Choosing Your Edition

Five questions, one answer each time.

Q1 — How old is the hardware?

  • 2015+ / 8GB+ RAM → Standard

  • 2010–2014 or 2–4GB RAM → Lightweight (or standard if you value comfort over speed)

  • Phone/tablet-class → Mobile, expectations calibrated

Q2 — Who touches this machine?

  • Just you → any edition matches your discipline level

  • Family/shared/lab machine → Immutable earns its keep immediately

Q3 — Tinkering appetite?

  • "Configure once, use forever" → Immutable

  • "I will customize everything eventually" → Standard (or Lightweight as canvas)

  • "I want to help BUILD the mobile story" → Mobile, obviously

Q4 — Software center of gravity?

  • Desktop apps + browser → all editions fine

  • Lots of native packages/dev tooling → Standard/Lightweight (full pacman surface front-and-center)

  • App-store-shaped usage → Immutable + Flatpak sings

Q5 — Reinstall tolerance?

Editions are separate images; switching later means reinstalling. Undecided between two? Pick the one whose DOWNSIDE annoys you less, not whose upside excites more.

Still torn?

Default answer: Standard. It’s the edition the docs, ISO defaults and community assume — diverging is easy later, and the live USB (The Live Session) lets you audition any edition risk-free before committing.