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Ask HN: What is the best Linux distro for WiFi on a laptop in 2015?

• smt88 12y ago
  Don't choose a distro based on wifi support. Almost every distro offers a "live" version that runs off a USB stick. Pick a distro with a philosophy you like, and then try the live version to check hardware support. If it works and you like it, install it permanently. The major distros all have great hardware support these days, so I think it's unlikely you'll encounter one you can't run.
  • tboyd47 12y ago
    Cool. I know it's a dumb question, but what are considered the major distros these days? Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian?
    • smt88 12y ago
      The three most popular distros are all based on Debian (Mint, Ubuntu, Debian). Ubuntu was/is intended to replace Windows, including in the enterprise. It's backed by a for-profit company called Canonical, which makes its money by offering enterprise support. The benefit of Ubuntu is that Canonical patches/supports LTS versions for a long period of time, and you can rely on those a little bit more. Another benefit is that they pay people to maintain packages, so you can always find Ubuntu repos for things. Mint is basically Ubuntu with a more "classic" desktop bundled with it. You can achieve the same thing by using XFCE or some GNOME-alternative on Ubuntu though. It really depends how deep you want to go with that stuff. DistroWatch offers a guide to choosing a distro[1] as well as a ranking in popularity[2]. I used to love Fedora, but it was too buggy for me. I've heard the latest release is fantastic, though. elementaryOS is getting a lot of buzz right now, so look into that as well. 1. http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major 2. http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=popularity http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=popularity
      • tboyd47 12y ago
        Great info. Thanks!