Finally making the transition from Windows to a Linux. I’m pretty sure it’s been asked several times but which Linux OS would you recommend a beginner to use? I’ve seen Ubuntu and Mint as a good start. Not looking to do much. Game here and there (not too worried about Linux compatibility), streaming, editing videos. If I break any rules. I’m sorry.
Don’t use Mint or Ubuntu, use Bazzite. It actually is “just works” with the added benefit of “you can’t break it”. It’s perfect for both beginners and experienced users who are looking to do work rather than tinker with their OS.
And if you have a graphics card (which you probably do since you mentioned gaming), Bazzite comes with Nvidia or AMD drivers preinstalled, so you don’t have to do anything extra to get it to work.
But if you really want to follow the YT influencer Linux memes, at least go with Ubuntu instead of Mint. Mint is just Ubuntu with a different default desktop, but
worse in every other wayless reliable (edit: toned down the exaggeration)Mint is best but if that don’t work try Fedora KDE.
I also recommend watching The Linux Experiment’s videos
Check out the YT videos from Explaining Conputers for some more comparisons of distros for starting out.
As someone who’s been using Linux for around 12 years now, I just came back to Mint a while ago and it’s a good choice for close to everyone I reckon.
I used pretty much all the major distros and some niche ones as well, but in the end I want a PC that does PC things without having to fuck around all the time. Mint does exactly that, it just works.
That being said, feel free to mess around with live USBs, try some distros on an old laptop etc, it’s good fun and you might find something you really like.
options:
- i just want my shit to work: mint
- i just don’t want to deal with all of windows’ nonsense changes: zorin
- i just want my shit to work and i have ideological problems with microsoft: linux mint debian edition
- i want an ideologically pure os (mostly): debian
- i want a truly ideologically pure os: pureos
- i just want my shit to work and i have an old-ish computer: mx linux
- i just want my shit to work and i have a considerably old computer: antix
I just want to game: bazzite
I want to question life: bohi linux
I thought that would be Arch 😆
Mint is fine. I went with pop!_os because at the time mint didn’t play well with my hardware.
Make sure you test things from the install live disk before you commit. Internet access, displays, audio should all work.
mint
As someone who’s been in this for a while, go with Mint.
It’s not a “beginner distro”. You can start there, you can stay there as long as you don’t develop any super niche prerequisites. Even then, Mint can probably do it.
The developers are sane and it’s a popular system that has been in development for years with many tweaks and improvements. There’s a big community around it if you need help/guides.
You just can’t go wrong with it.
It’s not a “beginner distro”.
I would hardly disagree, that it isnt a beginner Distros. However, this does not mean that Mint is bad. It is a rock solid Distros that is focused on accessibility and being user friendly. It gives everyone who wants the ability to learn Linux/CLI while still giving GUIs as Backup if something is to complex in the command line. However not everyone wants to learn Linux/CLI and this is totally fine. For these People Mint is perfect.
That highly depends on what you consider a “beginner distro” to be.
I don’t like the term, because to me, it implies that you have to emigrate from Mint to something else at some point, which is not the case.
It’s not a distro that is supposed to teach you how to do X on Linux systems. It’s just a solid OS with a lot of features that are easily accessible, which does make it suited for starters, yes.
I don’t think you have to or should touch the terminal at any time as a regular user and Mint allows you to not do that, as you pointed out as well.
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I don’t like the term, because to me, it implies that you have to emigrate from Mint to something else at some point, which is not the case.
I can totally understand where the implication comes from but I personally dont see it like that. I see it more as a measurement for how accessible something is.
Long time Mint enjoyer, the ONLY caveat I would put on that is I doesn’t yet have stable for support Wayland.
For a beginner, having the ability to run android apps via waydroid could be a real draw card.
Wayland support is coming, but it isn’t here yet.
If I read OP correctly, they plan to livestream games. Screen capture isn’t as smooth of an experience on Wayland as it is on X11. Which isn’t to say one can’t do screen capture on Wayland, but that it might be a point of frustration for a Linux newbie trying to stream or record their gameplay.
Tbh I haven’t had that issue in a while om KDE, tho TBF I don’t stream often. Screensharing on discord, meets, etc works perfectly fine tho, and I did manage to stream something with OBS.
I understood streaming as on the receiving end, e.g. watching streamed content online.
I would actually rate that as a plus.
While it’s nice to have the ability to run android apps, I don’t think many newcomers expect that.
However, it’s much more likely to find an Nvidia GPU in there somewhere, which works notoriously badly with Wayland.
Also Wayland has scaling issues with lower resolution fullscreen apps and settings.
I’d rather have those things working by default.
Btw you can load them to a USB and try out without installing if picking one is kinda hard tho remember performance will depend on USB quality.
It’s been asked a million times, and it’ll be answered every time, and the answers will mostly be “Mint, Fedora, FedoraKDE, and if you wanna game Bazzite.”
The real advice that gets posted less, regardless of distro:
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Back up your important files to an external drive, often. It’s entirely possible you’ll fuck up an install beyond repair (or beyond what you know how to do at the time) and you end up reinstalling. If you can just put your important files back and be up and running, nothing of value is lost.
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Don’t be scared of the terminal, it’s incredibly useful. Look up a few YT vids like “bash basics” or “linux terminal for beginners” or something and follow along like it’s a class, you’ll soon be comfortable enough to use it when you need it, and you will, and you may come to love it. It’s not as bad as windows cmd! Be careful when using sudo or su, that’s when you could really screw up the system (but mostly it’ll be fine just be careful.
And most importantly, have fun!
Here’s an absolute classic unix koan about the terminal:
One evening, Master Foo and Nubi attended a gathering of programmers who had met to learn from each other. One of the programmers asked Nubi to what school he and his master belonged. Upon being told they were followers of the Great Way of Unix, the programmer grew scornful.
“The command-line tools of Unix are crude and backward,” he scoffed. “Modern, properly designed operating systems do everything through a graphical user interface.”
Master Foo said nothing, but pointed at the moon. A nearby dog began to bark at the master’s hand.
“I don’t understand you!” said the programmer.
Master Foo remained silent, and pointed at an image of the Buddha. Then he pointed at a window.
“What are you trying to tell me?” asked the programmer.
Master Foo pointed at the programmer’s head. Then he pointed at a rock.
“Why can’t you make yourself clear?” demanded the programmer.
Master Foo frowned thoughtfully, tapped the programmer twice on the nose, and dropped him in a nearby trashcan.
As the programmer was attempting to extricate himself from the garbage, the dog wandered over and piddled on him.
At that moment, the programmer achieved enlightenment
Source: https://catb.org/~esr/writings/unix-koans/gui-programmer.html
I need Peter Griffin to explain this one
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Bazzite for a first try. If you never hit a wall needing to make system tweaks, stick to it in the long term. Otherwise, I’m really liking Fedora. KDE/Gnome is personal choice.
Fedora.
I’d recommend either OpenSuSE or Fedora, both with KDE. They’re big, well supported distros, which should install without issue and provide a slick modern experience. I use OpenSuSE, as I find the YaST system tools convenient and user friendly.
I’d avoid Ubuntu, multiple issues. Mint is a good distro but I think any big mainstream distro “just works” now, so I’d go for something that uses a slicker desktop. I prefer KDE, which is available on Mint but just isn’t as tightly integrated as their own Cinnamon desktop.
Mint is the OS of choice for beginners. It’s hassle free and it just works. Ubuntu is good, but its snap package got a bad rap when it was launched. It’s not that bad. But it gets confusing since you end up with 3 different software packaging systems. (Apt with .deb files, Flatpak and Snap)
Personally I use Kubuntu, the KDE Plasma desktop version because it’s so much more like Windows and has many more features. I don’t mind the Snap packages, but I avoid them if I can if I can use Flatpak instead. Snap and Flatpak are essentially the same thing: it installs and runs software in a sandboxed environment which makes it safer to use.
Same. Kubuntu for its familiar Windows-like interface.
Start with Mint. You can always try something else when you’re more comfortable with Linux.
Mint is also one of the biggest distros which is a factor in getting help. Any problem you may have, chances are, somebody already posted the solution.
I should really give mint a try. I like Ubuntu for both of these reasons, even if it does have snaps.
I agree, for a new user everything including installing nvidia drivers is in a GUI. And if you run into issue due to the size of both Mint and its base Ubuntu, searching for the problems usually results in a solution.
I have been using Mint for a long while now, and I’ve been very happy with it. Can’t say I’ve felt the need to try anything else…
