this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2026
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Hej lemmings! (Hoping this is relevant enough for the selfhosted commjnity)

Quick question for you all: do you stick with the same distro across your PC, laptop, and server, or do you pick different ones based on the device and what you're doing?

For me, I've been mixing and matching depending on the use case, but I'm starting to think it'd be nice to just have one distro (or at least one family like Fedora or Debian) running everywhere. That way I wouldn't get confused about default settings or constantly have to look up flags for different package managers.

Right now my setup is:

  • Gaming rig: CachyOS
  • Laptop: AuroraOS
  • NAS: Unraid
  • Various project servers: DietPi, Debian, Alpine etc..

I feel like NixOS might be the only distro that could realistically handle all these use cases, but I'm a bit scared of the learning curve and the maintenance work it'd take to migrate everything over.

Am I the only one who feels like having "one distro to rule them all" would be nice? How do you guys handle your setups? All ears! 😊

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[–] French75@slrpnk.net 4 points 3 months ago

No. Debian on the server. CachyOS on the laptop OPNsense / FreeBSD on the router-firewall appliance.

I don't really feel like I need a single OS across everything. The lack of that has never been an issue.

[–] fozid@feddit.uk 4 points 3 months ago

no, i use archlinux on my main desktop as i use it daily and is my main workhorse. i have a laptop that rarely gets used at that has debian on. then i have a mini pc server with debian and a raspberry pi 4 with debian based raspberry pi os.

[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.today 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

i have slackware 15 on all, it's great how i can just copy over binaries and they just run because all the linked libraries are the same version

[–] PokerChips@programming.dev 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Awesome. I've been meaning to try out slackware forever. Would love to use it as my servers

[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.today 2 points 3 months ago

tbh there are really a lot of things that aren't on the repo or even the slackbuilds (kinda like arch AUR), kinda takes time to manage and install other packages. still i can't find a better distro yet so i'm keep using it..

i should try gentoo/void/alpine/arch someday but i'm too lazy.

[–] AstroLightz@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

Everything but my server uses Arch (BTW). This is so I can have all devices have the same scripts for uniformity.

[–] statelesz@slrpnk.net 4 points 3 months ago

Arch for Gaming/Desktop, Debian for Server/Proxmox/VPS.

[–] justme@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 months ago

I used to have Ubuntu everywhere, then changed to Debian for servers. Now that I'm using bazzite for my gaming rig, I really liked the idea and went to fedora silver blue on my work laptop. I'm the near future I want to re do my home lab, bit not sure yet what, unfortunately to many open questions concerning storage left.

laptop & desktop: both fedora silverblue

home server: fedora server

[–] jobbies@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 months ago

Nah. Debian for servers, Fedora for desktops and Arch for funtimes.

[–] Tywele@piefed.social 3 points 3 months ago

I use Fedora on my desktop, laptop and server. On my motherβ€˜s laptop I have installed Fedora Kinoite.

[–] Scrath@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 months ago

I typically use EndeavorOS because I enjoy how well documented and organized the arch wiki is.

I tried switching to fedora on my laptop recently but actually had some issues with software that was apparently only distributed through the AUR or AppImage (which I could have used, I know).

When I also had issues setting up my VPN to my home network again, I caved and restored the disk to a backup I took before attempting the switch. The VPN thing almost definitely wasn't Fedoras fault since I remember running into the same issue on EndeavorOS but after my fix from last time didn't work I was out of patience.

My servers runs either on debian or Ubuntu LTS though.

[–] CarstenBoll@feddit.dk 3 points 3 months ago

I do - more or less. Since I am the IT guy for my entire family and don't feel like doing tech support on 10 different distros.

[–] DarkMetatron@feddit.org 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I use ArchLinux more or less on all Device where it is possible It runs on my workstations, on my NAS, on my servers

Reason for that is: I am lazy and this way I don't have to learn how to administrate different Distributions.

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[–] RattlerSix@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Slackware on desktop, laptop and mini PC, Debian on anything smaller

[–] gurty@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Ubuntu for the main pc and Arch for the filthy weird frankenstein laptop from 2008. Just as god intended.

[–] elperronegro@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

For me it depends on computer capability. 3 generations of laptop... Current: PopOS Older: MiniOS Oldest (32bit): AntiX

[–] irmadlad@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Oldest (32bit)

I still have a functional 32 bit laptop. It's rather slow, but it does work

[–] bitwolf@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 months ago

Kind of.

Fedora on workstations. Debian on servers

[–] d3lta19@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 months ago

No, Arch for laptops/desktops. Debian for servers.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

No, I've got nobara on my gaming rig, batocera on my wife's retro console that's just turned into a kodi device, and proxmox on my server

[–] chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

I use Debian on servers, because stable.

I use Fedora on desktops, because I game and I like having fixes for mesa, the kernel, and amdgpu for my latest gen AMD GPU. My laptop is for work, but it's just easier having consistency.

[–] Creat@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 3 months ago

All normal PCs run CachyOS, includes gaming PCs, laptops and media PCs. All servers run some form of Debian (includes Proxmox) or a dedicated distro for their use (TRUE WAS, technically also Debian based).

[–] suicidaleggroll@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I didn't use to, but I do now. Debian on everything (except the Proxmox servers, but Proxmox is basically Debian too)

[–] DaPorkchop_@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 months ago

Almost everything is Debian - my servers, my desktop and laptops, my family member's computers, the living room media player. Only exceptions are my router (OpenWRT) and my Steam Deck (SteamOS).

[–] irmadlad@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)
  • Servers: Ubuntu Jammy
  • NUC: Mint xfce
  • VMs: Kali, Mint, and a variety of others including WIndows & Mac.

I hear a lot of chatter about NixOS. Going to have to check it out.

[–] eodur@piefed.social 3 points 3 months ago

All my kubernetes nodes are Ubuntu but when I rebuild my cluster I'll probably moved to Talos. My Gaming Rig/Workstation runs Bazzite. My Dev laptop runs Aurora. The little differences between Aurora and Bazzite are a little irritating so if I ever have a reason to rebuild one I'll probably switch it.

The PIs run whatever is most convenient for their purpose.

My next NAS will probably run Unraid or TrueNAS, but for now its Synology.

[–] Bakkoda@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

1 Fedora (laptop)

1 bazzite (old gaming desktop)

N+1 Debian on everything else than can

[–] redsand@infosec.pub 3 points 3 months ago

Gentoo, Qubes on desktops. Cent, Gentoo, Alpine and OpenBSD for servers.

Then there's weird stuff like MirageOS, DuskOS, openwrt, opnsense and I'm 90% sure there's a laptop with Kali purple in my trunk.

For other people I usually install fedora spins or bazzite.

[–] dieTasse@feddit.org 3 points 3 months ago

Fedora just works for me in every case except NAS where I have TrueNAS, so Fedora it is and I installed it even to couple of people and they also like it.

[–] HexaBack@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Bazzite GNOME on my "it needs to work daily no matter what" school/work/light gaming laptop, ~250ish flatpak apps (mostly very awesome tiny GTK4-based tools)

Devuan on my desktop PC, Trinity Desktop Environment, almost entirely apt apps, I do heavy multimedia work and gaming on it, I squeeze as much speed as I can

Debian on my Linux phone (FuriLabs FLX1s running FuriOS, a fork of Droidian, which is a fork of Mobian, which is a fork of Debian), Phosh UI, almost entirely ~140ish flatpaks

I try to keep my operating systems and software as controlled and predictable as possible, but I approach that differently depending on the usecase. Yes, I've tried NixOS, fell in love with it, and quickly realized it's overengineered and makes my head hurt. I also used CachyOS with TDE on my desktop for a while, was really speedy but TDE packaging for Arch really sucks compared to their Debian packaging

[–] Fives@discuss.online 2 points 3 months ago

My server is Debian. My desktop and laptops are all Garuda Linux.

[–] pentastarm@piefed.ca 2 points 3 months ago

SteamOS on my steam deck. Bazzite on my laptop. And fedora on my home server that I'm still learning how to set up(I have immich running in a container, but that was just following an online tutorial. Still trying to understand docker better.)

[–] MuttMutt@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Desktop - Ubuntu Cinnamon LTS (I game and edit video this is also currently my Frigate host)

Laptop - Ubuntu Budgie (It's basically just a thin client to access my desktop when I want to sit in the livingroom)

Stepson's Desktop - ChimeraOS (Because I don't want to deal with anything in his room)

Server - TrueNAS (Been using it since the FreeNAS 9 Era)

Router - OpnSense (Been using that since before I started using FreeNAS)

Different distro's suit different needs. Could I use a single one for everything, yeah with a lot of extra work I don't want to deal with. I'm much more hardware oriented and can make software work tried switching to Linux for everything in the mid 2000's but couldn't do things reliably with it till lately.

[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Debian on homeservers, centos on work servers, and mint on desktops

[–] Fierro@piefed.social 2 points 3 months ago

My laptop needs reliability to be fairly certain I'll have everything working when I use it on poor internet, my desktop is always comnected to high bandwidth and has a decent cpu so I can spare a bit extra time and cycles on updating everything when something breaks

Different needs

I did like having the same thing going on on both for the couple months I used mint on both.

[–] Pika@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 months ago

I'm all some Debian dereritive, whether it's Q4OS or just Debian,

All my servers are Debian. All my personal machines are Fedora KDE.

[–] JustARegularNerd@aussie.zone 2 points 3 months ago

I used to with LMDE (client) and Debian (server), but Cinnamon was a little bit too stuttery on the rickety old hardware I have (i5-5200U NUC and i5-5250U MBA), so now the NUC runs CachyOS with Xfce and the MBA runs Win10 LTSC because sometimes Windows is needed for my studies or certain voxel game leaks.

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