Pop!_OS vs Solus
Pop!_OS
system76.comSolus
getsol.usSide by side
| Figure | Pop!_OS | Solus |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Linux Distributions | 8.1 (#6) | 8.0 (#8) |
| Spec score · Operating Systems | 8.0 (#16) | 7.9 (#18) |
| Support | System76 offers documentation and says its support team can help owners of System76 computers through support tickets. | Installation help is available through Solus documentation, its Matrix community, and its forum. |
| Updates | Security patches and features arrive through rolling updates and periodic version upgrades that users schedule. | Solus describes its release model as stable rolling, with software updates intended to avoid system breakage. |
Plans
In their own words
Solus
Solus is a free, independent Linux operating system for home and office use on personal computers. It comes in Budgie, GNOME, Plasma and Xfce desktop editions. Budgie includes settings tools and Raven for notifications, media playback and sound-device controls; Xfce is intended as a lightweight option for less powerful hardware. Solus follows a stable rolling release model, with weekly updates that the project says are tested before release and do not require system reinstalls. It ships with Firefox, Thunderbird and LibreOffice, and supports Flatpak applications. The Software Center provides graphical software management, while eopkg handles package operations from the command line. Minimum requirements are a 64-bit x86-64 processor, 4 GB RAM and 10 GB free disk space. Solus is available as installable ISO images for physical computers, including desktops and laptops. Installation help is available through its documentation, Matrix community and forum. The project describes itself as volunteer-run and reliant on community donations.