{"slug": "pop-os", "name": "Pop!_OS", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "Ubuntu-based Linux distribution from System76, featuring the Rust-built COSMIC desktop.", "recommenders": 12, "commenters": 23, "warners": 3, "score": 10.369, "rising": 1.38, "first": "2025-11-30", "latest": "2026-10-03", "why": "Commenters use it as a dependable daily driver on laptops, desktops and older hardware, and some like its Cosmic desktop with auto-tiling.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 12, "neutral": 8, "compare": 1, "warn": 3}, "spark": [0, 2, 0, 0, 3, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 4, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Daily driver", "Old hardware"], "caveat": "Cosmic bugs", "short_quote": "I use Pop!_OS almost everywhere, but Debian/Ubuntu/Arch with IceWM or Fluxbox (or the like) works great.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://system76.com/pop/", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["Pop!_OS"], "verdict": [{"text": "Commenters use it as a dependable daily driver on laptops, desktops and older hardware,", "cites": [{"id": 798340693, "item_id": 49896293, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49896293", "by": "lproven", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I run Haiku, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Ubuntu, and Pop OS, and all of them go like stink and are daily-drivable", "excerpt": "Indeed. I know of two \"best laptops ever made\": Drew DeVault says it's the X200: https://drewdevault.com/blog/Fucking-laptops/ \u00ab The best laptop ever made is the ThinkPad X200, and I have two of them. \u00bb He has a very strong case. I own one. It is certainly one of the best ever. On the other hand, Brad Taunt says it is the X220: https://btxx.org/posts/x220/ \u00ab The X220 ThinkPad is the greatest laptop ever made and you\u2019", "context": "owns ThinkPad X200/X220 machines", "use_case": "daily use on ThinkPad X220", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google ending ChromeOS support two years early"}, {"id": 797272145, "item_id": 49829509, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49829509", "by": "Forgeties79", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "pop and Bazzite in particular have proven to be perfectly capable daily drivers", "excerpt": "Yeah this whole conversation is interesting to me. Linux was impenetrable to me 10-15 years ago (partially due to age but I wasn\u2019t exactly a kid back then). Now it feels way more polished and usable. I\u2019m hardly a power user but that\u2019s sort of the point! I\u2019ve got machines using bazzite, pop, and elementary. I get tripped up by permissions and stuff here and there but overall pop and Bazzite in particular have proven t", "context": "not a power user", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}, {"id": 795313360, "item_id": 49707085, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49707085", "by": "rpdillon", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Pop!_OS almost everywhere, but Debian/Ubuntu/Arch with IceWM or Fluxbox (or the like) works great.", "excerpt": "Meta-topic: I've seen this comment many times over the years, and it never results in a discussion where folks can agree. My reaction reading it is \"You must be holding it wrong!\" because I daily-drive Linux in many more ways than one (servers, laptops, desktops, handhelds (Hackberry Pi), SBCs, and, Valve-willing, VR headsets), and adore the Linux desktop. I use Pop!_OS almost everywhere, but Debian/Ubuntu/Arch with ", "context": "daily-drives Linux on servers, laptops, desktops, handhelds", "use_case": "daily driver desktops and servers", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft patches Windows and Excel \u2013 breaks audio, remote access, and paste"}, {"id": 743614577, "item_id": 46475911, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46475911", "by": "lproven", "date": "2026-01-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "All are 100% stable and run for days on end without a problem with Ubuntu, Pop OS, FreeBSD", "excerpt": "I use 5 laptops from this era regularly to frequently: i5 and i7 X220, i5 and i7 T420, and quad-core i7 W520. All are 100% stable and run for days on end without a problem with Ubuntu, Pop OS, FreeBSD, and most other things. I think you may have hardware problems.", "context": "", "use_case": "old laptops", "switched_from": "", "story": "I wrote a batch script to keep my 2011 ThinkPad alive for 24/7 streaming"}, {"id": 779145536, "item_id": 48696596, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48696596", "by": "littlecranky67", "date": "2026-06-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Pop_OS! on my old 2014 Macbook Pro", "excerpt": "I use Pop_OS! on my old 2014 Macbook Pro (16 GB LPDDR3, i5-4278U with 4 cores). It runs superbly with Gnome3. Given that it is 12 years old now and the latest supported macOS version with opencore legacy patcher was stuttering and unusably slow, there is a second life now for the machine. I mostly use it as a headless home server, the built in battery serves as UPS, keyboard and trackpad make it easier to setup and d", "context": "", "use_case": "headless home server on old MacBook", "switched_from": "macOS", "story": "Linux on Older Hardware: The Complete Revival Guide"}]}, {"text": " and some like its Cosmic desktop with auto-tiling.", "cites": [{"id": 784491504, "item_id": 49030719, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030719", "by": "SHaD0S", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "PopOS! I used arch for my intro but shortly got tired of the setup.", "excerpt": "PopOS! I used arch for my intro but shortly got tired of the setup. I like Rust so I tried it and fell in close with cosmic. with auto tiling turned on, of course ;)", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "Arch Linux", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}, {"id": 756340480, "item_id": 47271280, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47271280", "by": "piraccini", "date": "2026-03-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Pop!_OS (and Cosmic)", "excerpt": "I love Pop!_OS (and Cosmic) but if they start with this bullshit I need to switch to other Linux distributions. Worst case, will build my own...", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "System76 on Age Verification Laws"}, {"id": 739781137, "item_id": 46236321, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46236321", "by": "panick21_", "date": "2025-12-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have been using is since early Alpha and overall its pretty good.", "excerpt": "I have been using is since early Alpha and overall its pretty good. Certainty bug early on but now that I'm thinking on it I don't remember hitting any real issues in a few months now. I still think the name Pop!_OS is dumb, they should just call it CosmicOS, as this new desktop is their defining feature and its a great name. What is really amazing is that thanks to Cosmic now becoming an important part of Wayland, a", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pop_OS 24.04 LTS with COSMIC desktop environment"}]}, {"text": " The most common complaint is bugs and missing features since the move to Cosmic and Wayland,", "cites": [{"id": 784470096, "item_id": 49029381, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029381", "by": "benoau", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the OS is a little buggy and functionality can be quite sparse in some applications", "excerpt": "Pop OS, combined with \"Toshy\" for using Mac keyboard shortcuts. I find this is a really comprehensive translation of Mac shortcuts, even cmd+shift+{} works for moving between tabs. I use my Keychron keyboard in Mac mode retaining all the same muscle memory. https://github.com/RedBearAK/toshy It was working quite perfectly with 22.04 but there are some caveats with the recent Pop OS \"Cosmos\" version, I can't find the ", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver Linux", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}, {"id": 759185232, "item_id": 47449077, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47449077", "by": "geophile", "date": "2026-03-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I am a huge fan of System76 and Pop_OS", "excerpt": "I have been using Pop_OS for many years, and I\u2019m still on 22.04, which uses X11. I don\u2019t understand the pros and cons of X11 vs. Wayland, I just want a working desktop. 24.04 uses Wayland, and while some people have had no problems migrating, many people are having serious problems. From what I can tell, it\u2019s not a good choice for me yet. This article tells me that it may not be a good choice ever. I am a huge fan of", "context": "long-time Pop_OS user on 22.04", "use_case": "daily desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Wayland set the Linux Desktop back by 10 years"}]}, {"text": " and some gamers found it needed more tweaks than other distros.", "cites": [{"id": 737523953, "item_id": 46095247, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46095247", "by": "Zedfragg", "date": "2025-11-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "PopOS came with a myriad of tweaks and issues needed for things like Ubi Connect", "excerpt": "Soooo, after having to migrate multiple college campus sites across to Windows 11 in time for the W10 drop dead date. I kinda gave up with trying to get my PC running Windows 11 without bugs and freezes. Switched to PopOS, was \"ok\", switched to Arch, performance was awesome. A few days ago I gave Bazzite a blast and now I'm currently installing it as the primary OS on my gaming rig. Other than a few small tweaks, it ", "context": "", "use_case": "gaming", "switched_from": "Windows 11", "story": "Bazzite: Operating System for Linux gaming"}, {"id": 745223472, "item_id": 46576467, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46576467", "by": "erghjunk", "date": "2026-01-11", "stance": "warn", "quote": "It worked when it worked but when it didn't, it REALLY didn't.", "excerpt": "I tried it (PopOS) on my old gaming laptop. It worked when it worked but when it didn't, it REALLY didn't. Linux unfortunately does not support my preferred (which I use semi-professionally) photo software, either (Capture One). Linux desktop feels like nuclear power to me - I've tried switching many many times over the last 20 years and it's just never quite there. I even use a lot of the open source solutions for o", "context": "", "use_case": "old gaming laptop", "switched_from": "", "story": "I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Daily driver", "summary": "Several commenters run it day to day across many machines with few issues.", "quotes": [{"id": 797272145, "item_id": 49829509, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49829509", "by": "Forgeties79", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "pop and Bazzite in particular have proven to be perfectly capable daily drivers", "excerpt": "Yeah this whole conversation is interesting to me. Linux was impenetrable to me 10-15 years ago (partially due to age but I wasn\u2019t exactly a kid back then). Now it feels way more polished and usable. I\u2019m hardly a power user but that\u2019s sort of the point! I\u2019ve got machines using bazzite, pop, and elementary. I get tripped up by permissions and stuff here and there but overall pop and Bazzite in particular have proven t", "context": "not a power user", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}, {"id": 795313360, "item_id": 49707085, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49707085", "by": "rpdillon", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Pop!_OS almost everywhere, but Debian/Ubuntu/Arch with IceWM or Fluxbox (or the like) works great.", "excerpt": "Meta-topic: I've seen this comment many times over the years, and it never results in a discussion where folks can agree. My reaction reading it is \"You must be holding it wrong!\" because I daily-drive Linux in many more ways than one (servers, laptops, desktops, handhelds (Hackberry Pi), SBCs, and, Valve-willing, VR headsets), and adore the Linux desktop. I use Pop!_OS almost everywhere, but Debian/Ubuntu/Arch with ", "context": "daily-drives Linux on servers, laptops, desktops, handhelds", "use_case": "daily driver desktops and servers", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft patches Windows and Excel \u2013 breaks audio, remote access, and paste"}, {"id": 759373745, "item_id": 47460859, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47460859", "by": "EastSmith", "date": "2026-03-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "using Ubuntu and PopOS! on two different laptops. I've had very small number of issues.", "excerpt": "I've used Windows since 3.11 and I am using macOS for 5+ years now for work (requirement). Switched to Linux on my personal devices 2 years ago and using Ubuntu and PopOS! on two different laptops. I've had very small number of issues. Can't understand people moving to Mac - it is the same messed half backed OS as both Windows and Linux (flavors). With the llms these days, any linux issue is fixable within minutes. W", "context": "", "use_case": "personal laptops", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Our Commitment to Windows Quality"}]}, {"label": "Old hardware", "summary": "Runs well and stays stable on older ThinkPads and a 2014 MacBook Pro.", "quotes": [{"id": 779145536, "item_id": 48696596, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48696596", "by": "littlecranky67", "date": "2026-06-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Pop_OS! on my old 2014 Macbook Pro", "excerpt": "I use Pop_OS! on my old 2014 Macbook Pro (16 GB LPDDR3, i5-4278U with 4 cores). It runs superbly with Gnome3. Given that it is 12 years old now and the latest supported macOS version with opencore legacy patcher was stuttering and unusably slow, there is a second life now for the machine. I mostly use it as a headless home server, the built in battery serves as UPS, keyboard and trackpad make it easier to setup and d", "context": "", "use_case": "headless home server on old MacBook", "switched_from": "macOS", "story": "Linux on Older Hardware: The Complete Revival Guide"}, {"id": 798340693, "item_id": 49896293, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49896293", "by": "lproven", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I run Haiku, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Ubuntu, and Pop OS, and all of them go like stink and are daily-drivable", "excerpt": "Indeed. I know of two \"best laptops ever made\": Drew DeVault says it's the X200: https://drewdevault.com/blog/Fucking-laptops/ \u00ab The best laptop ever made is the ThinkPad X200, and I have two of them. \u00bb He has a very strong case. I own one. It is certainly one of the best ever. On the other hand, Brad Taunt says it is the X220: https://btxx.org/posts/x220/ \u00ab The X220 ThinkPad is the greatest laptop ever made and you\u2019", "context": "owns ThinkPad X200/X220 machines", "use_case": "daily use on ThinkPad X220", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google ending ChromeOS support two years early"}, {"id": 743614577, "item_id": 46475911, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46475911", "by": "lproven", "date": "2026-01-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "All are 100% stable and run for days on end without a problem with Ubuntu, Pop OS, FreeBSD", "excerpt": "I use 5 laptops from this era regularly to frequently: i5 and i7 X220, i5 and i7 T420, and quad-core i7 W520. All are 100% stable and run for days on end without a problem with Ubuntu, Pop OS, FreeBSD, and most other things. I think you may have hardware problems.", "context": "", "use_case": "old laptops", "switched_from": "", "story": "I wrote a batch script to keep my 2011 ThinkPad alive for 24/7 streaming"}]}, {"label": "Gaming", "summary": "Some use it on their gaming PCs and enjoy it.", "quotes": [{"id": 739780608, "item_id": 46236288, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46236288", "by": "Manfred", "date": "2025-12-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Pop!_OS for my gaming PC and I generally enjoy it.", "excerpt": "I use Pop!_OS for my gaming PC and I generally enjoy it. It could do with less punctuation in the name because it makes it harder to search the internet for distro specific information.", "context": "", "use_case": "gaming PC", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pop_OS 24.04 LTS with COSMIC desktop environment"}, {"id": 789595953, "item_id": 49349747, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49349747", "by": "larksimian", "date": "2026-08-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "ubuntu for work popos for gaming setup to be better for me", "excerpt": "Just ask any of the last gen coding agents to fix this for you and they'll make a script that tweaks a few things and it just works. Is it acceptable? No. Did it solve my endless crashes that I used to get every day? Yes. I don't love Ubuntu, I just hate modern Windows and find my ubuntu for work popos for gaming setup to be better for me. Ymmv.", "context": "", "use_case": "gaming", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Linux 7.3 improves performance when running out of vRAM"}, {"id": 783426480, "item_id": 48964155, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48964155", "by": "TacticalCoder", "date": "2026-07-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I did put PoP OS! and Steam on it but I'll swap to another distro if needed", "excerpt": "> I see a number 4770 and 4790 still doing the job they were bought for. I expect the same for 12th gen when they're 13yo. Not so for anything between 4th and 12th. What do you mean? My Core i7-6700K is still running strong on its Asus Z-170A mobo (TFA mention a Z370-A, mine's a bit older but was one of the first mobo to offer a M.2 NVMe slot). It even runs very modern games just fine on whatever not-so-powerful GPU ", "context": "", "use_case": "daughter's gaming PC", "switched_from": "", "story": "GTX 1080s: Testing a Legend"}]}, {"label": "Cosmic desktop", "summary": "Fans like the Rust-based Cosmic desktop and its auto-tiling.", "quotes": [{"id": 784491504, "item_id": 49030719, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030719", "by": "SHaD0S", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "PopOS! I used arch for my intro but shortly got tired of the setup.", "excerpt": "PopOS! I used arch for my intro but shortly got tired of the setup. I like Rust so I tried it and fell in close with cosmic. with auto tiling turned on, of course ;)", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "Arch Linux", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}, {"id": 756340480, "item_id": 47271280, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47271280", "by": "piraccini", "date": "2026-03-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Pop!_OS (and Cosmic)", "excerpt": "I love Pop!_OS (and Cosmic) but if they start with this bullshit I need to switch to other Linux distributions. Worst case, will build my own...", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "System76 on Age Verification Laws"}, {"id": 739781137, "item_id": 46236321, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46236321", "by": "panick21_", "date": "2025-12-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have been using is since early Alpha and overall its pretty good.", "excerpt": "I have been using is since early Alpha and overall its pretty good. Certainty bug early on but now that I'm thinking on it I don't remember hitting any real issues in a few months now. I still think the name Pop!_OS is dumb, they should just call it CosmicOS, as this new desktop is their defining feature and its a great name. What is really amazing is that thanks to Cosmic now becoming an important part of Wayland, a", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pop_OS 24.04 LTS with COSMIC desktop environment"}]}, {"label": "Easier setup", "summary": "One commenter switched to it after tiring of setting up Arch, and another finds it approachable as a non-power user.", "quotes": [{"id": 784491504, "item_id": 49030719, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030719", "by": "SHaD0S", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "PopOS! I used arch for my intro but shortly got tired of the setup.", "excerpt": "PopOS! I used arch for my intro but shortly got tired of the setup. I like Rust so I tried it and fell in close with cosmic. with auto tiling turned on, of course ;)", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "Arch Linux", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}, {"id": 797272145, "item_id": 49829509, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49829509", "by": "Forgeties79", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "pop and Bazzite in particular have proven to be perfectly capable daily drivers", "excerpt": "Yeah this whole conversation is interesting to me. Linux was impenetrable to me 10-15 years ago (partially due to age but I wasn\u2019t exactly a kid back then). Now it feels way more polished and usable. I\u2019m hardly a power user but that\u2019s sort of the point! I\u2019ve got machines using bazzite, pop, and elementary. I get tripped up by permissions and stuff here and there but overall pop and Bazzite in particular have proven t", "context": "not a power user", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}]}, {"label": "No Snap", "summary": "Recommended as a lighter Ubuntu alternative without Snap.", "quotes": [{"id": 768563152, "item_id": 48035197, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48035197", "by": "solarkraft", "date": "2026-05-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which is why I recommend Pop OS - at least I did when it was a light weight Ubuntu fork", "excerpt": "> There's also the fact that Ubuntu ships with the GNOME desktop environment, and really only GNOME. This is a feature. Standardization is what makes \u201eWorks on Ubuntu\u201c a stable target. I also dislike Snap and the various other Ubuntu anti-features, which is why I recommend Pop OS - at least I did when it was a light weight Ubuntu fork, it may not be anymore. This is just a rando\u2018s opinion, so it may not be based on t", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fedora is now the default Linux recommendation, and Ubuntu did this to itself"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Cosmic bugs", "summary": "The newer Cosmic release is described as a bit buggy, with sparse functionality and missing shortcuts.", "quotes": [{"id": 784470096, "item_id": 49029381, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029381", "by": "benoau", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the OS is a little buggy and functionality can be quite sparse in some applications", "excerpt": "Pop OS, combined with \"Toshy\" for using Mac keyboard shortcuts. I find this is a really comprehensive translation of Mac shortcuts, even cmd+shift+{} works for moving between tabs. I use my Keychron keyboard in Mac mode retaining all the same muscle memory. https://github.com/RedBearAK/toshy It was working quite perfectly with 22.04 but there are some caveats with the recent Pop OS \"Cosmos\" version, I can't find the ", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver Linux", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}]}, {"label": "Wayland migration", "summary": "A long-time user says the move to Wayland in 24.04 is causing serious problems for many people.", "quotes": [{"id": 759185232, "item_id": 47449077, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47449077", "by": "geophile", "date": "2026-03-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I am a huge fan of System76 and Pop_OS", "excerpt": "I have been using Pop_OS for many years, and I\u2019m still on 22.04, which uses X11. I don\u2019t understand the pros and cons of X11 vs. Wayland, I just want a working desktop. 24.04 uses Wayland, and while some people have had no problems migrating, many people are having serious problems. From what I can tell, it\u2019s not a good choice for me yet. This article tells me that it may not be a good choice ever. I am a huge fan of", "context": "long-time Pop_OS user on 22.04", "use_case": "daily desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Wayland set the Linux Desktop back by 10 years"}]}, {"label": "Gaming tweaks", "summary": "Some gamers hit issues and found it less performant than Bazzite or Arch.", "quotes": [{"id": 737523953, "item_id": 46095247, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46095247", "by": "Zedfragg", "date": "2025-11-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "PopOS came with a myriad of tweaks and issues needed for things like Ubi Connect", "excerpt": "Soooo, after having to migrate multiple college campus sites across to Windows 11 in time for the W10 drop dead date. I kinda gave up with trying to get my PC running Windows 11 without bugs and freezes. Switched to PopOS, was \"ok\", switched to Arch, performance was awesome. A few days ago I gave Bazzite a blast and now I'm currently installing it as the primary OS on my gaming rig. Other than a few small tweaks, it ", "context": "", "use_case": "gaming", "switched_from": "Windows 11", "story": "Bazzite: Operating System for Linux gaming"}, {"id": 745223472, "item_id": 46576467, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46576467", "by": "erghjunk", "date": "2026-01-11", "stance": "warn", "quote": "It worked when it worked but when it didn't, it REALLY didn't.", "excerpt": "I tried it (PopOS) on my old gaming laptop. It worked when it worked but when it didn't, it REALLY didn't. Linux unfortunately does not support my preferred (which I use semi-professionally) photo software, either (Capture One). Linux desktop feels like nuclear power to me - I've tried switching many many times over the last 20 years and it's just never quite there. I even use a lot of the open source solutions for o", "context": "", "use_case": "old gaming laptop", "switched_from": "", "story": "I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too"}]}, {"label": "Hard to search", "summary": "The punctuation in the name makes distro-specific help harder to find.", "quotes": [{"id": 739780608, "item_id": 46236288, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46236288", "by": "Manfred", "date": "2025-12-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Pop!_OS for my gaming PC and I generally enjoy it.", "excerpt": "I use Pop!_OS for my gaming PC and I generally enjoy it. It could do with less punctuation in the name because it makes it harder to search the internet for distro specific information.", "context": "", "use_case": "gaming PC", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pop_OS 24.04 LTS with COSMIC desktop environment"}, {"id": 739781137, "item_id": 46236321, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46236321", "by": "panick21_", "date": "2025-12-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have been using is since early Alpha and overall its pretty good.", "excerpt": "I have been using is since early Alpha and overall its pretty good. Certainty bug early on but now that I'm thinking on it I don't remember hitting any real issues in a few months now. I still think the name Pop!_OS is dumb, they should just call it CosmicOS, as this new desktop is their defining feature and its a great name. What is really amazing is that thanks to Cosmic now becoming an important part of Wayland, a", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pop_OS 24.04 LTS with COSMIC desktop environment"}]}, {"label": "Security posture", "summary": "One commenter warns against it over the project's security posture.", "quotes": [{"id": 799175808, "item_id": 49948488, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49948488", "by": "baq", "date": "2026-10-03", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I won't and I recommend anyone currently using it to reconsider", "excerpt": "I won't and I recommend anyone currently using it to reconsider due to the security posture the project necessarily and unfortunately has as a direct consequence of its policies.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pop!_OS bans AI-generated code from much of its codebase"}]}, {"label": "Less lightweight", "summary": "One commenter is unsure it is still the lightweight Ubuntu fork they once recommended.", "quotes": [{"id": 768563152, "item_id": 48035197, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48035197", "by": "solarkraft", "date": "2026-05-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which is why I recommend Pop OS - at least I did when it was a light weight Ubuntu fork", "excerpt": "> There's also the fact that Ubuntu ships with the GNOME desktop environment, and really only GNOME. This is a feature. Standardization is what makes \u201eWorks on Ubuntu\u201c a stable target. I also dislike Snap and the various other Ubuntu anti-features, which is why I recommend Pop OS - at least I did when it was a light weight Ubuntu fork, it may not be anymore. This is just a rando\u2018s opinion, so it may not be based on t", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fedora is now the default Linux recommendation, and Ubuntu did this to itself"}]}], "who": [{"by": "lproven", "context": "owns ThinkPad X200/X220 machines", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49896293", "date": "2026-09-29"}, {"by": "Forgeties79", "context": "not a power user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49829509", "date": "2026-09-24"}, {"by": "rpdillon", "context": "daily-drives Linux on servers, laptops, desktops, handhelds", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49707085", "date": "2026-09-15"}, {"by": "geophile", "context": "long-time Pop_OS user on 22.04", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47449077", "date": "2026-03-19"}, {"by": "giancarlostoro", "context": "gamer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46796497", "date": "2026-01-28"}], "tags": ["for gamers", "for old hardware", "for Linux newcomers", "for ThinkPad users"], "use_cases": ["daily driver os", "gaming", "linux desktop", "previous os", "daily use on thinkpad x220", "classic win/macos-style desktop"], "compared": [{"slug": "ubuntu", "name": "Ubuntu", "co": 7, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "arch-linux", "name": "Arch Linux", "co": 3, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "windows", "name": "Windows", "co": 1, "switched_from": 2, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "bazzite", "name": "Bazzite", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "cosmic", "name": "COSMIC", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "windows-11", "name": "Windows 11", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "macos", "name": "macOS", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "endeavouros", "name": "EndeavourOS", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029345", "title": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49825642", "title": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46235618", "title": "Pop_OS 24.04 LTS with COSMIC desktop environment", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49946321", "title": "Pop!_OS bans AI-generated code from much of its codebase", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49908757", "title": "Upgrade your desktop: Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS is now available", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49893653", "title": "Google ending ChromeOS support two years early", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"warn": 1}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 3, "warn": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 3}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 2, "compare": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {"warn": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 799175808, "item_id": 49948488, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49948488", "by": "baq", "date": "2026-10-03", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I won't and I recommend anyone currently using it to reconsider", "excerpt": "I won't and I recommend anyone currently using it to reconsider due to the security posture the project necessarily and unfortunately has as a direct consequence of its policies.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pop!_OS bans AI-generated code from much of its codebase"}, {"id": 798554498, "item_id": 49909656, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49909656", "by": "noisy_boy", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "having used Pop!_OS for a while", "excerpt": "When I was trying to go upstream having used Pop!_OS for a while, I installed Kubuntu first and even though the install went through, the distro had problems getting to the desktop after post-install reboot. Even though my laptop is a Thinkpad which is supposed to be very well supported. I took this as a sign of things to come and shrugged off my hangover of rpm hell(!) and tried with Fedora+KDE instead. Best decisio", "context": "", "use_case": "previous OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Upgrade your desktop: Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS is now available"}, {"id": 798340693, "item_id": 49896293, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49896293", "by": "lproven", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I run Haiku, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Ubuntu, and Pop OS, and all of them go like stink and are daily-drivable", "excerpt": "Indeed. I know of two \"best laptops ever made\": Drew DeVault says it's the X200: https://drewdevault.com/blog/Fucking-laptops/ \u00ab The best laptop ever made is the ThinkPad X200, and I have two of them. \u00bb He has a very strong case. I own one. It is certainly one of the best ever. On the other hand, Brad Taunt says it is the X220: https://btxx.org/posts/x220/ \u00ab The X220 ThinkPad is the greatest laptop ever made and you\u2019", "context": "owns ThinkPad X200/X220 machines", "use_case": "daily use on ThinkPad X220", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google ending ChromeOS support two years early"}, {"id": 797272145, "item_id": 49829509, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49829509", "by": "Forgeties79", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "pop and Bazzite in particular have proven to be perfectly capable daily drivers", "excerpt": "Yeah this whole conversation is interesting to me. Linux was impenetrable to me 10-15 years ago (partially due to age but I wasn\u2019t exactly a kid back then). Now it feels way more polished and usable. I\u2019m hardly a power user but that\u2019s sort of the point! I\u2019ve got machines using bazzite, pop, and elementary. I get tripped up by permissions and stuff here and there but overall pop and Bazzite in particular have proven t", "context": "not a power user", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}, {"id": 797237969, "item_id": 49827373, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49827373", "by": "k_bx", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love the future shaped by two things: Omarchy and Pop!_OS.", "excerpt": "I love the future shaped by two things: Omarchy and Pop!_OS. Both give two different worlds, one serves classic Win/MacOS style users while another is new-age AI-native system.", "context": "", "use_case": "classic Win/macOS-style desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}, {"id": 795313360, "item_id": 49707085, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49707085", "by": "rpdillon", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Pop!_OS almost everywhere, but Debian/Ubuntu/Arch with IceWM or Fluxbox (or the like) works great.", "excerpt": "Meta-topic: I've seen this comment many times over the years, and it never results in a discussion where folks can agree. My reaction reading it is \"You must be holding it wrong!\" because I daily-drive Linux in many more ways than one (servers, laptops, desktops, handhelds (Hackberry Pi), SBCs, and, Valve-willing, VR headsets), and adore the Linux desktop. I use Pop!_OS almost everywhere, but Debian/Ubuntu/Arch with ", "context": "daily-drives Linux on servers, laptops, desktops, handhelds", "use_case": "daily driver desktops and servers", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft patches Windows and Excel \u2013 breaks audio, remote access, and paste"}, {"id": 789595953, "item_id": 49349747, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49349747", "by": "larksimian", "date": "2026-08-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "ubuntu for work popos for gaming setup to be better for me", "excerpt": "Just ask any of the last gen coding agents to fix this for you and they'll make a script that tweaks a few things and it just works. Is it acceptable? No. Did it solve my endless crashes that I used to get every day? Yes. I don't love Ubuntu, I just hate modern Windows and find my ubuntu for work popos for gaming setup to be better for me. Ymmv.", "context": "", "use_case": "gaming", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Linux 7.3 improves performance when running out of vRAM"}, {"id": 784491504, "item_id": 49030719, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030719", "by": "SHaD0S", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "PopOS! I used arch for my intro but shortly got tired of the setup.", "excerpt": "PopOS! I used arch for my intro but shortly got tired of the setup. I like Rust so I tried it and fell in close with cosmic. with auto tiling turned on, of course ;)", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "Arch Linux", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}, {"id": 784470608, "item_id": 49029413, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029413", "by": "addajones", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I was looking into PopOS or CachyOS (with Cosmic).", "excerpt": "Awesome, I'll take a look at Toshy, too. I was looking into PopOS or CachyOS (with Cosmic). There seems to be such a vast amount of Linux distros and window managers than I remember from a good 5-10 years ago. Everything seems to be tied to a subscription now on the Windows/Mac side in some way, its been very off putting for me.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}, {"id": 784470096, "item_id": 49029381, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029381", "by": "benoau", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the OS is a little buggy and functionality can be quite sparse in some applications", "excerpt": "Pop OS, combined with \"Toshy\" for using Mac keyboard shortcuts. I find this is a really comprehensive translation of Mac shortcuts, even cmd+shift+{} works for moving between tabs. I use my Keychron keyboard in Mac mode retaining all the same muscle memory. https://github.com/RedBearAK/toshy It was working quite perfectly with 22.04 but there are some caveats with the recent Pop OS \"Cosmos\" version, I can't find the ", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver Linux", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}, {"id": 783426480, "item_id": 48964155, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48964155", "by": "TacticalCoder", "date": "2026-07-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I did put PoP OS! and Steam on it but I'll swap to another distro if needed", "excerpt": "> I see a number 4770 and 4790 still doing the job they were bought for. I expect the same for 12th gen when they're 13yo. Not so for anything between 4th and 12th. What do you mean? My Core i7-6700K is still running strong on its Asus Z-170A mobo (TFA mention a Z370-A, mine's a bit older but was one of the first mobo to offer a M.2 NVMe slot). It even runs very modern games just fine on whatever not-so-powerful GPU ", "context": "", "use_case": "daughter's gaming PC", "switched_from": "", "story": "GTX 1080s: Testing a Legend"}, {"id": 779145536, "item_id": 48696596, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48696596", "by": "littlecranky67", "date": "2026-06-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Pop_OS! on my old 2014 Macbook Pro", "excerpt": "I use Pop_OS! on my old 2014 Macbook Pro (16 GB LPDDR3, i5-4278U with 4 cores). It runs superbly with Gnome3. Given that it is 12 years old now and the latest supported macOS version with opencore legacy patcher was stuttering and unusably slow, there is a second life now for the machine. I mostly use it as a headless home server, the built in battery serves as UPS, keyboard and trackpad make it easier to setup and d", "context": "", "use_case": "headless home server on old MacBook", "switched_from": "macOS", "story": "Linux on Older Hardware: The Complete Revival Guide"}, {"id": 775980914, "item_id": 48498807, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48498807", "by": "analog_daddy", "date": "2026-06-11", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I daily drive pop os now.", "excerpt": "Yes. I daily drive pop os now. Hate to use flatpak for anything. Only install core packages, google chrome and vscode using apt. Almost everything else is installed using homebrew. The idea is have a base stable system for UI and basic shell. Usually get the latest packages from brew. Earlier same base system but had distrobox with arch toolbox. Planning on using this scheme going forward, especially since while I lo", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Homebrew 6.0.0"}, {"id": 768563152, "item_id": 48035197, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48035197", "by": "solarkraft", "date": "2026-05-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which is why I recommend Pop OS - at least I did when it was a light weight Ubuntu fork", "excerpt": "> There's also the fact that Ubuntu ships with the GNOME desktop environment, and really only GNOME. This is a feature. Standardization is what makes \u201eWorks on Ubuntu\u201c a stable target. I also dislike Snap and the various other Ubuntu anti-features, which is why I recommend Pop OS - at least I did when it was a light weight Ubuntu fork, it may not be anymore. This is just a rando\u2018s opinion, so it may not be based on t", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fedora is now the default Linux recommendation, and Ubuntu did this to itself"}, {"id": 759373745, "item_id": 47460859, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47460859", "by": "EastSmith", "date": "2026-03-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "using Ubuntu and PopOS! on two different laptops. I've had very small number of issues.", "excerpt": "I've used Windows since 3.11 and I am using macOS for 5+ years now for work (requirement). Switched to Linux on my personal devices 2 years ago and using Ubuntu and PopOS! on two different laptops. I've had very small number of issues. Can't understand people moving to Mac - it is the same messed half backed OS as both Windows and Linux (flavors). With the llms these days, any linux issue is fixable within minutes. W", "context": "", "use_case": "personal laptops", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Our Commitment to Windows Quality"}, {"id": 759185232, "item_id": 47449077, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47449077", "by": "geophile", "date": "2026-03-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I am a huge fan of System76 and Pop_OS", "excerpt": "I have been using Pop_OS for many years, and I\u2019m still on 22.04, which uses X11. I don\u2019t understand the pros and cons of X11 vs. Wayland, I just want a working desktop. 24.04 uses Wayland, and while some people have had no problems migrating, many people are having serious problems. From what I can tell, it\u2019s not a good choice for me yet. This article tells me that it may not be a good choice ever. I am a huge fan of", "context": "long-time Pop_OS user on 22.04", "use_case": "daily desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Wayland set the Linux Desktop back by 10 years"}, {"id": 756340480, "item_id": 47271280, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47271280", "by": "piraccini", "date": "2026-03-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Pop!_OS (and Cosmic)", "excerpt": "I love Pop!_OS (and Cosmic) but if they start with this bullshit I need to switch to other Linux distributions. Worst case, will build my own...", "context": "", "use_case": "Linux desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "System76 on Age Verification Laws"}, {"id": 748743956, "item_id": 46796497, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46796497", "by": "giancarlostoro", "date": "2026-01-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I was on POP_OS! for a good year", "excerpt": "This was me in 2022 or 2023. I have posted on HN about my shift a few times. I gave up with Windows 10 because you needed Windows Pro in order to make an \"offline\" account, I spent $2000+ for a gaming rig, and I couldn't add new users, one program told me to use the other program which brought me back to the original program... I had to go out of my way, buy a license just to make it work. I just went and installed L", "context": "gamer", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux"}, {"id": 748495361, "item_id": 46780960, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46780960", "by": "spicyusername", "date": "2026-01-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I've been using popos for a while", "excerpt": "Great to see xfce continue on into the next age. I've been using popos for a while, but xfce will always have a place in my heart. If it had tiling support I'd probably use it still. Being so lightweight is a massive boon.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Xfwl4 \u2013 The Roadmap for a Xfce Wayland Compositor"}, {"id": 745223472, "item_id": 46576467, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46576467", "by": "erghjunk", "date": "2026-01-11", "stance": "warn", "quote": "It worked when it worked but when it didn't, it REALLY didn't.", "excerpt": "I tried it (PopOS) on my old gaming laptop. It worked when it worked but when it didn't, it REALLY didn't. Linux unfortunately does not support my preferred (which I use semi-professionally) photo software, either (Capture One). Linux desktop feels like nuclear power to me - I've tried switching many many times over the last 20 years and it's just never quite there. I even use a lot of the open source solutions for o", "context": "", "use_case": "old gaming laptop", "switched_from": "", "story": "I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too"}, {"id": 743614577, "item_id": 46475911, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46475911", "by": "lproven", "date": "2026-01-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "All are 100% stable and run for days on end without a problem with Ubuntu, Pop OS, FreeBSD", "excerpt": "I use 5 laptops from this era regularly to frequently: i5 and i7 X220, i5 and i7 T420, and quad-core i7 W520. All are 100% stable and run for days on end without a problem with Ubuntu, Pop OS, FreeBSD, and most other things. I think you may have hardware problems.", "context": "", "use_case": "old laptops", "switched_from": "", "story": "I wrote a batch script to keep my 2011 ThinkPad alive for 24/7 streaming"}, {"id": 739781137, "item_id": 46236321, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46236321", "by": "panick21_", "date": "2025-12-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have been using is since early Alpha and overall its pretty good.", "excerpt": "I have been using is since early Alpha and overall its pretty good. Certainty bug early on but now that I'm thinking on it I don't remember hitting any real issues in a few months now. I still think the name Pop!_OS is dumb, they should just call it CosmicOS, as this new desktop is their defining feature and its a great name. What is really amazing is that thanks to Cosmic now becoming an important part of Wayland, a", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pop_OS 24.04 LTS with COSMIC desktop environment"}, {"id": 739780608, "item_id": 46236288, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46236288", "by": "Manfred", "date": "2025-12-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Pop!_OS for my gaming PC and I generally enjoy it.", "excerpt": "I use Pop!_OS for my gaming PC and I generally enjoy it. It could do with less punctuation in the name because it makes it harder to search the internet for distro specific information.", "context": "", "use_case": "gaming PC", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pop_OS 24.04 LTS with COSMIC desktop environment"}, {"id": 737523953, "item_id": 46095247, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46095247", "by": "Zedfragg", "date": "2025-11-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "PopOS came with a myriad of tweaks and issues needed for things like Ubi Connect", "excerpt": "Soooo, after having to migrate multiple college campus sites across to Windows 11 in time for the W10 drop dead date. I kinda gave up with trying to get my PC running Windows 11 without bugs and freezes. Switched to PopOS, was \"ok\", switched to Arch, performance was awesome. A few days ago I gave Bazzite a blast and now I'm currently installing it as the primary OS on my gaming rig. Other than a few small tweaks, it ", "context": "", "use_case": "gaming", "switched_from": "Windows 11", "story": "Bazzite: Operating System for Linux gaming"}]}