I always had an internal struggle between choosing a bleeding edge distribution and between using a rock solid distribution. I’m using Linux for both my professional deployments and for my work laptop. For server needs its a no-brainer, stable distributions like debian-based (debian, ubuntu,…) and RHEL-based(almalinux, rocky, redhat,…) are the ones to choose.

However, it’s a much difficult task to choose which distribution to choose to be my daily driver. I want both bleeding-edge and stability, which i know is nearly impossible. I used to be working with Linux Mint like 4+ years ago, before switch to Manjaro and before… going back to Linux Mint :)

This article will be my way to think about the options i have in hand. In case of using a stable distribution like Linux Mint, the options to get latest software are :

• Using Nix packages (i still don’t consider this solution stable enough)
• Using universal packages like :
  • Appimage (sometimes is interesting, sometimes a complete mess)
  • snap (not a fan of ubuntu way of managing it)
  • flatpak (seems like the most serious and open project comparing to others)
• Building any package (NO)

Let’s say that for normal packages i can get out pretty much with what i want using a combination of the above choices. Now, let’s talk about Kernels, DE/WM and other stuff :

• For Kernels, Linux Mint strongly recommends using the stable kernel (5.15 - unless you’re using a 2023/2024 hardware. In that case maybe useful to use 6.x kernels)
• For DE/WM, even if i like a lot KDE, for my daily job i find Cinnamon pretty stable while having the essentials. Not as feature-rich as KDE tough.
• Other considerations to take :
  • LM is still not using pipewire by default. Kind of shocking when we compare to other distributions.
  • Sometimes it is better to avoid customizing too much stable distributions as they tend to break after major upgrades. Keep it as default as possible.

I think that the best way of getting out of this is changing my mindset about bleeding-edge vs stability… Just live with it, forget a bit about the shiny new features and accept some tradeoff.

Enjoy your stable distribution, take care.