Switched to CachyOS from Fedora, wow!

[Lawnman23]

I have been running Fedora on my Framework 13 since I assembled it in May 2026. At the time, I needed a distro with a new enough kernel that supported the new Ryzen AI 300 series chips as well as all the other onboard components. It installed smoothly and everything has been running great with every kernel release since then. Gaming, browsing, all the usual laptop functions have been solid and performing as expected.

My first hands-on experience with using Linux was Red Hat 9 running kernel 2.4. I've always kept tabs on Linux distros and play with various ones from time to time in VM's. I've distro-hopped many times over the years, ran many different DE's and as of late been very much liking Plasma. It has been great on Fedora with no complaints.

Anywho, CachyOS came up again and I figured it was time for this machines first wipe and fresh install. Install again went smooth, CachyOS has a decent wiki explaining all the particulars as needed. I've ran EndeavorOS and Manjaro before, so Arch-based life was nothing new.

After booting into it the first time and setting stuff up, all I can say is...WOW. The speed and snappiness is very real. All the kernel and package builds and optimizations are very noticeable. I setup QEMU/KVM for my VM's and loaded everything up, smooth and stable as expected. It is truly amazing how much snappier everything is compared to Fedora. For anyone that has considered it or is even on the fence about it, flash it to a USB stick and try out the live environment. It's worth a test drive at the very least.

I will continue running this for the foreseeable future, nothing has come up that would make me want to rollback. Sorry for the techno-bable, I know only a certain group will understand what I'm even talking about above.

System specs for those interested:

 

[skyactiv]

I'm now playing with it on a OLED screen ASUS laptop that doesn't run good on Windows 11.

 

[Zee09]

Several years ago I got into downloading and playing with all the distros on a spare computer...
Very entertaining but I got lazy I guess...

 

[Plumb Bob]

Another thick vs. thin thread?

 

[Lawnman23]

Another thick vs. thin thread?

Don’t you mean…bits vs bytes?

 

[Lawnman23]

I'm now playing with it on a OLED screen ASUS laptop that doesn't run good on Windows 11.

View attachment 340299

With only 8 gigs, any Linux distro will fly compared to Win11. Nice background

 

[demarpaint]

You got me thinking.........Thanks for posting this.

 

[martinq]

This is on my list of potential Windows 7 replacements. Thanks for the feedback and info!

Currently testing Win10 Integral Edition but don't know if I'll ever be happy with Win10.

 

[BobsArmory]

Currently running Cashy, Fedora and good old Debian on different SSDs trying to figure out what I will run for the next year or so. Cashy is fun but very bleeding edge. Debian is trusty and reliable. Fedora is somewhere in the middle but trending towards bleeding edge.
Decisions to be made. So many choices!

 

[Lawnman23]

For daily driving endpoints, you are better off testing and picking what feels right to you. All the main distros are backed by massive repos that contain just about any piece of software that you will ever need. I’m always a fan of keeping things up to date and current, for security patches and new features. For that reason, more bleeding edge rolling releases fit my preference.

I would never pick a rolling release for a home server or appliance, tested and stable is key there. Debian or Ubuntu Server is all I use and need.

That’s the wonderful nature of Linux, there is literally something for everyone.

 

[uc50ic4more]

That’s the wonderful nature of Linux, there is literally something for everyone.

You ain't kidding:

https://hannahmontana.sourceforge.net/

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

I normally use Kubuntu on a basic web browsing computer, but I played with CachyOS on it for about a month and it did feel a bit faster and snappier, but nothing I could really quantify. At the very least, it's a good way to get your feet wet with something based on Arch.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

You ain't kidding:

https://hannahmontana.sourceforge.net/

Don't forget this classic:

https://biebian.sourceforge.net/

 

[OVERKILL]

Since most of the Linux boxes (and VM's) that I maintain are servers, I've recently been super happy with Rocky Linux (RHEL for free), which provides that mature, slower moving Enterprise kernel versioning and packages.

As you know, I'm running FreeBSD 15 w/KDE in Wayland on an HP ProBook, I also have FreeBSD a server box that does databasing, scripting and bot posting on twitter/X. It also hosts my Plex server instance at the present time.

I am running Ubuntu Server w/KDE installed on my old Mac Pro, which, now that I know about Rocky, I'd love to transition, but that would be too much of a PITA for a box I don't DD, so it'll stay on Ubuntu for the foreseeable future.

I've not moved over my main desktop to Linux yet, it's still on Windows 11, primarily for the Office 365 stuff, and gaming. But for my laptops, I have a mix of Ubuntu, FreeBSD, KALI, Nobara and Windows 11.

 

[Lawnman23]

Since most of the Linux boxes (and VM's) that I maintain are servers, I've recently been super happy with Rocky Linux (RHEL for free), which provides that mature, slower moving Enterprise kernel versioning and packages.

At my first career IT gig, one of the SysAdmin's loved CentOS and used it for standing up a bunch of his servers. They ran RHEL for most of the prod stuff but for smaller projects that weren't mission critical, it was CentOS because as you said, free. I know how/why Rocky came to be and am glad that it continues on, continuing what CentOS started.

As you know, I'm running FreeBSD 15 w/KDE in Wayland on an HP ProBook, I also have FreeBSD server box that does databasing, scripting and bot posting on twitter/X. It also hosts my Plex server instance at the present time.

After your post about it, you tickled my brain enough that I have it up and running in a VM. I never dealt with the BSD's much in the past so its a learning curve. Darn your inspiraiton, I didn't need another computer project

I am running Ubuntu Server w/KDE installed on my old Mac Pro, which, now that I know about Rocky, I'd love to transition, but that would be too much of a PITA for a box I don't DD, so it'll stay on Ubuntu for the foreseeable future.

As they say, if it aint broke... Ubuntu Server is fantastic for these cases, I have it running on a NUC for my AdGuard Home instance, previously Pi-hole. With the LTS releases, it will contine well into the future happily and stabily.

I've not moved over my main desktop to Linux yet, it's still on Windows 11, primarily for the Office 365 stuff, and gaming. But for my laptops, I have a mix of Ubuntu, FreeBSD, KALI, Nobara and Windows 11.

Ironic you mentioned Nobara, I set it up recently for the first time on a mini PC for Steam gaming. I like the more current kernel that it has, I was having issues with Bazzite on that particuliar box. They both achieve the same end result, albeit in different ways. Like it mostly so far.

I've used Windows since the 3.0 days. I supported Windows professionally for almost 18 years, from Windows 2000 - 10. After all that, I am so happy to be done using it, especially with the dumpster fire the MS continues to make Win11.

Everything in the house is now MacOS or Linux. Except for 1 laptop running Win10 whose sole purpose in life is to update Xbox controller firmware from the app store when needed. Sigh...

 

[OVERKILL]

At my first career IT gig, one of the SysAdmin's loved CentOS and used it for standing up a bunch of his servers. They ran RHEL for most of the prod stuff but for smaller projects that weren't mission critical, it was CentOS because as you said, free. I know how/why Rocky came to be and am glad that it continues on, continuing what CentOS started.

I have a few PACS servers that I manage and the vendor originally instructed us to use RHEL, which I did. Later, they didn't care if it was CentOS and now they actually recommend Rocky over RHEL, which I found wild.

I only recently found out about Rocky (this project) and have put it on a pile of boxes at this point. As you said, it's great to see them continuing what started with CentOS.

After your post about it, you tickled my brain enough that I have it up and running in a VM. I never dealt with the BSD's much in the past so its a learning curve. Darn your inspiraiton, I didn't need another computer project

LOL! FreeBSD was my first non-commercial *NIX. I started on HP-UX and VAX, locally, on dummy terminals and through dial-up (Procomm Plus). My dad was a prof and I got access to the local Uni's systems when I was around 10? In grade 9 I started attending the computer lab at the Uni (was arranged by my computer teacher in HS) which is where I was first exposed to X on some DEC Alpha boxes running DEC's version of Unix. They had a T1 IIRC, and it was a pretty cool experience going from gopher to NCSA Mosaic. These workstations were grayscale, had these big Trinitron screens. We had The UNISYS ICON system in grade school, along with the Apple IIe computers and later the Mac Plus and PowerMacs. Loved playing Sim City on those, lol! But the DEC stations were a whole other experience.

Mid-90's, I got an IBM PS2 486 SX/25 (I've got a thread about it here, I recently resurrected it and upgraded it), and it was my experimentation computer. I discovered FreeBSD and, using a boot floppy, installed it over dial-up That took several days. I loved how I was able to basically recreate that DEC experience. I also was on the Windows 98 beta test team and used that computer for that purpose.

As they say, if it aint broke... Ubuntu Server is fantastic for these cases, I have it running on a NUC for my AdGuard Home instance, previously Pi-hole. With the LTS releases, it will contine well into the future happily and stabily.

Agreed, though my AdGuard Home instance is on Rocky, lol. But yeah, it works and I really wouldn't gain anything from swapping it out for Rocky.

Ironic you mentioned Nobara, I set it up recently for the first time on a mini PC for Steam gaming. I like the more current kernel that it has, I was having issues with Bazzite on that particuliar box. They both achieve the same end result, albeit in different ways. Like it mostly so far.

Yeah, it was former member Rod Knock who introduced me to Nobara, it's pretty good! It's a product of a Fedora developer, IIRC? Who decided to create his own gaming-focused distro based on Fedora.

I've used Windows since the 3.0 days. I supported Windows professionally for almost 18 years, from Windows 2000 - 10. After all that, I am so happy to be done using it, especially with the dumpster fire the MS continues to make Win11.

My first computer was an 8088. I did install Windows 3.0, and later 3.11 on it, though it was somewhat painful on that hardware. IIRC, we also had Windows 2.0 on it for a period. I found PC Tools to be a better interface for that system, since it was mostly used to run Printshop and WordPerfect for DOS. I was in first year Uni when NT5 (later to be called 2000) entered alpha builds. Initially, I was part of the NT5/Win2k group on Efnet, but did eventually make it onto the beta team. I have a copy of NT5 around here somewhere on CD. By the time I was done school, XP was making its way to market, and when I got into the business, I was supporting a blend of 2K servers, workstations, XP workstations and some legacy NT4, Windows 95 and even some 98SE boxes.

Yes, MS really seems to have turned a corner with the AI stuff, and it's not for the better. They've never been so sloppy and producing such garbage code as they are now. I'm still "in it", I work in healthcare, but have started transitioning to Linux where I can. Some applications, vendors require Windows, so I'm supporting Server 2019, 2022 and 2025 currently as well. I've probably got another 20 years to go before I consider retirement.

Everything in the house is now MacOS or Linux. Except for 1 laptop running Win10 whose sole purpose in life is to update Xbox controller firmware from the app store when needed. Sigh...

I've still got a blend. I have three Macs, one is running Linux (the old Mac Pro I mentioned), the others are new enough to still be on MacOS. My boys game, so they are on Windows 11. Phones are all iPhones.

 

[ka9mnx]

I started out about 30 years ago with the original Ubuntu. Then Conical sucked it up and I moved to Mint. Built for those who loved Ubuntu but didn't like the change. Then I moved to LMDE. Nice distro but pretty raw at the time.

About 2010 I decided to go to the source, Debian. I've been a happy user since. It now runs on three old Intel NUCS. My desktop, wife's desktop and a media server for TV streaming (and DVD's, etc.)

I've kicked around playing with BSD several times and someday I'll get something up and running (it's for the computer geek/experimenter).

Only thing in the house using BSD is an old intel NUC running PfSense.

 

[OVERKILL]

I started out about 30 years ago with the original Ubuntu. Then Conical sucked it up and I moved to Mint. Built for those who loved Ubuntu but didn't like the change. Then I moved to LMDE. Nice distro but pretty raw at the time.

About 2010 I decided to go to the source, Debian. I've been a happy user since. It now runs on three old Intel NUCS. My desktop, wife's desktop and a media server for TV streaming (and DVD's, etc.)

I've kicked around playing with BSD several times and someday I'll get something up and running (it's for the computer geek/experimenter).

Only thing in the house using BSD is an old intel NUC running PfSense.

That was probably ~20 years ago, as Ubuntu was spawned by (former?) Debian devs in ~2004. I remember that because I was on Fedora at the time, itself only having recently been spun-out by Redhat, and my fellow nerd and business partner had stumbled across this new distro with this African theme called "Ubuntu" which he thought was really neat.

My first Linux distro was Slackware, in the mid-90's. Came on a big pile of CD's with a Linux "bible".

Debian is a solid OS, I have a PiHole (v5 still) running on it at an office. It just "works".

Early 2000's was a neat time for Linux, we had a pretty diverse selection of distributions like Mandrake, Fedora, SuSE, Corel Linux, Oracle Linux, Gentoo for the extra-nerdy, Debian, Yellowdog...etc. And of course a few firewall distros like IPCop and Smoothwall.

 

[uc50ic4more]

That was probably ~20 years ago, as Ubuntu was spawned by (former?) Debian devs in ~2004. I remember that because I was on Fedora at the time, itself only having recently been spun-out by Redhat, and my fellow nerd and business partner had stumbled across this new distro with this African theme called "Ubuntu" which he thought was really neat.

My first Linux distro was Slackware, in the mid-90's. Came on a big pile of CD's with a Linux "bible".

Debian is a solid OS, I have a PiHole (v5 still) running on it at an office. It just "works".

Early 2000's was a neat time for Linux, we had a pretty diverse selection of distributions like Mandrake, Fedora, SuSE, Corel Linux, Oracle Linux, Gentoo for the extra-nerdy, Debian, Yellowdog...etc. And of course a few firewall distros like IPCop and Smoothwall.

The first Ubuntu (which has always been under Canonical's oversight) was in 2004 (4.10). I picked up the next release 5.04 and have been using it in some capacity since; although my server network and personal workstations and personal computers at home are all Debian Stable. Mark Shuttleworth, a former Debian Dev and the guy who started Thawte (and the second civilian in space), begat Canonical.

 

[ka9mnx]

That was probably ~20 years ago, as Ubuntu was spawned by (former?) Debian devs in ~2004. I remember that because I was on Fedora at the time, itself only having recently been spun-out by Redhat, and my fellow nerd and business partner had stumbled across this new distro with this African theme called "Ubuntu" which he thought was really neat.

My first Linux distro was Slackware, in the mid-90's. Came on a big pile of CD's with a Linux "bible".

Debian is a solid OS, I have a PiHole (v5 still) running on it at an office. It just "works".

Early 2000's was a neat time for Linux, we had a pretty diverse selection of distributions like Mandrake, Fedora, SuSE, Corel Linux, Oracle Linux, Gentoo for the extra-nerdy, Debian, Yellowdog...etc. And of course a few firewall distros like IPCop and Smoothwall.

Your memory is better than mine but you are right. Thinking back I remember Ubuntu coming in around 2004. I don't remember what I was using in the mid 90's. I was using Windows 3.1 then W95, W98 and settled on 2000 which I thought was a great platform. Linux, to me, was a curious toy back then that I played with.

A coworker friend of mine used SuSE and loved it. I think he ran a web server on it if that was possibe.

I ran a Smoothwall box until I discovered PfSense.