Fedora is not for beginners.
Mint is.
I could go into more detail, but I'll leave it there.
this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2023
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Mint has very nice tooling but its a weird Ubuntu derivate. One day a specific software doesnt install, or you have an XOrg problem that will never be fixed, or standard updates simply break something, and then...
Mint is nice and easy to get going, but its outdated a lot, and uses a Distro model that I dont like to install on random laptops that are never updated.
So you're a power user? Case in point, you'd be better for Fedora.
Also my second distro was mint, after 3+ years of the old hdd's non-use, I pulled it out last year when my install of some OS broke, updated it to zero issues (I was curious), used the software for a bit, all was good.
3 years without an update to zero issues.
Haven't seen any issue with Mint updates yet like I've fought in Fedora
From your post:
laptop he uses for university. He’s not a tinkerer and wants something that just works.
Mint:
Linux Mint is known for being very user-friendly and stable. Also easy to get help online.
Fedora:
have to install media codecs via terminal
university wifi eduroam doesn’t work on Fedora
less help on the web for Fedora than Mint.
Unless you're sure that screen stuttering is going to be a major annoyance, you know what I am going to suggest.
Fair enough.
university wifi eduroam doesn’t work on Fedora
As a fedora eduroam user I'm pretty sure it does.
I was just quoting OP. I am making no claims of my own.
Yeah, I missed that. Sorry, guess I should pay more attention.
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Mint is like 99% plug and play on most laptops, so I'd recommend they go that route.
I recommend Mint.
Chances are your friend's secondary laptop doesn't have extra resources for Gnome to run smoothly. Sad thing is nowadays Gnome is very heavy and bloated.
Also, he may try both distros live-usb. Maybe he don't care about Mint looking outdated. But if he does, you may try Fedora live-usb and check if university wifi works properly.
It's his laptop after all, so I believe your appreciations on the beauty of desktop environments are secondary.
Good ideas, I will consider that.
It's his laptop after all, so I believe your appreciations on the beauty of desktop environments are secondary.
You are right. I was thinking that the Fedora workflow might give him some Linux-exclusive benefits over Windows so he might consider switching his main laptop too. Mint is rather a drop-in replacement for Windows so the advantages of Linux are not very visible/important for a newcomer. At least compared to a DE like GNOME.
As a fedoraman myself, I think Pop!_OS is a great option.
But are you doing this because your friend wants linux or because you want it? It's okay to recommend it but don't push it if they don't need it.
No questions it's mint, it runs and looks very good.
In general I would recommend any Debian derivate for beginners that just don't care about how their computer is operating. So if this is really just a question regarding eight Fedora or Linux Mint then I would say Linux Mint because it's a Debian derivative.
That's simply because chances are high stat you will at least find a Deb package for any proprietary software you might want to use. Making it "easier" for the user.
If you install the system for your friend you're free to change the Desctop environment to everything you want.
I’d say Mint.
Mint is planning to add experimental support for Wayland this winter, so he’s probably only 1-2 years away from full Wayland support in the DE.
They said they're targeting 2026 in the post where they announced Wayland.
Mint
I can’t really give a super useful opinion given that I haven’t really touched fedora, but I’ve been using mint for school for almost a year, highly recommend
Begin small, end big. That works for everything when learning something new. So, with that said, go for Linux Mint Cinnamon.
I begun my Linux journey with elementary OS which is more for macOS users. I was a Windows user so I switched to Linux Mint Cinnamon. After a few years of exploring and learning, I am now using EndeavourOS.
Maybe stock Ubuntu?
It's pretty new. Has wayland and pipewire. You can just enable a checkmark in the installer to install codecs. Uses Gnome, so a non-Windows like workflow. Pretty sure Eduroam would work there, as many schools use Ubuntu by default.
I haven't tried Ubuntu yet myself, but generally I'm turned off by some decisions Canonical makes, especially the whole Snap thing adding complexity, slow app startup and proprietary store. Not very trustworthy.
But you are right, Ubuntu is the most popular and things like eduroam will likely work.
If your want something that just works, Ubuntu is pretty hard to beat. Snaps are really not a big deal anymore, performance wise; a lot of the bad rap on slow startups etc. are from years (and many versions) ago.
If you don't want Ubuntu and you don't like Mint, there are also other options in the Ubuntu/Debian family. Pop_OS and Zorin are both popular.
Have them check with their University if they do any Linux support. If they do - use one of the distros they support so they might possibly have KB articles about accessing University recourses from Linux.
Source: am Linux admin at a University that writes such documentation. I have seen exactly the Eduroam issue you mention and came up with an Ubuntu workaround for example.
Do mint, if you really wanna do fedora try Nobara