When Windows 10 dies, I am going to jump ship over to Linux. Which version would you recommend for someone with zero prior experience with Linux? **Edit: Linux Mint it shall be.**
Whom also likes to game every now and then ;)
Edit: Thank you all for your input and suggestions! Linux Mint shall be my next OS! Though, I think I’ll give Pop!OS a look-see as well.
I went with Fedora when switching almost a month ago now, and I’ve been having issues with some games not working as expected, and also had trouble getting NVIDIA drivers to work correctly (which I’ve already solved, I hope). (And some applications weren’t working at all, such as Unity)
What would you consider as major advantages of Fedora, in addition to what you mentioned? So far, I usually couldn’t find a Fedora-specific version of the applications I wanted, unlike for other more well-known distributions. I do work as a programmer, which was also why I choose Fedora - I really like their Fedora Toolbox, but I would like to game regurarly on my PC and so far, it seems that Fedora doesn’t really handle it too well. Will I have similar issues on other distros, or will switching to something like Pop!OS be worth the time?
EDIT: Just found out about Nobara, I guess I’ll give that one a try.
One plus for fedora, or more of a minus for debian-based distros, is that fedora with its short release cycle is closer to how windows does updates. There’s no release cycle for almost all software on windows, and so the years long release cycle weirds many people out.
The only thing I would maybe hesitate about with POP! OS is the big upcoming switch to the COSMIC desktop, which is is brand-new and a bit untested. But also System76 are a really solid company and seem to know what they’re doing so it’ll probably be fine.
-Linux Mint: the default choice, nothing wrong with it, however not the best when it comes to gaming or if you have multiple monitors with different resolutions and refresh rates.
-ZorinOS: Looks good, but can take some time to get used to it and doesn’t have the multi monitor issues of Linux mint, however it is on the heavier side of Linux distros.
-Fedora/Nobara: the 2 are basically the same with one another, but nobara is more gaming-focused. They will also take some time to get used to how they work, but are in my experience generally snappier and more responsive.
No matter which distro you choose, remember, don’t think of Linux the same way you think of windows, think of it as desktop android, as in you download stuff from the distro’s app store and not off of the internet, unless necessary.
-Linux Mint: […] not the best […] if you have multiple monitors with different resolutions and refresh rates.
I’m thinking of installing Mint (Debian Edition) on a 2013 MacBook Pro with an even older external monitor connected through DisplayPort, while using the internal Retina as the secondary monitor.
Do you think it’d be a safer bet to go with a different distro with better multi-monitor compatibilities, or do you think I’ll be good using this hardware+software combo?
Don’t get me wrong, it will work, you might just have issues like screen tearing and choppy animations…
I’d personally go with fedora on a laptop, especially for a Mac user as it’s default desktop experience is kinda similar to MacOS, and you get 1:1 touchpad gestures.
I’ll comment and agree with most of the people who have already commented who recommend Linux Mint. It’s very good for beginners. Alternatively, you can also take a quiz found at distrochooser.de to get an idea of which distros may be right for you.
I game, like a lot, and if windows beats me one more time i swear I’ll leave them for good. Is there a list of supported games? I just hit their site and only saw an nvidia gpx drivers too, did i simple miss the AMD stuff?
Intel and AMD drivers are part of the Linux kernel so you never need to think about drivers.
Check out https://www.protondb.com/ for something of a list of supported games, but generally most games just work (in Steam, go to Settings, Compatibility, and check the box for applying Proton on all games in library and not just the officially supported ones).
ProtonDB isn’t a complete list, but if you do struggle with getting a game to work, chances are somebody has posted a string you can paste into Steam to make the game magically work.
to add on to this, generally the only games that have issues are games with pretty serious anti cheat, and even many of those will still work. protondb will reflect this of course, but if you already know you mostly only play single player or cooperative titles, you can save a lot of time looking through your library
I appreciate what glorious eggroll does. And I’ve had no issues with the few games I’ve played on Steam.
I’ve been running Nobara for several months and it has been very stable though I find it is lacking a little polish around the edges in some areas. Kind of like how Mint was when I first started about 10y ago.
I’m trying out Fedora now for a while. On kernel 6.5. I was on 6.1 in Nobara. I have one game that’s crashing now (it wasn’t crashing in Nobara … go figure). So I may have to go back to Nobara or try to figure out what they did with Nobara vs Fedora that would help.
When Mint gets to kernel 6.x some day, I might jump back. (5.19 doesn’t support my GPU). Overall Mint became very polished. I hardly ever ran into weird issues. Although I do remember feeling Cinnamon blew up every so often.
I’m a Linux mint user for my main system and am no beginner. As others have said, it’s friendly to both beginners and advanced users, it’s good to see you’ve made that choice.
That being said, don’t stop there. Whether it’s in a virtual machine or some old laptop, also try one of the “from scratch” systems. I went with Gentoo and that is the root of where a ton of my Linux knowledge started. It’s my favorite distro simply because it has that history for me. You’ll find everyone has their own favorites for their own reasons, so be sure to explore and find the one that you enjoy and helps you learn.
How do you survive on in Debian/Ubuntu flavor? Whenever I would need a software that was not in the repo. Have to put PPA in place to get it. To many times it would then not install becuase of package conflicts. I have up and switched to arch based distro and between primary repo nd AUR I havent looked back and been very stable.
Rarely do I find software I need that’s not in the repo, but when I do, I just dusky build it myself. Not at my machine now, but I think I only have one PPA that’s not default added. In the other cases where I don’t want to build the app, it tends to be in Flatpak too.
That being said, although Mint is technically based on Ubuntu, it really doesn’t feel like it at all. I personally can’t stand Ubuntu, but again all personal opinions. If Debian-based systems didn’t work for you and an arch based distro did, then go with it. Everyone’s needs are their own and that’s why we have so many choices :D
I’m already starting to migrate my small office. Two PCs done, a handful of others to go. I have probably three that I’ll run Windows 11 for software compatibility, and another three Mac’s for different software.
Who remembers “Windows 10 will be our last operating system’?” I remember. Fuck Microsoft. Fuck Macs too though.
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