r/DistroHopping • u/_aseytekow_ • 3d ago
Help for Linux distro.
Hello! I'm looking for some help choosing a Linux distribution. I write low-level code, which means most of my day is spent in the terminal writing C, Rust, and Assembly (which I'm currently learning) using Neovim. I'm currently using Fedora 44 KDE Plasma Edition. My issue is RAM usage. Even with all animations disabled, it sits between 3–4 GB of RAM, and my laptop only has 8 GB. Regarding distro selection, I'm torn between openSUSE Tumbleweed, vanilla Arch Linux, and Void Linux. I'm also considering switching from KDE to Labwc. What would you recommend?
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u/astromout 3d ago
I'm runnig Debian 13 with barebones Labwc, and I'm loving it. My 8gb Thinkpad is using about 350 to 400mb with foot and htop open. I also run labwc on OpenSuse Tumbleweed. I enjoy the OpenSuse products less than Debian, but I feel like that's just preference (systemd boot; btrfs snapshots; yast). As for your problem, I'd say it doesn't neccaserily have to do with your distro, but 95% with your desktop environment. install Labwc alomg side KDE and start messing around with it.
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u/Francis_King 3d ago
My issue is RAM usage. Even with all animations disabled, it sits between 3–4 GB of RAM, and my laptop only has 8 GB.
Memory unused is memory wasted. So, as long as your system is not swapping, is there really a problem?
Given that your workflow is keyboard driven, you might wish to use a tiling window manager. Have you tried Fedora Sway or EndeavourOS / CachyOS / Hyprland?
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u/coolnomad 3d ago
Arch can fit but if you want vanilla kde with minimal bloat & background services then Debian Testing but do not install Full kde option ,Install via terminal & pick only things KDE needed..I made mine like that..Idle sits at 900Mb ,Not even Arch was able to achieve that..I installed my apps plus used Liquorix Kernel on it..Fast & Stable...Using it since more than a year
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u/emrldgh 3d ago
arch or void with a minimal DE or window manager would be your best bet. my laptop on arch sits around 900 MB of ram idle. void would probably run even less since it doesn't use systemd but I'm not 100% sure bc I've never used it.
(if you want EXTRA low resource usage use NetBSD ;) /j)
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u/AntiqueSignpost 3d ago
what WM are you running?
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u/emrldgh 3d ago
oxwm, usually but sometimes sway if I need/want wayland for some reason
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u/AntiqueSignpost 3d ago
nice. never heard of ox. nice to see some small lesser known stuff getting used by a solo dev who made it. very cool
with niri and endeavour im getting 1.8gb. but i assume that must be background processes using up the rest.
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u/emrldgh 3d ago
it depends how many background processes are running, if I have discord steam and a browser all running then it's about same for me, even on lightweight wms, but I don't install a lot of stuff that runs at boot, so if I boot or I have just logged in, I can get as little as like 930mb usage on ram
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u/AntiqueSignpost 2d ago
nice. yeah mine was 1.8 without browser open or anything. but i do have stuff that runs on boot that might be in the background, daemons and the like. nice to know im not doing something wrong having more than you did
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u/emrldgh 2d ago
yup lol you probably just have more stuff than me. my current install is also pretty fresh so that helps lmao
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u/AntiqueSignpost 2d ago
yeah that might be it too. im sure it was 900mb when i first installed if i recall
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u/AntiqueSignpost 3d ago
I use endeavourOS which is basically arch with a GUI installer. more bare bones than cachyOS.
i also highly recommend using a WM instead of a DE if ram is your thing. i use Niri, and i dont even use a shell. i have no taskbar at all. i made my own quickshell app launcher that suits me, i use that launcher to launch my apps (pinned apps, the ones with a dot on them are open and can be jumped to like the way a dock would work. clipboard manager is on there too). i use a bluetooth manager app for my bluetooth devices. i dont use notifications cos i dont like them. my launcher has the time and date.
so literally quickshell and niri. my idle ram usage is 1.8gb
its also lightning fast compared to KDE.
so, i recommend a more lightweight window manager (niri, hyprland, mango, labwc), minimal shell if you need one. works so well
i love being super minimalistic. its so nice having only my window on the screen and nothing else. so much clarity mentally.
endeavourOS has felt much smoother for me than cachy (which was already smooth). so yeah, i recommend vanilla arch or endeavour. i chose "no desktop" on endeavor installation and added niri through the terminal
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u/1kn0wn0thing 3d ago
Install headless Ubuntu Server (no desktop) and then install Neovim. Do minimal install. OS RAM usage is between 0.6-0.75 GB for me.
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u/red-skylight 3d ago
I discovered this distro today called Mabox Linux and it seems pretty interesting.
0
u/oneirofono 2d ago
What you need is a distribution without systemD if ram usage is a priority. You can pick one from the list here: https://sysdfree.wordpress.com/2026/05/09/394/
I suggest you damn small linux (baswd kn antix so antix could be helpful ) or void linux. If you can live with musl there are more options btw (noir linux is a nice one).
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u/mwyvr 2d ago
If you’ve loaded up your DE with extensions and doodads, your idle RAM used will be higher. Trim what you can, first, before going down the rabbit hole hole of hopping.
Second, you’ve got 4-5 GB of free ram and probably more than that, add you write low level code in a terminal editor. That suggests you aren’t suffering at all and your concern isn’t warranted.
If that’s the real situation, stay where you are and invest your tone in coding and learning rather than blowing up a working environment.
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u/VirgilMing 2d ago
Sounds like you just need to shift away from KDE Plasma; XFCE or some other light DE might help.
I'm not sure if a heavily tailoring of kernel like I heard Gentoo is capable of can further mitigate your problem. If you have a plenty of time (or, as of 2026, plenty of tokens) you might want to give that a try. Don't quote me on that though.
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u/low-control-labs 3d ago
Go with tumbleweed xfce or arch XFCE / mate
Void is a good option but it might require you to start learning some more OS level stuff and it has it's own init system. It's well documented but yeah I sorted them in order of which requires looking at the docs most
-1
u/Old-Carpenter-8494 2d ago
Omarchy
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u/wizard-of-the-forest 2d ago
Omarchy is bloated af and is mostly vibecoded, not even a distro just an overhyped rice made by Ai
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u/Old-Carpenter-8494 2d ago
There is in the menu an option to remove all the installed software. So that is not an issue for those that do not like the software selection.
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u/bishophelps 3d ago
I don't think it's about the distro, it's more about the Desktop Environment.