Are you a Linux distro hopper? Finding the right Linux distribution can feel overwhelming with so many great options available — but it doesn’t have to be. In this video, I’ll walk you through the Last Distro Standing Challenge, a simple method designed to help you systematically test Linux distros head-to-head until only one remains: your new primary Linux distribution.

Using a multi-boot USB flash drive powered by Ventoy, you can boot into multiple Linux distros without ever touching your main system. No risk, no commitment — just pure distro testing the smart way.

Be sure to share the results of the challenge with hashtag #LastDistroStanding on any of your socials!

Setup Overview

First things first, like I mentioned during the intro, there are an overwhelming number of Linux distributions available nowadays, and trying to make a final decision can honestly become pretty daunting.

In fact, I think one of the biggest problems beginners run into is something called choice overload. There are simply so many options available that some people become overwhelmed to the point where they struggle to commit to anything at all.

And traditionally, the way most people evaluate Linux distributions is fairly straightforward.

Typically, you’ll:

• download an ISO image
• create bootable installation media
• boot the distro in live mode
• test it out for a while
• and then decide whether or not you actually want to install it

And as a quick aside, live mode is honestly one of the best things about Linux distributions in general. Most popular distros support it, and it basically gives you a fully functional demo environment so you can explore the distro before making any permanent commitment to it.

The downside though is that this process can become incredibly time-consuming.

You end up downloading ISO after ISO, constantly recreating bootable media, testing one distro, wiping the flash drive, writing another image, testing again, and repeating the process over and over.

Now don’t get me wrong — it absolutely works.

But it definitely isn’t the most efficient workflow.

And that’s exactly where the Last Distro Standing Challenge comes in.

I’ll show you the actual setup process in the next section, but the basic idea is that instead of creating a separate flash drive for every distro, you’ll use a multiboot solution that allows you to place multiple Linux ISO images onto a single bootable USB drive.

That way, you can quickly jump between distributions and test them one after another without constantly rebuilding installation media every single time.

And honestly, it’s much easier to set up than you might think.

Setting Up Ventoy

So let’s go ahead and see what this actually looks like in practice.

In this section, I’ll show you how to set up a multiboot USB solution so you can easily test multiple Linux distributions from a single flash drive. And after that, I’ll talk a bit more about the actual decision-making process you’ll use throughout the challenge itself.

For the multiboot setup, I decided to go with Ventoy.

Now, Ventoy may not necessarily be the absolute best multiboot solution available depending on your specific preferences, but in my opinion it is one of the easiest and most beginner-friendly options out there, which makes it perfect for a tutorial like this.

That said, if you personally prefer a different multiboot solution, that’s completely fine too. The important part is the overall workflow and challenge itself, not necessarily which specific utility you use to create the flash drive.

Now one downside to Ventoy that I do want to point out is that the setup process is most straightforward on Microsoft Windows.

You can absolutely set up Ventoy from Linux if you want to, but the process tends to be a little more involved compared to the Windows version.

And since many of you watching this are either currently using Windows or at least have access to a Windows PC somewhere, I’m going to demonstrate the setup process there for simplicity’s sake.

But importantly, once the Ventoy flash drive has been created initially, you won’t need Windows anymore after that — not even for managing or deleting ISO files later on.

B-Roll: Downloading Ventoy and setting up flash drive

So now let’s go through the setup process.

B-Roll: Walk through Ventoy installation process

And now that Ventoy is installed, you’ll notice that when you plug the flash drive back in, a Ventoy folder or partition appears automatically.

This is where things become really simple.

All you need to do now is download the ISO images for whichever Linux distributions you want to test and simply copy those ISO files directly onto the flash drive.

That’s it.

Seriously — there’s no complicated imaging process for every distro anymore. You just drag and drop ISO files onto the drive like normal files.

So for the challenge itself, I recommend downloading as many Linux distributions as you can reasonably fit onto the flash drive, or at the very least whichever ones you’re genuinely interested in comparing.

For example, maybe you want to compare:

• Ubuntu
• Fedora
• Linux Mint
• openSUSE
• Debian
• or anything else you’re curious about

Once the ISO files are copied over, simply eject the flash drive, boot from it, and Ventoy will automatically present you with a menu allowing you to choose whichever distro you want to launch.

And another really nice thing about this setup is that after the initial Ventoy installation, you can freely add or remove ISO files later on from Linux, macOS, or Windows.

So again, Windows is only really needed for the initial setup process itself.

Last Distro Standing

Now comes the fun part.

At this point, you should have a Ventoy flash drive loaded up with several Linux ISO images, so now let’s talk about what the actual Last Distro Standing process looks like in practice.

To get started, insert the Ventoy flash drive into your computer and reboot the system.

During startup, you’ll need to press the appropriate boot menu key for your particular computer in order to choose the flash drive as the boot device. Which key you press depends entirely on the manufacturer of your system.

To make this easier, I’ll overlay a graphic on the screen showing some of the more common boot menu keys used by major PC vendors. But generally speaking, it’s often something like:

• F7
• F11
• or F12

Sometimes it can also be Escape depending on the hardware.

And honestly, if you’re new to this process, don’t be surprised if it takes a few tries to press the key at the right time during boot.

But once you successfully access the boot menu, simply choose your Ventoy flash drive from the list.

After that, Ventoy will display all of the ISO images you copied onto the drive earlier. From there, choose whichever Linux distribution you want to test first. It really doesn’t matter which one you start with.

Once the distro boots up, most distributions will give you the option to either install the distro or try it in live mode.

For this challenge, you’ll generally want to choose the live mode option instead of installing anything.

Live mode gives you a very close approximation of how the distro will actually behave on your hardware without making permanent changes to your system.

Now one thing to keep in mind is that performance may not be perfect while running in live mode because the operating system is being loaded from a USB flash drive, which can sometimes become a bottleneck depending on the speed of the drive itself.

But even with that limitation, live mode is still an incredibly useful way to evaluate a distribution.

Once you’re inside the desktop environment, spend some time testing things thoroughly.

And I really do mean thoroughly.

For example:

• connect to your WiFi network
• test your speakers and microphone
• check your webcam
• test Bluetooth devices
• plug in printers or scanners if you use them
• connect a second monitor
• test your game controller
• launch applications you regularly use

Basically, try to simulate your real workflow as much as possible.

This process helps you determine how well each distribution supports your actual hardware and use cases, because some distros absolutely will work better on certain systems than others.

And honestly, hardware compatibility alone can sometimes become a dealbreaker.

For example, if a distro doesn’t properly support your WiFi hardware and you rely heavily on wireless networking, then realistically that distro probably shouldn’t become your daily driver no matter how much you otherwise like it.

Once you’ve spent enough time testing the first distro, reboot the computer and test another one the exact same way.

Then comes the important part.

After you’ve tested two distributions, one of them has to go.

Remember the rule:

One stays. One goes.

So whichever distro loses the comparison gets deleted from the Ventoy drive.

And removing it is incredibly simple — just open the Ventoy partition like a normal flash drive and delete the ISO image for the losing distro.

That’s it.

Then you continue repeating the process:

• compare distros
• eliminate one
• test another
• eliminate one again

And eventually you’ll narrow things down until only one distribution remains standing.

Also, one thing I strongly recommend is maintaining what I like to call a “Plan B” distro.

Now obviously, the goal of this challenge is to decide on a primary Linux distribution. But having a solid backup choice is still incredibly valuable.

Projects can change direction over time. New releases might introduce issues you don’t like. Leadership changes can happen. Communities can evolve. Sometimes distributions simply stop aligning with your preferences years later.

So having a secondary distro you’re already comfortable with gives you a fallback option if your primary choice ever changes in ways you aren’t happy with.

But ultimately, the goal here is still to declare a winner and settle on a primary distro that works best for you.

And honestly, this method makes narrowing down Linux distributions much faster, more structured, and a whole lot more fun compared to endlessly hopping between distros without ever making a final decision.