this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2026
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Linux
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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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I will never get why Mint is regarded as looking similar to Windows, I guess it just became a thing for people to parrot (no offense to you, just complaining about why this is such a widely agreed on thing) when it only shares the layout but visually looks NOTHING like it. Very round, no gradients or transparency, just mono-colored, the design language has no similarity at all. Any vanilla KDE Plasma install looks instantly more recognizable to a Windows user.
No offense taken, I know very little about Linux currently so its all the same fine to me as a jumping off point or analogy to begin from.
Things can be incorrect or "inapt" yet still have value as a stepping stone to the discourse about whatever :)
I personally find it much easier to understand and learn things by being safely/comfortably wrong at many different points (especially at the beginning) and get corrected by a more knowledgable god samaritan. If you're never or not often enough wrong (like memorizing things by rote or just accepting and memorizing what anybody says) or not hypothesizing you dont develop a connection to the domain
First of, good on you to want to get deeper into it, you won't regret it! Opinions have to be formed at some point or another, same goes for developing a sense for what sounds accurate or not. I do agree that Mint is easy and intuitive to use for most non-technical folk like idk, your parents maybe, and I do often recommend it myself, but visually? No similarity at all in the design-language in my opinion haha
What are you currently leaning towards?