{"id":2789,"date":"2023-06-25T22:48:26","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T02:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/?page_id=2789"},"modified":"2025-09-20T10:09:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T14:09:55","slug":"top-linux-distros","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/tech\/operating-systems\/linux\/top-linux-distros\/","title":{"rendered":"Karmi\u2019s Top 10++ Linux Distros"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"post-inner clear-fix\">\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/tech\/operating-systems\/linux\/top-linux-distros\/#Tier_One\" >Tier One<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/tech\/operating-systems\/linux\/top-linux-distros\/#Tier_Two\" >Tier Two<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/tech\/operating-systems\/linux\/top-linux-distros\/#Tier_Three\" >Tier Three<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/tech\/operating-systems\/linux\/top-linux-distros\/#Tier_Four\" >Tier Four<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/tech\/operating-systems\/linux\/top-linux-distros\/#Tier_Five\" >Tier Five<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tier_One\"><\/span><strong><u>Tier One<\/u><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>1a. <a href=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/28\/porteus-v5-01-cinnamon-de-with-kernel-6-5-5\/\">Porteus-v5.01<\/a> \u2013 Cinnamon DE with Kernel 6.5.5<\/strong> \u2013 Porteus keeps getting better! <strong>#1<\/strong> in \u2018<em>Portability &amp; Linux Tester<\/em>\u2018 category. <strong><u>Main Linux working OS<\/u><\/strong> for me. \u2018<em>Companion<\/em>\u2018 OS for Win10\/11 &amp; for Linux tests.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1b. Fedora Cinnamon SPIN<\/strong> \u2013 the <strong>GUI<\/strong> dnfdragora package manager keeps improving.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1c. Zorin OS<\/strong> \u2013 (<a href=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/20\/zorin-os-18-windows-10\/\">9\/20\/2025<\/a>) testing Zorin OS 18 Beta and it is such a good Windows 10 replacement that I&#8217;ve have moved it into Top Tier.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tier_Two\"><\/span><strong><u>Tier Two<\/u><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>2a. SparkyLinux 6.3 &amp; 7 Cinnamon\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>2b. Nobara Linux 36<\/strong> \u2013 \u2018<em>New modified version of Fedora Linux, for normal point &amp; click users, and tailored for gaming, streaming, and content creation experience out of the box.<\/em>\u2018<\/p>\n<p><strong>2c. <\/strong><b>Manjaro Linux <\/b><b>KDE Plasma <\/b><b>22.1.0<\/b><b> \u2013 \u201cPlasma is a Desktop\u201d<\/b> \u2013 It has been stable thru several versions.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tier_Three\"><\/span><strong><u>Tier Three<\/u><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>3a.<\/strong> <strong>Ultramarine Linux<\/strong>: Based on Fedora\u00ae<\/p>\n<p><strong>3b.<\/strong> <strong>FossaPup64 9.5 (AKA Puppy Linux 9.5)<\/strong> \u2013 <strong>#1<\/strong> in \u2018<em>Portability &amp; Rescue\u2019<\/em> category. If Puppy ever added a Cinnamon Desktop Environment (DE) it would probably be #1 in the <em>Desktop Duty<\/em> category \u2018<em>n<\/em> #1 in the <em>Portability &amp; Rescue<\/em> category, i.e. I probably wouldn\u2019t need a Top 10 list! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p><strong>3c.<\/strong> <strong>Slackware 15.0 Stable w\/ KDE Plasma<\/strong> \u2013 Terminal work involved, but a wonderful Linux OS to work w\/.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4a.<\/strong> <strong>\u2018<em>Vanilla<\/em>\u2018 Arch Linux Cinnamon<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>4b. Alpine Linux <\/strong>version 3.19.0<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tier_Four\"><\/span><strong><u>Tier Four<\/u><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>5. EuroLinux Desktop<\/strong> 9.0 \u2013<em> EuroLinux Desktop, or Enterprise Linux for <strong>Windows users<\/strong><\/em>\u2018. Incredible GNOME desktop!<\/p>\n<p><strong>6. AlmaLinux 8.6: \u2018<em>NVIDIA driver &amp; KDE Plasma DE<\/em>\u2018\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>7. CentOS Stream 8 KDE Plasma\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tier_Five\"><\/span><strong><u>Tier Five<br \/>\n<\/u><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>8. KaOS 2022.06: <\/strong>perfect \u2018KDE Plasma Trainer\u2018 for interested Linux users &amp; a great little Linux OS for potential Windows users.<\/p>\n<p><strong>9. PCLinuxOS 2022<\/strong> \u2013 KDE Plasma: \u2018<em>Radically Simple<\/em>\u2018 &amp; \u2018<em>So cool ice cubes are jealous<\/em>\u2018: added 7\/25\/2022.<\/p>\n<p><strong>10\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>**********************************<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Tier One 1a. Porteus-v5.01 \u2013 Cinnamon DE with Kernel 6.5.5 \u2013 Porteus keeps getting better! #1 in \u2018Portability &amp; Linux Tester\u2018 category. Main Linux working OS for me. \u2018Companion\u2018 OS for Win10\/11 &amp; for Linux tests. 1b. Fedora Cinnamon SPIN \u2013 the GUI dnfdragora package manager keeps improving. 1c. Zorin OS \u2013 (9\/20\/2025) testing &#8230; <a title=\"Karmi\u2019s Top 10++ Linux Distros\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/tech\/operating-systems\/linux\/top-linux-distros\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Karmi\u2019s Top 10++ Linux Distros\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2787,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"iawp_total_views":33,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2789","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2789"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7492,"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2789\/revisions\/7492"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karmismusingstech.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}