Like many Linux users, I occasionally get the urge to distro-hop. It's part of the fun. It's a genuine feeling of freedom. All these different Linux distributions are basically calling you to try them out. Exploring different philosophies, package managers, init systems, and communities.

So I recently stepped away from my trusty Debian setup to try Arch Linux, Void Linux, even Fedora and Manjaro. All excellent in their own ways. I wanted to explore other options, because, you see, I've got a new hardware a few months ago, and initially Debian stable was not very good friends with it. The kernel could not recognize my Ethernet and wireless cards, for instance. I was devastated, knowing that I might have to look elsewhere, even only temporarily, in order to have a working computer with optimized hardware. So, I looked at alternative solutions within Linux universe.

Arch Linux taught me a bit. It’s hands-on, fully customizable, and you feel like you own your system. But the upkeep wore me down. Frequent updates, and the constant need to configure small things—it took time away from actually using my machine. It wasn't unstable, and nothing really broke, but it was time-consuming to maintain it.

Void Linux was another interesting detour. Lightweight, fast, and non-systemd. I have been a friend of Void Linux for five years or so, and it really appeals to me. But again, I ran into small annoyances: missing packages, having to build things from source, or unexpected small quirks. I feel like I might return to Void Linux at some point, but I don't think it is going to be right now.

I tried Fedora and Manjaro, but each had little quirks that started to annoy me. That’s when it hit me: I missed Debian. A lot. Arch and Void are fantastic in their own ways, and so are Fedora and Manjaro, but they are not Debian. I almost hate to admit it, but I’m hooked on Debian. And honestly, I don’t like that dependency. I’d love to have a solid, stable alternative in case a different use case comes along.

Right now, I’m running Debian Forky (the testing branch), and it just feels right. I know what some of you are thinking. Why am I running a testing version of Debian on my primary computer and not something more stable? Well, as I mentioned, I have a really new hardware, and for that I need a fairly new firmware and software, since the new hardware needs some ironing out to be done for some time. I don't think Debian Stable will provide that any time soon, since it is there to be stable without much changing until the next version. But that will happen first in 2027. That's why I chose Debian Testing or Forky. It is the future next version, but it is in development, and that might potentially create some instability in the process. But I am willing to take that chance, and get new software, firmware, and Linux kernel (provided by Liquorix) for my new computer. There are some drawbacks when running Debian Testing, but it is generally a fairly reliable Debian branch. Paired with XFCE as my desktop environment, I have a system that’s both powerful and stable. Here’s why:

• APT is rock solid, powerful and reliable. In my opinion, the best package manager in the Linux world. Debian remains incredibly stable, even on testing, still more reliable than most other distros.
• The repositories are massive. We're talking 70,000 packages at your fingertips.
• It’s low maintenance. It is almost impossible to break Debian. It just works. After all, there’s a reason Debian has been used in space.

Most importantly, Debian gets out of my way and lets me focus. I don’t want my OS to be a hobby project. I want it to be a foundation I can trust. So while I might hop to other distributions now and then (I don't think I can help it, at least while my computer's hardware is still new), Debian will always be home. A trusty friend that never lets you down. Even when you don't run its most stable, reliable branch.