Amateur Linux Hour

[Betonhaus]

Since the other Linux thread seems to be more for highly technical discussion among experienced Linux programmers/tweakers, I figured I'd create a different thread dedicated to introductory discussion of Linux - such as if one wishes to explore making the switch from Windows

There are a lot of distros, and I wonder if some of the variants are better in different cultures and languages then others.

Like for here if someone isn't a Linux enthusiast I'd recommend only Ubuntu, Linux Mint, or Zorin OS.
Linux Mint is among the most well supported with a huge development community so it's very stable and user friendly, while still getting access to most of the core Linux features.
Zorin OS is going a step further to make things user friendly with a seamless interface, but that means some of the more obscure Linux features are difficult to find and change.
Ubuntu is the current origin OS for any Debian based work and is often the target platform used by companies that only barely support Linux - Ubuntu has LTS versions that are promised to be supported for five years with little dramatic changes under the hood - you can heavily customize it with things like KDE or xcfe window environments as it's more easily modified following supported guides then the other two

Fedora and it's derivatives seems to be more popular in corporations that need powerful specialized tools. I'll admit I don't know much about arch Linux and Gentoo but those seem like they are more suited for advanced Linux users that can account for their system being unstable sometimes

 

[Friendly Primarina]

If a person is a curious user - the kind that thinks okay, this how I perform that task, but why does it work that way? - there's no reason they can't just start out with vanilla Debian. It can do anything the derivatives can do, but doesn't abstract away as much as they do (or so I've heard).

If somebody just wants to browser the internet, send emails or whatever without popping the hood, then I would absolutely recommend the ones you suggested.

 

[thebigjoel]

Ubuntu is mostly niggerware at this point. It's hard to describe, but it's the Windows of the Linux world: all corporate shit. Either Linux Mint or Manjaro (arch-based) are good alternatives for beginners.

 

[Unremarkable Anus Lover]

If you game, stream and have no previous Linux experience I can recommend Nobara (based on Fedora). It's maintained by GloriousEggroll, who is also responsible for Proton-GE (a fork of Valve's Proton for running Windows vidya).

You're not gonna have to worry about Nvidia drivers, you'll be prompted to install those automatically after the initial setup.

It's just a shame the KDE version of Nobara gave me some issues because I'm not a big fan of Gnome, however the "Official" .iso is not so terrible compared to stock Gnome. Having used Windows for close to 20 years, the switch was easy enough and I've learned plenty since then. Unfortunately I still have to use Windows for some games with AC and whatnot, hopefully that changes in the coming years.

 

[WhiteNight]

Ubuntu is mostly niggerware at this point.

Luke Smith has a post where he says, "Ubuntu is nearly the worst distribution for new users." So, basically what you said but in more diplomatic language:

• It advertises proprietary software in its software center and encourages users to use programs because they are "familiar" from Windows.
• It releases slowly and you'll run into problems if you try to install something out of the box.
• It is full of gimicks, the elephant in the room being the Snap system, but Canonical has thrown in a lot of junk features in the past and a lot can break

https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/reviews-of-all-linux-distros-that-matter/

On the other hand, I doubt novice users would have an easy time with his choice Artix.

 

[Lieutenant Rasczak]

Decided to give Zorin OS a try. I like it so far.

 

[RACISM]

Ubuntu is the current origin OS for any Debian based work

This is bait, right? Ubuntu is based on Debian, and there are plenty of Debian derivatives that aren't downstream from Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is mostly niggerware at this point. It's hard to describe, but it's the Windows of the Linux world: all corporate shit. Either Linux Mint or Manjaro (arch-based) are good alternatives for beginners.

I prefer Mint, and I'm typing this post from a Mint laptop, but only nigger Ubuntu would play nice with my three monitor setup on my desktop so I'm stuck with it there for now.

 

[Standardized Profile]

Fedora and it's derivatives seems to be more popular in corporations that need powerful specialized tools.

I've been using Fedora for years. It's probably not appropriate for new users because it moves fast and breaks from time to time, and because you need at least one unofficial repo to get all your media files working.

PCLinuxOS was my first real foray into Linux. It's an installable LiveDVD/LiveUSB distribution. It was very usable and polished. I liked the live environment, so I dropped it onto a hard drive and it became my daily driver for a while. I haven't kept up with it, but it seems to be chugging along. The creator is still posting on the forum, 16 years later.

 

[Betonhaus]

This is bait, right?

... Sure, yes, that was intended as bait. Totally intended to be bait.

I've been trying to dip my toes into going full ham on Linux on some of my computers. I got my htpc and laptop dual booting. The htpc is running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS as that's literally the only thing that is supported by the drivers for the Smart board tv it's hooked to, but touch on that thing is getting flaky no matter what and the support team has been rejecting my polite requests to get with the times. I'll probably put Mint on it as Mint is pretty flexible - the speakers are on a kasa smart plug and I figured out how to use the app notifications system to turn them on and off automatically, and that feature seems to be changed or removed in Zorin OS.

I do miss pin unlock though. I understand the arguments against it but it makes perfect sense for the HTPC and its nice to have for the desktops. Plus the fingerprint reader on my laptop is not supported by Linux. I tried, and it's the wrong variant of the wrong model.


...what distributions do you recommend for newbies with decision fatigue? I'm seeing Linux Mint mentioned a lot and it seems to have a massive support base.

 

[8mm Cunningham]

... Sure, yes, that was intended as bait. Totally intended to be bait.

I've been trying to dip my toes into going full ham on Linux on some of my computers. I got my htpc and laptop dual booting. The htpc is running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS as that's literally the only thing that is supported by the drivers for the Smart board tv it's hooked to, but touch on that thing is getting flaky no matter what and the support team has been rejecting my polite requests to get with the times. I'll probably put Mint on it as Mint is pretty flexible - the speakers are on a kasa smart plug and I figured out how to use the app notifications system to turn them on and off automatically, and that feature seems to be changed or removed in Zorin OS.

I do miss pin unlock though. I understand the arguments against it but it makes perfect sense for the HTPC and its nice to have for the desktops. Plus the fingerprint reader on my laptop is not supported by Linux. I tried, and it's the wrong variant of the wrong model.


...what distributions do you recommend for newbies with decision fatigue? I'm seeing Linux Mint mentioned a lot and it seems to have a massive support base.

I ran Ubuntu from 06 to about 12. Never again. Vanilla Debian does everything better.

That being said, my old chromebook is running mint as a octoprint server and I have been very happy with it. Except it won't do youtube anymore.

 

[Carpe Jugulum]

I made the switch from Windows nearly a year ago. I completely disregarded all advice and installed Garuda because I liked the look of it. I was completely aware that I would break it and did break it completely once but I see this as learning experiences. I’d like to learn more beyond my tinkering but don’t know where to start.

There’s been hiccups with updates occasionally (last one killed it but I just roll back and wait a few days and try again).

For an adventurous newbie, I’d recommend giving it a go.

I also run Mint on another drive. It’s pretty comfy since I yeeted cinnamon and installed KDE.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

I tend to hop from Mint to PopOS because a ton of software is compatible without major tweaks. I might switch over to Mint Debian though since Bookworm has been released.

 

[Old English Roast Beef]

The big secret is that the distribution doesn't matter that much. It is convenient to recommend something common instead of your autistic favorite because it will probably have more available documentation and support. Also, you can usually achieve whatever someone likes about their autistic favorite on a different distribution (e.g. by installing a different desktop environment).

Personally I switched from Windows 7 to Debian and had an easy time with it, when I haven't been intentionally breaking it. For an everyday user they're basically the same.

 

[seri0us]

When I was 14 and deleted the GRUB partition for some reason. After some spoonfeeding from online searches I set GRUB back up again like nothing had ever happened.

 

[Gatdam Animal Person]

Once upon a time, my parents didn't want me to go on the internet late at night. Young me soon discovered the joys of Linux and MAC address spoofing, and thus Ubuntu was now installed. Everything in my life has changed since.

 

[888Flux]

Ubuntu is mostly niggerware at this point. It's hard to describe, but it's the Windows of the Linux world: all corporate shit. Either Linux Mint or Manjaro (arch-based) are good alternatives for beginners.

You people will parrot any retarded meme that comes out of a place like /g/. Compare the process of installing something like CUDA or NVIDIA drivers on Ubuntu to a distro like Manjaro. Ubuntu just werks. Also Manjaro is absolutely NOT beginner friendly. It's a rolling release distro and things have a habit of constantly breaking if you aren't careful. Everytime I hear people say things like this they aren't even Linux users themselves.

 

[ZMOT]

I would throw opensuse into the mix of JUSTWERKS, but the people in charge decided to smear shit all over themselves by calling conservatives "rotten flesh to cut out", so take that recommendation with a big grain of salt.

...what distributions do you recommend for newbies with decision fatigue? I'm seeing Linux Mint mentioned a lot and it seems to have a massive support base.

there's no right answer since even beginners have different expectations and requirements. the better question would be "what do you want to do on linux and how willing are you to get it running?".

 

[Betonhaus]

there's no right answer since even beginners have different expectations and requirements. the better question would be "what do you want to do on linux and how willing are you to get it running

Let's settle with "I want things to work with my existing hardware and have applications with at least equivalent features to what I was using before, I want things to run relatively stable with little to no perpetual troubleshooting or changing, and I want to have access to help that can provide easy to follow guides to the more common issues I might have, and decent assistance to rare issues I may have"

 

[GreenTips]

I spent a weekend not too long ago installing Ubuntu on my old HP laptop from college that was still running Windows 7. I settled on Ubuntu because I couldn't get the Mint installation to work and I decided it would be easier to use a just werks distro over one I would have to manually set up everything on considering it was an HP laptop with those Dr. Dre Jungle Beats speakers. The reason it took a weekend was because of those fucking speakers. I found several other people with the same audio problem and someone figured out the pinning on the motherboard to change the audio output in some software to dictate what pin is what speaker. All because my laptop had a "subwoofer". Haven't touched it since I got the audio working but the sense of accomplishment I had felt pretty good.

 

[ZMOT]

Let's settle with "I want things to work with my existing hardware and have applications with at least equivalent features to what I was using before, I want things to run relatively stable with little to no perpetual troubleshooting or changing, and I want to have access to help that can provide easy to follow guides to the more common issues I might have, and decent assistance to rare issues I may have"

dude, you don't understand, I NEED photoshop to crop my images. gimp can't even draw a circle...