How to choose your first distro - A guide for beginners (flowchart + text post)

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · edit-2 7 months ago

How to choose your first distro - A guide for beginners (flowchart + text post)

ipsirc@lemmy.ml · 7 months ago

Everyone should choose their first distro based on what his friend/neighbor uses already. Direct support can’t be beaten.

CronyAkatsuki@lemmy.cronyakatsuki.xyz · 7 months ago

So nixos or gentoo then.

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

Great advice! That’s why I will also install Fedora Silverblue or VanillaOS on my mums’ laptop in the future. Currently, I put Mint on hers, because she is older and I thought she might prefer having something that reminds her of “the good ol’ days”. But I find myself needing to google stuff she could have searched for herself, because I also don’t know how to fix it.

Sure, I could resort to the terminal, but I want her to see how I do things to let her fix them herself in the future if the need arises.

baconlettomato@discuss.online · 4 months ago

Hi, Thank you for this post! Maybe it’s just me but your flowchart link is broken.

Throwaway1234@sh.itjust.works · 7 months ago

First of all, I applaud your efforts. Making an all-encompassing guide/flowchart that is able to answer all kinds of needs that new users might have is hard and not done in just a few sittings. And it seems you’re willing to iterate a couple more times until you and the community are satisfied with the end result. That’s just awesome and highly commendable.

As for my personal critique, perhaps it’s noteworthy that I’m not entirely satisfied with the current setup. I think the following would align better with my personal convictions on how I would assist friends and/or family with these matters:

(long text)

Step 1: Hardware probe. So, somehow establishing what we are working with as this sets severe limitations to our options. Personally I would divide this in three groups:
- potatoes; suited to run only distros like antix, puppy linux etc
- old(er) devices; suited to run DEs like Lxqt, Lxde and perhaps even Xfce etc
- ‘modern’ devices; suited to run DEs like Cinnamon, GNOME, KDE Plasma etc It’s of course important to note that someone with ‘modern’ hardware is absolutely free to run something like Xfce if they like its design choices (i.e. offering a very stable experience that’s unlikely to change for the sake of change). Furthermore, special attention would go out to hardware for which it’s known that it requires special attention (like Nvidia GPUs etc). This should result in picking distros that are better suited for running that hardware (like Pop!_OS and uBlue for Nvidia), but also distros that specifically target a piece of hardware; like what uBlue tries to do for Framework etc.
Step 2: Investigate their intended usage and what software they would rely on. Do they absolutely need Adobe’s Creative Suite? Well, then they should at least go for a dual boot or simply stay with Windows. The same would apply to any piece of software they might specifically need, but that simply does not work on Linux. Furthermore, their intended usage might be tied to their motivations for making the switch. Some of which would be: learning Linux, for Linux’ improved workflow for specific use cases (programming, workflow benefits related to the use of tiling WMs, pentesting etc), privacy, reviving old(er) hardware, free as in beer, freedom to tinker to their heart’s content, F(L)OSS ideology, transforming their hardware into a game console/HTPC/media-box, improved performance under some circumstances or just plain curiosity etc. Each use case comes with its accompanied set of viable distros. Of course, it’s very hard to be exhaustive here. Therefore, you’re absolutely forgiven for only focusing on some of the more common ones.
Step 3: Update cadence. Some people hate updates with their lifes, or only tolerate security ones. Others, simply want the latest and greatest at all times. Simultaneously, some may want said updates to occur automatically in the background, while others want deliberate control in that aspect. Lots of different distros exist with lots of different approaches to how updates are handled. As updates are our primary suspects whenever breakage occurs, it’s therefore vital that the update cadence is aligned with the user’s preferences. Hence a distro should be chosen accordingly.
Step 4: Priorities. Security vs convenience. Blank slate vs sane defaults. Control and responsibility vs ‘managed’. Learning platform vs consumption platform. Means to an end vs end in itself. Performance vs stability; these two aren’t mutually exclusive to each other, but helps in determining what the user finds important. Furthermore, ideally these should not be binary choices but allow steps in between the two ends. Finally, each of these choices should also be weighed against one another. Like, if someone highly values security over convenience and believes this choice is a lot more important to them than all of the others, then they should definitely consider Qubes OS for example. Similarly, other conclusions could be made based on a different evaluation etc.
Step 5: Desktop Environment. Based on the earlier questions, only a handful of distros should remain or perhaps it’s even somewhat expected that just a specific distro remains. Regardless, most distros allow different desktop environments to be installed and thus a choice should be made between the different available options. In the case of desktop environments, one should just try out the available ones until a decisive choice can be made. Switching later on is fine anyways.

Having said all of that, whatever is mentioned above is a lot more involved than what you have currently. Therefore, I wouldn’t be surprised if you would deem most of it out of scope.

Moving on to the actual critique:

While I (somewhat) understand why you’ve tried to tie one’s preferences in earlier used OSes to a potential desktop environment they might like, I do think that this might set new users up for false expectations. Therefore, I would propose to not even go there. If you want them to make a conscious choice on the desktop environment, then perhaps implore them to boot a live USB environment in which they can explore it themselves. The only important thing to note would be that in all cases customization is allowed and thus they shouldn’t necessarily abandon a DE for a minor issue as it’s most likely easily solvable.
If this gets good (and it certainly has the potential), then only the flowchart itself will be shared while the accompanied text might be disregarded. In hopes of ensuring that others also read the accompanied text, consider to either (somehow) include the text in the image of the flowchart or include a link to the text and ensure it’s easily found and one is somehow able to easily access the text through the link. This might even require a shortened custom url that redirects to the text. The exact specifics are obviously up to you though.
I can’t agree with the inclusion of both Pop!_OS and Vanilla OS. Don’t get me wrong, the potential is absolutely there. But both are currently in a major overhaul and need at least one or two proper releases to mature. Expecting new users to either start with the ‘abandoned’ old release which they might have to abandon themselves when they move over to the (eventually) matured new release or start with (at best) beta software that may come with a lot more trouble than worthwhile is IMO irresponsible.
I got a ton of smaller (personal) nitpicks, but most of those are related to scope and/or preconceived notions and therefore not worth mentioning here.

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

Thank you for your elaborate answer! <3

I’ve been following Linux-related subs (Reddit, Lemmy, etc.) for years now, and I constantly saw the flood of

“I’m a bit techy, but more casual, have normal hardware and use my PC sometimes for gaming. I’m fed up with Windows, what distro should I take?”

-posts. The guide is mainly meant for exact this kind of new users, who are perfectly fine with either Fedora or Mint. I excluded edge-cases, like QubesOS, completely on purpose, as this should be consisting of only 2 (or so) distros with different DEs. This should make 80% of exactly those post redundant. If someone wants a “non-normal” distro, they can still of course feel free to ask.

Hardware probe

I thought about that too, but I think people with super old hardware (32-bit, 500 mb RAM, etc.) are such an edge case too. Most people with halfway recent devices (<5-10 years) have at least 4 GB RAM and should be fine with major distros/ DEs. If they still have problems, they can also come here to ask or choose the “low-performance hardware”-arrow from the chart.

Investigate their intended usage and what software they would rely on

Again, the majority of people coming here are a bit techy casual users. If they had no clue about anything, they wouldn’t think about Linux in the beginning, and if they already had a clue or a lot of experience, they would do the research alone.
I wanted this “Choose the right distro”-post to be only one puzzle piece of a collection, where I also want to explain what Linux can do and what it doesn’t, e.g. CAD or some games.
By keeping it very short and only focusing on the distro part, it can be linked more selectively.
I also planned posts like “How to Ventoy”/ “How to install, and what problems may occour”, why one shouldn’t use Linux (expectations), and much more.

Update cadence / Priorities

Will include it on the arrows and the text, good idea.

The only important thing to note would be that in all cases customization is allowed and thus they shouldn’t necessarily abandon a DE for a minor issue as it’s most likely easily solvable.

I already put this into the text I think, read the part with Gnome extensions and stuff :)

If this gets good (and it certainly has the potential), then only the flowchart itself will be shared while the accompanied text might be disregarded. In hopes of ensuring that others also read the accompanied text, consider to either (somehow) include the text in the image of the flowchart or include a link to the text and ensure it’s easily found and one is somehow able to easily access the text through the link. This might even require a shortened custom url that redirects to the text. The exact specifics are obviously up to you though.

I thought about using Sozi as a tool to achieve that. I have to research tho how to make a website first.
My idea was to keep the exact structure of the chart, but when you zoom in a lot to the distro, you get the description.

I can’t agree with the inclusion of both Pop!_OS and Vanilla OS

Same, but I asked a few days prior in another post if I should include them or not, and nobody disagreed. I see VanillaOS as a great competitor to Mint, especially for people who want something of a managed and simple experience, while also being capable to do normal PC stuff. I see VOS 2 as “stable” enough in just a few weeks, there’s mainly only some polishing and fixing in newer under-the-hood stuff, but the surface-stuff is already fine.

While I (somewhat) understand why you’ve tried to tie one’s preferences in earlier used OSes to a potential desktop environment they might like, I do think that this might set new users up for false expectations

That was a suggestion from someone else from the previous post, which I liked, and it shouldn’t imply that “Mint is just like Windows” or “Fedora is like using your Android phone” at all. It’s mainly about preference, if one likes a simple UI or prefers traditional workflows. How can I make that more clear?

Throwaway1234@sh.itjust.works · 7 months ago

Thank you for your elaborate reply 😜!

The guide is mainly meant for exact this kind of new users, who are perfectly fine with either Fedora or Mint. I excluded edge-cases, like QubesOS, completely on purpose, as this should be consisting of only 2 (or so) distros with different DEs. This should make 80% of exactly those post redundant. If someone wants a “non-normal” distro, they can still of course feel free to ask.

I agree that it makes sense to start with tackling the problem in a way compliant with the 80/20 rule; i.e. 20 percent of the work to deal with 80 percent of the cases. I’m perhaps too much of a (wannabe) perfectionist/tryhard, which is why the process described in my previous post was a lot more involved and (perhaps) therefore more utopian/idealist than realistic. Perhaps I’ve even alluded to this a couple of times 😅.

I thought about using Sozi as a tool to achieve that. I have to research tho how to make a website first. My idea was to keep the exact structure of the chart, but when you zoom in a lot to the distro, you get the description.

Great idea! FWIW, perhaps an interactive map with pop-ups may be utilized to that effect. Though, there’s plenty to consider here and a lot of ways to do it justice. I trust in your capabilities to achieve that splendidly.

I see VanillaOS as a great competitor to Mint, especially for people who want something of a managed and simple experience, while also being capable to do normal PC stuff. I see VOS 2 as “stable” enough in just a few weeks, there’s mainly only some polishing and fixing in newer under-the-hood stuff, but the surface-stuff is already fine.

I haven’t installed the beta of its Orchid release yet. So, hopefully my gut feeling is just wrong. Ironically, the first time I installed a relatively immature version of an atomic distro (Fedora Kinoite, but like its first release (so Fedora 35 at the time)), it was a very bad experience and I rebased right away to Silverblue and haven’t look back since 🤣. Hopefully others will not be stung by VOS 2, like how I was stung by Kinoite.

It’s mainly about preference, if one likes a simple UI or prefers traditional workflows. How can I make that more clear?

By not naming any of the associated operating systems, but instead opt to distill their respective workflows in plain text. I’m very aware that this is pretty hard without spending way too many words on their descriptions. Therefore, perhaps it’s worth exploring if the ‘intended workflows’ of the different DEs might be (screen) captured and displayed as gifs. Obviously with the caveat that the ‘intended’ isn’t forced upon them and that they’re free to change them to better suit their needs.

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

I’m perhaps too much of a (wannabe) perfectionist/tryhard, which is why the process described in my previous post was a lot more involved and (perhaps) therefore more utopian/idealist than realistic.

Same for me, with the addition of me being a people-pleaser. I already have to select which voice I listen to, since there are hundreds of different ones contradicting each other.
Right now, I think I’ve spent enough time for the next days :D I will consider making a small website out of that, but that’s more of a hobby project and learning experience for me.

Ironically, the first time I installed a relatively immature version of an atomic distro (Fedora Kinoite, but like its first release (so Fedora 35 at the time)), it was a very bad experience and I rebased right away to Silverblue and haven’t look back since 🤣

Yeah, I know that too well… the pain of being an early adopter :D Fedora Atomic has matured heavily, and I think it is perfectly usable, both in terms of reliability and availability.
It’s just that it is quite different from other distros, especially when you want to install apps. For newcomers, just telling them to go into the software center and selecting the apps to install (via Flatpak) is perfectly enough. It only gets a bit more complicated when they want more and have to turn to the CLI (e.g. Distrobox).

hperrin@lemmy.world · 7 months ago

Very nice. I’d suggest adding ChimeraOS next to Bazzite.

Also I’m not sure I’d recommend Vanilla to a beginner yet. It’s a very cool OS, but it’s got a lot of new tech that most instructions online won’t work on, and would frustrate a beginner.

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

Both valid points. Thanks!

What would you say Chimera does better than Bazzite? In my eyes, Bazzite is superior, because of how the immutability is handled. Chimera is more edge case in my eyes (1:1 clone of SteamOS, IIRC), while Bazzite is just gaming focused, but can still do everything else too.

For Vanilla, I’m not sure. Maybe I will keep it included, but put the disclaimer in there about the incompatibility of many instructions. For simple tasks, it should work perfectly.

hperrin@lemmy.world · 7 months ago

I wouldn’t know what it does better, because I’ve never used Bazzite. Chimera is nice though, and it’s another option to inform someone of.

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · edit-2 7 months ago

I’ve just looked up in their documentation, and they’re Arch based and atomic.

One thing I’m always a bit cautious of is the community support. On Bazzite, you have an already big community, and almost everything is applicable from Fedora Silverblue. It also builds itself without anyone needing to patch stuff, thanks to uBlues’ GitHub build actions.

I personally see Bazzite as a better option for “normal” PCs, that are multi-purpose and not only there as gaming console.
It also offers a variant that boots directly into BPM if you want that.

Also, I think Fedora Atomic is better due to rpm-ostree instead of A/B-root, which is quite inflexible and doesn’t support layering.

hperrin@lemmy.world · edit-2 7 months ago

That’s great, man. If you recommend Bazzite over Chimera, good on you. I’m telling you that I use Chimera and I like it. It’s simple enough that my wife can use it on the PC I built her. If you want to add it to your flowchart, go ahead. If not, whatever, it’s your chart.

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

Thank you for your input!

bonedaddy@mander.xyz · 7 months ago

-hops on nix soapbox- As someone currently trying to set up a NixOS server, your bullet point descriptions of it are incorrect except maybe the last 2. You’re just describing Arch.

In fact Nix tolerates user error extremely well and arguably makes every effort to be error-proof. A wrong user config means it flat out won’t compile and just revert to the past working config.

I agree it’s a pain - at first - and requires a strong base knowledge of how Linux in general works. -hops off-

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

That’s why there’s the “hard to set up, but once it works, it works” description in the chart.

Arch is, especially due to the Archinstall, relatively easy to set up, but might break randomly, either due to user error, or a bad update.

NixOS on the other hand requires Nix (the language) and the Nix-config. Once that’s set up, you can always roll back or it won’t even work, that’s right.

But explaining that in detail would be too much - I wanted to keep it simple, and by putting the two in the same category, I got the point.

Dataprolet@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 months ago

How is TuxedoOS the “best” distro with KDE Plasma? What about Kubuntu?

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · edit-2 7 months ago

As explained in another comment somewhere else here, Ubuntu is highly controversial, especially due to Snaps. I will paste my reasons here when I found them.

I wanted to have a Debian-based distro here too, and TuxedoOS removes all the Ubuntu-shit and replaces it with some great OOTB additions (e.g. a good welcome wizard).

Edit: Found it

Yes. While Snaps became better in the last years, they still bring a lot of trouble. Just, for example, think of Valve when they officially recommended everyone to not use the fricking Snap package because it’s broken all the time? Good luck doing that with Ubuntu, when they shove Snaps down everyones’ throat, without even notifying the user. While we more experienced users just change the package format, newcomers aren’t aware of that and blame a malfunctioning app to Linux, not the Snap.

I just don’t see any reasons to recommend Ubuntu over something like Mint or even Debian. Both are pretty much the same (same command compatibility with apt, documentation also applies to them, etc.), but just better in any aspect.

LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 months ago

No mention of Debian as the main and default option? Come on now. Debian with Gnome or even Ubuntu with Gnome are just as good as Mint.

_edge@discuss.tchncs.de · 7 months ago

This also surprised me. The Debian platform has been terrific over decades, at least for me.

My journey was

SuSe (yast, compiling kernels, configuring X, …, good for learning, but not good for productivity)
Red Hat (free at the time)
Debian (still compiling kernels)
Debian (with kernel and modules via apt; and working X11, heaven)
Ubuntu (Debian for Desktops)
Ubuntu (why would i ever install another distro?)
Ubuntu (okay, any other distro would do, but why?)
Ubuntu (snap, Wayland, … okay i’m too old to understand this, but if it works?)

Are Mint or Pop_OS better than Ubuntu or Debian? In what way?

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

Are Mint or Pop_OS better than Ubuntu or Debian? In what way?

I think yes, but not extremely much, mainly because they’ve added some stuff, like welcome wizards, additional easy access and pre-configured software, and more.

I think Debian is a very very solid and good distro, but I think the first impression could be better for newcomers.

Honestly, if one more person says I should also include Ubuntu or or recommend Debian more, I will. Ubuntu not that much, but Debian, why not? If you all think it should be there, it definitely has its place.

miname@feddit.de · 7 months ago

What about window managers? i3wm as example

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · edit-2 7 months ago

This isn’t a complete full guide on ALL distros and DEs/ TWMs, just a small selection for newcomers.

Too much choice is overwhelming, and giving them basically a choice between A or B, where both options are great, was the best idea I came up with.

Regarding window managers:

I think that they are too different from the stuff most people are comfortable with.
They usually don’t come with all stuff one might need, e.g. a settings menu, task bar, etc.
Too complicated to set up, requires a terminal and knowledge about how the WM works
Not necessary. Useful if you mostly do text based stuff, especially coding or terminal, but for GUI apps, not so much
And, last but not least, too big selection with all looking the same. If I mention i3, then another would say “Sway is better”, and then I add Sway, and another one wants BSPWM, Hyprland, Herbstluft, and so on and so on. It’s just a can of worms I don’t want to open. If you ever come into contact with WMs, you probably are experienced enough and already have a good grasp.

Still, thank yo for your comment!

GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml · edit-2 7 months ago

I wouldn’t recommend Fedora for NVidia users because it wants to be Wayland-only. The introduction is quite good though

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

I’m no Nvidia-user myself, but I’ve heard only good things over the past year, especially months.
It seems to cause way less problems than it did 1-2 years ago, and Nvidia on WL-Gnome especially is said to work very smooth now.

Maybe, choosing the -main-nvidia-image from uBlue makes it even better, because if the drivers break after an update, you can just roll back to yesterdays image and have a working OS again.

Chewy@discuss.tchncs.de · 7 months ago

I personally dislike recommending NixOS at all for new Linux users. Even though it’s packaging and file system differs from other Linux distros, it’s necessary to understand how general Linux works to understand why and how NixOS works.

E.g. systemd services in NixOS are often times more complex as they include the full nix store path or execute a script which simply executes a command. This is because of how they are generated and obvious once you have experience how other distros systemd units look like.

PS: I appreciate you helping people find a good distro. I’m merely nitpicking and complaining which doesn’t help anyone :D

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · edit-2 7 months ago

That’s why I’ve put NixOS and Arch on the “I’m ready for an adventure and pain”-path, not the “You’ll have a comfy time with it”-one.

I asked a few days prior what I should include, and a few mentioned said distros, because not everyone wants to start using Linux expecting an easy time.
A few people said they’re in because they enjoy tinkering, learning, frustration and challenging themselfes, not because they are looking for a Windows alternative.

Also, as side effect, newcomers easily see why they shouldn’t use Arch directly, in case some edgelord recommends that :D

TCB13@lemmy.world · edit-2 7 months ago

TL;DR: If you just care about having something that works reliably then install Debian + GNOME + Software as Flatpaks. You’ll get a rock solid system with the latest software.

About the desktop environment: the “what you go for it’s entirely your choice” mantra when it comes to DE is total BS. What happens is that you’ll find out while you can use any DE in fact GNOME will provide a better experience because most applications on Linux are design / depend on its components. Using KDE or XFCE is fun until you run into some GTK/libadwaita application and small issues start to pop here and there, windows that don’t pick on your theme or you just created a Frankenstein of a system composed of KDE + a bunch of GTK components.

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · edit-2 7 months ago

Good advice!
I personally think tho, that Debian isn’t the best beginner distro.
Not, because it’s not user friendly or something, but more because of the complicated and unintuitive installer.

Take Mint or Zorin for example, where you basically only need to click “next next” and it’s installed, and after that, you get a wonderful first start wizard where everything gets explained (how to download new apps, get updates, etc.).

I had a lot of issues when installing Debian after some days, because of a non-optimal suggested partitioning layout, misconfigured mirror-server list or network for example.
But once it’s running, it’s very solid!

As I mentioned in the post, Debian (+ Flatpaks) is a great choice, but I’d recommend something else as a base tbh.

My personal choice is Fedora Atomic, because of the reliability of the host system and the good balance between stability and moderness. Debian is a bit too stable (too old/ stale) for my own taste, but I respect everyone who likes that.

I’m a Gnome fanboy personally too, but not everyone likes it.
I’ve heard very often from other users, that they always thought Gnome is the Linux DE and didn’t get warm with Linux in general because of that.
And when they discovered KDE/ another DE, they instantly fell in love and never looked back.

In my opinion, GTK apps look way better on KDE than Qt apps do on Gnome. On KDE, they integrate a bit better due to theming, but look slightly off.
Qt on Gnome on the other hand is almost unusable.
But both improved.

Still, thank you for your addition!

pmk@lemmy.sdf.org · 7 months ago

Honest question, what is unintuitive about the Debian installer? I’m asking because I’ve done it so many times that it’s intuitive for me.

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

@TCB13@lemmy.world @pmk@lemmy.sdf.org Maybe the installer isn’t bad, and I’m probably just dumb. You aren’t the only ones saying this, so maybe not Debian, but me is the problem.

FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world · 7 months ago

This is helpful info. I’ve been thinking of doing a dual boot for a while just for better privacy, keeping Windows for gaming only.

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

Thank you very much! ❤️ Depending on what games you have in your mind, you might not even need Windows anymore for that, thanks to Steam/ Lutris and Proton. Have you checked protondb.com?

qaz@lemmy.world · edit-2 7 months ago

If you gave this to 14yo me choosing my first distro then I would have just given up. There are too many choices, just point noobs to something that works well and let them choose based on the DE.

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

Isn’t that what you want?

Count Regal Inkwell@pawb.social · 7 months ago

Hello OP

Can I translate this to my language and post on my lil’ blog about Open Source stuff?

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

Sure, under two conditions.

You say that you didn’t create the content yourself, and only provided the translation.
You provide the link to the original post very visibly, preferably in a small statement in the beginning.

Otherwise, here’s the raw file (Draw.io, FOSS, also available as Flatpak) and the Markdown text for you to paste. Link: https://notebin.de/?bacad84b46e92d92#3ZzsNgjBMCxudUGrJ6TV9hZTh5hFt1ctiAYgbuUNcjf2

Count Regal Inkwell@pawb.social · edit-2 7 months ago

Hello again. It is done. As you requested, I have credited you (using your Lemmy @, if you’d rather I use something else, let me know) and linked your original post, as well as your profile and this community. (t’is all in the second paragraph of the text, as part of the introductory preamble)

~~I also added some personal notes to the text, but they are mostly dumb stuff~~

I once again thank you for allowing me to do this.

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

I sadly can’t open it. If I click on the link, it leads me to the main page, and if I search for it, then the post doesn’t open. Is that intended? I’m on mobile (Firefox) if that matters.

Count Regal Inkwell@pawb.social · 7 months ago

Weird weird glitch, but it happened on my phone too now that I tested it.

No idea WHY it happened, but I just copied and reposted my own post and now it seems to work on my phone.

Try again, please.

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

It now works, thanks!
Just as a small note, you have to export the .svg-drawing as .jpeg first, otherwise, it might lead to legibility-issues.

Kory@lemmy.ml · edit-2 7 months ago

Great write-up, thank you OP!

I’d like to suggest an addition: I often get the question: but will distro XY run on my device? Then I suggest to boot from an USB stick and try everything in a live session without installing anything. (And if people are just curious how it will look and feel, I recommend https://distrosea.com/)

Also, I miss the mention of Cinnamon. Mint is very popular as you have already said and the “flagship” version comes with Cinnamon.

Guenther_Amanita@feddit.de · 7 months ago

Sure! The “What distro to choose” post is only a part of my series.
I want to make a post on “How to install” too, including testing different distro with Ventoy from a live USB.

For cinnamon, I think Mint is the flagship for it. I tried it “vanilla” on Fedora too, and it felt a bit lacking. I noticed instantly how much polish went into Cinnamon from the Mint team.

How to choose your first distro - A guide for beginners (flowchart + text post)

How to choose your first distro - A guide for beginners (flowchart + text post)

Choosing the DE

KDE

Gnome

So, here’s the list of every distro shown in the flow chart, with a short description on why it is included.

Linux Mint

ZorinOS

VanillaOS

Fedora

Fedora Atomic

uBlue

Bazzite

Arch and NixOS

Alternatives

Other honorable mentions

Pop!_OS

MX Linux

TuxedoOS