Linux

12001 readers

641 users here now

A community for everything relating to the GNU/Linux operating system (except the memes!)

Also, check out:

Original icon base courtesy of lewing@isc.tamu.edu and The GIMP

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

Ategon@programming.dev

anzo@programming.dev

dwraf_of_ignorance@programming.dev

Linux Mint isn't the answer for Windows refugees anymore (www.xda-developers.com)

submitted 15 hours ago by cm0002@literature.cafe to c/linux@programming.dev

64 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I've been having a big think over Linux distros. See, I've been looking back at my still-new Linux experience of nine months, and wondering how my own journey can help other people get started with FOSS operating systems. Whenever the topic of a Windows refugee-friendly OS came up, I would recommend Linux Mint because, first, it's the one everyone says, and second, it was the Linux OS that I started with, fresh off Windows.

I always follow that up with a comment about how you don't have to stick with Linux Mint if you don't want to. You can do what I did, which is to dip your toe into the Linux distro water and find something that suits you better. But if I'm setting up Linux Mint as "my first Linux distro," why not just skip the middleman and get right into the distros that have a bit more meat on them?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] owenfromcanada@lemmy.ca 25 points 14 hours ago

You're not missing anything. Mint is perfectly good for the vast majority of users.

Linux distros are a bit like vehicles. For most people, a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla will do everything they need. But if you go onto forums of car-enthusiasts, you can probably find thousands of voices that say those vehicles have such low horsepower, or they're not perfectly streamlined, or arguing about the buttons on the seat belts. Things that the average user doesn't care much about.

I started 20 years ago with Slackware, tried out FreeBSD, and a number of others. I switched to Mint as a daily driver years agoc These days I found what I like (CachyOS), but I'm fairly knowledgable and quite comfortable on the command line, which is definitely not the case for most newer folks.

Mint is a great distro. When I put it on my wife's laptop, literally everything worked right away. Have fun!