Hey all, I’ve been thinking about making the jump from Windows to Linux as my daily-driver and I’ve been struggling on what distro to use.
On my laptop I’ve been using Fedora’s KDE Spin for a bit but I can’t say I really like KDE all that much. I took that Distrochooser test and 9/10 of the suggestions were all Ubuntu-based or Arch-based for some reason lol.
I would prefer a distro that “just works” but I’m not scared of having to troubleshoot or fix things. I guess I’m just looking to see what everyone else uses and what you all recommend. Thanks!
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Mint Cinamon.
«Everybody» gave me the same advice.
Good luck!
I second this, Ubuntu gnome feels more like Mac UI in my opinion.
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Linux Mint and Pop!_OS are the most recommended beginner friendly distros that “just work” in my experience. That being said, before you install, you can try out the look and feel here: https://distrosea.com/
Imo Mint is the gold standard for a Distro that just works and meets the needs of most people.
Compared to other debian based distros, right?
What would you suggest is a better distro for a new Linux user? I’ve found Mint to be great out of the box, and only needs minor tweaks if you want the Microsoft fonts, for example.
I mean, just in general.
Besides Fedora (maybe) I’m not sure other non-deb distros really are recommended for new users.
Besides that, like it or not, nowadays most software is distributed as deb files (until Flatpak fixes it). Using something not debian based requires learning how to port .deb files or use manual dependency resolution for tarballs.
In times of distrobox, package manager and repositories do not matter anymore.
Pop OS is the best, from System 76.
Seconded
Hanna Montana Linux
Obvious answer, everyone should start here!
Can’t even get the ISO anymore. 😭
What? Nooooooooo!
Nothing wrong with Fedora Gnome. I’ve been using it for several months (well ok technically Nobara but I decided to try vanilla Fedora recently and it’s about the same). Prior to that I had been using Mint / Cinnamon for a decade and it’s a good choice too.
But truth be told the Gnome simplicity / minimalism has been growing on me. I wished it were more customizable but whatever.
Fedora is a very very mainstream distro, too, so help is easy to find if anything goes haywire.
PS: nobara is great for gaming but the big gotcha for me was that updating from the shell prompt requires a somewhat involved set of commands. If you use a simple dnf update you’ll break something like I did. Which is why I decided to give Fedora another go. If you choose Nobara, just use the (slow) GUI updater.
The other commenter who mentioned installing and using Gnome tweaks, etc. nailed it. Do that. :)
These posts are beyond repetitive at this point.
Stop reading them, then. You’re doing this to yourself.
Stick with Fedora, but give a shot to the Atomic variants (Silverblue, Kinoite, etc.) You can always switch DEs back and forth with one command. Even if you don’t stay with Fedora, it will help a lot for you to find the desktop environment that fits your workflow best (although I do recommend sticking with Fedora)
Linux Mint is my daily driver. I enjoy tinkering, but I also want a distro that doesn’t need it when I get home from work and just want a vodka tonic and some memes.
I’m also a big fan of Mint for this, but also Fedora Kinoite. I can’t say I used Kinoite extensively, but I can say the bit I used it was far more stable than any other distro I used (and the backups-for-free approach really helped my anxiety lol)
Linux Mint. Works well and it’s friendly.
Distros that just work (although YMMV): Fedora, Mint, Ubuntu, Pop!_OS with the default desktop environments. I have been using Ubuntu and Fedora both (on different computers) for over 15 years now they each always get the WiFi and BlueTooth drivers right, neither ever has trouble with audio or video, they really just work, and they both are pretty well up-to-date with the latest stable versions of the biggest Linux apps in their repositories.
I have been thinking of switching my Ubuntu computers over to Mint (Xfce edition, though Cinnamon isn’t bad), which uses the same base operating system package set as Ubuntu, but its ownership model is more collective and community-oriented. Fedora is also collectively owned, while Pop!_OS and Ubuntu are owned and operated by for-profit businesses – that doesn’t make them bad, it just might be something to consider.
Also, if you don’t mind a shameless plug, I wrote a blog post on how to choose a Linux distro, so feel free to read if it pleases you.
EndeavourOS is an arch-based distro that “just works”. I put it on a new machine recently, and the installer manages to let you pick a desktop environment, and still manages to be user friendly.
Stick with your distro and try Gnome. Fedora is pretty high up there on the “just works” category.
How much does it pay to promote IBM products with convoluted software as that is really linux?
Since I am financially strained I might consider, with a very heavy ethical objection counteracting my need for cash.
The lawyers it takes to call this crap Open and Free System must have become millionaires by now.
I knew about Redhat’s recent bad behavior, I somehow missed that IBM owns Redhat. So TIL.
I dropped Fedora in light of recent news but I’m not OP. They can decide for themselves on that. If OP or anyone is interested in learning more, a search for RHEL source paywall will get you there.
It is not personal it is counter propaganda, linux = fedora = ubuntu = systemd = debian = mint …
No real options there, just an alternative MSwin
There is also the propaganda that says Linux is Plasma or Gnome …
There is much much more that doesn’t get corporate promotion and people rarely ever hear about it.
For something that “just works” and feels quite like home, without being KDE, I’d recommend Zorin.
It’s stable, beautiful to look at and works as expected. I’d not recommend Arch-based distros to begin (but if you want to go the troubleshooting and fixing things way, that would be choice #1).
Unpopular : I’d not recommend mint.
I’m curious, why would you not recommend Mint?
Maybe it is me but Cinnamon, while being very user friendly, feels limited. I feel that when you want to start tweaking, the options are not there yet.
Endeavor OS. Its an excellent arch based system and people REALLY over emphasize how tricky arch is. Its not difficult, its not just for power users, and the rolling release means you have access to updates faster than other distros…this is particularly nice for gaming as you’ll also get updates to graphics drivers sooner.
