Seeking Advice for Linux Distribution with Customization and Rolling Release

[Galipoli]

Greetings fellow Linux enthusiasts,

I'm a student who's dabbled in Linux, particularly enjoying my time with Linux Mint for a few months. However, I somehow found myself back on Windows for reasons I can't recall. Now, I'm eager to embark on a gradual transition back to Linux, intending to dual-boot with Windows for a while before making the full switch.

Now comes the perennial question: which Linux distribution to choose? While I appreciated Mint, I'm now seeking something that allows for more customization, given my basic programming skills.

Ideally, I'm looking for a distribution with a graphical interface that's highly customizable, particularly for the home screen. It should also offer features like mail checking and news updates, going beyond mere aesthetic changes.

Furthermore, I prefer a rolling release model for ongoing updates. However, I'm concerned about the potential time investment required if a customization-heavy setup gets disrupted by a major update.

Could you recommend a distribution that fits these criteria? Additionally, I'm curious about your experiences with maintaining customized setups through updates – does it often result in disruptions?

Thank you in advance for your valuable insights.
Warm regards,

Galipoli

 

[wizardfromoz]

G'day @Galipoli and welcome to linux.org

Furthermore, I prefer a rolling release model for ongoing updates.

Any Arch-based distro would fit that bill. Arch itself is not for the faint-hearted, but distros such as manjaro, arcolinux, EndeavourOS are pretty reliable and pretty easy to get started with just the OOTB configuration.

Likewise Gecko Linux has Cinnamon, Xfce and KDE desktop flavours, is rolling and is maintained by one of our Members. It is based on openSUSE.

However, I'm concerned about the potential time investment required if a customization-heavy setup gets disrupted by a major update.

On any distro, you can install Timeshift (installed by default on Mint, Linus Lite, Manjaro and some others) - a stored snapshot once your setup is customised should safeguard customised setup, provided the snapshot include either of Home or hidden files (the latter for settings saving)

KDE are said to be one of the most customisable desktop environments, and that is available in a number of the options I have described.

Good luck.

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz