Considering Linux for your daily driver? Not settled on a distro yet? Here's how you can distro-hop like a pro without disrupting your daily workflow.
1. Manage a separate /home partition, or a separate drive altogether. Keep all your files and profiles in one place.
2. Install distros on separate partitions. Limit to 2 distros at a time unless you have enough disk space to go around.
3. Use distro repositories for only essential applications.
4. Install your daily driver applications from 3rd party sources:
a) Flatpak
FlatPaks are installed within the distro like any other apps from distro repositories. Install them for all distros you are hopping between. Many modern repository frontends have started including support for FlatPaks directly within them.
b) AppImage from app developer
AppImages stay in your /home and don't require reinstalling every time you install a new distro.
c) If neither FlatPak nor AppImage is available, then installers directly from the app developer. Install these apps within your /home partition.
5. Get familiar with your boot loader. I use systemd-boot as I find it easy to work with than Grub. You might have another preference.
There it is. You've now minimized application version related incompatibilities (looking at you Firefox and Thunderbird) and your settings and profiles travel with you when you hop.
What are your tips or tricks that have helped you distro hop like a pro?
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