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Worst when the newcomers chose Arch because they’ve heard is very configurable.
Then complain that Linux is hard.
Choice is good when you can make an informed choice. Choice is bad if you are forced to make a decisions where you have no idea of the consequences.
this:
I’d just like to interject for a moment. What you’re referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX. Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called “Linux,” and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project. There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use.
I love Lemmy. I hate AI posters.
Where AI?
OP has posted AI before. look at their profile, they watermarked this cyanide and happiness ripoff too.
I don’t get the point of watermarking AI images. Like, you didn’t even make it, why would you be so worried about it being stolen?
AI “artists” are weirdly very protective of their “”“craft”“”
There’s a few tell tale signs but look at the USB ports on the laptop.
Ah, I see.
Also the weird facial expressions that don’t really match the vibe. Why is he smiling when seeing the list of distro? Why is he quivering in fear when asking how many there are? Why is he suddenly fine when picking one?
Weird expression you say?
At this point you’re just nitpicking
deleted by creator
doesn’t seem like AI, what makes you think so?
Theres no beginners distro, just jump
I’d say that beginner friendly distros are not limiting for experienced users.
Experienced level distros can be very hard for beginners.
Sometimes integer to them as “preconfigured” instead of “beginner” distros.
Although many arch derivatives fit that description and instill wouldn’t recommend them for beginners.
I use Linux Mint. It’s very good for beginners. I don’t recommend Ubuntu.
After years of distro hopping, I always come back to Mint. It’s just a nice balance of everything, though I do tweak it with a bit of a custom setup using btrfs with LUKS and grub-btrfs so I can boot from automated Timeshift snapshots if I accidentally jack something up.
I use Ubuntu its very good for beginners.
I use arch, btw.
Just kidding. I use Hannah Montana Linux, the only distro worth using.
What the fuck that’s actually a real thing.
…I love it
Ubuntu is the only distro that tends to work for me long-term
What’s wrong with Ubuntu? I used to use it as my default distro back in the 2010s and it was very beginner friendly.
I used Ubuntu for a while until about 7-10 years ago when they started bogging down the interface. I moved to Mint because it was easy to not have to learn new stuff. Here is a list of some of the grievances:
Advertiements for Canonical in the OS.
The telemetry is consentual and optional, but it still gives Linux users a weird itch.
Snaps are the default packages, which is not completely FOSS. I use Fedora now, and flatpack is a similar tool, but it is less bloated, FOSS, decentralized, sandboxed by default, and asks you too update packages instead of automatically doing so. Snaps seem to be easier for maintainers and supposedly has better security. https://itsfoss.com/flatpak-vs-snap/
People were irritated with the Unity interface when it came out.
Also, it’s corporate and that bugs people.
Debian is upstream of Ubuntu and a bit more simple. Mint is downstream and includes many of the QOL fixes in Ubuntu without the above grievances.
https://distrochooser.de/ & https://distrowatch.com/ are your friend.
And maybe a little later, when more familiar and skilled, maybe after having tried a handful of distros for a while, https://bedrocklinux.org/ (or even just https://distrobox.it/ ) means you don’t have to choose just 1.
ah, classic hangup. you’re looking for Debian with KDE
No no, don’t use KDE…
/s
All you need to know is that, whatever you pick, you made the wrong choice and you will be roasted if you ever attempt to explain your decision.
Unless you use Arch, then you have chosen correctly.
You mispelt gentoo
You’re obviously not using NixOS. I clearly don’t even need to try to use such a subpar stateful system such as Arch, you absolute pleb.
Am I out-jerking you already?
I use NixOS, obviously.
I use NixOS btw
Not true, you just become immune to the opposition.
I use Fedora, but I frequent the Arch wiki often enough that I feel like an honorary Arch user.
The Gentoo wiki is pretty good too
Screams in Debian…
Urgh! Why did you choose Arch? It is just the worst!
Actual reenactment:
Arch is utterly inferior because of its use of the Systemd “init” system, which is a bloated mess that completely disregards the Unix philosophy of doing one thing and doing it well, and shouldn’t be forgotten for its sins and heresy. “Arch Linux” (Really Arch Gnu/Linux, or more preferably Arch Gnu+Linux (Unless you consider that Gnu runs on top of Linux, in which case it’s Linux+Gnu)) cannot be taken seriously as a minimal do it yourself distro when it hinges on an software that has ties with RedHat, which has had a history of forcing their woke Wayland Display Server (Even though Xorg worked just fine, suspicious much?), as well as their DEI onto the entire Linux space - where politics shouldn’t play any role. A WOKE company like RedHat has no place in the open source community. If you want to be a true and righteous Linux user, I recommend Either Void Linux+Gnu (What manly men like myself use) or Gentoo.
It says something about how sad of a state the world is in when I can’t tell if this is satire or not.
I mean, it’s both good and bad. The amount of downvotes mean there is a large subset of folks who no longer recognize the twisting of stallman’s rant. They are new to linux, and not super-serious-no-casuals-allowed penguin lovers. It’s bad because I would love if everyone coming to linux could be as into it as I am. People who are invested into a thing take a much deeper look at things, and can appreciate it’s soft and jagged parts and then properly make recommendations on how to change things.
The age of the account makes it even more nebulous
Void Linux+Gnu
Uhh, it’s GNU SLASH Linux actually
There are many correct distro choices (except Ubuntu), but the only correct desktop environment is KDE Plasma.
If Cosmic keeps evolving, it could win me over.
People go about it backwards when recommending/choosing. Beginners should be encouraged pick the desktop environment first (my KDE preference excluded the universal recommendation of Mint). Then the next decision should be stability vs fast updates (potential instability); and then ease of finding support for the inevitable problems they run into (beginners might find it easiest to find support for Debian based distros). Then you’ll have a handful of options left and it really makes no difference which of those are picked.
That being said, I had constant problems when I was starting and the distro with which I managed to get there best start was OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. Yet my most downvoted comment ever on Lemmy is suggesting Tumbleweed to beginners.
KDE is good for a first go at Linux. I started with SUSE, ages ago, which was nice enough.
But by now, I’m just more of a gnome fan. I don’t know how that will change if I dig deeper into window management logic, but right now, it just works for me.
I’ve now gone down this rabbit hole several times now and installed several of them many many times over now just figuring it all out and finally getting a stable setup which took a few months.
From my perspective after doing all of that : Chances are if you are not a developer, high end cgi artist, or specialized in tech, you might just need something safe like Ubuntu. At least just grab it to start. It gets you up and running, nice interface. Easy to use. Works for basic out of the box stuff making plex server, basic computing, house hold stuff. Could set it up for your technophobe friends and family and find it easy to just update and run. Big colorful app icons. Looks and works like an android phone for usability and easy to learn. Stuff even installs from a gui similar to how windows does.
You’d only go deep on something like fedora/nobara with some serious intentions with a high end computer where you just couldn’t reach some goals on Ubuntu. You just wouldn’t go to these ones if you didn’t have to. Those reasons also rhyme with kde plasma reasons/Developer reasons where in you absolutely need specialized software. And you have to be comfortable with swimming in the bios often.
If you don’t know and it sounds weird just googling it then just stick with Ubuntu.
I’ve talked to people in the Linux community gatekeeping hard on others who don’t even know about why someone would need kde plasma. So that should tell you everything you need to know about the fanboys. And I’ve taken heat from them only to have them breaking their own brain on the idea that people actually use computers for simulations or just use computers for anything other than what they would use a computer for.
so Take what they say with a giant truck of salt. Not even Mac users are as annoying as the some of Linux assholes I’ve met.
slow clap Half these posts are shitting all over Ubuntu. It’s fine for newbies.
Gate keeping Linux bros are seriously hilarious. It’s like silly No True Scotsman.
Fair point. Just remember that almost everyone that’s in the Linux Desktop space has formed a subjective opinion based on past experiences, and the popular hate for Ubuntu is there for a reason. Sometimes it’s a silly reason, sometimes it’s a valid reason.
Anyway, if I’m recommending a distribution for newbies it’s going to be (1) something KDE-based (or possibly LMDE if they’re a Mac convert) and (2) something as far away from Canonical’s shenanigans as possible.
It’s fine for newbies.
As someone who used it when he was a newbie: Gnome is fucking awful to learn - it’s so bloody alien, it’s not even funny.
I’m now using a distro with KDE and it feels just right.
former solaris / irix / ubuntu user here who works in graphics. is there a particularly good distro suited for someone doing davinci resolve, blender, inkscape, godot etc ? desktop use specifically.
what properties in a desktop env and a distro should I seek and avoid?
I tried to encourage fellow Linux users to just encourage one distro. It doesn’t have to be a good distro, but just one the person is least likely to run into issues with and if they do, the most likely to be able to find solutions easily for their issues. Things like Ubuntu and Mint clearly fit the bill. They can then decide later if they want to change to a different one based on what they learn from using that one.
No one listened to me, because everyone wants to recommend their personal favorite distro rather than what would lead to the least problems for the user and would be the easiest to use. A person who loves PopOS will insist the person must use PopOS. A person who loves Manjaro will insist that the person must use Manjaro. Linux users like so many different distros that this just means everyone recommends something different and just make it confusing.
I gave up even bothering after awhile. Linux will never be big on desktop unless some corporation pushes a Linux-based desktop OS.
I always recommend Mint. I’m neither particularly fond of the DE nor do I personally use Debian / Ubuntu any more, but I still think it’s a great “beginner” distro.
I use Nobara, which is Fedora-based, and I think it’s great for gaming, but I’m not sure support for it is thorough enough for people who can’t confidently wade into configs.
Mint doesn’t use KDE out of the box. They have an own DE called Cinnamon.
Good shout! I vaguely remembered “not Gnome” (or at least not the Gnome I’m used to) and my mind went straight to KDE. I’ll fix that.
People need to put their egos aside and recommend a distro suited to a soft landing for a new person. That includes knowing that person’s technical skill and who around them will help when real issues pop up that require hand-holding and not just “Well, there’s a forum and you ask there.”
IMO that’s Mint, but I also haven’t found a distro that has tempted me away from Mint, either.
Linux will never be big on desktop unless some corporation pushes a Linux-based desktop OS.
And of all possible companies, Valve is the one that’s made the most progress with this.
Valve is working on it, just need them to have a public build of steam os
Honestly, this is partially what is gatekeeping Linux. People hate making choices, especially when it is a new world. We should promote one distro with one desktop as the “best linux for Windows users”, ideally immutable with a flatpack store.
And no, fuck Canonical.
Fedora Atomic Budgie is where I’ll probably set my boomer parents up next, with a framework laptop for each.
Good idea. Recently I started using Bazzite. I was never a huge fan of Fedora, but as a SysAdmin, you have different priorities, which is why I always ended up using Debian or Gentoo, even on the clients.
But for Linux newbies, Fedora Atomic will be awesome!
What have I missed? Canonical was the “best Linux” for newbies. Widest online support and easy to update. Did they become bad somehow?
Even though Ubuntu tends to be easy to use, the company behind it is doing some stupid unnecessary shit, which is proprietary and they believe they always have to invent the wheel themselves instead of contributing/adopting already existing solutions.
Anyways, they are still by miles better than Microsoft, but I bet that they will monetize even heavier, when the market share of Linux rises in the future.
There are four main flavors
- Debian - For every day
- Red Hat - For work
- Arch - To tinker and learn
- OpenSuSe - To German
Well I’ve been using openSuse for a while and habe noch keine German influence gesehen.
habe noch keine German influence gesehen
haven’t seen any German influence yet.
Got it.
Also the additional flavours of
- Nix – whole OS determined by 1 file
- Gentoo – Arch but it takes longer
- Alpine – small and simple
- Slackware? – for old people
- Void?? – like Alpine but not small and simple
- LFS??? – like Gentoo but takes longer
- AOSP??? – not even really Linux anymore
Slackware
Nix – whole OS determined by 1 file
* Can be determined by 1 file. Or one file and a
.lockfile. Or even more files. Your pick, really.You also have a hardware-configuration.nix by default but shhhhh…
Gentoo – Arch but it takes longer
Supports full binary versions since december 2023.
Slackware? – for old people
Aka people who know what they’re doing and what they want, noted.
Yes, that’s pretty much what I said but more accurate and less funny
Gentoo really has nothing to do with arch. Gentoo in my opinion is more like Debian with compiling and rolling release.
And what about Fedora? Last I checked it was wildly popular.
Gentoo is just frequently cited as the “next step up” from Arch and also funny.
And Fedora is bucketed into the Red Hat flavour.
- Void - the most BSD Linux (according to BSD people)
the most BSD Linux
Try CRUX.
(Or KISS/Carbs, Side, Parch, Aeryn, Shebang, … and there are other new ones I’ve forgot the name of, that have either BSD userland or BSD style ports packaging systems).
I don’t know which is “the most BSD Linux”, but I suspect “BSD people” may not be the most familiar with the distroverse, having their own things to tend to.
also …
Debian - for when you want to wait two years
Alternatively: when you want to not worry for two years.
Definitely a brick of an operating system, boring as hell, but reliable and has been that way since ancient times.
Before the dawn of history
The popular Debian based distros are up to date. That said, core Debian stable is indeed boring, but sometimes boring and stable is what you need.
Yep, perfect for my server. Literally has never gone down.
yeah no hate for debian here
I use Kubuntu LTS for that exact reason. Even though I am an experienced Linux user for over 20 years, I don’t have time to fuck around fixing my PC when something goes wrong. It’s stable and it works. And, yes I game on my PC and it’s doing just fine with my 3070 RTX NVidia card with the drivers provided by Ubuntu through their 3rd party driver system. No hassle, no crashing, just me using my computer doing the things I need to do.
Its not even stable though😭 I spent 6 hours fixing my networking on my debian 13 stable server, after it randomly got 90 percent packet loss with no explanation
What was the issue?
Proceeds to use it exclusively for browsing the web.
Exactly 69 upvotes - as it should be.:-P
