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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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That's not normal, Debian works fine with NVIDIA cards including with their proprietary drivers. You can follow https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers
How do I know? Been running such a setup for years including for gaming, even VR gaming, and tinkering with local AI models for evaluation (and disappointment) and works well.
oh yeah I know it's not normal. there was something about a "kernel error (bug)" and failing to interpret a BIOS symbol, and also ACPI errors that may or may not be related. the hardware is kinda old, it's a z390 taichi motherboard. the 1st m.2 slot failed on me during the first installation attempt and I had to go to a backup so obv it's not in the best shape. I figure I'll worry about a clean (canonical free) distro when I can also be free of nvidia. for now It's just bloodborne :3 time unless I gotta upgrade the card right away, 8gb VRAM is kinda rough.
I think CachyOS is very nice - it's as simple to setup as Bazzite for gaming but you don't have to virtualize software that doesn't come as a flatpak so it's more flexible. As another commenter said, btrfs gives a really nice safety margin. The only prpblem is that Arch-based distros like Cachy should be updated quite frequently(I wouldn't go longer than two weeks) so its not good for secondary PCs you interact with infrequently.
Just mint or fedora, you'll be fine.
This
Fedora is life.
For me it replaced every other distro, since the minimal install of its fedora Server flavour is just aß minimal as debian
Yeah, I switched my desktop and laptop for work and never looked back. As time goes on I'm learning more and more how to fix any oddities or bugs and find myself less and less familiar with Windows bullshit. I have one windows install in a VM to adjust my camera because it just refuses to work with Linux, but I set it and forget it. It's so so so much nicer and runs nice and snappy on my cheep work laptop that barely booted the windows 11 it came with.
I would second this. They key as a beginner I think is to choose a distro with a reasonable release cycle, give yourself some room to breathe.
Debian is too slow, their release cycle is basically 2 years. You could use Testing or Unstable instead of Stable but they're not officially meant for public consumption and come with no guarantees. It's great as a minimalist, rock-solid foundation for a server where stability is paramount but not great for any purpose with a faster pace of technology.
Arch-based distros on the other hand are extremely fast ("rolling distro"). Most of them sit in the range between "drinking from the firehose" (release packages as fast as they come in) to something like 2 weeks for a "slow" distro like Manjaro.
Distros like Mint, Fedora, Ubuntu, PopOS have ~6 month release cycles so you end up with reasonably recent packages but not too recent to catch all the new bugs.
I have been using Pop!_OS for the past few years and I like It.
GENTOO
Mint or Fedora if you're starting out. Bazzite if you want a more gaming focused version of Fedora. CachyOS if you want something more cutting edge.
Ubuntu is generally fine but functions at the whims of Canonical, who are both Linux weirdos and corporate weirdos, which leads to some interesting decisions.
I'd recommend NixOS. Everything just works with a few lines of code (Nix is not that bad, it just takes a lil' bit of reading).
Linux mint. And use the drivers gui to easily pick and install the tested nvidia (proprietary) driver under Linux.
I'd go catchy just for the bootloader btrfs support. If you fuck something up just go to your last image and its not fucked up anymore. Basically save states for learning linux
Yeah I updated the system with too little space left on disk and it stopped booting. I rebooted, choose an older boot image with BTRFS and bam I was back in games.
I can also confirm AI local stuff does do well on Cachyos.
Most people will recommend Linux Mint. I'd like to recommend Fedora. Fast, reliable, looks good (especially the KDE plasma version) and stays out of your way when you do things. I've been using linux as a daily driver for the past 8 months and Fedora has become something I'm so used to, that I really can't see changing at all.
I don't have a ton of experience with different distros, I've probably tried out 5-6, but I was a fedora user for several years. After a string of headaches, I switched to Mint, and the experience has been wonderful. I was avoiding it because its a "beginner" os, but honestly its been so nice having something that just works every time. On the same PC, apps which would freeze my system run smoothly, there's no buggy little quirks like buttons that don't work, so far everything I've tried installing on it works great, including docker which I could not get to work on fedora, also was able to easily install graphene os which would not work on fedora (and I bricked my machine trying).
nvidia is not that bad on linux anymore. all people usually have is small annoyances, big issues are uncommon on major distros.
debian probably works. but if you want the best performance and games, newer packages are usually better, yes.
Well. I still hate nvidia under Linux. Mesa support is bad. Drivers for gaming still require you to install the proprietary drivers. While Amd has the kernel drivers sitting directly into the kernel. New kernel. New drivers! Jeej.
yeah, it's not ideal and amd is heavily preferred. though if you manage to score a 2000-series and up geforce for a good price, it will work.
I've been using bazzite with an nvidia card for almost a year. No issues.
Among Ubuntu-Debian-ArchLinux, with whom I have actual hands-on and long-term experience, I'd rather recommend Arch if you can survive its installation process. Otherwise I'd think about Cachy or Ubuntu - based again on my limited experience in Linux, even if spanning 15 years and really liking it.
A good starting point is the pinned post "Understanding Linux and choosing your first Linux distro, v2.0". In doubt, just take something like Linux Mint as a general operating system or a gaming oriented one like Bazzite.
I use debian with Nvidia graphics. The drivers are available in the repos and work fine
I like NixOS but there's a large amount of stuff to learn if you pick that distro. I don't know what the best entry-level distros nowadays are but I would pick Fedora over Debian since it's more modern, the immutable distros like Bazzite are also worth looking at but I have no experience with them
Between linux distros on the same kernel and a similar DE setup the difference in performance between them is within the margin of error. If it's greater than that then something is broken with the setup. You'll likely get worse performance and hardware compatibility on debian or mint, just because they run older kernels by default. You can get newer kernels backported to debian if you add the right repositories, but I don't think it's recommended.
I run the desktop version of bazzite and can not say enough good things about it. It's been more stable than debian for me and the "immutible" distros i've been on have been such a good and trouble-free experience that I don't want to touch traditional distros anymore. It has all the codecs and a bunch of extra hardware support enabled by default, a bunch of scripts to easily set up things, and a bunch of QoL improvements set up on install. Having to open up flatseal every now and then to grant permissions to a flatpak is so much less trouble than what I've experienced on traditional distros where updates can straight up break shit and randomly send you on a troubleshooting goose chase. I don't understand how anyone finds that normal and acceptable. You can get local AI set up pretty easily with the right flatpaks (alpaca) or certain appimages.
If not being able to mess with system level stuff, or the niche quirks of an immutable distro are a dealbreaker, or you want to jump around on different DEs and not mess with a VM: Fedora is good, generally stable and decently updated packages. Mint generally stable but might have slightly older packages. CachyOS for an arch based option that's highly regarded, because it has a lot of useful options, but with rolling release distros the risk of updates causing an issue slightly higher than usual. I've also heard nothing but good things about OpenSuse Tumbleweed which is also rolling release but reportedly very stable.
did this happen to be from the radio free asia sale?
Get Arch on there if you're looking for bleedng edge, no bloat performance.
The wiki has some points on nvidia drivers too
Endeavouros has nvidia included
Zorin OS is a good first option. Everything Just WorksTM
Don't recommend niche distros to beginners, these have next to no community support and tend to disappear overnight
Zorin OS is hardly a niche distro. Is it?
Zorin IS is derived from Ubuntu - 99% of Ubuntu's guide will work with it.
You know this because you use it. The person for whom this is their first Linux doesn't. Why not recommend Ubuntu or Mint?
I dont use ZorinOS. But I can use google.
will I be fine with debian or are the packages just too old?
I use Debian with a 3060ti - i9 11th gen combo, works fine, if you’re familiar with Debian then you’ll likely have an alright experience.
Make sure you don’t break Debian and you’ll be fine.
Edit: I don’t use Ai with Debian, I’d suggest learning about Docker and running it through a container.