# Which Linux Distro is best for Gramps installation?

**URL:** <https://gramps.discourse.group/t/which-linux-distro-is-best-for-gramps-installation/10108>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [October 12, 2026, 10:33am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/which-linux-distro-is-best-for-gramps-installation/10108 "2026-10-12T10:33:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![emyoulation](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/emyoulation/32/67_2.png) [@emyoulation](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/emyoulation)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 10:33am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/which-linux-distro-is-best-for-gramps-installation/10108/1 "2026-10-12T10:33:39Z")

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It is (past) time to flush my Fedora 37 laptop and start fresh again.

I’d like to choose a Linux distro where Gramps installs won’t be limited to Snaps or Flatpaks. Once of the reasons that I’ve stayed with 5.2 is that I can easily tweak that Debian installation. Whereas my 6.0.8 is a Flatpak sandbox where I cannot find core modules and they are protected from my mucking with them. (I am relatively new to Linux and do not have 30 years of hard-won experience with the OS … such as I had with Windows. It is likely that I am missing something obvious to adept Linux users.)

Tweaking the core will be necessary for my experiments and those installers apparently create sandboxed environments where tweaking is restricted.

So which Linux would be the most likely to be easiest for future Gramps version installing?

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**Author:** ![bgee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@bgee](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/bgee)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 11:41am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/which-linux-distro-is-best-for-gramps-installation/10108/2 "2026-10-12T11:41:41Z")

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I use Fedora 44. Gramps is installed from an RPM in the main Fedora repository. I have version 6.0.8-4 which was installed on Sep 26, just two weeks ago.

My experience with snaps and flatpaks has been abysmal. I refuse to use them. Appimages have been a bit better, though I avoid them as much as I can.

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**Author:** ![GeorgeWilmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@GeorgeWilmes](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/GeorgeWilmes)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 1:34pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/which-linux-distro-is-best-for-gramps-installation/10108/3 "2026-10-12T13:34:30Z")

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I use Debian and am satisfied with it, but I haven’t tried any others to compare.

More importantly, since you like to “tweak” (so do I), I recommend building from source in a venv rather than using a pre-built package.

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**Author:** ![hviaene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@hviaene](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/hviaene)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 1:54pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/which-linux-distro-is-best-for-gramps-installation/10108/4 "2026-10-12T13:54:43Z")

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I use Mageia 10 and that one carries Gramps 6.0.8 in its repositories. But if you want to fiddle, compile from source.

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**Author:** ![comeng](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2acd7d/32.png) [@comeng](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/comeng)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 2:26pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/which-linux-distro-is-best-for-gramps-installation/10108/5 "2026-10-12T14:26:28Z")

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I use Linux Mint Debian Edition ver 7 with the Cinnamon desktop running GRAMPS 6.0.6 which I install from the .deb and fiddle with to my hearts content.

However, after messing about building from scratch, I now have a policy of: no .deb, no upgrade.

life is too short

phil