Are You New to Linux?

EVE Technology and Research Center Linux
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Thought I should put this up since we all know a new Windows upgrade is just around the next corner. Windows 12 rumors abound, but one thing is certain, it won’t be built support old hardware. They want you to buy the latest and greatest, just to keep up with the Jones.

Most new users to Linux OS ask, which distribution (distro) is right for them and why are there so many distros in the first place. Most Linux users will offer you Ubuntu, Mint, Arch, etc… but most will only offer what they like to use themselves.

First there are a lot of distros, because Linux is a free open source kernel, anyone with the knowledge, can build their custom OS upon this kernel, without fear of being prosecuted by Microsoft. Now let’s briefly define some distros.

Arch - is a barebones style OS. You normally will NOT get a graphical installation wizard. A scant few offer scripts or Open Box desktop for installation but then it defeats the purpose of barebones OS. Arch is more frequently updated ( rolling release ), which means smaller update packages, close to a monthly basis. Distros with a fixed release – other than drivers – will do a six month full upgrade, longer downloads, and the entire system changes.

Manjaro - is Arch base and many don’t like calling it Arch at all. It offers you 3 to 5 desktop environments to choose from and has a separate distribution center than Arch but they pull from Arch to compile their rolling release distros. This means they often run behind Arch on some updates. Easy set up wizard, makes the distro popular with new users.

Mint - is a Ubuntu based ( Zulu language ubuntu means given freely ) feels a lot like Windows OS, most new Linux users will desire to work from here first. Being a fixed release they normally will update in April and October each year.

Special Game Versions

Ubuntu Game*Pack – is a specialized Linux distribution based on Ubuntu PC, designed specifically for gaming enthusiasts. Boasting 90,000 games, I assume there are at least a few I would actually play. They cite Steam as part of that 90K game titles.

Bazzite OS – is an alternative to Steam OS for hand held portables. It offers more driver selection, making it more diverse. Also will install with existing Windows OS ( duel boot ) where Steam OS won’t give this option. Steam OS uses less overhead.

Sparky Game Over – is Debian based, game focused OS with a lot of ready to play Linux titles, as well as, popular game launchers such as Lutris, Steam, and Play on Linux. This is made in Poland so their forums are primarily written in the Polish language. Hey! That is what web translation is built for.

There are almost an infinite amount of Linux distros. Windows offers you one flavor of ice-cream, Linux does a lot better giving you much more than 31 flavors.

o7

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I use BunsenLabs Linux which was Crunchbang #! which was a distro for the netbooks, like the NC10, but it’s a nice lightweight debian variant, with a fluxbox desktop, but as it’s debian you can install anything you like.

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I started with Ubuntu, but Unity was total trash could not get used to it. Changed to Fedora, used a lot, decided their agenda is too much for me, Wayland is hot garbage.

Manjaro is very solid, I’m using it right now, but with X11.

I recommend, sincerely from new users, AVOID SNAP AT ALL COSTS. You don’t want another Windows in you life.

Arch based distros are very solid, CachyOS is a very solid decision.

Mint is also very user friendly if you don’t want any hassle.

SNAP is bad, trust me, do not let others update your system without your consent. Flatpak is better in all shapes and forms anyway.

If you decide to use Wayland, up to you, I don’t like it. But I recomend checking if your distro has a X11 fallback.

Also, experiment GNOME and KDE before commiting, I used GNOME a lot, but now I feel KDE is superior.

And that’s all I have to say, using Windows is such a waste of time…

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There’s more than Gnome and KDE!

Get bloat out of your life, use a lightweight window manager!

fluxbox, openbox, blackbox (if it’s still alive), xfce

:wink:

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There are a lot of them, I’m citing the most used ones, even Cinnamon is usable.

But I’m also a realist, people won’t change Windows for a lightweight window manager…

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I use NixOS. But to newbies, I recommend Mint above all else. The key facts to consider is whether a distro defaults to GNOME, or to literally anything else. Shun GNOME.

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There is also Archbang / Greenbang, which was Arch Linux with Open Box. I tested it on a used box, with Tint, and some other apps. Very solid and lightweight but could not see it as being user friendly for my senior citizen clients to use.

Yes SNAP and Flatpak are both bloatware. I did some tests with a Linux OS arcade style game Hedge Wars and the file could be downloaded without all the extra data much smaller. Many distros have their own software add/remove and you can eliminate these 2 bloatware packagers.

I ran KDE ( K Desktop Environment ) as well for a few years, but Plasma became cumbersome with too many bells and whistles to my liking it, and I moved on to lighter DE’s. I don’t suggest going as lightweight as Open Box. I mostly stick with XFCE ( aka Whiskers ), because of the easy to make panels and menus.

My concern about the future of Linux OS, is the desire to follow Windows too closely. Kind of like asking your child, “And if Microsoft Windows jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?”. With the hardware focus being the new AI CPUs, I know Windows history with Clippy or Clippit. I hope Linux OS will veer off and use AI as the optional tool it should be.

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Linux will fall, the agenda is working on clock, the difference is people can fork it, different from Windows where you got no option.

My comment on flatpak is about isolation and not being forced into the system, nobody needs to use any, but snap delivering updates to the system automatically is a big NO!

Like Discord for me is better on flatpak, it keeps it updated and easy to remove. Otherwise I need to download it everytime it updates and I can’t login to work.

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I know this post technically isn’t recommending any of these in particular, but man wtf is this list?

I can second Linux Mint as a very good choice, and Bazzite is ehhh its alright for some people, but new users should stay tf away from base Arch imo as it’s a huge pain to install and can also be painful to maintain. Manjaro is an absolute meme of terrible project management (expired certificates, anyone?), and I’ve literally never heard of Ubuntu Game*Pack or Sparky Game Over. That said, Ubuntu is imo best avoided as well.

For Arch-based distros that don’t hate you just for existing, I’d say CachyOS is pretty good especially if you want something more focused on gaming in general (but that’s not a pain to use for other things like Bazzite). I’ll also add that I personally use and can recommend Nyarch Linux.

As a caveat to any Arch-based distros though, I’d suggest that anyone new please avoid the Arch User Repository (AUR) unless you absolutely HAVE to use it, or know what you’re doing. The AUR is completely unvetted (no better than downloading a .exe from a random site) and furthermore allows abandoned packages (software) to be adopted by absolutely anyone, including malicious actors. Surprise surprise, the AUR has twice in the last month or so had massive waves of packages being adopted and getting malicious updates from those adopters, giving anyone who updated those packages malware. So really, just avoid the AUR if you can.

If all that sounds like too much hassle, just go with Linux Mint tbh, it’s about the most similar to windows and one of the most hassle-free distros out there. Fedora is also a good not-Arch-based distro, although it’s not quite as good imo as the other distros I’ve recommended here.

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Manjaro also, unless I’m mistaken, will by default pull in packages from the AUR in a normal search, which for the reasons you mentioned is silly dangerous. Really, Arch over Manjaro if you have to be Arch-based, but best to stick with Mint or Fedora unless you’re already used to Linux.

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The default setting is to pull only from Manjaro repositories, however I set mine up to pull from the AUR (Arch User Repository). Some packages ( if you ignore the warnings ) will break or outright fail to install for the lack of dependencies. This is something the common OS user would have to perform with an educated idiot guiding them. I would never suggest anyone setting Manjaro to pull from the AUR, unless they are developing packages for Manjaro. It works well on its own merits, but for the purist who want to know every nut and bolt of the OS, Manjaro will never be Arch Linux to them.

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I did this some years back, you start by recompiling your toolchain, so you compile a compiler etc. and then proceed to build a whole system from source.

Fun stuff :smiley:

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