What about something novel, like installing actual Debian?
Will work fine indeed. Only I always have some issues getting the touchscreen working seamlessly. Is there a window manager on Debian who does it well?
I've used both KDE Plasma and GNOME on my Laptop with a touch screen and both worked well. GNOME is better with touch screens in general but that's just because of the gestures and GTK apps working better with touch screens (e.g. you can always scroll by swiping up or down, not sure if that's the same in QT apps).
I don't have a touchscreen, so I have no lived experience, but this should get you started at least:
If you want Debian, just install Debian.
Maybe if you're into wm setups and you'd like to not have to do everything from scratch you can install Bunsenlabs instead.
It's just plain Debian with preconfigured Openox, that's all.
Never heard of Bunsenlabs. It looks good!
It is :)
There's a very useful and friendly forum at https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/ and it is very easy to replace openbox with any other wm of your choice, as long as you're fine with X11.
Just use debian
Just go with Debian.
Debian
Can confirm. I use Debian on a laptop and it's great.
I just use Debian and it's fine. I don't understand the point of using "Debian-based" instead of just plain Debian. Maybe I'm missing something but we have some Ubuntu machines at work and it's hard to tell much difference.
Idk I thought something niche is better fun
Ur already a Linux user, being niche is kinda of our character
That would be Guix, I think. Debian is pretty traditional.
Hmm... I wonder if Guix is ok to use with Surface
Which features are you looking for beyond what can be done on Debian?
Lightweight and maybe has some “cool features”
Debian is the lightest derivative of Debian
The installer outright gives you the option out of many different desktop environments and use cases and if you don't like to install a desktop you can install base system debian that's literally just a terminal environment and nothing else
Maybe Debian with a wm? I like cwm, but there are many to choose from. You can add pretty much any cool feature on top.
Debian Testing. My daily driver since.. a long time :)
Pick one. It's debian-based. You literally can't pick "the wrong one". You just have uninstall what you don't like, and install what you want. That simple.
Debian.
If you want to try something different, maybe LMDE.
Not Debian-based, but Debian. With KDE.
Some say that KDE on Debian is unstable. Is it real?
There's a difference between stability and reliability. Stable means that functionality is the same over a period of time, no major changes to how it works. Reliable means that it doesn't crash all the time. If something crashes the same way for the same reason, it's stable but not reliable. If something changes a lot but doesn't crash, it's reliable but not stable.
In practice what it comes down to is a choice if you want outdated but known bugs or new surprise bugs.
I've had problems with KDE on Wayland on Debian 12, it fails when entering sleep mode with multiple monitors. Thankfully, KDE on X is just one package install away, and it works with no bugs.
Been using KDE since Debian 9. I'd say it's stable enough.
Linux Mint Debian Edition.
Why don't you give PopOS a try, it is quite user friendly Ubuntu/Debian based
Up! Depending on what you are looking for also VanillaOS could be an interesting option
Yes, this OS looks interesting and beginner friendly
i tend to go with debian.
You can just go for Ubuntu, Mint or AntiX if you want good experience. Debian can be harder but it's quite stable (unless you use KDE). Any other suggestions depend on your use cases. For example, you can only use Ubuntu based distros for some Android development tasks
Go with Linux Mint, but the Edge edition. This will have the best chances to support your hardware, because it uses a newer kernel.
Look into MxLinux. It is Debian based with lots of noce tools. And as DE you could use KDE.
MX seems good
You could try VanillaOS 2.0 Beta which is a Debian-based immutable distro, planned for final release later this year.
MX
Check out projectbluefin.io, the developer experience has lots of goodies built in.
It's a immutable/atomic fedora silverblue spin based on cloud native principles.
I agree with you but I assume they want Debian for a reason.
distrobox enter debian-toolbox :)
Maybe Sparky Linux ...
Normally, I use Debian. However, Debian 12 installer didn't work on my Acer Extensa 💻. So I installed Sparky Linux, and it works.
My Son, SpiralLinux, is the neatest lil package of Debian you could ever want. It comes with all the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi drivers I need and it actually has an installer (Calamari’s I think?) that’s efficient and easy to understand.
Other than that-…. Uuuuhhhhh have you tried Hanna Montana OS?
Hannah Montana Linux – a live Linux distribution based on Kubuntu with a Hannah Montana theme. It has been created to “attract young users to Linux”.
Thanks that’s attractive
MX Linux
How lightweight do you really need to go? I have a Lenovo "barely worth calling a chromebook" with 4GB/64GB/2 core N4000. It's fine with Gnome on Bookworm.
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Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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