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 i come from windows 10 and i always find i need windows on atleast 1 device, and put linux on the “outdated” devices, but i keep hoping around, i cant seem to make up my mind.
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.
Mint for most users. OpenSUSE for more technically competent users.
I think OpenSUSE is a great choice for anyone who wants to actually learn Linux, which is what the OP asked for.
openSUSE is good as long as you have an AMD GPU. For users of NVIDIA GPUs, openSUSE is a headache because of the constant mismatch between the open kernel modules and the rest of the driver packages. I had to use a script that checked whether the packages were matching each other before updating. Otherwise, the system could break for weeks until the drivers in the repository were updated.
Can you tell us more about this? I’ve been running tumbleweed with an nvidia GPU for a few months and the only issue I’ve run into was once recently, when the key for the nvidia repo had expired, preventing me from updating at all. I tried again the next day or two and it had been resolved. I would like to know what else to expect. I’ve heard of occasional issues with tumbleweed and nvidia driver versions before, but didn’t know if it was something that had been resolved.
Sure. I used openSUSE as my daily driver for a couple of years, and after switching to open-source kernel modules, a common problem was when the modules would be updated but their versions wouldn’t match those of nvidia-video or other NVIDIA packages. Or when the kernel would be updated but the kernel modules would lag behind (which happened even more often.) Because of this, some components would get updated while others wouldn’t, leaving you with dGPU drivers that didn’t work.
I had to roll back the system using snapper and lock packages until the problem was resolved.
Thanks! What do you mean by switching to open-source kernel modules? I’ve heard of people having to lock packages with tumbleweed before. I’m glad that I haven’t run into these issues so far.
It seems that nvidia drivers are a common cause of issues in many distros. I had heard of Fedora being a difficult one to work with nvidia drivers, but then if I search the web for <distro name> nvidia issues, a bunch of message threads about exactly that come up for each distro. I would love to switch to AMD GPUs, but apparently they don’t work as well as or aren’t as widely supported as nvidia ones for graphics and video applications. The whole thing is a pain.
What do you mean by switching to open-source kernel modules?
Some time ago, the entire NVIDIA driver stack was proprietary, but recently the kernel modules have been made open-source for new graphics cards. Only older GPUs still use closed-source modules. If I’m not mistaken, GPUs from the 2000 series and newer have switched to open-source modules.
I see, thank you!
This is how I roll (tumbleweed joke here) but the addition of NixOS on my wife’s computer because she needs it to be exactly how it was if the hardware changes. (She’s not good with tech and Windows was too frustrating for her, so it is Nix and Gnome DE)
Ubuntu or Mint is quite okay, I have used both of them in the past and set it up for a friend with little money, little time, and very little PC expertise. Worked perfectly for them for over 10 years without a problem.
Today, if you can get a little help with setting up, I’d recommend Debian stable with either GNOME or KDE. It is more stable and has longer and better long term security support, which did become more important.
Also, it is now easy to set up with disk encryption, which matters for keeping private data secure on Laptops which can get lost or stolen.
Upvotes for Ubuntu. Bazzite is also pretty spiffy these days.
I suggest Linux Mint, it just works. I have moved over 10 people to it in the last 2 years. Basically, giving life to their old laptops. Never heard a complaint! Here’s the latest one, my niece: https://mastodon.social/@eugenialoli/117304062578785444
Fedora
CachyOS or PikaOS. Nothing Fedora-based for god’s sake
Why not Fedora?
They apparently support fascists and fascism-supporters (Framework i.e.), and also have a shitty user treatment (remember all the shit with their licensing that made life impossible for AlmaLinux and the like). They also support AI. And they’re the main ones, with GNOME, trying to bury X.org.
debian. friendly and large community, no weird antifeatures like ubuntu
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 also be a good starter distro. The vast amount of tutorials online are made for Ubuntu.
Hannah Montana Linux
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
The learning curve is steep and the terminal reliance is too much for people who are not used to it. Once you get used to the terminal then… yes
People keep saying Mint, and now that it runs on Wayland at least they will be able to watch a movie without screen tearing. But I do feel like KDE Plasma is a much better first impression, since it doesn’t look like a desktop from 2013 (no offense), and has so many customization options that showcase the freedom of a linix desktop.
So for gamers, Bazzite, otherwise Fedora KDE or something
What’s so new about Plasma’s desktop paradigm? I would expect that about GNOME’s, but Plasma’s? It’s a polished and consistent UI, that it is.
Also, customization in Plasma is overwhelming, and I know KDE since version 2.
Install Linux mint, never think again
It’s Mint for beginners. Or openSUSE Leap, but they keep depending on su instead of sudo, so newcomers will get confused with this.
The “want to learn” is gonna carry a lot of weight here but I think and arch based distro like cachy works well for this. Cachy was my first distro and I really wanted to learn so it gave we a working starting place from where I could tinker and replace parts one at a time until they fit my liking. If I were to reinstall today I’d do plain arch since I know what I want and don’t need Cachy’s defaults anymore. Obviously everyone has their preferences but I think cachy is a really solid approachable distro for beginners, there’s a reason it just passed steamOS to claim the throne of most used distro on the steam hardware survey
An alternative to this kind power users who want control and learn everything, would be EndeavourOS instead CachyOS. I wouldn’t recommend anyone starting with bare Archlinux, but depending on the person it could be the right choice, but its hard to know who the person is you recommend it.
Yes that reason is fanboys, and trashtubers
