 So when someone asks me what distribution they should use when they first start using Linux the Almost universal answer I give them is that the only thing that truly matters is the package manager because really at the end of the day That's all that's different between any given Linux distribution now I can hear people in the comments saying well, that's not true You know, there's different kernels and there's different login managers and there's different init systems That's all true for sure But when it comes to the mainstream Linux distributions that everyone's going to start out with Ubuntu Fedora Arch ArchBase distros things like that the vast majority of them all use the same init system the vast majority of them choose between two different display managers and All of them offer the same number of window managers and desktop environments Those things are all almost universally the same across every Linux distribution. There are I'm sure some Exceptions, but for the most part, that's true so the one thing that I always tell everyone that matters the most when you're choosing a distribution is The package manager because the package manager is the one thing that's guaranteed to be different across different distributions So Ubuntu based distributions and Ubuntu itself use apt ArchBase distributions use Pacman Fedora based distributions or well based distributions use DNF You know, those are the three main package managers I mean if you're going to use open SUSE, I suppose you'd use this for zipper, you know You get the idea depending on what distribution you use you're going to have a different package manager So that led me to ask the question after all this time do package managers actually matter and after using Linux now for five years or at least close to five years full-time I Think I finally have the answer to that question and the answer to the question do package managers actually matter is No, what package manager you use does not matter. It really seriously doesn't do they have differences between them Yes, Pacman seems to be the fastest. I don't really have numbers to back that up, but it feels the fastest DNF and zipper those seem slower than the other package managers and they have different features Apped seems to be about middle of the road, but still really good, you know But the point is is the other than varying levels of speed Which a lot of time has to do with the way those package managers handle mirrors There's really not any big difference between them. They all install software. They all do system updates The syntax may be different, but they all do basically the same thing Some of them have a few extra features that are cool But for the most part they do one thing and that's what they're supposed to do So those things really don't matter which one you choose doesn't really matter What actually matters when you're making the choice between what distribution to use is package availability because while the package managers themselves may all be the same or at least do the same thing The packages that they have available to them is actually different So for example if you're on solace and you're using solace linux and you Get into the package manager or you get into the terminal and use their package manager, which is EO package Their repos are much smaller than any other distro. Well, maybe not any other distro But compared to like Ubuntu their repositories are much smaller Same thing if you hop into elementary OS, you're going to have a Smaller selection of hardware because they limit by default to flat packs Okay, in order to install like dead packages or something like that you have to do a little bit of work It will still work eventually, but you know, you have to kind of finagle your way in order to get there If you're using something like arch on the other hand, you have access to a much broader selection of software Plus you have the added benefits of the aur if you are on Fedora you have a very large pool of software to choose from that's available from Fedora Then they have other repositories for non-free software and they have the copr Which adds even more software to the whole thing same thing with Ubuntu They have a wide variety of software in their repositories, but they also have access to the Debian repositories So they have a large selection of software. So when choosing a distro, what you're really choosing is What software you have available to you because that's really the biggest difference between distros what software do you have available to you in the software repositories of those distributions and The thing is even today is that there is a wide difference between What distribution a and distribution B have in the repositories? So if you compare Debian and you compare Fedora the packages that they have in the repositories are going to be Significantly different not necessarily in terms of actual software, but in terms of versions So the software that's going to be in the Debian repositories is going to be or at least tends to be much older than the Software in the Fedora repository and the Fedora repository has software that is kind of somewhat up to date when but when you compare it to say Arch Linux you're going to find newer packages in the arch repositories than you would in Fedora it's all a matter of how the distribution treats packages and how it allows Users to have access to that software so when you're talking about arts You're talking about a rolling distribution So all of that software is going to be as up to date as possible With Fedora is a little bit different because kind of a rolling release It's not really a rolling release, but it has access to more software that is more frequently updated than Debian Whereas Debian is kind of set on a release schedule and you get what software comes with that particular release You know each release has its own Repos and that's the software pool that you pull from So when you're talking about Package managers and if they matter The bottom line is Really what you're talking about isn't the software tool itself But the software that the package manager has available to it and that is what's going to be different between different distributions now the bottom line when it comes to all of this is choosing the best one for you and That process is going to be an adventure for you because really the only way you can make the choice of what Software repository is the best for you is to actually try them out because they all do things in a little bit different way When it comes to what versions of software they keep now the Elephant in the room here are the containerized package managers because those are much more cross platform Than any other package manager. So like if you talk about Pac-Man and the arch repose, those are Dedicated for arch. You're not going to use them on any other distribution. That's not true with snaps Flatpacks or app images all three of those formats can be easily used on any distribution So when you're choosing between those it's even more of a case of what software is available to you because When you use one of those things they all function from a user perspective almost exactly the same Okay, because for the most part when you download something from either of those three formats You're going to do so from a GUI You're going to download things either from the Genome Software Center or whatever it is whatever your GUI package manager is So that front-end experience is going to be the same for most everything App images are going to be a little bit different because they're not you really included any of those package manager Or GUI software stores. So really we should just leave those out, but they have their own store So you'd be dealing again with probably a front-end GUI software center for app images as well If you're going to install those things from the terminal Then you're going to see some differences like snap has a more apt like syntax than flatpacks does So it's going to be a little bit different from the command line But the point is is that at the end of the day They function from a user perspective almost exactly the same you install them and then you use them That's really the way it is. So the only thing that really truly differs between them other than a few Technical problems that snaps seem to have is the software that is available to them So when it comes to software availability, that's again the biggest issues. So Snap has access to the snap store, which is the only place where snaps can come from Well, that's not true. They can be made by other people But for the most part if you're gonna download a snap that actually almost is certainly coming from the snap store with flat pack That's a little bit different because chances are you're going to be reliant on your distribution For your initial access to flat packs. So for example with fedora and elementary OS They both maintain their own repository for their flat packs That's what you get out of the box if you want to have access to more flat packs You then have to add the flat hub repository, which then broadens your horizons when it comes to software for app images It's a mess. They do have a store now that they're putting stuff together but it's still not up to the other two stores and You can get those many many other places most App images probably still come from the individual software vendors The one thing I didn't mention about flat packs is that they can also be given out by the developers of software So if you go to like a github page, they may offer you a flat pack that you can then install manually through the terminal or something like that and you know That's not something you'll ever see with snaps because snaps is usually almost a hundred percent actually Provided by the snap store. So again, the bottom line is that the Availability of software is what is really truly differentiating every single package manager And that's what you have to look at when you decide what distribution you're going to use and what Containerized package format you're going to choose because it doesn't really matter what you choose It only matters if you can get the software that you need So that is it for this video if you have thoughts on this whole idea that package managers don't really matter Leave those comments in the comment section below because I know I'm going to hear from some people like oh But Pac-Man is so good and DNF is so good and Aptis amazing, you know, and you know, you can still have your favorites when it comes to package managers, right? You can like my favorite package manager all all time is Pac-Man I don't use it anymore because I'm on Fedora, but it is still a really good package manager I like it because it's fast and there's a lot of stuff you can do with it But at the end of the day really all it ever does all it's ever going to do is download apps and update the system. That's Really all it's ever going to do and in that way. It's exactly like every other package manager. 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