When I used wsl, it felt fine. There were some problems with running more GPU intensive tasks, but being able to use linux-only software while I was restricted to Windows was pretty good.
I had been using WSL2 for about one year. The experience was terrible compared to a Linux host. (Sadly I can’t change the system on my work laptop). However, it was much better than Cygwin, msys2 and powershell - based on my experience.
If your host OS is windows and you’re interested in Linux, I think WSL2 is a good way to have a try
As a Nix fanboy I would write a Nix expression that downloads the AppImage, and also writes the desktop file with the appropriate path written into it via string interpolation. That can be done either through a NixOS configuration, or in any Linux distro using Home Manager.
I’m using Kubuntu as my main OS and it has been very stable for me. You can remove snapd and install the deb Firefox repository. You should look up tutorials on how to do it, I did it and nothing broke
I for one hope to move from kubuntu to debian with KDE, I assume that won’t have snap shit or systemd shit, but I might be painfully mistaken right there, I haven’t checked it out yet.
Debian does use systemd, but what’s so bad about it? I’m just curious, I’m using Arch with KDE, and that also uses systemd. Never had any issues with it. Debian doesn’t use snap by default though.
I have been enjoying OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. It’s a rolling distro unlike the Ubuntu and Debian derivatives, but the updates hardly ever cause problems and it’s very easy to roll them back if they do. It also gives you a choice between X11 and Wayland, and Wayland is working well for me on Intel graphics.
I jumped into Tumbleweed recently and have really been liking it. Last time I used Linux with a desktop environment I was using Gnome and KDE was a lot unglier. Things have definitely changed.
KDE Neon gets the latest package updates regarding KDE first but it is not official in any sense, as listed on their website. In fact, Neon is just a package archive built on top of Ubuntu that offers more up to date KDE stuff.
I have used the distro as a daily driver in the past. It uses it’s own pkgcon package management system.
I’m using flatpack version which is much more up to date.
I think the big thing is compatibility with current Microsoft office versions.
So there is benefit from being on a newer version unless you’re only using Libre and not sending each other people who are opening it in Microsoft office versions.
With my kid, he just gets on Steam and starts doing his thing with his friends like everybody else as if he was on Windows. It makes no difference to him. I figure I'd let him learn the same way I learned computers, by just standing back and letting him poke and prod around and giving assistance and guidance when necessary. He can't break anything important.
I tried this with my son, who is now 17 and not nearly as computer literate as I was by his age, let alone Linux literate at all. I think it’s a generational thing, as a kid growing up in the 90s I HAD to learn how to administer our PC at a higher level to do the things I wanted to do. Now with easy apps and tablets and auto-installation of all-the-things you just don’t need to be an advanced user to do what you want to do. This is just my experience, YEMV
Puppy Linux: It’s a solid live boot environment but it’s not really ideal in comparison to the major distros on a permanent install.
Alpine Linux: Since it uses musl instead of glibc, you’re likely to run into problems
Linux from scratch: Going through LFS is a great way to get a solid understanding of Linux, but unless you want to spend more time maintaining your system than using it, it’s going to be a frustrating experience.
Try one of the distros others have suggested.
Edit: I checked the specs on that hardware and yeah that’s going to struggle. Maybe Alpine would be ok. It’s fairly easy to spin up and might be fun to play with on that hardware. You’ll probably want a fairly large swap if you’re planning on using a desktop environment.
The LXQt DE is a good choice for older devices. The wiki has a guide for it but needs a slight update. It should still work but may require switching to edge.
Puppy Linux is a fine choice too if your computer is a little on the old side. Lite, Peppermint, Trisquel, antiX, and a slew of others are worth looking at.
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