I’m trying to learn Linux, got Cinnamon to dip my toes into, and love it.
And being someone who is computer literate, finding a distro that was similar to windows to learn with was a pain. With all the infighting and superiority complexs on forums, the absolute number of variations of distros, combined with the avalanche of information you need to digest just to get a basic understanding…
Yeah, I get why people will stick to Windows and ignore free/better alternatives, all while complaining. It’s just not worth it to a vast majority of users.
Yeah…this is going to be a super unpopular opinion, but there needs to be a designated distro for new users who aren’t sure what to go with. If someone asks “What distro should I-” the rest doesn’t matter. We just agree on one distro and that’s it. Once they have a reason to look for another distro, they’ll have the knowledge to find it themselves.
To me? I use a laptop and don’t really tinker with my hardware at all, the benefits for me is I get the latest-ish versions of software (including user applications), and there isn’t this big jump between new versions
that ‘designated distro’ for newcomers used to be ubuntu. probably still is. as much as i’d want to say mint or some other variant of ubuntu or debian that i happen to like… ‘one man shows’ and distros with very small teams aren’t what a new user should be going with. there’s a reason why so many base off ubuntu. it’s big. it’s solid. and it just works.
I’m trying to learn Linux, got Cinnamon to dip my toes into, and love it.
And being someone who is computer literate, finding a distro that was similar to windows to learn with was a pain. With all the infighting and superiority complexs on forums, the absolute number of variations of distros, combined with the avalanche of information you need to digest just to get a basic understanding…
Yeah, I get why people will stick to Windows and ignore free/better alternatives, all while complaining. It’s just not worth it to a vast majority of users.
Yeah…this is going to be a super unpopular opinion, but there needs to be a designated distro for new users who aren’t sure what to go with. If someone asks “What distro should I-” the rest doesn’t matter. We just agree on one distro and that’s it. Once they have a reason to look for another distro, they’ll have the knowledge to find it themselves.
You have to make the first step easy.
Linux Mint should be the default answer for newbies. Tech savvy users can probably find “the right distro” themselves.
But not only for newbies, just to add.
Yeah, I used Linux Mint when I started using Linux in 2021, and I would definitely still use it if I didn’t prefer rolling release.
What does rolling release get a user if they’re not tinkering with hardware all the time?
To me? I use a laptop and don’t really tinker with my hardware at all, the benefits for me is I get the latest-ish versions of software (including user applications), and there isn’t this big jump between new versions
that ‘designated distro’ for newcomers used to be ubuntu. probably still is. as much as i’d want to say mint or some other variant of ubuntu or debian that i happen to like… ‘one man shows’ and distros with very small teams aren’t what a new user should be going with. there’s a reason why so many base off ubuntu. it’s big. it’s solid. and it just works.
Ubuntu was always the answer I gave, but it feels like they’ve fallen out of favor with the whole snap debacle.
As a technically literate person who is mostly new to Linux, Snaps along with Canonical’s corporate behavior was initially a dealbreaker for me.
Except now I’m on Zorin (a Ubuntu fork) and find I can install flatpak, apt, etc as well, so I’m not wholly opposed to it anymore.
Still think they’re assholes for taking initial steps in a paywall direction, though, not to mention doing the FOSS community that way.