I'm looking to set up a home server and want to transition away from Windows while learning how to use Linux. The main goal is to host game servers for my friends. I'm not sure which Linux distribution would be the best choice for this purpose.
5 Answers
For a reliable server experience, I recommend sticking with a well-known distro that has lots of support and guides available. Debian is a solid choice, and many people also go for Ubuntu LTS because of its stability.
If you're looking for simplicity, Ubuntu Server is probably the way to go, as it's beginner-friendly and has robust support. However, if you want a desktop environment too, using a standard desktop distro like Ubuntu or Fedora could also work well!
I just switched to Debian flavors last week! For my PC, I used Linux Mint for a familiar interface, but for my Plex server, I dropped Windows for headless Ubuntu Server and gained some great performance. It's been smooth sailing so far!
I think the latest Ubuntu LTS version (currently 24.04) would be ideal for your server. Both Ubuntu and Debian have minimal changes and are popular, with plenty of software support.
If this is your first time, I'd suggest going with Debian or maybe Alma or Rocky Linux. Debian is particularly user-friendly if you're starting out.
I totally agree! While there are many distros out there, the stability of Debian or Ubuntu LTS is what you'd want for a good learning curve and server performance.