 Ubuntu is one of the most popular distros in the world, if not the most popular. And if you're just coming to Linux, chances are Ubuntu is probably a pretty good place to start. But the best thing about Ubuntu isn't that it exists, or that it's good, or it has a lot of applications, or it has a lot of support, none of those things. The best thing about Ubuntu is that it has a lot of derivatives. It's kind of like Debian in that way, only Ubuntu is kind of like the son of Debian if that's the way you want to look at it. It's a derivative of Debian itself. So the family history of Linux distros is interesting, but not why we're here today. The reason why it's so cool that there are a lot of derivatives of Ubuntu out there is simply because it gives you a lot of choice. Now you could go through and use one of the flavors of Ubuntu and today we're going to talk about one of those at least. But there are also several other distros out there that are based on Ubuntu that are also really cool. So today what we're going to do is take a look at the top five Ubuntu based distros that aren't named Ubuntu. So let's go ahead and jump right in with number five. Number five on the list is elementary OS and it's a really good distribution out there, especially if you're coming to Linux from Mac OS. If you are very familiar with the way Apple does business, you'll fit right in with the way elementary OS does their distro. They're very much concerned with how it looks, how it feels, how applications interact with the base distro and how you get applications on your system. They're very much a curated experience, if that's how you want to describe it. And what this means is that it allows you to use your computer in a very structured manner. Let's go ahead and put it that way. If you're familiar with the way Mac OS works, you'll be familiar with the way this works as well, not only in looks, but also in how the rules work. So for example, customization and or the lack thereof and how you get applications and so on and so forth. It doesn't mean that there isn't customization, obviously. You can go through and figure out how to customize just like you can with any link distribution. But this is a very much an opinionated distro. They have opinions on how you should use your computer. And if that's the way you think you should use your computer, you're going to be happy there as well. Chances are, again, you'll be happy there if you've used Mac OS in the past and enjoyed it. It's very much a similar experience. So that is an elementary OS. It's based on Ubuntu LTS, which means that you'll get updates fairly infrequently, but also you'll be getting a rock solid stable distro that probably will never break unless you've done something to it. So number four in the list is Papa OS. Papa OS comes in two different versions, either the LTS version or the most recent version version. I suppose you to say it's the version that's based on the most recent version of Ubuntu. So you'll get at the time of recording, that's 21.10. And you also get an LTS version. So you can choose either one depending on which way you want to go. It also comes with two different ISOs. So when you go to the download button, you'll be given the choice of either the regular ISO, which is going to come with the open source, AMD and Intel drivers, or you'll be able to choose an ISO with the Nvidia drivers on it. So you'll be able to choose which ISO is going to work best with your particular flavor of hardware. And this is neat simply because it allows you to get an ISO that works very well with a particular brand of graphics card. Whereas a lot of times you'll get an ISO that is more focused on general happiness. I should say general functionality is probably the word that I was really looking for there. And that means that they haven't gone through and specifically tweaked that ISO for every piece of hardware. Whereas PopOS has gone through and done that with these ISOs. Now PopOS uses a GNOME based desktop environment. And you can tell that because it looks a lot like GNOME, but they've also kind of rebranded it. They gone through and put a whole bunch of extension work into it. They've themed it and they've kind of renamed it Cosmic. But it's still GNOME, at least as of right now, they are working on something different. But that's neither here nor there. As of right now, it's a GNOME based distro. And if that's something that you enjoy, I highly encourage you to try it. They have gone through and enabled a lot more customization than even Ubuntu has gone through and done. So if you enjoy the GNOME experience, but you want quite a bit more in terms of flexibility, PopOS might be the choice for you. In terms of software store and stuff like that, you'll find that they've done something interesting. They actually use something called the PopShop, which is based on the same store as elementary uses. So if you notice in the B roll there, they actually use the same store, although they are pulling from different sources. So that is PopOS. It is a really, really good distro. Now it does have somewhat of a mixed reputation. Some people say it's the best gaming distro out there. Some people say it sucks. So really, it's going to depend, I believe on what hardware you have. I've had experience on my hardware. I've known some other people who just can't get it to run on no matter what hardware they want. So I highly recommend giving it a try. Just keep in mind that some people have had a bad experience. So that is PopOS. Number three on the list is the only Ubuntu flavor on here. Now when I say Ubuntu flavor, I mean one of those distributions that is officially supported by Canonical, the people who do Ubuntu. And the reason why I've chosen this is simply because I needed a stand-in. Originally, this spot was going to go to ZoranOS. And ZoranOS is an honorable mention, but I could not get it to download. The mirrors were going to take 10 hours to download an ISO. And I tried to then get it through the BitTorrent, also was going to be really slow. So I didn't have that kind of time, so I had to choose something different. So I've chosen Ubuntu Mate. Now Ubuntu Mate, like I said, is an officially supported Ubuntu flavor. And the reason why I've chosen it is simply because it's kind of an alternative desktop experience. Mate allows you to do a ton of extra stuff, but its core purpose is simply to emulate the experience of GNOME 2 back in the day. Out of the box, that's what you're going to get. The really cool thing about Ubuntu Mate, this particular version of Mate, is that they've gone through and allowed you to select several different layouts. So you can choose a different layout that is already pre-configured based on whatever experience you want. You can do one that looks like the Pantheon desktop, one that looks like Mac OS called Cupertino. They have one called Redmond that looks like Windows. They have one, several that are traditional, look more like old versions of GNOME. It's really cool, and that customization comes out of the box. And I actually find that this amount of customization is really rare when it comes to GDK-based distros. Between this and an XFCE-based desktop environment, you're going to get a lot more, a very similar experience in terms of being able to customize stuff and choose panels and applets and all that stuff. It's really, really good. Now, in terms of software experience, you're going to get something called the Software Boutique, and it's not the most extensive software store out there, but you'll find most of the stuff that you're gonna want inside of it, and it's really nicely designed. You'll find that pretty much throughout the whole thing. Now, another reason why I've chosen this is because a lot of the times the stuff that happens in Ubuntu is actually developed first for Ubuntu Mate, simply because the developing team for Ubuntu Mate do a lot of, a lot of work, and a lot of that stuff kind of filters into the other Ubuntu flavors. Stuff like high DPI support appeared in Mate First, which just kind of boggles the mind that it appears there first, but it did. A lot of the compositor work that has gone into several other distribution, other flavors, also happened on Mate First. So by using Mate, you may be getting a better experience than some of the other flavors of Ubuntu. I really like Mate quite a lot, and this particular version is the best Mate of all the ones that you can use. Now, I'm not gonna address the whole pronunciation. For me, it's Mate. Supposedly, that's how you pronounce it. But anyways, that is Ubuntu Mate. Number two on the list is a distribution that I have a history with, and that is Linux Mint. My personal feelings aside, Linux Mint is a fantastic Ubuntu-based distro. It is really good, and despite what I've said about it, and I've said a lot, it's still a very good distro. And basically what it does really well is it allows you to use Ubuntu without all the snap stuff. So if you go into using Ubuntu, you're gonna find that they really push the snap craft stuff in your face. And you may or may not know what that means, but for Mint, that's one of the primary purposes that exists. Another one is that they have the cinnamon desktop. Now, if you're coming from Windows, chances are you're gonna be looking for something that looks familiar to you. And the cinnamon desktop, which is the main desktop of Linux Mint, looks similar to Windows. Now, it's not exactly the same. It's not one-to-one, but it's still really close. And it allows you a lot of the functionality and stability of GNOME, but with more customization on top of it. Now, Linux Mint is based on the latest LTS version. So right now we're on 20.4. So this is going to be a little bit more outdated in terms of kernels and stuff like that. But you should get a lot of the most recent software because Mint will go through and do a lot of updates. They're on 20.3 right now. So they've done three updates since the last LTS, but it's still based on that LTS core. And basically what that means, what this LTS stuff means, it means that you're going to be using a distribution that is highly stable. You're not gonna get a lot of updates. You're not gonna get a lot of the latest software, which isn't really that big of a deal. You're going to get just very, very stable software that has been tested over the course of the last couple of years. And that is really what a lot of people are looking for in a Linux distribution. One of the cool things about Linux Mint is they have gone through and done several of their own custom tools. So they have one called, I believe it's called Hypnotix. And that's kind of like an IPTV thing. They've gone through and done their own note taking application. So they've gone through and done several things that are kind of unique to them. And that's really cool. So if you're interested in an experience that is similar to Windows, but not the same, but also offers a lot of customization, Linux Mint might be the one for you. Number one on the list is one that'll probably surprise some people. Simply because it's the only plasma desktop experience that made this list. It's also awesome. It is so good. Now KDE Neon, which is the distribution we're talking about is special in that it does its own thing. It doesn't consider itself a distribution at all. It really considers itself KDE Plasma, but for people who just want the raw experience of KDE Plasma, if that makes any sense at all. Basically what this is, is a rolling release distribution of KDE. So you're going to always going to get the most recent version of KDE on this distro. The underlying system is going to stay the same. It's going to be based on either the LTS version of Ubuntu or the most recent version of Ubuntu. And one of the cool things that KDE Neon does, it allows you to go through and download different ISOs based on which one you can download the stable version or the testing version. And it's kind of more of a, choose your own, how stable do you want this thing to be kind of thing. And the reason why I find it so cool is simply because KDE develops stuff in a very hands-on manner. They develop a lot of stuff and a lot of times they put a lot of new features in really fast. If you are the type of person who's interested in trying and using the most latest stuff, KDE is always going to be the thing that gets the most stuff, but KDE Neon is usually the one that gets all that stuff fastest outside of probably Arch. So basically what KDE Neon does is allows you to use the most vanilla, minimal version of KDE that you're going to experience. You're not going to find a lot of stuff installed on this ISO at all. You don't even get LibreOffice or anything like that. It comes with VLC. It comes with a few of the KDE applications but not nearly all of them. In fact, hardly any. I mean, surprisingly few KDE apps are actually on here. You're just going to get the bare minimum of stuff here and then you're kind of expected to build out your own stuff after you've installed it. Personally, I like KDE the best out of all the desktop environments simply because it allows you to do a ton of customizing. If you're the type of person who will go through and enjoy customizing their desktop environment to the health, KDE is always going to win no matter what. Now, I would say that the other four options on here or at least all of them except for elementary, they all offer some customization. It's never going to reach the level of KDE, obviously, but other than elementary OS, they all offer some level of customization out of the box without actually going through and having to hack anything. Overall, KDE Neon is my choice for the best Ubuntu-based distro. I think that that's probably going to be somewhat controversial amongst a lot of people. I think a lot of people would have chosen Mint or PopOS. Those are probably the number ones that most people would choose. If you have a selection for the number one Ubuntu-based distro, leave those in the comment section below. If you think I'm an idiot for the order that I put these in, also leave that comment in the comment section below. I probably wouldn't disagree with you because if you asked me what order to put these in a few months from now, I'd probably shuffle them up a little bit. This is just what I said along this time. So you can follow me on Twitter, at the Linuxcast, you can support me on Patreon at patreon.com slash linuxcast. Today, Devon, Patrick, all Primus, Marcus, Megalyn, Jax and I from Tools, Steve, A, Sebrek, a Linux, Eric, Mitchell, ArtCenter, CarbonData, Jeremy, Sean, Odin, Martin, Merrick, Camp, Joshua, Lee, J-Dog, Peter, A, Crucible, DarkBand, and Sixth and Flat A. Thanks everybody for watching. I'll see you next time.