Hi,
I’m looking for a distro for developers but that is also good for everyday use. It should have Flatpak available and a number of packages to install. I work in a Terminal and containers most of the time, but a DE / WM is good to have. It should NOT be bloated and have propertiary software built in, as well as not made for “absolute newbies”. I prefer new packages, but not like too unstable that I need to reinstall 4 times a week (case Arch). I have Intel CPU and Graphics card, and my model is a (MS) Surface Laptop Go 3. Secure Boot is off.
Thanks 
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I use Void Linux as my development distro.
Void has almost as extensive a package repo as Debian, and Void officially supports flatpak… you can install flatpak support from the Void repo.
Be aware that Void is quite a learning curve… different package system, different init system, but it has all the same DE’s and WM’s. It is rolling release.
I mostly do programming, not really development, but I do drive docker containers and virt-manager(qemu/kvm) in Void.
If you want something more conventional, plain Debian is a good choice.
You can control bloat in any distro by starting with a minimal install.
I use a separate distro (MX) for everyday use… ie I multi- boot.
You really need to keep the distro for everyday use stable and available
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I myself am absolutely happy with Arch Linux and for me come as an alternative only similar Distros like Void or NixOS. But I don’t use it professionally either (sadly I have to use Windows 11).
If I were in your situation, I would probably try something in real Immutable, e.g. Fedora Silverblue or if you have time NixOS.
However, it is a myth that Arch does not run stable. In my experience, it is usually a layer 8 problem 
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I would try some minimal install .iso or a server version of your favorite distro first. Add a WM like i3 (or sway if you prefer Wayland) and you’re good to go.
“No bloat” is easy to achieve if you start from scratch and only add the needed software. Void is great and stable rolling release but if you prefer systemd then it’s not for you.
People say that Arch is not so unstable it used to be but I don’t want to try it again. It was a nightmare to use few years ago. Just my opinion!
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I agree with Void. It’s not made for newbies and provides a nice environment for developers (i.e. it doesn’t step on your toes).
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Hi all,
thanks for your replies
Yeah, Arch is kinda too, but is Void stable?
I already am familiar with immutables and like the concept, so this is a good suggestion, thanks! It only annoys me that I can’t install Software regularly.
Maybe, after every sudo pacman -Syu I find myself switching in a TTY and restoring @home… maybe it’s pacman and not arch.
Good idea, which one do you recommend?
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Oh, if that’s the case, then say it’s not for me…
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The one you are used to use, like Debian/Ubuntu/OpenSuse/anything you prefer. Just choose minimal/server iso and add WM after installation.
I use Gentoo with all my computers because I like it’s package manager and it lets me choose basically all starting from kernel(LTS/latest/vanilla, build and modify yourself or use binary, etc), init system, boot loader, WM/DE, mixing stable/unstable packages, slots for packages and then there’s USE flags for packages, you can make your own ebuilds for software and more. For an example all my systems are 64-bit only because I don’t need 32-bit (win compatibility) and only my laptops have Bluetooth use flag enabled to get Bluetooth speaker connected.
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I have had one update hitch in the past 5 years.
I think that is stable.
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Think again.
You want a minimal distro, but systemd is 1.5million lines of code.
That is bloat at its worst.
My own example… instead of Arch, I use Artix with dinit… it boots in 5 secs and runs super fast. I recently did a lot of work in Artix programming with Julia. It works perfectly.
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Oh, so like Arch. I’ll give it try.
That’s what I call stable, but does it have a Package Manager?
Yeah, it is only that I was using only systemd until now and I don’t know how to use other inits. And with bloat I mean preinstalled software.
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With Arch you have some choises during building it but only few compared to Gentoo.
Yes, xbps is the name of Void’s package manager. Void is great! I also can confirm it’s very stable.
Well, then the server/minimal install iso of your favorite distro is your friend.
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Void has a really efficient package manager called XBPS (’ binary package system). It handles both system updates and individual packsge installs. Normally it installs binaries, but one can download source code.
The Void package repo is quite large… you will find everything you are likely to want, and as we said, it supports flatpaks.
Systemd is a big learning curve. You can master runit or dinit in about half an hour, they are small. Systemd takes half a lifetime. The older sysVinit that was replaced by systemd might take a week to master.
The important thing about using a non-systemd distro is that you choose one that properly sets up its package system to support the init system.
Both Void and Artix pass that test, and so do MX and Antix. In my mind Devuan fails that test.
OK, but systemd comes preinstalled, and is very difficult to remove.
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I wouldn’t dare that. IMHO selecting another distro is the way to go.
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Removing systemd usually results in all kinds of problems, if you’ve got a distribution which assumes systemd, as things you would not expect it of depend on it.
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Agree. I once read an article by someome who tried removing systemd from Debian. It was a nightmare, and there is no point… if you want that choose Devuan.
The only distros with a systemd/nonsystemd choice are MX and Gentoo… and even there once you go to systemd you cant go back.
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Noone has mentioned Alpine. It is small, efficient, and supports flatpak
Alpine is a popular choice for docker containers, but it is also a fine hardinstall distro.
Alpine uses the musl version of libc and BusyBox. That makes it ideal for small embedded systems.
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Who said I want to remove systemd?
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Rings a bell in my ears 
Oh, but mine is not embedded, is that Ok?
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OK. That is just one of the uses of Alpine. It is fine as a normal installed Linux. The package system is called apk.
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