Distro-hopping: The act of testing new Linux distributions in the hope of finding the perfect one for us. Actually, the above is an invented definition, trying to collect in a few words the explanation of what the distro hopping. Most Linux users who have used a system with the kernel for some time know what it is, have done it, or have felt the need to do it. But why do we do it?
The answer must be because we can. When you're using Windows or macOS, you have to get used to the operating system, but when you're on Linux, you can have the system get done to you. We can modify everything, or, if we don't like it or we don't know how to tweak, we can do distro-hopping, testing distributions complete to see if we end up with that feeling that there is something that is not quite right.
Variety invites us to try alternatives
Linux is the kernel, and the whole system is GNU/Linux. The same system can be in many versions, as is the case of Ubuntu, which, although it only receives the first name without the last name, the main edition in GNOME is also Kubuntu, Lubuntu and thus up to 11 official flavors. Based on Ubuntu we also find proposals such as Linux Mint or elementary OS, and it is variety the one that invites us to do distro-hopping.
When we are noticing something that does not make us feel comfortable and we find out that there are options that could have the solution, we consider changing. And to better understand all this distro-hopping, what better than a true story: mine.
My story with distro-hopping
Although distro-hopping is jump between distributions From Linux, my story starts with Windows and comes up with Mac OS X (now macOS). And it says like this:
Tired of how slow my Windows XP was running, I tried Ubuntu 6.06 in a virtual machine. It seems impossible, but Ubuntu was faster for me inside Windows than native Windows. I used that virtual machine for 6 months before formatting and using Ubuntu native, something I did when I made sure that I was not going to miss anything.
I was happy for a little less than 3 years, until I started making music and bought an iMac. I liked Mac OS X, I'm not going to lie, and I'm not going to lie when I say that the only way I will have a Mac again will be if I have plenty the money. At the same time I bought a 10″ laptop (there were no tablets, or they weren't popular) and I put Ubuntu back in there, so I never completely left Linux behind. Soon after, Canonical crammed Unity into Ubuntu, and of course, a resource-constrained laptop couldn't handle it. That's when my real distro-hopping started.
And what jumps did I make in my distro-hopping?
- ubuntu netbook: There was a version designed for this type of device, now discontinued. It was very different and I didn't like it, so I had to keep looking.
- elementary OS: In a Telegram group, I was told that elementary was lightweight, so I installed it. I didn't like his way of managing the desktop, so I changed again.
- Kubuntu: I loved it, but Plasma had so many bugs on my rig that I couldn't keep up with it.
- Lubuntu and Xubuntu: Most of the time I used Lubuntu and Xubuntu, more the first than the second, but used to GNOME 2 that allowed me to do everything, I knew little.
- Linux Mint: I found out that this distro based on Ubuntu existed and that it worked well on computers with limited resources, so I used it for a while.
- Ubuntu MATE: Martin Wimpress came to my rescue and released Ubuntu MATE. It was like the classic Ubuntu, but adapted to new times. And there I stayed for a while... until a problem that I did not know how to solve prevented me from turning off the equipment and some other glitch.
- Now without the 10″ laptop, and with another weak one but 15'6″, I went back to Ubuntu, although I didn't like Unity. Not going very fast, it was much better than the Windows it came with, so I used it.
- Later it occurred to me to try Kubuntu again, I saw that KDE had improved a lot and I stayed with it for a couple of years.
- Because of comments here at LXA, which said, not unreasonably, that most of what we posted was related to Ubuntu, I decided to try something different: Manjaro. And it is what I use in my day to day.
My next jump... yes I take it
Now I have my eye on GarudaLinux, option with which I "play", not to play, since it is a distro partly designed for gaming, from time to time. but manjaro It hasn't messed me up enough to want to abandon it. I also have another laptop that I use as a multimedia center that has Ubuntu, so I have more than one option and the support/information.
Stick with what makes you feel comfortable
Even if it's Windows, we must stay in what makes us feel comfortable. Distro-hopping forces you to start from scratch at each jump, and I only recommend it when something fails more than one can assume. I also recommend testing systems on flash drives with complete installations, which, although it is not the same as doing it on a hard drive, can give us an approximate idea of ​​how it would work on our computer. In this way we can test almost any distro without touching our default system, and thus we will make sure that the jump will not be without a parachute.