> Linux Mint Cinnamon DE -> Lubuntu -> Crunchbang (defunct distro with Bunsenlabs as its successor)

Desktop: Linux Mint Cinnamon DE -> Linux Mint xfce DE

on top of various distro I tried out in VMs but never installed like ElementaryOS.

If you don't want the hassle of setting up Ventoy, use this: https://distrosea.com/ You're basically remoting in to various VMs of distros someone has set up.