Which distro for a non-technical windows user? (gehirneimer.de)

submitted 2 months ago by BentiGorlich@gehirneimer.de to c/linux@programming.dev

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Hi everyone, I am planning to install linux on my friends laptop and I am not sure which distro to install for them.

The options I am considering:

Fedora: I have it on my PC and since I will be the first person to be asked, I thought it would be best if I know the distro well
Mint: is a default suggestion, but I am not sure if it is different enough from the Windows look that one does not expect it to behave the same as Windows
Ubuntu: most widely available in forums, etc. And a good starting point in my opinion

What do you guys think?

EDIT: Thanks for all the suggestions, I think I'll stick with Fedora and let them try Gnome, KDE and Cinnamon :)

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[-] banazir@lemmy.ml 10 points 2 months ago

I'll throw my vote in with Fedora KDE Plasma. The fact you run it will absolutely help with any possible troubleshooting, and Plasma is IMO great for anyone coming from Windows. Fedora, from my experience, doesn't throw many curve balls your way either.

Good luck with your friend's transition!

[-] Kirk@startrek.website 6 points 2 months ago

I support this and would suggest Fedora Kinoite which is Fedora's immutable version with KDE Plasma and is very very hard to meaningfully break.

[-] Dymonika@lemmy.one 1 points 1 day ago

Thanks, never heard of this one. After reading the horror stories about what Cannonical is doing to Ubuntu, I may move to this...

this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2025

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