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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[–] eksb@programming.dev 39 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

Servers are all Debian. Family member's laptops are all Debian. I used Debian on my laptops for 20 years, but when Steam Deck switched to Arch, I switched my laptop to Arch to force me to learn it. I have a file with notes of differences between Debian and Arch. Next time I buy a new laptop, I will probably go back to Debian.

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[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Yep. Debian. I like apt, and I like shit that just....works. I'm very much a form after function kind of person. Plus, Debian was the first Linux distro I became most familiar with at a young age. So what if a bunch of packages are on "old" versions. They work. The kernel works. KDE Plasma works. I can do everything I want to do without having to constantly be on the bleeding edge. If you prefer newer things, that's great. I prefer older, more proven things. That's also why I drive Toyota cars and old Honda motorcycles.

My Proxmox cluster runs...uh...Proxmox, which is based on Debian. NAS runs OMV which also runs on top of Debian. Laptops all run Linux Mint Debian Edition 7, and my 5800X3D/7900XTX gaming PC runs LMDE6 (will be upgrading to 7 soon). The only non-Debian machines in my house are my wife's iMac and Macbook Pro, and the Home Assistant mini PC.

[–] Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 7 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

That’s the same philosophy I’ve applied for a long time. Recently, I found out that gaming is an exception to the rule, though. While older versions are just fine for the most part, there are edge cases where that no longer applies. I also found out that I care about one of them. Until you hit that brick wall, there’s no reason to switch. Just keep on using Debian for everything.

Took me a while to realise that I was spending way too much time figuring out workarounds instead of actually gaming. I ended up using Bazzite in my gaming rig because it works so well for that purpose.

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[–] smiletolerantly@awful.systems 22 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Yes. Everything is NixOS. Because it's perfect for everything.

[–] ivn@tarte.nuage-libre.fr 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

And it's very handy for this, I have the same config for all my devices (desktop, laptop and server). Enabling and disabling different modules depending on the host it's deployed to.

Yep, exactly.

To be fair, if you use Debian, Arch, Fedora,... long enough, you also know how to tweak your machine for every purpose. In Nix, it's just somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy, because you have to know how to tweak your system to achieve.... anything, and then it's the same tweaking mechanics for every other purpose as well.

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 7 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

What is the learning/on-boarding curve for this?

I ask because my home folder has a giant just file I use to script everything. I feel like I’m 80% there to just migrating.

[–] smiletolerantly@awful.systems 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's a very steep curve to start, with some additional minor steep parts along the way, but it's not a long curve. Once you got the core concepts and the basic language constructs, you've learned most of what you'll ever need.

Two nice resources: search.nixos.org is super handy, and you can search GitHub with language:nix and a search term to get tons of examples from other people.

Oh, and nix and just is actually a pretty common combo!

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[–] FaygoRedPop@lemmy.world 17 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

I love how this post doesn't even pretend that anyone may use anything but Linux. Classic Lemmy.

[–] Telodzrum@lemmy.world 17 points 3 weeks ago

Whoa, that’s completely untrue buddy.

Some people here use BSD-based systems.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 13 points 3 weeks ago

I don't see anyone here saying "actually I use BSD" so it seems to have been a safe assumption

[–] mech@feddit.org 11 points 3 weeks ago

Self-hosting on Windows Server is a pain I don't need in my life.

[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.today 5 points 3 weeks ago

i do use freebsd :) and occasionally win7/10..

usage goes like freebsd >>> linux > m$win

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[–] Decq@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (4 children)

I've converted everything to NixOS (Desktop, laptop, nas and 3d printer, rpi with home assistant) only my router is still pfSense (and thus BSD). It just makes configuration and updating so much easier from one central configuration. And I don't have to remember what and how I installed something. It's just there in my flake.

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[–] aksdb@lemmy.world 9 points 3 weeks ago

The machines I use regularly are all some form of ArchLinux (currently mostly CachyOS). Machines I use rarely I stick to LTS distros with few updates. Machines I don't maintain myself I try to stick to immutable distros that just update themselves every once in a while (less chance of breakage).

[–] Telodzrum@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Arch on user PCs and Debian on anything else. This is with the exception that our big server is on Proxmox and the NAS (as well as off-site backup) are on unRaid.

[–] needanke@feddit.org 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Tbh I still consider Proxmox as Debian, so you're pretty much there ;).

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[–] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 8 points 3 weeks ago

I do, but it's more out of laziness than anything else. I hate having to remember sixteen different ways of doing things, so I tend to configure all my stuff as identical as reasonably possible. Is this the best way of doing things? Probably not. But it keeps my blood pressure down.

[–] mech@feddit.org 7 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Yes, Debian. It's called the universal operating system for a reason.

[–] needanke@feddit.org 4 points 3 weeks ago

Same, literaly only have bazzite and android on one device each with everything else being Debian.

Although I have been thinking about switching to Nix for a more robust backup/restore setup.

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[–] blurry@feddit.org 7 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

I use arch btw (on everything).

So yes ... my laptop, my home server and even my wife's laptop.

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[–] anon_8675309@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Server: debian

Desktop: mint

Laptop: pop-os

Nanopi for travel Jellyfin: Debian.

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago

Fedora KDE for anything I need a GUI for, Debian for anything headless.

I've used damn near everything else in 30 years of Linux, but I'm pretty sure my tombstone will run Debian.

[–] M137@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago

Oooh, look at mr. Rich guy here with multiple devices.

/s.... (not really, cries in only computer being a dying laptop from 2011 with no way to get even just another dying 2011 laptop when this one dies.)

[–] K3can@lemmy.radio 6 points 3 weeks ago

Debian on my servers. No drama, it just works.

Fedora on my laptop and desktop. Still solid, but quicker updates.

[–] FlowerFan@piefed.blahaj.zone 6 points 3 weeks ago

yes. Everything is Fedora Silverblue, except servers they are ubuntu on proxmox.

My hobby is gaming, linux is just a means to do that hobby, not a hobby itself.

[–] quips@slrpnk.net 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Debian on server, arch of some kind for personal use

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[–] exu@feditown.com 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I use Arch (btw) on my desktops and laptops.

On my servers I'm halfway through replacing Debian with openSUSE.

My desktop and servers have different use cases and I interact with them in different ways, so there's little confusion for me.

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[–] Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Proxmox with plethora of distros (preferably Debian), openwrt, opnsense (freeBSD), the pies as well somewhere ... but my desktop & laptop are both Tumbleweed.

(But I should try Bazzite myself at some point to understand if it's really a distro to recommend to Windows refugees looking for gaming & not learning anything or not that much "Linux related" immediately. It wouldn't be my guess, but the experiences I read here stayed with me for some reason.)

[–] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yes. Mint. Way enough, and I haven't figured out why I should like disto hop yet.

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yes, it's Arch all the way for me. it's flexible in the way that I can configure it for any system I need, and I usually know what I want from it.

my installations on my desktop and laptop look fairly similar, but my server and test computers can look different depending on the hardware specifications they have.

plus, with BTRFS snapshots, if anything breaks I can simply roll back to a previous version of the system.

[–] PokerChips@programming.dev 5 points 3 weeks ago

Laptop arch

Web servers Debian or fedora.

Looking into slackware for self hosting

[–] StellarExtract@lemmy.zip 5 points 3 weeks ago

NixOS home server, gaming PC will soon move to Bazzite from Windows 10 (whenever I'm done working on my home server). I'm trying Bazzite for that machine because I use it more like a game console hooked up to the TV and don't need the same level of tweaking and customization.

[–] sbeak@sopuli.xyz 5 points 3 weeks ago

For me, I am running EndeavourOS on my laptop (for its rolling release updates and its customisability) and Debian on my homeserver (for its stability). I have also set up a secondary laptop with Linux Mint that is now being used by somebody else for its ease of use :)

[–] arcine@jlai.lu 5 points 3 weeks ago

I use NixOS on everything ! This way, I can re-use parts of my configuration as a base, and customise only the few things that need to change from one machine to the other.

The only exception is my Steam Deck. I trust Valve on that one, and my usage of it is so different from other computers as to make 95% of my config entirely irrelevant anyway.

[–] g_blob@programming.dev 5 points 3 weeks ago

Debian always. Stablility is good, good is stability. But i am open to trying fedora in the near future

[–] savvywolf@pawb.social 5 points 3 weeks ago

My main desktop is Mint - I feel like most of the random pieces of software I find myself wanting to run are built for Ubuntu or at the very least a lfh distro.

My server and random devices run NixOS, and I'm acrually considering combining all the config into a monorepo...

My Raspberry PI I think runs Raspbian though. I should see if I can nixify it.

[–] AsankaMan@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

ZorinOS for the desktop and PopOS on the laptop which also serves as a Plex server.

[–] Sunny@slrpnk.net 6 points 3 weeks ago

Welcome to Lemmy 🫢

No, and that's the beauty of Linux.

Desktop gaming PC: Fedora KDE (might try Bazzite if I stop dual booting Windows, but I already got Nvidia set up and that's the hard part)

Old laptop: Zorin OS

Old as dirt laptop: antiX

Wife's Surface: Pop!_OS 22.04. Maybe change it eventually to something lighter.

I will likely go with Ubuntu Server or Debian when I set up my home server. Ubuntu seems like it has better Docker support.

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

[–] PumpkinEscobar@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

Arch everywhere. LTS kernel on servers and zen kernel on desktop and laptop. I love the idea of nixos but in practice it felt like more work than it was worth (to me).

I originally did Debian on servers but after using arch for long enough and never having stability problems, it was easier to move to the same distro.

[–] French75@slrpnk.net 4 points 3 weeks 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.

[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.today 4 points 3 weeks ago (2 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

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

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

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