this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2026
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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
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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?

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[–] noretus@crazypeople.online 10 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

Dude, "boring" is what I want from an OS. No surprises. No sudden changes. I'm 40.

[–] Durandal@lemmy.today 11 points 14 hours ago

Exactly. Like I said... it's a top recommendation for a reason. There's still tons of bleeding edge stuff to play with... but Mint has really nailed down "here... this will install painlessly, and your laptop is going to work fine".

[–] Novocirab@feddit.org 6 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

Then I especially recommend Linux Mint LMDE edition. It's built on Debian, which is known for its stability, instead of on the flashier Debian-derived Ubuntu.

https://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php

[–] d0ntpan1c@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 13 hours ago

I'm looking forward to the day LMDE just becomes the only Mint flavor and they ditch the Ubuntu middleman entirely. They haven't said thats their goal with LMDE, but given the trend of other distros swapping to Debian from Ubuntu (VanillaOS as another example), it wouldn't surprise me.