this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2026
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I tried to encourage fellow Linux users to just encourage one distro. It doesn't have to be a good distro, but just one the person is least likely to run into issues with and if they do, the most likely to be able to find solutions easily for their issues. Things like Ubuntu and Mint clearly fit the bill. They can then decide later if they want to change to a different one based on what they learn from using that one.
No one listened to me, because everyone wants to recommend their personal favorite distro rather than what would lead to the least problems for the user and would be the easiest to use. A person who loves PopOS will insist the person must use PopOS. A person who loves Manjaro will insist that the person must use Manjaro. Linux users like so many different distros that this just means everyone recommends something different and just make it confusing.
I gave up even bothering after awhile. Linux will never be big on desktop unless some corporation pushes a Linux-based desktop OS.
I always recommend Mint. I'm neither particularly fond of the DE nor do I personally use Debian / Ubuntu any more, but I still think it's a great "beginner" distro.
I use Nobara, which is Fedora-based, and I think it's great for gaming, but I'm not sure support for it is thorough enough for people who can't confidently wade into configs.
Mint doesn't use KDE out of the box. They have an own DE called Cinnamon.
Good shout! I vaguely remembered "not Gnome" (or at least not the Gnome I'm used to) and my mind went straight to KDE. I'll fix that.
People need to put their egos aside and recommend a distro suited to a soft landing for a new person. That includes knowing that person's technical skill and who around them will help when real issues pop up that require hand-holding and not just "Well, there's a forum and you ask there."
IMO that's Mint, but I also haven't found a distro that has tempted me away from Mint, either.
And of all possible companies, Valve is the one that's made the most progress with this.
Valve is working on it, just need them to have a public build of steam os