I used Ubuntu once a few years ago but had compatability issues so I went back to windows. Not a great programmer but I’d like to learn. I’m not looking to do much gaming beyond DOOM2 and factorio. Mostly looking for privacy and a way to get back into programming (I have this pipe dream of learning Assembly). I’m not to particular on UI, I can use whatever.
Edit: https://distrochooser.de for anyone who stumbles upon this post with the same question
‘it came to me in a dream’ has got to be a pretty unique reason for switching to Linux
I kept closing tabs and they kept reopening with ads. It must be a sign.
sounds pretty realistic to me tbh
😂 I’ve done weirder things based off dreams. I’d say this is reasonable
I get my news from the only reliable source and I recommend going with MX Linux.
Anytime someone new ask for recommendation, I’d give Linux Mint.
You don’t need to be a programmer to use Linux. I’d probably recommend you go with something like mint. Avoid things like Arch or Gentoo or NixOS for now as they involve a lot more manual configuration and it’s probably best to understand the landscape of things first.
Many people have asked me this (I’m the certified neighborhood tech guy :P), I always recommend Linux Mint, with the Cinnamon desktop environment, or KDE. Ubuntu used to be the best one and it’s still very good, but pretty heavy on hardware and they keep adding frustrating features nobody asked for.
Please please please, at the start, stay away from Arch and it’s derivatives. I daily Gentoo, but you need a decent knowledge of Linux to use both. If you need help, post to the Linux community or DM me :)
You didn’t give much info to go on, so maybe try Distrochooser. Honestly, most distros should work out fine. If you like Ubuntu, maybe try Mint.
Thanks! What kind of info would be helpful?
Well, some specs as to what kind of hardware you have, and what kind of software you intend to use (browsing, gaming, editing, what ever). Maybe a word on what kind of desktop experience you are looking for (Windows, Mac, something else). Do you absolutely need the latest versions of software. Tell us what you need from your OS.
I’ll update the post body. I’m not looking to do much gaming beyond DOOM2 and factorio. Mostly looking for privacy and a way to get back into programming (I have this pipe dream of learning Assembly). I’m not to particular on UI, I can use whatever.
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Seconding KDE. Imo new users will avoid a lot of frustration with Plasma.
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I can see that too. For me, coming to GNU/Linux as a windows power user, with Gnome, I just felt so limited and unempowered. Switching to Plasma helped me feel in control of my machine.
Do yourself a favor and just go with Debian Stable
Just use Ubuntu/Mint, because that’s what everyone uses and has the most support forums.
I recommend Pop! OS.
Definitely one of my favorites, and highly beginner friendly
Yup. It’s a good allarounder.
Since you’re just starting out, I would probably recommend mint. I think it’s the most stable of the “mainstream” distros and you’ll have less frustrations. If you want to have a great experience with managing packages, I think installing and using the nix package manager is the best way to manage packages on any distros (and who knows, maybe in a year or 2 you’ll want to try nixOs!)
I’ve been using arch for years, but finally removed my windows install a week ago and ended up on opensuse tumbleweed. It’s rolling release like arch (so there’s never a need to reinstall or have a big update once a year) and it has some extra fail-safes for when updates go wrong (there’s an automated QA that tries to find package breaks before they’re pushed for updates, and they have a tool called snapper that let’s you revert back to a working state if you run into problems)
I really liked OpenSuse when I tried it, but personally want slower releases. Very glad to hear that they just released the new Slowroll distro regarding this. Might have to switch back now… 😅
I like bleeding edge (or leading edge as they call it), but leap is their slower release distro
Arch, of course.
I swapped from windows to Opensuse Tumbleweed recently. Seems like a really nice distro. Frequent updates and easy rollbacks if something breaks. Luckily I haven’t had to use that feature yet but it’s nice knowing I have it. Yast is also great for changing system settings with a gui instead of using konsole for all that.
Counter Strike 2 and WoW have been running great.
Whatever distro looks good to you is a good place to start. Think of distros as default configurations, you can basically change most stuff whenever you want.
Avoid Arch, just in case.
I still think Ubuntu or a flavor of it is the right answer for people new to Linux.
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