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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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for all Ubuntu haters there is a Debian Version of Mint. And second Linux Mint is the perfekt set and forget Distro. No Tinkering for a basic PC without special Requirements.
And i love it that almost all agree that when a noob ask what Distro to choose that Linux mint is every time in the proposed Distros
What's with all the Mint hype? I've never used it and have little desire to go back to a Ubuntu-based distro. Just curious why everyone loves it so much.
For the most part, it works well without needing too much tinkering by the user. It's the Fisher Price My First Distro.
I tried it out with a 21.3 dualboot with Windows 11 and within 2 or 3 months I hadn't gone back to Windows other than to push files over. Sure, there were a few "learning opportunities" with tweaks or weird driver issues that were because of the particular hardware I'm using, but they were manageable. At this point I'm running 22.1 only on this machine.
The nice part is that being Ubuntu-based, if I run into a problem, I can search for both the more widely-documented Ubuntu version of the issue, or look for a Mint-related version. Claude does a great job with small-to-medium troubleshooting rather than me dig through forums. It's low-risk, low-work, high-reward.
It's fantastically simple to set up, and it's (well it's linux!) fantastically powerful out of the box.
Easy peasy, just go. No need to fiddle to get it starting, good looking, and everything is there ready to be used.
Maybe all distros are like that today but they sure wasn't (even Mint wasn't before IDK maybe 18 IMO).
I ran it for a while, and loved it. Cinnamon is sleek and feels polished. The installation is really fast and not bloated with garbage software.
Everything generally works, and the interface feels familiar.
It is Ubuntu/Debian under the hood, so compatibility with most software is good. Bleeding edge drivers may run into issues, but most of them work with a little fiddling.
It's worth a try. If nothing else toss it on a USB drive and give it a test drive.
I ran Ubuntu for like 15 years and was especially recently getting frustrated by how far behind the packages always were. I'm full in on Arch - everything about it has been a much better experience.
That's one of the beauties of Linux, if you need something else than want you can probably get another distro that suits your needs. OP was asking about newbies. I set up Mint for my mom. I can guarantee that she won't change.
My son on the other hand distro hops.
It's rock solid and the desktop is very close to what people coming from Windows would expect. It's just a very good beginner distro, not necessarily something that more advanced users would choose.
Makes sense. I went from Suse to Mepis, stuck with it for a bit after they transitioned to Ubuntu before just going full Ubuntu, but I was getting frustrated by how long it took for their repos to catch up. I've been on Arch for a year or two now and it's been fantastic.
It just works.
Gonna be a lot of perfectly good hardware going up on ebay soon.
Maan, I already have like 4 spare computers, what am I going to do? What project do I have to cone up with to rationalise buying new used ones?
That's interesting. Have anything that comes to mind as easily searchable that might start showing up? I would have to imagine a lot of corporate stuff that is certain they want to keep up on security.
CPU: intel 7th gen or earlier.
I doubt companies will be flooding markets with anything. 7th gen devices came out almost a decade ago (yes it's almost been that long since 2016) and most companies only keep computers for 3-5 years max.
I’m trying, I really am. My current issue is that Wi-Fi completely ignores IPV4 if I’m on a network with additional IPV6 support.
Originally I planned to switch in October when support for W10 runs out, but it seems my PC made the push for me.
At the start of July some issue with windows that caused my system to freeze and then get stuck on boot when restarted finally bricked my system for a 2nd time this year and I was forced to reinstall the OS again. So, instead of wasting another 4 months on dealing with all the crap windows has been throwing my way lately, I just jumped ship to mint.
3 weeks in and, so far so good. Really got around to all the personalization it allows over windows. Learning to run a pc mostly through the terminal has been a step out of the comfort zone, but an enjoyable one tbh
I'm seeing a lot of advocacy for Mint on Lemmy but not as much for Fedora it seems?
I've only ever run one Linux distro and that was Fedora KDE Plasma, havent tried Mint yet. Are they not mostly the same or am I missing something?
You're not. If you're happy with what you've got, don't worry about it. Or join the great Linux tradition of distro hopping. But Mint gets a lot of praise for noobs, but much like Ubuntu there are much better distros out there. It just has name recognition at this point.
Mint is the best distro for people who need you to tell them the distro.
I use Mint on my Laptop but once Windows is done for I'm switching to:
I've never understood the fedora hype. The fact that it is adjacent to Redhat should be enough for people to want to stay away lol.
It's easier to install/use. It was my first distro before I switched to CachyOS for my latest build.
Apt is a massive and reliable package manager. Im not very surprised. However I am surprised no one is specifying LMDE
I really need to move my PC over to Mint, but change makes me deeply uncomfortable :(
Ironic, the fact that I gate change is the whole reason I ended up using Linux. I felt that Mint was closer to Windows 7 than 8.0 at the time.
You have Arch on your username and you're not using Arch Linux? You are doing a disservice to your username.
It would appear to be a reference to Magic the Gathering
Just put it on a USB stick. No install, no commitment. Baby steps.
Honestly this is the best suggestion especially if you can mount your windows partition read only. You get the benefits of Linux while still having access to your files.
For most folks, the biggest hurdle is getting compatible apps. Once you find the apps you need, moving over is just a backup and restore away.
Take it slow. Install a VM with Mint. Play around with it. Get familiar. Move your regular usage over to it gradually. Make the jump when you are ready. It's perfectly OK to have reservations about a big change like that. But you don't have to do it all in one go.
It's not using it that's the problem, I have Mint installed on my work PC and my laptop, and I like it. But for some reason installing it on my main PC, which I use pretty much every day, has me worried for reasons I don't get myself. It's like a soft phobia, an irrational fear.
It took me 3 years from when I first started dual booting to when I launched Windows for the last time.
Take your time, move as slowly as you want, and always leave a way back. Eventually you might notice that you're feeling more comfortable with Linux than Windows, and if you're lucky, you might not even notice when you've stopped using Windows.
It took me over a year too. I was using a mini PC with Mint but still kept my old Windows PC under my desk. When I built a new PC, it never got defiled, though.
Dual boot? Keep like 200GB for windows, and the rest mint. If you need windows for something, boot over. But otherwise, I legit feel more worried when windows has access to my data.
Is it "change" itself that makes you uncomfortable or the fact that change means putting in effort in areas you've developed habits to minimize effort?
I screwed up so bad. I bought a laptop to trial different Linux distros and also because my old one is 12yo now and has its own problems. However, the manufacturer ONLY provides Windows support drivers, so the keyboard won't work without a kernel level patch and I am not a kernel-patch level guy yet
Which laptop? We gotta know who to light up the pitch forks for.
wtf how does a laptop need drivers to use the keyboard? i thought they just used usb/ps2, that is truly fucked
