this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2023
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Linux

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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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[–] Neil@lemmy.ml 184 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Arch user here.

My recommendation to noobies is always Linux Mint even though I don't use it.

I use Arch, btw.

[–] stinerman@midwest.social 67 points 1 year ago

Yeah I think Arch is fine, but I'd never recommend it to a new Linux user.

[–] ProtonBadger@kbin.social 24 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Indeed, besides most linux distributions are fairly equally lightweight and can be customized. I tried 4-5 distros this past January (Arch being one) when I got my new gaming laptop and they all booted in ~9.5 sec for example, and perform equally well in general, they had fairly similar RAM load with the same desktop environment.

Arch is about managing the system as a hobby, which is fine.

One problem here is that new users install Endeavour/Garuda but don't know how to manage updates safely about pacnew/pacsave/etc. So the system might slowly "rot" without them knowing about it because new components use old configs, etc..

I also recommend Mint to new users. I don't use Mint, nor do I use Arch.

[–] lemmyvore@feddit.nl 5 points 1 year ago

Tbf I don't think many people know about pacdiff. The way I found out about it was by looking up a warning about pacnew/pacsave during an upgrade, because I was bored. Very random.

[–] oce@jlai.lu 2 points 1 year ago

Arch is about managing the system as a hobby, which is fine.

Only the installation takes more time, maintenance is no longer than the noob friendly ones.

[–] PhoenixTwoFive@iusearchlinux.fyi 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hey, you're on the wrong Lemmy instance. :P

I so want to join that one :D Brilliant name.

... Then go back to Gentoo and stay anyway >:P

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[–] entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 1 year ago

I use both, but Mint is strictly better if you want a no-fuss system that just works and will continue to do so

[–] Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago

As a seasoned distrohopper, can confirm. When I try something new, I always ask myself: Would a noob be ok with the fact that in this distro you have to do things this way. In Fedora, Debian, Manjaro and so many other I always end up saying “no” more than a few times. With Mint, you just don’t bump into these situations very often. IMO, Mint is the best starter distro for most users. If you know your friend is very technical, you can recommend something else.

[–] Zink@programming.dev 1 points 1 year ago

I finally tried out Linux Mint this year at work (we use Fedora for some of our different tasks). It arms like such a nice experience out of the box, and I’d put it on a family computer in a second.

[–] Cwilliams 1 points 1 year ago

Yep. LM or Ubuntu is my recommendation to newbies

[–] reric88 1 points 8 months ago

Mint was my first used, was straightforward and easy to get going. Still use mint.

I've always read it doesn't really matter what distro you choose, just to pick one you like. That's confusing to a noob because they don't know why they should or shouldn't like a specific one.

Mint is very simple to setup and works very much like a windows PC by default. Can even set it up to work like a Mac if you want to.

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