Linux comes in a million flavors but most people should start with Mint. That sounds like a pun, but it’s also true.
Mint is a nice, safe, up-to-date, simple, Windows-like choice that won’t unnecessarily complicate the transition to an entirely different operating system. It has good hardware support and good defaults. Most things will feel very familiar and be very accessible. It is popular enough to find plenty of help on the internet and answers to almost every question you could have. It mostly just works and when it doesn’t it’s usually not a deal-breaker.
It’s not my favourite distro, but you aren’t ready for my favourite distro. Honestly I’m barely ready for my favourite distro. It’s not elitism, it’s just practicality. You’ll learn as you go, and you’ll eventually want to try other distros, but start with Mint, and keep a Mint system around for when you break everything else. Which you will if you start playing with other distros.
I honestly couldn’t agree more. From 2011 to about 2017, I was always distro hopping, trying out different things. And then for the longest time, I just stayed with Ubuntu. And now I’m like, you know what? I’m just gonna fucking use Linux Mint, because it just fucking works.
Absolutely this. I like mint because I no longer like fiddle farting around with my PC. It just works out of the box. An overlooked bonus is when I need to learn how to do something the Mint forums usually have the answer, and its catered to Mint defaults. It’s not the end of the world, but when answers match your file explorer, text editor, system editor etc…it just makes it easier. Compared to finding answers elsewhere that are for Debian and then having to wonder if it’ll work or not based on the family lineage of the OS is just unnecessary for most people.
Tried to install Mint on my laptop, wouldn’t work. Googled the issue, had to rename a file in the boot directory for some reason.
Tried again, wouldn’t work. Googled issue, had to turn off secure boot in bios.
Tried again, installed, okay now we’re cooking. Connected to WiFi, updated packages and drivers. All good, reboot. Install Steam. Login via QR code, it begins loading user data.
Loading… Loading… Loading… Okay it’s clearly stuck. How do I kill a process on Linux? Google it, okay that’s not too hard. Try launching Steam again, same thing. Google this issue, get a lot of different potential causes, involving delving into some obscure directories.
I consider myself technologically competent, more so than the average person/consumer. I am a lot of people in my social sphere’s “computer guy”. Way more than most people are not going to figure this stuff out for themselves.
I’m really sorry to say but Linux is still not ready for mainstream consumers and users if this is the experience of the most recommended stable distro for the average person.
Tried to install Mint on my laptop, wouldn’t work. Googled the issue, had to rename a file in the boot directory for some reason.
UEFI problems, sorry. Would have them with Windows too probably.
Tried again, wouldn’t work. Googled issue, had to turn off secure boot in bios.
Unfortunately Microsoft pushed Secure Boot everywhere, so yes, for most distributions you have to turn it off (some have signed kernels or whatever).
Loading… Loading… Loading… Okay it’s clearly stuck. How do I kill a process on Linux? Google it, okay that’s not too hard. Try launching Steam again, same thing. Google this issue, get a lot of different potential causes, involving delving into some obscure directories.
So removing the ~/.steam directory after doing pkill steam didn’t help? That seems simpler than most Windows tasks. Anyway, I have Steam working even under FreeBSD.
Nobody will believe that you don’t have some Windows experience exceeding what you seem to consider the maximum acceptable requirement for Linux. Don’t even try.
This is one of those situations where that xkcd comic about experts comes into play.
So removing the ~/.steam directory after doing pkill steam didn’t help? That seems simpler than most Windows tasks.
I don’t know how to convey to you that 99% of the people that use Windows wont know how to do anything beyond trying to kill the app via the task manager. I’m one of them. What you said sounds like mystic gobbledygook to me.
Mass Linux adoption is still far out of reach for the average user.
The users on Windows range from casual not techies to full on nerds. In between there are people with different interests and different tech experience.
The next likely new Linux users will be at the techy end of that range.
Bunching them together is really poor usability analysis. Talking about average users is also nonsense. Out of 100 users, there might be only one average user.
I’ve been using Linux full-time at home for 14 years+ without needing to use the command line. Linux is far from perfect, but misinformation should be avoided.
At work I need Eindows for our CAD application. FOSS CAD is OK for some use cases. But falls far short for my car design use cases.
Wait… wait… So your average Facebook mom who has a laptop lying around that they use to watch their series in the evening, but will have to chuck it due to EOL of win10 and no win11 support, will not be able to adopt mint after she has someone install it for her, because you couldn’t get a hyperspecific app to run on it? (Steam is hyperspecific in the grand scheme of things).
beyond trying to kill the app via the task manager
Which is exactly what I said, just in shell commands because that’s quicker for me. Except pkill steam kills everything containing steam in the process name, steam is a little bitch spawning a lot of them. Quicker.
What you said sounds like mystic gobbledygook to me.
“Task manager” is not some fundamental term either. Someone who hadn’t use Windows, if there were many of such people, wouldn’t know that it’s a GUI application listing running services and some of the processes.
Mass Linux adoption is still far out of reach for the average user.
If you are going to measure it by what advanced users are used to not being immediately understandable for others, then it is.
Its absolutely ugly and has a very non modern interface, anyone who tries it as their first OS will probrally be convinced Linux is stuck in 2005. Tbh Fedora should be considered the default these days.
Fedora is a distro, not a desktop environment. Your desktop environment is going to dramatically change your look and feel of your OS.
I don’t know how anyone can say windows 11 with all its ads and basically the same UI as windows XP from 2000 “looks better” than something like hyprland, i3, KDE, or gnome.
I guess I should clarify that it’s mechanically the same operating system for over 20 years.
Keybinds on tiling window managers was such a game changer of how I daily use my operating system that now I never want to go back to the traditional method.
And yes there’s a fresh coat on things like file explorer or various programs but win11 compared to win10 is basically the same thing with no innovation, just more ads, telemetry, spyware, etc.
We still have windows 7 PCs in the shop at work and it looks the same to me as my work windows 11 laptop.
I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir on the fediverse haha
Windows interface is also stuck in 2005, and the evidence suggests most people prefer that. Many people claim they want modern interfaces, but then people get literally angry whenever Microsoft tries to update it and almost nobody ever uses any of the “modern” features they add. Mint is a perfectly fine choice for most people, who are perfectly happy to be stuck in 2005.
As far as I know Mint and Fedora have the same choice of Desktop Environment more or less, I’m really curious to know what you refer to when you say “modeen interface”
Linux comes in a million flavors but most people should start with Mint. That sounds like a pun, but it’s also true.
Mint is a nice, safe, up-to-date, simple, Windows-like choice that won’t unnecessarily complicate the transition to an entirely different operating system. It has good hardware support and good defaults. Most things will feel very familiar and be very accessible. It is popular enough to find plenty of help on the internet and answers to almost every question you could have. It mostly just works and when it doesn’t it’s usually not a deal-breaker.
It’s not my favourite distro, but you aren’t ready for my favourite distro. Honestly I’m barely ready for my favourite distro. It’s not elitism, it’s just practicality. You’ll learn as you go, and you’ll eventually want to try other distros, but start with Mint, and keep a Mint system around for when you break everything else. Which you will if you start playing with other distros.
It was my go to for computers that i didn’t need windows on at the time.
Now i have bazzite on my gaming pc and currently experimenting with arch hyprland on my surface go 2 that could no longer get windows updates.
I use Mint and I support this message.
I honestly couldn’t agree more. From 2011 to about 2017, I was always distro hopping, trying out different things. And then for the longest time, I just stayed with Ubuntu. And now I’m like, you know what? I’m just gonna fucking use Linux Mint, because it just fucking works.
Specifically Mint Cinnamon. It has a UI that is very similar to what people are used to in the Windows world.
Absolutely this. I like mint because I no longer like fiddle farting around with my PC. It just works out of the box. An overlooked bonus is when I need to learn how to do something the Mint forums usually have the answer, and its catered to Mint defaults. It’s not the end of the world, but when answers match your file explorer, text editor, system editor etc…it just makes it easier. Compared to finding answers elsewhere that are for Debian and then having to wonder if it’ll work or not based on the family lineage of the OS is just unnecessary for most people.
Tried to install Mint on my laptop, wouldn’t work. Googled the issue, had to rename a file in the boot directory for some reason.
Tried again, wouldn’t work. Googled issue, had to turn off secure boot in bios.
Tried again, installed, okay now we’re cooking. Connected to WiFi, updated packages and drivers. All good, reboot. Install Steam. Login via QR code, it begins loading user data.
Loading… Loading… Loading… Okay it’s clearly stuck. How do I kill a process on Linux? Google it, okay that’s not too hard. Try launching Steam again, same thing. Google this issue, get a lot of different potential causes, involving delving into some obscure directories.
I consider myself technologically competent, more so than the average person/consumer. I am a lot of people in my social sphere’s “computer guy”. Way more than most people are not going to figure this stuff out for themselves.
I’m really sorry to say but Linux is still not ready for mainstream consumers and users if this is the experience of the most recommended stable distro for the average person.
I agree with you, I’m in similar situation and yet people here will screech at you for saying stuff like that. Don’t mind them.
I had the same issue with the secure boot in bios when I switched a computer to Linux Mint a few weeks ago, but it’s been smooth other than that.
UEFI problems, sorry. Would have them with Windows too probably.
Unfortunately Microsoft pushed Secure Boot everywhere, so yes, for most distributions you have to turn it off (some have signed kernels or whatever).
So removing the
~/.steamdirectory after doingpkill steamdidn’t help? That seems simpler than most Windows tasks. Anyway, I have Steam working even under FreeBSD.Nobody will believe that you don’t have some Windows experience exceeding what you seem to consider the maximum acceptable requirement for Linux. Don’t even try.
This is one of those situations where that xkcd comic about experts comes into play.
I don’t know how to convey to you that 99% of the people that use Windows wont know how to do anything beyond trying to kill the app via the task manager. I’m one of them. What you said sounds like mystic gobbledygook to me.
Mass Linux adoption is still far out of reach for the average user.
The users on Windows range from casual not techies to full on nerds. In between there are people with different interests and different tech experience. The next likely new Linux users will be at the techy end of that range. Bunching them together is really poor usability analysis. Talking about average users is also nonsense. Out of 100 users, there might be only one average user.
I’ve been using Linux full-time at home for 14 years+ without needing to use the command line. Linux is far from perfect, but misinformation should be avoided.
At work I need Eindows for our CAD application. FOSS CAD is OK for some use cases. But falls far short for my car design use cases.
Wait… wait… So your average Facebook mom who has a laptop lying around that they use to watch their series in the evening, but will have to chuck it due to EOL of win10 and no win11 support, will not be able to adopt mint after she has someone install it for her, because you couldn’t get a hyperspecific app to run on it? (Steam is hyperspecific in the grand scheme of things).
What a hyperbole.
doesn’t mint/cinnamon have a graphical task manager? and deleting ~/.steam can be dont from the file manager
Which is exactly what I said, just in shell commands because that’s quicker for me. Except
pkill steamkills everything containingsteamin the process name,steamis a little bitch spawning a lot of them. Quicker.“Task manager” is not some fundamental term either. Someone who hadn’t use Windows, if there were many of such people, wouldn’t know that it’s a GUI application listing running services and some of the processes.
If you are going to measure it by what advanced users are used to not being immediately understandable for others, then it is.
Its absolutely ugly and has a very non modern interface, anyone who tries it as their first OS will probrally be convinced Linux is stuck in 2005. Tbh Fedora should be considered the default these days.
What even is this comment lol
Fedora is a distro, not a desktop environment. Your desktop environment is going to dramatically change your look and feel of your OS.
I don’t know how anyone can say windows 11 with all its ads and basically the same UI as windows XP from 2000 “looks better” than something like hyprland, i3, KDE, or gnome.
I don’t agree with them but I also disagree that 11 looks like XP. they are very far from each other. XP looked better even. I’m not joking.
I guess I should clarify that it’s mechanically the same operating system for over 20 years.
Keybinds on tiling window managers was such a game changer of how I daily use my operating system that now I never want to go back to the traditional method.
And yes there’s a fresh coat on things like file explorer or various programs but win11 compared to win10 is basically the same thing with no innovation, just more ads, telemetry, spyware, etc.
We still have windows 7 PCs in the shop at work and it looks the same to me as my work windows 11 laptop.
I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir on the fediverse haha
Windows interface is also stuck in 2005, and the evidence suggests most people prefer that. Many people claim they want modern interfaces, but then people get literally angry whenever Microsoft tries to update it and almost nobody ever uses any of the “modern” features they add. Mint is a perfectly fine choice for most people, who are perfectly happy to be stuck in 2005.
Im just saying Gnome is the most popular choice on Linux and for a good reason, its a modern UI
As far as I know Mint and Fedora have the same choice of Desktop Environment more or less, I’m really curious to know what you refer to when you say “modeen interface”