Hello guys i have a qustion about which distro i should use?
I want to dual boot windows and linux
I just want a safe place away from microsoft eyes to do edit and drawing and other hobbies on my pc. And playing some games like cs2 & 2d games Also the distro run my wallpaper engine Should be popular distro so if i have a problem i can ask about it
Please dont tell me linux mint because i tried it 3 times and everytime i do anything simple the distro goes off and i should re install i won’t give it anymore chances thank you 😖
Edit: thank you guys for typing your suggests. after some search i will give bazzite try and if won’t work like i want. I will go with the other suggests I really enjoyed reading all your suggests
If your computer can’t handle Linux Mint, then either you do something wrong, or your computer is really unstable. I won’t ask you to use Mint, but I will say, that I use it on three different computers, and not a single problem anywhere. Dual-boot is notoriously unstable - mostly due to MS… So my advice is, to use a computer for Linux by it self…
If you’re a complete newbie, go Ubuntu. Yes, it’s boring but the community is huge. You can find a lot of answers about problems on reddit/ stack over flow…etc. Literally any Linux problem you have, a Google search of that will show many answers from Ubuntu community.
Ubuntu,Pop!_OS,Fedora,elementary OS. I would like to start with Ubuntu or Pop!_OS. These are the most popular and well-adapted distros, which are ideal for gaming, creativity and safe use. If Ubuntu is not to your liking because of Snap or telemetry, Pop!_OS can be a great alternative. But you can still download any distribution you want, you just need to look for it yourself
Welcome in from the cold. We have hot cocoa and blankets.
PopOS did it for me
Bazzite is great because is rpm-ostree based. But you need to understand a little bit the concept of atomic distro. For gaming, I think it comes packed with most of the required things so imo, try Bazzite. Also, linux mint it’s very easy to use, fi you do something simple and you need to reinstall the distro, maybe something was done wrong from the beginning.
MX Linux
Something listed in the top 10 or so on https://distrowatch.com/. Personally I like one of the Debian based distros.
Currently we use Ubuntu and Debian. Ubuntu would be the better of the two for beginners.
The distrowatch beginners list is: https://distrowatch.com/search-mobile.php?category=Beginners#simple
Why would Ubuntu be better for beginners?
Because Canonical put a lot of effort into usability. Pretty much all of the popular recommended beginner distributions are Ubuntu based. Examples: Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Zorin, Elementary.
People will recommend other stuff, often that are loved by varioius enthusists but these may or may not be that suitable for beginners. Call me skeptical.
I use and recommend Ubuntu because it is easy to install, use, and just works. It is also widely supported and very popular. The one thing I do not like about it is the Snap focus. I would love to recommend Linux Mint but last time I used it major distribution upgrades from the GUI were not supported. Have no idea if they fixed that. Ubuntu upgrades are the click of a button. In my family there are nontechnical users and they have used it for almost 20 years just fine.
On the other hand I use Debian if I intend to custom configure something and want minimal a install to start from. Major upgrades on Debian are not a click of a button. On the other hand Debian is not Snap based.
How exactly does canonical make their distribution more usable than Debian?
On the other hand I use Debian if I intend to custom configure something and want minimal a install to start from.
Why?
Major upgrades on Debian are not a click of a button.
They’re the exact same as in Ubuntu…
On the other hand Debian is not Snap based.
Which is a benefit to new users. They shouldn’t be conditioned to be using snaps, anyways.
I’m always shocked by all the recommendations to use Mint. It feels dated and ugly. Admittedly, I migrated from Mac, but how abused must you Windows users be to find Mint a suitable replacement? I personally wound up with Zorin OS and recommend it. The software store makes installing apps from multiple sources tolerable. It’s also got a nice UI and you can easily change it.
I have spent so much time professionally in Windows over the years that when I decided to switch it had to look nothing like it. So Mint is out. Kde as a whole really. Vanilla gnome looks kinda sterile to me. So I ended up with Pop!_OS and have been happy so far.
Thank you! When switching it has to work better and look better. Mint does not look better. Zorin is very simple, includes Wine and has Zorin Connect.
I personally don’t see much value of Mint or Ubuntu over Debian.
They all suffer from the same issue: lack of a user repository. This means any layman is going to immediately be turned off by the distro and the whole Linux experience as soon as they want to install something that isn’t in their distro’s repository.
Neither derivative distro can be considered ‘easier’ because of this. Might as well just go with Debian and cut out the middlemen.
Thing is. Mint is for the most part a just works distro. Based on Ubuntu it is very easy to find help for it. Combine that with a load of sane defaults like disabling snaps. The default UI and theme could defiantly use a facelift
Probably because it’s easy to get used to.
As for the looks, I’d say it looks better than Mac, Ubuntu looks best, but that’s so subjective and fairly easy to change anyway.
It feels dated and ugly
Weird, mine came with Cinnamon, not Plasma
Mint is always recommended because it just works, it looks windows-like, it’s legit fine no it doesn’t look dated or ugly. Cinammon is hot.
Keep to popular distros. I’d personally recommend Pop os or fedora. Opensuse is up there too just never clicked with me when I was a new users.
I actually have started to discourage people using Ubuntu because of forced snap packages and multiple software store GUIs. It has led to a lot more confusion for new users even though Ubuntu is supposed to be user friendly.
Agreed. It was good for that for a long while, but there are much better options for newbies nowadays.
theres a new one made by a microsoft enginer as a hobby project called Anduin OS it is very simmilar to windows based on ubuntu it can be downloaded at https://www.anduinos.com/ and a video by mental outlaw can be found at https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=bQAUFgS657w i personally never tried it and it is a hobby project but it looks promising
I used Mint on my previous system but currently rolling CachyOS personally. Bazzite was a close contender for me.
Linux Mint Debian Edition.
You say not to suggest mint, but you most probably used an Ubuntu based Mint so that doesn’t count.
If you’re new then fedora is great
It’s worth noting that fedora is heavily sponsored by RedHat (a subsidiary of IBM) and is the upstream testing ground for RHEL (Redhats commercial offering). RedHat also has close ties to Israels government and it’s military.
This is a huge dealbreaker for someone like me so I feel it’s necessary to mention.
Not to get into politics but the whole point of Linux is about being open and used by anyone from anywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised to see various parts of the Linux kernel, drivers, etc developed/funded by people from Israel, Russia, and many many other countries.
Edit: the point of this message, this type of approach to your OS choice will ultimately result in throwing your PC in the trash if you dig deep enough.
There is a vast difference between a community driven project like Debian taking small contributions from people who happen to be in Israel/incorporating some things from RedHat after lots of vetting and diluting and Fedora being a direct upstream testing ground for RedHat who are the primary contributors and maintainers.
No, this type of approach will not lead to you throwing your PC in the trash, it will simply lead to you being more aware of your software and how it functions,what it contributes to, and what contributes to it. Which is a good thing imo.
For example, I use LMDE. Yes, there are most definitely contributions from redhat in my machine. the difference is between
RedHat engineers -> Fedora.
And
RedHat engineers -> Fedora -> Upstream Project acceptance-> Debian -> LMDE.
I’m not saying you need to stop using Fedora. But everyone draws a line somewhere and I’m simply making my knowledge on this known for people who’s line may be in a similar place to mine.
I’m sorry to inform you but Ubuntu is Debian based and is very much used by governments around the world. IMO, the line your drawing is squiggly with breaks in between. As I stated before, your opinion contradicts the entire ethos of Linux and if one uses a Fedora based distribution it means little to nothing politically.
You’re lying to yourself if you don’t think Debian is in direct benefit of the engineering work sponsored/paid for by IBM, Canonical, Google, AWS, Intel, AMD, and many other massive enterprises.
99% of the time a dual boot doesn’t work its because of Windows. There should be no real reason that Mint fails anything simple as long as its compatible with your system. I’ve seen others report that Windows will occasionally destroy a dual boot when updating.
