Void Linux

What hackers pick instead

• UbuntuA mainstream Linux distro that mostly just works on lots of hardware, suits beginners and offers long LTS support, though critics dislike Snaps and Canonical's direction.560recommend
• DebianA community-run, free Linux distribution recommended for rock-solid stability, curated trustworthy package repositories and painless in-place upgrades; critics say stable packages are old and bug fixes rarely get backported.552recommend
• Fedora LinuxA mainstream, beginner-friendly Linux distro that mostly works out of the box and balances stability with current packages, though frequent release upgrades occasionally break things.437recommend
• Arch LinuxA rolling Linux distro praised for up-to-date, near-upstream packages, excellent wiki docs and installs that last for years, though updates can break things and much is manual.362recommend
• Linux MintA beginner-friendly Linux distro that feels familiar to Windows users, works out of the box with no ads or nagware, though major version upgrades and display quirks can be troublesome.277recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 59 comments. Each links to the original.

1. it's built by BSD-inclined people and is also refreshingly simpler than most big distros

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “FreeBSD 16 Retires the Last of Its GPL Code from Its Base System”

2. even debian sid is slow compared to, say, gentoo or arch(linux) or void(linux) here.

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “Maybe you shouldn't install new software for a bit”

3. It's been my stable daily driver with Linux 6.15/6.16/6.17 under Void Linux.

   Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Same-day upstream Linux support for Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5”

4. It has one of the fastest package manager and does not use systemd.

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “I replaced Windows with Linux and everything's going great”

5. longtime experience with Void Linux (runit) on another box is great

   Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Single log line is 49KB+ (ext4) / 110KB+ (btrfs) of systemd-journald disk writes”

6. One still functional example exists in voidlinux's init system.

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “DJB Netstrings”

7. it has always been so much easier to diagnose and fix issues

   Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision”

8. did not give me any headaches for last several years

   Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision”

9. I was impressed by Void linux stability and speed

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too”

10. rock-solid stable and relentlessly simple

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too”

11. I've had various issues installing Void

    Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision”

12. Void is fast and ridiculously stable

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too”

13. Chimera and Void don’t use systemd.

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Systemd Introduces Birth Date Support for Upcoming Linux Desktop Age Controls”

14. i do find the system simple again

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Ubuntu 26.10 (Stonking Stingray) released”

15. Robust as anything and SO FAST.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “A brief look at FreeBSD”

16. Void serves the niche non-systemd userbase. It will always be worse than mainstream distros curated for desktop audience.

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “I said no and Apple said yes”

17. come with their own set of problems - slackware, void and so forth

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “Systemd Linger”

18. I do remember having more problems there because of musl

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “Replacing Systemd with OpenRC in Debian”

19. didn't seem to work well on Void

    Criticizes · Jan 2026 · in “Everyone hates OneDrive, Microsofts cloud app that steals and deletes files”

20. it runs LTS kernel (mainline is also available) and maintainers are more focused on stable versions of apps than on faster updates

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Blog ran on Ubuntu 16.04 for 10 years. I migrated it to FreeBSD”

21. It's not too bad even for non-technical users if they're provided an alias/function file to source in shell

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux”

22. For something Arch-like, there's Void (but beware it is not actually based on Arch, so no AUR or pacman)

    Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “GrapheneOS refuses to comply with new age verification laws for operating system”

23. Luckily, there are still distros without it, like Void Linux. I switched to it recently

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Google will expand age checks on Android worldwide till the end of the year”

24. if you want a stable chimera linux as a daily driver, go to voidlinux.org

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Just Enough Chimera Linux”

25. This fairly accurately describes why I generally prefer systems like Void

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision”

26. I've run Void Linux + Xmonad for many years without any such issues

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it”

27. For older hardware: Void Linux, Xubuntu or maybe Linux Mint Xfce.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Linux on Older Hardware: The Complete Revival Guide”

28. I feel more at home here, in Void Linux, than on the Mac OS

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “The Myth of the ThinkPad”

29. You feel more adventurous? NixOS, Gentoo, Slackware, Void.

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Omarchy: Any User Process Can Escalate to Root”

30. rolling releases for years, and even playing games fine

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting How to Code”

31. Arch Linux, KISS, Void, etc. are minimal enough, IMO.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “FediMeteo: A €4 FreeBSD VPS Became a Global Weather Service”

32. There are several nice ones out there like void linux

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Dutch Government Ditches Windows for NixOS, Following France's Lead”

33. Void has one advantage: they have many clever people

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Runit Linux: Complete Guide to Unix Init Scheme with Service Supervision”

34. All the other daily stuff works great on MX/Void

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Devuan – Debian Without Systemd”

35. Void is supposed to be a stable rolling distro

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Why Gentoo?”

36. It's a regular package of linux in the distro

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Asahi Linux 7.1 Progress Report”

37. in my favorites with Gentoo and Void Linux

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “AlpineBSD”

38. Void is as good as I could have wanted.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Lennart Poettering, Christian Brauner founded a new company”

39. Works great, and I love the Ryzen 4700

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “FreeBSD Laptop Compatibility: Top Laptops to Use with FreeBSD”

40. Void does not have this glaring issue.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “YouTube Removes Windows 11 Bypass Tutorials, Claims 'Risk of Physical Harm'”