I'm a bit of a newbie here, and I'm feeling pretty lost with package management on my PopOS system. Coming from using Pacman on Cachy, everything felt easy, but now I'm juggling between Snap, Flatpak, and APT on PopOS, and it's driving me nuts! I'm having particular issues with LibreOffice — it crashes at startup after I restart my computer, and even after trying to uninstall it through APT, Snap, and Flatpak, it still shows up when I type 'libreoffice' in the terminal. It's frustrating because I don't know what's going wrong with my system. I'm considering switching to a different distro that uses Pacman, like EndeavourOS or Arch, but I'm also curious about OpenSUSE, Fedora, or even NixOS. Can anyone recommend a good distro that isn't Ubuntu-based or Debian-based? Should I stick with PopOS and just try to make it work?
3 Answers
Not at all! The situation with Snap muddying the waters is frustrating. Many users share your sentiment about the confusion with package types. If you’re looking for a more cohesive experience, stick with something like Flatpak for GUI apps, and only rely on Snap if absolutely necessary. Definitely check out that distro selection page for more info on alternatives!
Sounds like your installation might have some corrupt files if you're having trouble with LibreOffice repeatedly crashing. Have you thought about doing a clean install? Also, if you like Cachy, I suggest sticking with that or trying a rolling release like Manjaro, which works well for many users. Plus, it's nice to have the latest software without too much hassle!
You're definitely not dumb! Package management can be super confusing, especially when dealing with different formats like APT, Snap, and Flatpak all at once. It sounds like you're more comfortable with Pacman since that’s what you’ve learned first. Just remember, every system has its quirks, and it can take time to adjust. My advice? Try giving APT some time — it can be surprisingly straightforward once you get used to it!
I’ve used Manjaro for a while without major issues! It’s stable and has great community support, so if you’re early in your Linux journey, it might be a good fit for you too.