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And so it begins (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 day ago by python@lemmy.world to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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I installed Linux Mint for the first time on my personal Laptop just a few months ago, and it ran so well that I didn't want to mess with it to try out different distros.

But today, my company's IT department announced that they have some spare old Laptops to give away (technically because they didn't meet the specs for Windows 11, didn't stop the IT department from giving them out with Windows 11 pre installed though)

So now I got a few devices to play around with!! They're a Precision 7530 and a Latitude 7390 2-in-1!

I already got ZorinOS running on the little guy because apparently Zorin is nice for Touchscreen support. For the big guy I was initially thinking that I could try Bazzite, but the installer was like "Intel UHD Graphics aren't really recommended" so I might try something else first. Any recommendations? I mainly just want to try as many different flavors of Linux as I can haha

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[-] varjen@lemmy.world 5 points 3 hours ago

You should try Fedora. It's the one used by Linus.

[-] lemmyreader@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 hours ago

Did you try CachyOS ? https://cachyos.org/ I'm impressed by how snappy it is on older computers.

[-] python@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Not yet, but I have seen that it is very popular on Distrowatch! :D It's definitely in my backlog

[-] Jankatarch@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

Void linux xfce. Just uses so little ram I love it.

[-] python@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Very reasonable in this economy!

[-] EpicFailGuy@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

dont forget your programming socks

[-] python@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Man I wish I could participate in the programmer socks joke, but I feel like it just doesn't really hit the same when an afab person does it :(

[-] Twakyr@feddit.org 4 points 19 hours ago

You can, if you have far to much time in your hands, install arch, gentoo, vor any other distro with a non graphical installer. I believe its a great experience, especially because you learn a bit more about the internels, and a few cool bash commands.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 day ago

"Intel UHD Graphics aren't really recommended"

Because Bazzite is gaming oriented and Intel UHD is barely good enough to render a display?

[-] JamesBoeing737MAX@sopuli.xyz 5 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Well, it works for MC, older games, even stray runs somewhat (from my experience). It's decent for a 300€ laptop with a quad core like the ones in the post.

[-] python@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

I actually have tried it on the bigger laptop by now and somehow Bazzite runs Sekiro more smoothly than my "Gaming" Lenovo Legion Y530 that has an actual GPU and is from around the same time ever did. 🫣 It was completely unplayable on my other Laptop... which makes me think that maybe I misconfigured it to not actually use the GPU back in the day??? I'll have to experiment with that a bit more haha

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 5 points 3 hours ago

Ah, the newer UHD?

[-] rumba@lemmy.zip 7 points 18 hours ago

I have a Dell with UHD+Nvidia, took me a while to get Prime working to switch video cards. Even on UHD, it could do basic Steam games and Minecraft if you didn't have high expectations.

[-] The_v@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

Umm... With 2 free computers and nothing on them.

Run down the list and install all the different distros. Test them out for a few weeks then onto the next. Pretty soon you'll one that you prefer.

[-] Jankatarch@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Advanced distro hopping form, distro rotation.

[-] python@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Installing one distro on one laptop and then only using that laptop to figure out how to install the next distro on the other laptop! That would give me an actual goal in each distro I install too, since I'd have to get the wifi and browser working and figure out how to run that program that burns iso files onto a usb stick :0
... that would be such an entertaining youtube video concept too, I wish I was into video making haha

[-] Cyber@feddit.uk 4 points 1 day ago

This is the way.

The only way to find the right distro is to try them out, on the end device, with the end user.

[-] HouseWolf@pawb.social 42 points 1 day ago

Image

[-] loweffortname@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 day ago

I don't understand... It wasn't even an Arch-based distro!

[-] NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip 21 points 1 day ago

I always wonder why mint is the one people try. It seems so out of date.

Fedora these days works really well and is really up to date.

[-] LeFantome@programming.dev 11 points 1 day ago

Mint is very boring and middle of the road, exactly as a default recommendation should be. They are also very protective of the user experience. They are unlikely to embarrass me.

Mint has a familiar UX if you are new to Linux. It is not nearly as foreign or locked down as GNOME. It is not as configurable and complex as KDE. There are good GUI tools for most common tasks.

Mint does not change too rapidly or have too many updates but the desktop and tools are kept up-to-date.

They are being very conservative with the Wayland transition. But nobody on Mint is moaning that Wayland is not ready. They are very protective about the user experience.

And there is really no desktop use case that Mint is not suitable for.

I do not use Mint but it is a very solid recommendation for “normal” users.

I think Pop!OS is back to being that too and COSMIC is Wayland only (so no future transition to manage).

[-] NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip 3 points 19 hours ago

Mint has a familiar UX if you are new to Linux.

See this one is confusing to me. It is very different.

You are greeted after install to configure mirrors. What is a mirror? The dialog offers no help, there is no apply, or maybe this one. so you click "restore to the default". What does that do? And then down the side what is a PPA? Should I have a PPA (answer is NO, you should not). Additional Repositories, auth keys, maintenance.....Fix merge lists.....

Where is the clipboard? Oh there isnt one. And typing clipboard doesnt offer one. Typing clipboard into software sources offers too many (25 of them!).

Mint is alright I don't want to come across as bashing them. I just am surprised it is so highly recommended that is all.

I always broke it before long, but that is the Ubuntu curse: super fragile and always breaking.

[-] Jumuta@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago

have you actually tried it? trying mint after using arch for a year (btw), it's actually really well made and the consistency is crazy good. The UI looks and feels better in person than in screenshots

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[-] erebion@news.erebion.eu 15 points 1 day ago

Try out Debian. Stable, base of many other distros, loads of documentation, huge helpful community, just runs and barely ever breaks (I can't even remember the last time I had issues).

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[-] st3ph3n@midwest.social 16 points 1 day ago

I've become quite the fan of Fedora with KDE. Running Fedora 43 on both my couch Thinkpad and my gaming desktop. Only issue I'm having with it is sleep functionality on the desktop, which just sucks (it likes to not wake up from sleep) so I have that set to not go to sleep, just turn the screen off when idle.

[-] zmrl@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 hours ago

I had the same problem until I installed the nvidia drivers. KDE will install some that gets things to work but I had that sleeping problem you mention. I can't remember the exact package name but I can try and figure it out if you need help finding it.

[-] idefix@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

I've had a really poor experience of Fedora and KDE. It really felt like third-class experience as they push so much for GNOME. Once you try a more desktop neutral or pro-KDE distributions you can't go back to Fedora.

[-] st3ph3n@midwest.social 1 points 18 hours ago

KDE got upgraded to a mainline version in 43, not just a separate spin.

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[-] umbrella@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

welcome to the penguin. distro hop a bit, see what you like.

initially though, you should focus on what DE you are choosing rather than the distro itself, as it is the focal point of the OS, especially for beginners.

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[-] jaypatelani@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 day ago

OpenSUSE is very less recommended but I would suggest it

https://media.ccc.de/v/5012-the-first-encrypted-steam-deck-runs-opensuse#t=0

Also check out their AEON it is still in RC but worth looking out for. Meanwhile Fedora immutable can be used with Intel.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

Suse has such a corporate feel to her.

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this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2025
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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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