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.
That’s not how patents work. If you open source something, it will count as prior art if someone else tries to patent the same thing.
I’d also suggest Mint for getting started. I’ve been using it for several years with minimal hassle.
A former staffer made claims of sexual harassment. It is unclear how substantiated those were, but i guess there was something going on. Since then they made a very heavily publicised effort to do better, but it’s obviously hard to tell from the outside if that resulted in real changes.
It won’t happen any time soon unless Ubuntu does something drastic. I do think it would be a good idea for them to move in that direction, though.
Seconded. Absolutely what I’d install in this kind of situation. I have an old machine set up for my wife with Mint. She only uses it to check her bank account, basically. So far zero issues.
Linux has always been more pragmatic and focused on getting stuff out that works now. BSD has always been a promise that might be better in theory but is of little practical use to most people.
Closed. Duplicate.
I only ever use a terminal based editor for making quick edits of config files, so nano works just fine for me.
When they started out, Linux had a lot less mindshare than it has now. Also Microsoft will absolutely retaliate against you, if you promote anything but their crapware. For a small manufacturer that can be a problem.
Seconded. Don’t nuke your current devices until you’re really sure you know what you’re doing. Getting started is very easy. Just take any old box you have lying around and stay tinkering.
People who want to play games with kernel level anti-cheat won’t be happy with Linux. If that’s a must, they’d need to look for other solutions. For all others, Mint is great to get started. Most people just want their computer to work with minimal hassle. That’s what Mint excels at.
My work computer runs Windows 11, but our IT guys have turned off pretty much all the annoying bits, so it works pretty OK.
Or Mint. I use Mint because it works with minimal hassle.
Hmm. After careful analysis i have concluded that an error occurred.
Large corporations don’t buy small companies to make better products. They buy them to eliminate the competition.
There’s probably some lightweight Linux distro you can get to run on it. It could be used for some edge computing, like Pihole.
Mint is still a great choice if just for the ease of installation. I agree they’re lagging behind a bit in the transition to Wayland but for most users that’s not really a big issue. Mint also has one of the largest communities so getting support will be easier. To me Mint is still an excellent choice for getting started with Linux. I’ve been using it for years and I see no reason whatsoever to switch.
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.