this post was submitted on 03 May 2025
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Linux comes in a million flavors but most people should start with Mint. That sounds like a pun, but it's also true.
Mint is a nice, safe, up-to-date, simple, Windows-like choice that won't unnecessarily complicate the transition to an entirely different operating system. It has good hardware support and good defaults. Most things will feel very familiar and be very accessible. It is popular enough to find plenty of help on the internet and answers to almost every question you could have. It mostly just works and when it doesn't it's usually not a deal-breaker.
It's not my favourite distro, but you aren't ready for my favourite distro. Honestly I'm barely ready for my favourite distro. It's not elitism, it's just practicality. You'll learn as you go, and you'll eventually want to try other distros, but start with Mint, and keep a Mint system around for when you break everything else. Which you will if you start playing with other distros.
Its absolutely ugly and has a very non modern interface, anyone who tries it as their first OS will probrally be convinced Linux is stuck in 2005. Tbh Fedora should be considered the default these days.
Windows interface is also stuck in 2005, and the evidence suggests most people prefer that. Many people claim they want modern interfaces, but then people get literally angry whenever Microsoft tries to update it and almost nobody ever uses any of the "modern" features they add. Mint is a perfectly fine choice for most people, who are perfectly happy to be stuck in 2005.
Does it? Most people are spending all their time on their cell phone these days, and that's much closer to Gnome's UI. But yeah, anyone accustomed to windows will be better on Mint and cinnamon, however everyone else will be better off on Gnome.
This post literally about Windows 10, which is not on anyone's phone. That's the reason I'm making that specific recommendation.
Thing is, everyone has a phone now, and they spend an inordinate amount of time on it. Though I'm not excited about recommending Fedora either, the fact that it doesn't enable non-free software by default causes a bunch of issues.
that does not make it 2005 design. if your metric is familiarity, then even kde plasma 6 will be "2005 design"
I'm with the other guy. My phone is a touchscreen while my computers (my dual monitor gaming PC, especially) are not. The ways we interact with each of them are fundamentally different, and their interfaces reflect that.
In fact - my laptop and my gaming PC both have LMDE installed, but their DE setups differ from each other because of the simple fact that I use them differently. Both use Cinnamon, but customized for each computer's specific use case.
Yeah, but I really don't want my computer to look like my phone. And I hate that they keep moving toward that and "app-ifying" computers (specifically windows).
You might not, but it's certainly easier to use devices when they behave in similar ways. Like I usually install linux on my relatives PCs simply because if they run into an issue I can troubleshoot it much faster.