this post was submitted on 03 May 2025
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Please god not the distrochooser site, when someone asks you where to install Linux you send them anything but that.
Exactly. Too much choice can lead to analysis paralysis. I've been telling everyone who brings up Windows 10's expiration date that now is a good to install Linux Mint as a good beginner place to start.
At our repair cafe we only suggest Linux Mint. Sure if the person knows something about linux and want/needs a other distro we will help. But it helps us with support/writing manuals and for most people Linux Mint is fine.
I'm know my why around linux a bit, but for alot of other volunteers it also there first time touching Linux in anyway.
We don't want to scare people away with 100+ options. Just simple, windows like and sane defaults.
Yes, Mint is good advice. Beginners will need something mainstream with a solid base and good community support, that works out of the box and doesn't require manual configuration, and that doesn't look too different from Windows.
A number of the questions are impossible for "regular users" to answer. 32 bit or 64 bit system? Isolated spaces?
Just recommend Ubuntu or Mint. That's it. We can figure out other distros later if necessary.
My dad had problems with Ubuntu since the snaps didn’t communicate well. For example opening links in Thunderbird using Firefox.
I would recommend mint just to avoid the snaps.
I'd never heard of it so I tried it out, it seemed fine until the end where it listed about ten different distros with no real way to differentiate them.
Like, yeah, mint and Ubuntu and elementary and zorin and xubuntu all work for my use cases. I wanted it to give me a reason why one is better than another.
So, yeah, can't recommend that website. It's trying to help, but it won't, really.
The important thing to remember is that Canonical keeps making poor decisions, so Ubuntu and it's derivatives are no longer recommended nor used by me.
I like Linux Mint, and since they have a Debian-based distro, I went with that.
Dammit, I'm familiar with using kbuntu desktop at work for years and am wanting to try Linux at home, but it's sad to hear I'd have a steeper learning curve
Yeah that too.
I'm happy with mint I just wanted to see what it said.
Oh no!!