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Finally making the transition from Windows to a Linux. I'm pretty sure it's been asked several times but which Linux OS would you recommend a beginner to use? I've seen Ubuntu and Mint as a good start. Not looking to do much. Game here and there (not too worried about Linux compatibility), streaming, editing videos. If I break any rules. I'm sorry.

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[-] BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 30 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I will be the black sheep that strongly recommend against Mint. I have had more hardware compatibility problems trying to run Mint than any other distro. This is anecdotal, but consistent enough that I would make bets on it. Secondly, I hate Cinnamon, the default desktop environment. There are better choices.

Instead, I’ll suggest Fedora KDE. It’s rock solid, reliable, and the KDE Plasma desktop is the best currently available whether you leave it stock or customize it.

If you want to try things out, set up a spare thumb drive with Ventoy, which will let you boot to any ISO you copy to it. Most distros have “live” versions that you can boot to from the thumb drive and try out before installing. That said, most linux distros install in 5 minutes, so don’t be afraid to try anything and everything you’re curious about.

Also, avoid Cachy or other Arch based distros for now. They are great, but a far more hands-on. Something for the future, when you are more comfortable with linux in general.

[-] sukhmel@programming.dev 1 points 16 hours ago

Also, avoid Cachy or other Arch based distros for now. They are great, but a far more hands-on. Something for the future, when you are more comfortable with linux in general.

Yeah, I recently switched from Mint to EndeavourOS which is Arch, and it breaks way more often. But I must admit, it's more stable than Debian was 15 years ago, so I assume that Linux is getting friendlier in general

[-] UBERCHAD@mastodon.social 1 points 16 hours ago

@sukhmel @BlameTheAntifa modern debian might as well be written in stone. Exponentially more stable than Arch. I personally think immutable distros are the better choice for most people though.

[-] sukhmel@programming.dev 1 points 11 hours ago

Yeah, I heard Debian became way better over years and doesn't require much fiddling anymore

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this post was submitted on 29 Nov 2025
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