I’ve been seeing a lot of people trying to find the perfect Linux distro to replace Windows 10 with, now that its support is ending, and Ubuntu is usually the first name that comes up. It makes sense since it is stable, beginner-friendly, and has a huge community that makes getting started with Linux easier.
But as someone whose first Linux distro was Ubuntu, and who has used it for over half a decade across different PCs, I’ve realized it might not be the smartest choice anymore. Instead, Fedora Silverblue turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. Even if you are new to Linux, it might actually be the better option.
I’m tired of how bloated Ubuntu has become
It just keeps getting heavier
Image by Raghav Sethi – no attribution requiredCredit: Raghav Sethi/MakeUseOf
Ubuntu is by far the most mainstream Linux distro out there, and that’s both its biggest strength and its biggest weakness. Over time, it has become heavier, bulkier, and filled with stuff most people will never need. Ironically, it is starting to feel like the very thing many of us switched to Linux to escape: Windows.
Because Ubuntu targets a massive hardware base, it includes all sorts of packages and dependencies to cover everyone’s use case. That is fine if you want an “it just works” distro, but not if you want something clean and lightweight. Personally, I just want a system that stays out of my way.
Even Ubuntu’s implementation of GNOME, the desktop environment that provides the interface, app grid, and general look and feel, has become noticeably heavier. It now eats up a big chunk of RAM, and on my older PC with 8GB of memory that I use as a couch PC, that is enough to make things sluggish.
Then there is Snap, Ubuntu’s universal packaging system. Canonical has been pushing Snaps hard lately, but they are slower to launch and take up far more space than traditional packages. Sure, they are meant to simplify app distribution, but in practice, it feels like another layer of bloat. Everything about it is steering in the exact direction I wanted to get away from when I left Windows, and that is what finally pushed me to move on.
I finally have a Linux system I can’t mess up
I used to break my installs all the time
Screenshot by Raghav – NAR
There have been plenty of times when I’ve completely broken my Linux install. No blame on Ubuntu there. It was clearly my fault for trying to do something stupid, quite frankly. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve edited the wrong config file, installed something that clashed with existing dependencies, or just pushed an update that caused everything to fall apart. Anyone who has used Linux long enough has probably had that sinking feeling when a system refuses to boot, and you’re left staring at a blinking cursor.
Fedora Silverblue actually solves this problem to a large extent, since it is what’s known as an immutable operating system. An immutable system is one where the core files are read-only, meaning you can’t accidentally overwrite or corrupt critical parts of the OS. Any changes you make happen on top of that base. If something goes wrong, you can simply roll back to the last working state. That makes it much harder to break your system, even if you tinker or experiment frequently.
In fact, I’ve also switched to SteamOS for gaming, which also happens to be an immutable Linux distribution. Another big advantage of this design is that updates will not break your system. Updates are applied all at once, and if something fails during that process, the system automatically rolls back to the previous version.
I’ve had it happen more than once when both Windows and non-immutable Linux distros went completely dark after an update, but with Silverblue, that worry is basically gone. I can now install updates without holding my breath or wondering if my machine will even start again.
It’s even safer than most Linux distros I’ve used
Linux was already safer than Windows to begin with
Screenshot by Raghav – NAR
Now, Linux is already far safer than Windows simply because there is not as much malware out there for it. Windows is the more lucrative target thanks to its massive market share, so it naturally attracts most of the threats. But it is still one of the biggest Linux myths that it cannot get malware.
Sure, you are at a much lower risk, but immutable operating systems take things a step further. Because the core of the system is locked down, it is much harder for malicious software to gain persistence. Even if something does slip through, it cannot modify the base system files, and a simple reboot wipes it out entirely.
This design makes a lot of sense if you are running Linux on a shared computer, or one that is not always used by the most tech-savvy people. Silverblue’s security model makes it much more resilient to mistakes or bad downloads, and the peace of mind that comes with that is hard to overstate, since there is no such thing as “enough” security.
Ubuntu’s desktop doesn’t feel right anymore
Ubuntu adds too much on top
For anyone new to Linux, the desktop environment is basically what you see and interact with. Both Ubuntu and Fedora Silverblue actually use the same desktop environment underneath, but Ubuntu layers a lot of extra stuff on top of it. Meanwhile, Fedora is pretty minimal.
Over time, all of those changes have made Ubuntu’s desktop feel heavier and more cluttered than it needs to be. As I mentioned before, it started feeling bloated, and I was not a fan of how the interface looked or behaved anymore.
While it is possible to strip away most of Ubuntu’s customizations and get something that looks almost identical to Fedora’s clean setup, it is a hassle to maintain. I’ve broken my system more than once just trying to tweak things or get my desktop to behave the way I wanted.
If you still don’t like how Silverblue looks, Fedora actually offers other versions of the same immutable system with different desktop environments available on its website.
You eventually outgrow the “beginner-friendly” label
Ubuntu is still one of the best starting points if you’re new to Linux. It’s user-friendly, well-documented, and has a massive community to back you up when things go wrong. But at some point, you start to realize that what makes Ubuntu so approachable is also what makes it unbearable in the long run.
So if you’ve been running Ubuntu for a while and feel like it’s starting to slow you down, take it as a sign to experiment. You might break a few systems along the way (I definitely did), but that’s part of the fun. The right distro isn’t the one everyone tells you to use, it’s the one that feels like home when you finally find it.
