I currently use Fedora 25, but it’s about time to update to 27.
However, I’m considering switching to a rolling since it seems easier to keep it updated.
I’d like to hear others on the advantages and disadvantages of rolling releases before making that plunge.
You’re going to hear a lot of different experiences/opinions here.
In my experience, I have found a rolling release, even Arch, to be ‘relatively stable’.
If something broke during an update, especially if you update regularly, it’s easier to find the culprit instead of a fixed release structure where a whole bunch of things are updated at once.
My Arch install has been stable for 6 months with a i7 4930k and GTX 1070 with the proprietary drivers, which are prone to causing problems.
BUT: I would say Arch takes a little more time to maintain than something like Fedora.
See that’s what I’m trying to avoid. I like Fedora a lot, but every six months a new version is out and and every year or so you better update to the latest or risk getting left behind.
Sometimes my VMs break and require debugging, etc during these updates. However, I like having a newer kernel than something like Ubuntu with a slower release cycle.
So it seems to me LTS vs new kernel. It really comes down to - how often do I want to spend a night updating and debugging my stuff?
I was thinking a rolling release would have less of that since you don’t update the whole OS. Then again, I’ve never used a rolling release.
Right now Majaro is the one I’m considering, but maybe I have the wrong idea of rolling release. I’m under the impression that less chance of breaking my VMs.
Actually, Arch has two primary kernel packages. ‘linux’ and ‘linux-lts’. So if you want an lts kernel, currently 4.9 I believe, than you can do that.
You’ll need the nvidia-lts driver if you use the lts kernel and use the proprietary drivers. Otherwise everything else is the same.
Manjaro would be a fine choice as well, it is indeed a proper rolling release.
Yeah I just updated my fedora box last week and all my containers broke. Got pissed after troubleshooting and turned the box off. Basically have redo all my config file for each one which isn’t bad but at the point that I realised it I got mad and shut it down.
Well, if it’s your first hop over, I would suggest Solus over the others, and Tumbleweed after that.
I’m hoping my update goes ok. I know the pain. This is on my Workstation at work - so I have to do it off hours and have it back up before the next day - period.
I’m considering going through with the update to my Fedora Workstation to 27 this week and running Manjaro on my laptop for a year.
That’ll give me time to evaluate if this model works for me.
Just going to chime in with my 2c.
first, I’m not a huge fan of RR in the traditional sense. I’ve found tumbleweed and arch to have problems occasionally and that’s enough for me to switch away. That said, I’ve had an install of Solus on my laptop for damn near a year now and it’s never encountered a single problem that I didn’t create myself. (damn i3)
If you’re looking for RR, Solus has my recommendation (and it damn well better, I donate now and again). If you want traditional release scheduling, I’d go with Fedora or CentOS.
First off, mad props for that profile pic, haha. Second off, great to hear things are going so well with Solus! 
I don’t have as much time in with Tumbleweed as I do most other systems, but along with Arch, I’ve also seen it stumble and tumble.
What I’m getting is how much risk I’m willing to tolerate. The more frequent the updates, the greater the chance of stuff in my OS breaking. At one end you have LTS at the other you have RR.
I guess today I’ll make a backup image of my current Fedora Workstation and tomorrow I’ll update to 27.
Anyone run into issues with VMare Workstation and Fedora 27?
I can’t imagine bailing on Fedora, but that’s just me
If you want a rolling distribution, I would go Solus, or Tumbleweed if you want easier UEFI support.
Yes, I have issues with VMware Workstation on Fedora, but it’s no better on Arch. I can at least end up getting it working on Fedora.
Rawhide???
I’m using Fedora Rawhide and haven’t noticed any instability issues. I haven’t been using it that long, but it installs and operates just like regular Fedora.
Arch is the distro I kept coming back to when i was seriuous about moving away from Windows. It was quit a steep learning curve for a beginner but the freedom you gain is great. The simple fact that it’s letting me choose tops every other distro that tried to make me use GRUB for example.
If you wanna try Arch I recommend to check out Antergos or Manjaro. And if you prefer to keep the Red Hat flavor try Fedora Rawhide.
Wait for Ubuntu 18.04. Or try Antergos.
you can upgrade fedora versons in one line
I also say to go with angergos. Its what i run on my school laptop and it does fairly well
Manjaro is using Kernel 4.14-lts, my dads old computer decided it didn’t want to work anymore earlier so I grabed a Spare Optiplex 780 that I had gotten for him that he didn’t want to switch to because “Reasons” and Manjaro had 4.14 out of the box.
You know - I’m going to make a backup of my machine in case it borks and then update this. Who knows it might go well (doubtful); but, maybe I’m just building my update up to much in my head. Last time I only had to disable fast boot to get into my computer, and then I had to run some random commands I found on the internet as root to get my virtual machines to work.
I think I still have a little PTSD from the second part. If I’m OCD about one thing is when someone gets on my computer and opens a terminal, and even when they do ask permission I’m nervous as hell. The only thing that kills me more is running privileged commands from the net that I don’t understand why it fixes my stuff.
Arch seems pretty stable, except if you get issues with alsa, pulseaudio may help you a bit. I’ve found out that fedora doesn’t work for me for pci-passthrou: it just doesnt want to go pass the uefi whatever I’ve tried. AUR makes it #worth xD amdgpu works flawlessly <3
For me the benefits of Arch outweigh the very rare breakage. I have been on Antergos for about a year now and it has been very stable 
When it’s broken it’s been because I’ve been tinkering and messed it up.
Yes it isn’t “true” Arch but is a very good operating system out-of-the-box. Installing Arch from the ground up is fine if you’ve got limited hardware, or want to throw yourself in at the deep end and learn a few things otherwise I don’t really see the point.
Antergos gets my vote 