169
Why is Debian always left out of the distro recommendations? (lemmy.zip)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/linux@lemmy.ml
114 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I distro hopped for a bit before finally settling in Debian (because Debian was always mentioned as a distro good for servers, or stable machines that are ok with outdated software)

And while I get that Debian does have software that isn't as up to date, I've never felt that the software was that outdated. Before landing on Debian, I always ran into small hiccups that caused me issues as a new Linux user - but when I finally switched over to Debian, everything just worked! Especially now with Debian 13.

So my question is: why does Debian always get dismissed as inferior for everyday drivers, and instead mint, Ubuntu, or even Zorin get recommended? Is there something I am missing, or does it really just come down to people not wanting software that isn't "cutting edge" release?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 1 point 9 months ago* (2 children)

I'm sorry but I might be totally out of the loop here, do gamers use Mesa? I thought proprietary drives from NVIDIA and AMD, sadly, was what most people actually used nowadays. Again to be clear I'm NOT saying it's a good thing (it's not!) just wondering what's the actual share of users relying on it.

Edit: oh, looks like Mesa is now the default for AMD "AMD promotes their Mesa drivers Radeon and RadeonSI over the deprecated AMD Catalyst" (via Wikipedia), then yes it's a big deal. Still makes me wonder what's the current share but mostly out of curiosity.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago (1 child)

    Mesa has been the defacto standard for AMD for years. It's always performed better than the official driver. AMD just made it their official recommendation recently.

    I think Intel also uses Mesa, with Nvidia being the odd one out

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago*

    Nvidia being the odd one out

    Right, I get that but also :

    top30cards

    (Source Steam Hardware & Software Survey: January 2026 )

    Entire top10, then for marketshare I don't count NVIDIA I count the rest :

    AMD : ~15%

    Intel : ~6%

    I'm too lazy to guesstimate when it's below 0.5% but you get the idea, at least 75% is NVIDIA.

    So "odd" yes but still a big deal in terms of market share for gamers.

    To be clear though I am NOT advocating for NVIDIA (especially with all their AI BS) just showing how dominating they are in that segment.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent