Just wondering as ive been told many os’s online and then told to not use certain one aswell, i feel confused on what linux os to try someday. i come from windows 10 and i always find i need windows on atleast 1 device, and put linux on the “outdated” devices, but i keep hoping around, i cant seem to make up my mind.
To friends I usually recommend the distro I run myself, as I’m most familiar with it and troubleshoot it the best.
If it’s someone who won’t get constant tech support from me, I’d probably go with Mint. As a power user Ubuntu sucks, but if you’ve never used Linux before it could be a good starter distro. The vast amount of tutorials online are made for Ubuntu.
On older PCs use Linux mint but I don’t recommend it on newer PCs I have saw a lot of problems with them
Debian with MATE desktop: Learn it, Use it, Love it.
Debian based systems for systems you need more stable. Generally not a big concern for me unless you are setting up servers or really depend on specific software.
I wouldn’t recommended Ubuntu, I would recommend something like mint if you’re going that route. But Ubuntu is a safe feeling first choice and i get why people chose it. If you google a problem and just add the word Ubuntu generally speaking the google result or even googles ai summary has got you covered pretty good.
If you are more into gaming I would suggest something like bazzite, cachyos. Often they handle drivers for you super easily and comes with things like game scope too. Often you want more bleeding edge operating systems for gaming/newer hardware as updates seem to happen more frequently and with more noticeable improvements in the past 5 years.
If you just need a basic computer the choice doesn’t really matter all that much its just kind of what looks good to you. You said its just for older computers so something like mint would be a fine choice in this scenario.
Generally speaking you are either picking a arch based system or a Debian based system. And all the distros are kind of the same, they just give you preinstalled software, technically you can pick any and get the features you wanted yourself.
Hopefully I didn’t confuse you more or give you too much decision paralysis.
I’d say Mint as many others. But any major distro (except Arch) would do the trick if you’re willing to learn.
If you’re willing to learn arch will (probably) work too
Hannah Montana Linux
Red Star OS
Linux Mint. It was specifically created for this use case. It just works. That’s it.
And it’s still great once you know what you’re doing. If you just want your computer to work, Mint is a fantastic option.
I think the best approach is to completely step out of Windows. Don’t use a desktop environment that is “Windows-esque”. Choose something that feels completely off the rails but fun/interesting.
Arch seems intimidating? Try it out. Windows is all floating windows? Try tiling through hyprland. Don’t like the look of base hyprland? Rice it with caelestia or noctalia shells. Find the quirkiness that feels too good to pass up.
I think this is terrible advice lol. I switched to Kubuntu from Windows a while back and it’s been great. I even tried a Gnome based DE and hated it. Kubuntu just works. It was familiar then and continues to be familiar and practical.
To be fair, it’s not Kubuntu that’s familiar, it’s KDE that’s familiar.
You can include KDE Plasma in your base install of Arch the same as Kubuntu.
For sure, I was mostly balking at suggesting people new to Linux use weird DEs. I feel like starting with KDE is the way to go.
I agree with you both, for different target audiences. And somehow I am both. I love finding new things, the weirder the better, but at the same time Iove having a functional “it just works” desktop environment like kde.
Some people actually want their computer to just work, without having too much of a faff. For people like that something like Mint is a great option. If you have a lot of time and see mucking about with the computer as a hobby, installing Arch etc. can be fun. But for the rest of us it’s just not a sensible use of our time.
This has been an argument I’ve seen multiple times and I’ve never understood it. What specifically is taking more time to setup or configuration on Arch than on Mint?
Between archinstall and the Mint installer it’s going through the exact same steps and questions. I’ve never seen an installation of Arch not “just work”. Genuinely curious about this.
Anything but Ubuntu, honestly. I have a few friends who chose Ubuntu as their first distro and after using it for a couple of weeks went back to Windows. Some of them still refuse to give Linux a second chance.
I’m really curious why though. Was it raw Ubuntu with the default Gnome based DE or Kubuntu? I started with Manjaro and went back to windows a while back. Now I’m on Kubuntu and loving it. I think the main difference is that there’s so much more support and whatnot with Ubuntu.
I started my wife on fedora about 10 years ago, and my kids have grown up using fedora
I recommend not asking for recommendations. Linux is an exercise in learning how to learn. It is a different paradigm of computing than the OSes people are coming from, and you will find it rapidly frustrating if you can’t figure things out in large part for yourself. So I recommend that folks hop on wikipedia, do some reading, and then pick whatever strikes their fancy, secure in the knowledge that you can always switch to a different distro and that the learning process is the fun of it.
There are 3 answers and only 3 answers:
- New and casual users: Mint.
- Gamers: Bazzite.
- Power users: just try a bunch and see which one(s) you like, you people are exactly why there’s are so many distros.
Fedora
Bazzite for people new to computers in general. CachyOS for long time Windows users.
I know people that have been using Windows for like 10 years and still don’t know how to navigate directories. I think that people using Arch-based distros need to be a little tech savvy to be comfortable.
I think you might be right.
