Hi everyone. I've been thinking about switching to Linux for my primary machine for a while and have decided to use a live boot as a test drive.

My use case is primarily revolved around app development (primarily using Python) with a little bit of gaming. I play small Steam games regularly, but play bigger games like GTA V and Cyberpunk now and then.

I have narrowed down my choices to PopOS, Manjaro, and Mint. I need help choosing the distro that would get me started on the right foot.

Man did I hop around when I first start using linux. First it was Mandriva, Then RedHat, Then back to Mandriva, then then Ubuntu. I tried linux mint, Arch and then Kali. Settled on Ubuntu for a while. Then I found compiz fusion So I used kali for a while. Then the tiling windows came into the picture. So now it's arch again. It's a pretty good daily driver once you learn all the keyboard commands. What did you hop from and where did ya land. I'm at peace with Arch even though updates break my system from time to time. We always messing with our systems anyways. No matter what you're running!

https://ankora-linux.github.io/
https://ankalab.flarum.cloud/

Hi everyone,

I've been working on NexOS, a Linux distro aimed at students and makers who want a PC that's ready for electronics and development right after install, instead of spending an afternoon setting everything up.

What ships out of the box (each tested inside the image):

- Arduino Center: 100 curated libraries in 20 categories, with version, license and dependency info. 82 of them compile-verified offline, plus board and serial-port diagnostics

- KiCad 9 (tested ERC/DRC, Gerber export, 3D render)

- TeX Live + TeXmaker, including French and Arabic documents

- Python Center: 8 ready environments (science, AI, vision, electronics, data, code quality…)

- An AI assistant that runs fully offline on the CPU, loaded only when you use it

- One store (Debian packages + Flathub), Btrfs snapshots before/after every update with one-click rollback, ufw firewall on by default

Full disclosure: I built this with heavy help from an AI coding assistant (Claude). It wrote a lot of the build scripts, tests and docs under my direction, and every feature claim above comes from a test that actually ran in the image. The evidence is in the repo.

Honest limits:

- It's a prototype, tested in VMs (QEMU, VirtualBox) but not yet on real hardware

- It's not lighter than Ubuntu: about 1.07 GB RAM at idle in my VM tests. I published the comparison, including where it loses

- No proprietary NVIDIA driver yet; you need to disable Secure Boot to boot the ISO

What would help me most: if you try it in a VM or on a spare PC, tell me your hardware and what worked or broke.

GitHub (ISO in Releases): https://github.com/rayanetaieb/NexOS

Thanks for reading, happy to answer any questions!

Everybody is welcome

Hey everyone! I’ve released SpectrumOS 1.0, a personal project that has slowly evolved from “I’ll just customize my desktop” into maintaining a Linux distribution. Apparently, that quest had no confirmation dialog.

SpectrumOS combines Arch Linux, Hyprland, and a custom Quickshell interface inspired by Caelestia Shell, with an emphasis on making its tools feel like parts of the same desktop.

Some highlights:

• Questline: Tasks, campaigns, Markdown scrolls, and a treasury, accessible through the desktop widget. Includes quick notes, autosaving, XP, achievements, and hydration reminders—because your character cannot survive exclusively on coffee and unresolved issues.
• Stash: My homegrown music app, integrated into the desktop. Every campaign deserves a soundtrack.
• UKVM: A widget for sharing your keyboard and mouse between computers. Current integration focuses on compatible Linux Wayland setups; Windows and macOS controls are in development.
• Desktop widgets: Favorites with browser bookmark imports, updates, app handling, and plenty of other controls.
• Appearance: Wallpaper filters through Gowall, combined with backend palettes for literally hundreds of combinations. Finding your favorite may become its own campaign.
• Gaming integration: GameMode can switch the bar to its gaming profile and restore the previous profile afterward.
• Igor: An optional desktop companion who sleeps, waves, changes accessories for music, movies, and microphone use, and occasionally comments on your Questline accomplishments. Attendance is entirely at his discretion.

And yes, before the Council of AI Slop convenes an emergency hearing: please try the thing before writing its obituary. Actual bugs, awkward workflows, and questionable design choices are much more useful feedback than diagnosing an entire operating system from one screenshot. My bug tracker accepts evidence; Igor accepts neither responsibility nor appointments.

This is a small independent project, and v1 is a starting point. I’d love feedback from people willing to try it, share their setups, and help identify what needs improvement.

Screenshots, downloads, project links, and Discord: https://gibranlp.dev/en/spectrum/

Thanks for looking. May your frames be smooth and your backlog remain technically manageable.