There are some minor choke points (restorecon if installing with a “dirty home” and installing RPMFusion), but yeah, otherwise it does a great job of staying out of your way.
Me: “Yeah I need reliability for work and sometimes I just don’t have time to repair stuff. Last time I was on rolling release some update fucked my system right before an important deadline”
Other person: “It wOn’T bReAk If YoU UndErStANd iT”
Debian guy could have just downloaded the nonfree installer that includes some common wifi and other hardware firmwares. There are some pragmatists at Debian.
Well… Say that to my live USB I tried booting off of a machine with a very modern nVidia card. I had to create a new boot entry to disable nouveau and install nVidia proprietary graphics into a persistent partition.
I understand nVidia is shit, and doesn’t play nice with others. But my point is - it’s not always that easy. (I thought it would be! I lost many hours, and pulled out lots of hair!)
Not in the good old days. Back in 2000something I built a custom installer image with a backported kernel from testing and some firmware to get debian installed on a new laptop.
Agree but Debian is still damn manual compared to many Fedora quality of life improvements.
Meanwhile, removing snaps and replacing with flatpaks on a set up ubuntu system is crazy! All those loop mounts suddenly start showing up when snapd is gone
No way the Fedora user figured out how to configure partitions in the installer without having to google it at least five times! I’ve installed Fedora a few times over the years, and that UI still makes no sense to me!
Huh. I had the complete opposite experience. I found fedora’s manual partitioner to be the worst of any distro I’ve ever used (I had trouble understanding it and it always ended up giving me some weird error when trying to finalize the partitioning step). I think I just ended up ditching fedora’s default manual partition manager.
Yeah for some reason whenever i try and install Ubuntu, the installer only sees the primary NVME drive if one is installed. Haven’t had that issue with any other distro
Lol. I tried to google it too and i still am unable to define a custom home partition for my most recent Nobara install. Gave up and just let it automatically create what it needs.
I think it’s just a meme. I don’t think people hate arch. Same thing happens with Ubuntu, but for being too easy to use/being the default linux distro (beyond Canonical and Snap). And yes, forums and wikis are amazing tools! Linux wouldn’t be the same at all without them z39eohcrv4e31
Downvote for vegan. Thats just unnecessary bullying without getting the point. But I also dont know many “influencer hipsters” which are always annoying, no matter what they do
I’ve been considering dipping my toes in and trying to learn Linux for the first time recently, having seen a couple screenshots from Mint that look approachable and not intimidating… Can somebody tell me how Mint would fair if it was included in this comic so I know what I’m getting myself into (or if I should try Fedora or something…)
Mint is hands down the easiest and most stable distro I have ever used. You don’t need the terminal at all. Comes with everything necessary preconfigured and if you need any tutorial you can use any Ubuntu tutorial (its based on Ubuntu).
Mint is a based on Ubuntu, which is based on Debian, so the guy on the left. The comic implies that it’s easy but not quite as easy as Fedora. I would say that it is easier to use than Fedora.
Setup is simple and unless you’ve got something unusual going on on your computer, then everything will just work. Since it’s based on Ubuntu, most Ubuntu information will also apply to Mint, and that’s nice because there is a lot of information about Ubuntu.
Not everyone would care about this, but I personally don’t like chasing updates and constantly installing the latest versions of things. All Debian distributions favor stability over cutting edge features, whereas some distributions are set up to try to get the latest changes quickly. Ubuntu leans very slightly toward cutting edge compared to stock Debian, but Ununtu has Long Term Support (LTS) releases which are supported for, I think, 5 years. Ubuntu also have other releases with shorter support times. If you’re using Ubuntu and favor stability, you need to pay a little attention to what you’re installing. Mint is based only on Ubuntu LTS releases, so Mint favors stability.
Not to ambush you into tech support, but I decided to take your advice and try that, but I’m instantly stopped and trying to google the answer for myself is just leading to vague powershell language and I’m fully unfamiliar with powershell. I installed WSL and Ubuntu, but when I attempt to open Ubuntu I’m getting:
“Installing, this may take a few minutes… WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80004002 Error: 0x80004002 No such interface supported”
Any idea what I’m doing wrong? The site I’m following (your link) doesn’t mention this error or how to overcome it, unless I’m just to dumb to decipher it.
If you’ve got a spare USB stick laying around then you could install Ventoy on it (www.ventoy.net/en/index.html) and run Linux in a live environment. Just (1) install Ventoy on the USB (this will wipe it, btw) (2) download any live Linux ISO (Mint has one of these) and put it on the USB (3) change your BIOS boot order to USB first (4) reboot and select the Linux you want to test drive from the Ventoy menu. (5) When you’re done, just shut down, unplug USB and reboot normally.
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl.exe -l -v Windows Subsystem for Linux has no installed distributions.
Use ‘wsl.exe --list --online’ to list available distributions and 'wsl.exe --install ’ to install.
Distributions can also be installed by visiting the Microsoft Store: aka.ms/wslstoreError code: Wsl/WSL_E_DEFAULT_DISTRO_NOT_FOUND PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl --set-default-version 2 For information on key differences with WSL 2 please visit aka.ms/wsl2The operation completed successfully. PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl.exe -l -v Windows Subsystem for Linux has no installed distributions.
Use ‘wsl.exe --list --online’ to list available distributions and 'wsl.exe --install ’ to install.
Distributions can also be installed by visiting the Microsoft Store: aka.ms/wslstoreError code: Wsl/WSL_E_DEFAULT_DISTRO_NOT_FOUND PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>*
Still getting this when I try to open Ubuntu:
*Installing, this may take a few minutes… WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80370114 Error: 0x80370114 The operation could not be started because a required feature is not installed.
Press any key to continue…*
I did make sure the subsystem feature in windows features was turned on, btw
If you just want to get to using and enjoying an operating system without reveling in nerdery (which can be fun!), Mint is fantastic. Just make sure you understand partitioning basics if you want to install alongside Windows.
You can’t go wrong using something like VirtualBox to try the install process without touching your actual system :).
If it were depicted in this comic, it would be even easier than Debian because it doesn’t lean toward any particular extreme, it just goes for being usable.
I’m pretty sure there’s a simple check box to include proprietary codecs and things that are commonly used, so you can still watch Netflix or open .mp4s and stuff.
Wide variety of drivers. Should just work on most systems. Friendly community if it doesn’t!
That said sometimes the applications feel a bit old, and you’re looking over at people playing with shiny new features in something like Blender or Krita…
Well, Mint has flatpaks built into the software store! Flatpak is basically a self-contained app that can be the latest version so it doesn’t care about the rest of your system and “just works.”
What’s the process of switching distros? If I start with Mint but do decide later I’m enticed by those shiny new features, will switching over be akin to starting entirely over and learning a whole new system, or is it gonna more similar to just like reinstalling windows for a clean install (to use an analogy situation I’m familiar with)?
edit: wrote dispo instead of distro, goddamn stoner brain
Create a separate partition for /home so you can change distro without having to backup and restore the files in your home directory. Just be sure to NOT format that partition in the installer for your new distro. Take a backup anyways.
It’s mostly a clean installation. You can copy the contents of your home directory, which is where personal configuration files are stored, in the hopes that some stuff will transfer, but surely that won’t be complete.
You could also try dual booting, installing two OSes and you’d choose which to run at start up. You can configure these so that files on one are accessible from the other. This is pretty easy to do if you’re even slightly tech savvy.
I’ve found that the shiney new features are usually buggy. If you’re into helping improve things, using and fixing the new stuff is a great way to contribute. If you’re reasonably tech savvy, you’re going to be able to figure out any distribution. With few exceptions, they’re all easy enough to use. I even doubt the portrayal of Arch in this comic. If you’re not into developing stuff or just want to get your feet wet before diving in more, starting with Mint is easy. And it’s also easy enough to switch or expand if you decide to try something different later. There’s not a lot of lock in with Linux stuff.
The only thing I really have to add regarding “shiny new features”, is you can fire up something like VirtualBox and make “virtual” installs of other distros on your current machine.
A virtual machine or “VM” is basically running an emulated computer on your currently running computer, just like it was a program or game. But everything is self-contained in that emulated system.
So in Mint for example, you can still download other distro ISOs, get used to running the install process, trying out new things, basically just playing around and experimenting, because if you bork the whole thing it won’t affect your working “bare metal” system you’re using. You can just delete the file and start over as if it were a brand new computer! It’s strangely fun and has a lot of practical uses. (You know, like seeing what all this fuss is about with Temple OS for instance lol)
You can find a ton of interesting distros to play with on Distrowatch.com for instance, from stuff that’s meant to run on embedded devices to stuff that’s straight up memes. Lol
If you decide to actually switch your bare-metal system using the advice above, you’ll have a lot more experience then. :)
As for other distros, distro-hopping can be a lot of fun, but just remember in the end, there’s not as much difference between distros as it seems.
Mostly it’s about whether it’s rolling release or LTS, the desktop environment it starts with, and the packages / package-manager it ships with, aside from different specific customizations that team might have done.
Essentially Linux is Linux, but different distros cater to a certain kind of use case, audience, community, and so on.
The beauty and fun of Linux is choice and always having more you can learn!
Also Mint is often touted as a “beginner distro” but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a main driver for pros! There’s nothing wrong if you find you enjoy sticking with it in the long run. :)
man I knew this was going to be rough when I saw him wearing a vegan shirt but god DAMN
“All Arch users are stupid vegan crossfitters who never shut up and contribute nothing to society and the only thing they ever care about is making their desktop look l33t and Arch is a horrible distro and did I mention all Arch users are stupid?”
Oh. My. Sides.
I switched from Ubuntu to Arch because I was sick of packages not compiling due to a complete lack of dependency management. I use stock KDE with zero frills and I spend most of my time hacking on open source projects. I never tell anyone what OS I use (unless they ask for recommendations for their new machine, and I’m prepared to also tell them why I personally prefer it) because they don’t care. I’m a normal guy who keeps myself to myself and hates the people who think a pretty desktop is more important than a usable system just as much as everyone else.
However, I use Arch, and Arch bad, which means I must be the most annoying person on the planet.
“All Arch users are stupid vegan crossfitters who never shut up and contribute nothing to society and the only thing they ever care about is making their desktop look l33t and Arch is a horrible distro and did I mention all Arch users are stupid?”
Spot on! You could have left out all the text after that.
You use Linux. All Linux users are elitist evangelical douchebags who make every conversation about Linux and how great it is even though it’s worse than Windows. Also you’re probably a criminal, since most Linux users are hackers, and I don’t associate with criminals.
As an open source maintainer I notice the trend that Arch uses are simultaneously the most likely to have caused the issue themselves and are always the first to blame my software.
I think these memes stem from the fact that a lot of Arch users are less experienced and spend a lot of time trying to create the “perfect” customized experience. Using Arch is a great way to get the experience, but it can be at the detriment of others sometimes.
Basically, learn to take it on the chin and move on. There’s some truth to the memes.
The 32bit libtcmalloc_minimal.so.4 that all Source 1 games ship with needs to be updated. You can symlink it to your system’s version to get TF2 running again. It’s usually only a matter of time before it starts to effect more downstream distros.
The other problem I have with TF2 is queueing for casual just stops for no discernable reason or error every time, even if I’m not the party host. But then I come back later and it works again? Only real solution I’ve found is to have my friends queue without me and then join after they’ve found a match.
See, I did all that… and then audio broke. So, I couldn’t anymore, man. I probably could’ve copied the install, kept it updated and held it for a resolution but I just don’t demand that much from my builds anymore really. I went with Mint with XFCE and haven’t had a single issue since install. I’m good. If it comes down to Ubuntu’s base, a lot more eyes will be on the problem and I’ll sort it out then.
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