N1X3L If not Solus, I would use GeckoLinux. It's a curated and polished version of openSUSE, with out-of-the-box functionality. I've been trying it out, and it gives me Solus vibes, because it offers a rolling-release model, a Budgie desktop environment, and the kind of user-focused experience I want in a daily-driver distro.
Gecko Budgie is one of two permanent installations** in my Gnome Boxes collection. Gecko Budgie is permanent because it is the only distro I've found that gives Solus Budgie any competition at all, for all the reasons you've pointed out.
The Budgie DE is well designed, but an older version from an outdated repository, and has real limitations compared to Solus Budgie (e.g centered taskbar only, top bar, limited ability to customize). I hope that as the Budgie project gets underway and develops, the Gecko version of Budgie (and other non-Solus versions) will be brought up to Solus standards.
Avidgamefan For those who like OpenSUSE, I found a variant called Gecko that seems to add a few things, like improved fonts and such. Seemed a bit spartan for my tastes, but I guess it was OK.
Gecko is spartan by design. To be blunt, openSUSE is a monster -- the ISO is 4.5 GB, most of the included packages irrelevant for ordinary use -- while Gecko is curated for ordinary users, with an 1.7 GB ISO. It is a bit on the spartan side, but I prefer spartan to overloaded.
WetGeek Overall impression, operation of Gecko felt like driving a school bus compared to Solus' sports car experience. I had totally gotten used to Solus' speed and responsiveness, whereas I'd previously thought openSUSE (and now Gecko) was very normal for Linux. It's interesting to see what they've done with the old lady, but she's certainly no threat to young Solus!
That's my impression, too. My canary is a Dell Inspiron 3180 with an AMD A6/R5 4GB setup. Solus Budgie is fast and efficient on that minimal rig. Gecko Budgie is almost as sluggish as Windows 10. Not quite, but sluggish enough to notice.
The update process is also arduous. Following openSUSE practice, Gecko updates replace the entire set, not just updated packages as Solus and most other distros do. I'm updating Gecko as we speak, and 1189 packages are being updated. That's a lot.
Although I would probably call it a day if Solus disappeared and use Windows 11 or (maybe) buy a MacBook, Gecko Budgie is a solid distro, Budgie issues and update issues aside, and a good candidate for Solus Budgie replacement.
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** The other is Zorin 16, which I keep on tap because I have been helping a fellow-geezer newbie deal with Linux, his son having convinced him to move to Zorin rather than replace his Windows 10 computer in 2024-2025. A bad decision, in my opinion, and I won't be at all surprised to see my friend on Windows 11 before this is all over.
