The Linux Thread - The Autist's OS of Choice

  • 🐕 I am attempting to get the site runnning as fast as possible. If you are experiencing slow page load times, please report it.
brocktherock said:
I want to get a new machine soon (undecided, probably a Thinkpad) and am choosing a distro for nothing more than coding and maybe ancient games but what do people mean when they say some distros are and aren't beginner friendly? I used to dual boot Windows and Kubuntu several years ago but forgot everything about the experience, I think it was fine but it would take forever to unencrypt the drive on boot and my screen would sometimes go black which I can only guess was a driver or compatibility issue with my custom build. I don't wanna deal with that kind of shit this time around but I'm not a grandma who needs a 1:1 Windows clone. Should I just go with Mint or are there reasons why I shouldn't?
Click to expand...
just go with mint. as you get familliar with Linux you could play around, but Mint will always be a stable experience. Thinkpads usually have good driver support for Linux, and if you chck eBay you can usually find corporate sell-offs that are dirt cheap and just need a new ssd and battery.
 
  • Like
Reactions: brocktherock
brocktherock said:
Should I just go with Mint or are there reasons why I shouldn't?
Click to expand...
If you have to ask if there's a reason not to go with Mint, just go with Mint. Pretty much you shouldn't be using any of the "funny" distros people talk about unless you know that it has feature X that you absolutely want and can't get in your usual distro.
 
  • Agree
  • Like
  • Thunk-Provoking
Reactions: Marvin, brocktherock, HahaYes and 1 other person
I would say mint has become the new ubuntu (in fact I rather prefer LMDE)
 
geckogoy said:
I would say mint has become the new ubuntu (in fact I rather prefer LMDE)
Click to expand...

I just switched from vanilla Debian to LMDE.

Cinnamon for me is kinda fucked on pure Debian in the sense that the lock screen gets throttled and takes minutes to respond, forcing me to kill the session.

In fact with a lot of distributions I've played with that provided cinnamon as a desktop, they just had odd or plain awful defaults I can't abide by. Flagship Linux Mint and LMDE are the only good out of the box configurations for Cinnamon.

Being official that bit is obvious, but still.
 
  • Thunk-Provoking
  • Agree
Reactions: brocktherock and geckogoy
geckogoy said:
I would say mint has become the new ubuntu (in fact I rather prefer LMDE)
Click to expand...
LMDE is still officially proof of concept, and unless the team declares that Linux Mint is Debian based and LMUE is the Ubuntu version I'll stick with Mint. LMDE does have some older packages and things that cause sliiiiight hangups. Generally, Ubuntu is only one user-antagonizing change from Mint mking the switch to Debian. Mint is getting big enough that they can soon begin planning to just have their own repository for changes from the Debian repository

mostly I just advise Mint because the best way to get adoption of linux is to be unified on which distro to recommend, so it gets the most attention and the most support. if you give people choices (especially two nearly identical ones) they get choice anxiety and can't make the switch.
 
Last edited:
Data collection is for lazy devs who target normies, because they can't into bug reports. And to sell your data to glowies.
If your software deserves it I will report bugs, maybe even debug it.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Lone Wandering Courier
jeff7989 said:
Data collection is for lazy devs who target normies, because they can't into bug reports. And to sell your data to glowies.
If your software deserves it I will report bugs, maybe even debug it.
Click to expand...
What about the optional usage statistics like Debian does?
 
The problem with data collection is it's a mess of catch-22s.

They could limit what data is collected and allow said data to be audited by the user via a secure channel.

But then, anyone can lie. The provided audit report could be stripped to hide whatever else was actually being collected or where the data is going and whatever else it's used for.
 
  • Agree
  • Thunk-Provoking
  • Like
Reactions: Vecr, jeff7989 and Lone Wandering Courier
brocktherock said:
I want to get a new machine soon and am choosing a distro for nothing more than coding and maybe ancient games but what do people mean when they say some distros are and aren't beginner friendly? I used to dual boot Windows and some flavor of Ubuntu several years ago but forgot everything about the experience, I think it was fine but it would take forever to unencrypt the drive on boot and my screen would sometimes go black which I can only guess was a driver or compatibility issue with my custom build. I don't wanna deal with that kind of shit this time around but I'm not a grandma who needs a 1:1 Windows clone. Should I just go with Mint or are there reasons why I shouldn't?
Click to expand...
Go with Mint. It's easy to install. and very easy to use. I recommend giving Mint the bare metal (or main boot drive) on the machine. Don't try dual boot as Windows does not play well with dual booting.
Mint is the best for someone like you looking to get your start. Remember you can ALWAYS back up your drives and distro hop when you're ready to switch.

When people say "some distros aren't user-friendly" it usually means that the Distro(s) may have some kinda aspect that most tech-literate but not tech-invested folks won't be able to handle on the fly. For example, Arch is infamous for having its installation process handled entirely in the Command Line. Same with Gentoo. Ultimately though. Anyone can learn any distro as long as they're able to read the fucking manual.
 
Betonhaus said:
What about the optional usage statistics like Debian does?
Click to expand...
Debian's stats from memory only covers installed packages (i think its the package popularity survey) and by default, its opt-IN.
as in, you explicitly have to opt into it. if you don't then it doesn't install it and doesnt send what you've installed to the Debian maintainers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vecr
brocktherock said:
I want to get a new machine soon (undecided, probably a Thinkpad) and am choosing a distro for nothing more than coding and maybe ancient games but what do people mean when they say some distros are and aren't beginner friendly? I used to dual boot Windows and Kubuntu several years ago but forgot everything about the experience, I think it was fine but it would take forever to unencrypt the drive on boot and my screen would sometimes go black which I can only guess was a driver or compatibility issue with my custom build. I don't wanna deal with that kind of shit this time around but I'm not a grandma who needs a 1:1 Windows clone. Should I just go with Mint or are there reasons why I shouldn't?
Click to expand...
Mint is good, Debian is great if you are trying to improve your Linux skills. It's also stable. Either way, both options are great. Debian-based and Ubuntu-based OS's are good for casual users.
 
geckogoy said:
I would say mint has become the new ubuntu (in fact I rather prefer LMDE)
Click to expand...
Canonical has nobody to blame but themselves for fucking themselves over. First with Wayland, then unity thing, now the ads and telemetry.

Past canonical screws present canonical, present canonical screws future canonical. Circle of retardation goes on.
 
  • Agree
  • Like
  • Feels
Reactions: Kiwi2Shoes, Instant_Pot_User, Vesperus and 13 others
♂CANAM productions♂ said:
Canonical has nobody to blame but themselves for fucking themselves over. First with Wayland, then unity thing, now the ads and telemetry.

Past canonical screws present canonical, present canonical screws future canonical. Circle of retardation goes on.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure that canonical is only one strike away from Mint switching to Debian completely
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back