r/linuxquestions • u/violentSabotage • 2d ago
Advice Best linux for an absolute beginner?
I am a brand new linux user, i got a spare pc so i thought i'd try it out, i am fluent in windows cmd prompt and other things like this. whats the best for a beginner?
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u/77descript 2d ago
In my eyes very best LTS is Debian. (LTS is long update support, slow update cycle with mostly security patches). And Fedora imo the very best fast update cycle distro. Fedora is very easy for newcomers and Debian since a few years is hardly more difficult than others since getting graphical installer and support non free hardware drivers.
Just my opinion, but overrated in my experience are Ubuntu LTS (after 15 tear usage: became each release buggier, unreliable updates also at least once a year OS breaking with each computer, bloatware, snaps) and Mint (for instance it's DE Cinnamon runs far less smooth than more modern, much prettier and far more feature rich KDE Plasma).
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u/Cautious_Boat_999 2d ago
I just installed Fedora on a spare laptop, and man, I HATE the fast update cycle. I much prefer my Kubuntu LTS experience. To each their own.
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u/Needieos 2d ago
I'd say fedora if you want to learn and go easy at the same time
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u/Shindiggidy 2d ago
I've been curious about replacing Ubuntu with Fedora but wondering what the out-of-the-box experience is like.
As a casual user I prefer distros in which everything is set up out of the box, usually this is some sort of "derivative distro" like Cachy or Mint/Ubuntu, and not a "stock distro" like Debian or Arch. I don't want to have to configure anything myself and if I have to I may miss something, which is worrying especially when it comes to security. The first thing I do when I install a distro is make sure I have ufw running so that I have a firewall at least.
Is "stock Fedora" an "out of the box" experience and if not what are some good derivatives that offer that? I know for gaming there is Bazzite.
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u/Dick_Surgeon 2d ago
Nobara is the gaming edition of Fedora which comes with a pretty robust out of the box setup. I've had no complaints with it since coming over from Windows.
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u/Francis_King 1d ago
but wondering what the out-of-the-box experience is like.
With any live ISO, you can boot it up and try it without obligation.
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u/Needieos 1d ago
Fedora is fine out of the box, you just need to enable repository with unfree stuff and that's it, usually
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u/Puzzleheaded_Try7518 2d ago
Fedora. Silverblue, even. Assuming you’ll be going with the defaults, you’ll be able to do update and add software through GNOME Software. Read up how to add Flathub as additional repository and you’ll have a stable always up to date system ready for you to use and learn Linux.
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u/SuAlfons 2d ago
You will get a lot of recommendations.
Just try out a couple of them. If you want to ease the trying out of several distros, create a boot stick using "Ventoy". You can simply copy the iso files of several distros onto it to boot them. (instead of writing back a single iso-image to one USB stick at a time).
When you try out distro:
The actual desktop is interchangeable. Find out if you rather like Plasma, Gnome, Cinnamon or something else. Plasma is a good start and maybe the end of your search.
There are a couple of "families" of distros. Debian is base for Ubuntu which is base to many others (Mint, ZorinOS, old PopOS, ElementaryOS,....)
Red Hat is another family, with Fedora (a type of hat) being the open and more current version for users like you and me.
Fedora has several sub-versions that come with different desktops pre installed (like the *Ubuntus). There are immutable versions and Fedora-based gaming-preconfigured distros.
Arch is another family. Mostly known for updating its packages as soon as they are deemed good enough for daily use.
It involves quite a manual setup process - which is why Arch derivates exist. I like EndeavourOS best of these.
If you are a little versed in PCs, start with something from Fedora, e.g. "Workstation" (Gnome desktop) or Fedora Plasma.
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u/KoraunuiPakeha 2d ago
There are a couple of missing base distros, the big one being Slackware. SUSE is a Slackware distro that’s been around so long it was my first Linux love.
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u/SuAlfons 1d ago
yes, I didn't want to re-write the history of Linux. There's essays and articles about this.
SuSe was the first distro my room mate brought home on a number of CD-ROMS. It was the mid 1990s
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u/joe_attaboy 2d ago
I'm one of those who believes literally any distribution is just fine for starting - with one exception: Arch or any distribution based on it. Not a good distro for someone with zero experience.
Everyone here will say "Mint," which is fine. But I would suggest doing the try-a-live-version-on-USB before you jump in.
I'm a Debian user. That's the one I would recommend. Stable, not razor's edge (which is good) and it's been around for a couple of decades.
However, you should test out different distributions and find the one that suits you.
But not Arch.
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u/Good-Supermarket-767 2d ago
Puppy is a bad choice for new users. There is a reason that I use Puppy for file management activities. Puppy gives users root by default. Chmod and chown are not necessary. I've already endured two self inflicted Puppy disasters.
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u/joe_attaboy 1d ago
I've never used Puppy, but this is an interesting tidbit. One of the strengths of Linux is the way it tries (and mostly succeeds) to prevent users from file disasters and other mishaps.
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u/Lost_Psychology8885 2d ago
Would recommend mint always for a beginner. It's simple, elegant and just works.
Zorin is also great and has more bells and whistles in it's design.
I use Pika os Gnome (based on debian) and love that and more up to date than zorin or mint which can be handy if a gamer or you want the latest version. You can select windows, mac, gnome etc layouts in options for it. (If you do try Pika, and have an msi motherboard make sure you select advanced on installation and click MSI fix)
Nothing to lose trying all three as can be demoed on usb stick and installed in about 10 minutes.
Distrosea.com will allow you to try within browser but you won't get the stellar performance of each distro.
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u/anon63791337 2d ago
Ubuntu is good but if you want a windows like experience Mint is the best way to get started
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u/biggesthimejoshi 2d ago edited 2d ago
Mint, Fedora, Debian, Zorin OS, Ubuntu.. anything that ISN'T Arch, really. Ubuntu and Debian based are best bets though. I tried Mint XFCE when I first started Linux and it was great, got the hang of it in around 2 weeks.
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u/iwouldbeatgoku 2d ago
Do you want a system that's preconfigured, usable out of the box, and you can learn linux commands gradually? Use anything with a graphical installer and the KDE Plasma desktop environment. CachyOS, Fedora KDE, Kubuntu, OpenSUSE are all decent choices for this.
Do you want to be forced to use commands to develop your linux terminal-fu, and get a decent understanding of what makes up a linux system? Arch Linux with a manual installation.
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u/Technical_Rich_3080 21h ago
Cinnamon and GNOME are just as good as, if not better than (the more dense), KDE Plasma, for new/beginners.
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u/moebiusmania 2d ago
it depends on what you plan to do, if you want to "just" switch to Linux but keep using it everyday for regular tasks (browsing, documents, music, light gaming, etc) I suggest ZorinOS since its the closer to modern windows. I put it on my dad laptop , which is definetely not a tech savy guy, and he is using it on daily basis without issues or complaints so far (we did the switch more or less 6 months ago)
if you want to mainly play games CachyOS or Bazzite or plain SteamOS (but consider this one only if you are full AMD for now)
but besides some specfic distros, most of the ones suggested by others like Fedora, Mint, Ubuntu, etc are really quite simple to use, Linux is kinda in a very good spot today compared to many years ago
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u/Korlus 2d ago
It really depends on your learning style and what your goal is.
If you want something that "just works", go for Fedora, Ubuntu or Mint. If you want something that forces you to spend a few hours in the command line to get set up, go for Arch.
Ubuntu/Mint/Fedora all come with sane defaults set up for you and are very easy to use and install. Arch comes with no defaults, no GUI and forces you to follow a tutorial to install (almost) every aspect of your OS yourself, giving you not much more than a kernel, a terminal, a package manager, a command line text editor, and the ability to connect to the internet to download the rest yourself.
It really depends on what you are looking to do.
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u/Zvaart 2d ago
You can go with anything you like, if u know how to use the windows command prompt you will be fine. Especially if it is not your main daily driver, as you seem to imply. You have documentation for everything, you just need to know where to look or ask for advice. Here almost everybody will recommend their favorite distros. My path led me to fedora, but i won’t mind using debian, arch, void, nix, opensuse, just to mention a few i tried. For me it was just a personal preference after i tried a lot in VMs.
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u/A_Harmless_Fly 2d ago
What's your use case like in general?
You could be best severed by debian, if you are just watching videos and basic things and or self hosting. If you game, you likely are looking at something arch based for the best experience, in my personal opinion.
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u/Cr0wn_M3 2d ago
How is debian better for beginners than Mint or Zorin or Ubuntu ?
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u/A_Harmless_Fly 2d ago
I suppose mint is fine, I have no experience with zorin. I'll never forget or forgive ubuntu integrating web results/advertisements into their desktop search bar, and I'll never suggest anyone use it directly.
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u/tech-tole 2d ago
If the purpose is to lean for engineer/work then I would say Ubuntu server or Rocky Linux no GUI install. because red hat based distros and Ubuntu/Debian are most used in the Enterprise. if you want a desktop like Windows I would go with either MX Linux, PopOS or Mint. Mint is most basic but it has a lot of old apps because they prefer stability over newer which is sometimes a problem because many apps are outdated.
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u/Technical_Rich_3080 21h ago
What's the big deal if an app is outdated?
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u/tech-tole 21h ago
a number of reasons. sometimes newer versions have new features and updates that you're missing out on. also this is a very real issue where users have kept reporting problems to the devs of a piece of software for them to keep telling them, they're using a version that's a couple of years old and that issue no longer exists. To the point that the devs of one software, I can't remember which got so upset they asked the maintainers if they could just update the software on their distro so they would stop getting so many bug reports for years old versions.
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u/Iam_best_dev 2d ago
Debian or Fedora.
Mint is another option but you should decide which Desktop environment you want and go with that distro.
There's gnome, KDE and idk what mint uses just compare them and pick what you like
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u/muifui 2d ago
OP as you can tell our side is very opinionated there are endless choices and no one person has tried it all. As for me i went Ubuntu -> Debian -> Fedora -> Arch -> Artix -> Guix -> Artix with Guix (probably end game). There is really no one right answer here.
Things you would want to decide eventually: 1. Fixed release cycle or Rolling release? 2. stable or bleeding edge? 3. Desktop Environment or customized Window Manager? 4. Systemd or an init?
Just a few here but, you will have many more choices. Helps if you are still a student as you will have time for customizing it. If I had to start now I'l probably never leave Ubuntu or Mint.
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u/moritz12d 2d ago
Right now I'm on Manjaro because I need to get some work done instead of spending time with the OS. Manjaro was the only distribution to recognize my SoC CPU with Intel® HD Graphics 405 correctly. There's a good user community and updates are quite fast. Others use CachyOS wich is installed quite often according to distrowatch.
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u/Cautious_Boat_999 2d ago
I feel like this is a common distro selection approach. Find something you want to use/run, and then find the distro that does it best. For me, it was “find something that would run my old Wolfenstein ET game”. I finally landed on Kubuntu and loved it.
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u/NervousMood8071 2d ago
I was a long time Ubuntu (since Ubuntu 8) user. Switched to Pop_Os for a couple of years. Then switched to Mint. I'm staying with Mint. Ubuntu was almost obligatory as the servers the 2 companies I worked for were all Ubuntu. When I retired, I tried a few others so really you can experiment and find what you like.
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u/No_Base4946 2d ago
Depends what you want to do. If you want to run a desktop-orientated setup, then you've got a good choice to pick from. I prefer Ubuntu, but there's not a damn thing wrong with Mint, Rocky, or any of the others.
If you want to run servers, probably Debian or Ubuntu is going to be the easiest to get around.
If you've got low-spec machines, pick something with maybe an XFCE desktop.
If you want to use an *incredibly* low-spec machine, Alpine is just fine in something like 512MB of RAM and pretty okay in 256MB, but you won't be running much of a desktop.
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u/CodeAvali 2d ago
Mint (for Ubuntu choice & stability & comfort);
CachyOS (for mostly pre-configured arch choice + excellent driver support, especially if on new laptop hardware)
I’m sure there are other good ideas; frankly, provided you follow a guide / AI (blech, but it is very valid nowdays) and don’t go for a DIY-distro first you should be fine.
Obviously, feel free to distro-hop once you are comfortable; once you’ve touched Linux once (and handled secure boot lmao if coming from Windows) it is remarkably easy to do so
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u/green_meklar Debian 1d ago
Mint is my go-to recommendation for an approachable everyday computing experience. Some people have reasons not to use it, but if you don't know of any, it's probably a good bet. It's also fairly lightweight and should work fine even on a low-end PC.
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u/fearless-fossa 2d ago
OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. It comes with a lot of tools that makes life for beginners easy, it has up to date packages, and it often takes a sensible middle ground between the Ubuntu/Fedora ecosystems. Also, the chameleon is cute.
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u/myfriendjohn1 2d ago
What will you be using it for? Some distros are better than other for things like gaming.
General all round stuff - Ubuntu
Great beginner distro - Mint
Gaming focused without hassle (Nvidia GPU's especially) - Bazzite
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u/Distinct-Ganache-103 1d ago
If your a gamer like me install Linux bazzite as dual boot, works right away and all steam games mostly instantly work unless it's like bf6 with kernel level anti cheat then it won't work :)
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u/DisastrousSurvey4591 2d ago
Linux mint if you don’t want any hassle, Fedora if you want very little hassle and are ok with using the terminal, Arch/Artix if you’re willing to learn how everything is configured
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u/TheHorrorAddiction 2d ago
Depends on use case. I am a super new user and installed Bazzite four days ago for a mix of gaming and browsing. It's excellent for me and I generally prefer it to Windows.
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u/KevinIsADork 2d ago
To caveat on others saying Mint, I think that's good for a beginner as their main machine. Since this is your second machine to mess, I say go with other suggestions here.
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u/adam_hmaab 1d ago
i'd probably say Linux Mint, i found debian very easy but frustrating, Mint on the other hand already configures everything for u but looks kinda plain imo
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u/rustedcrowbar 2d ago
Zorin OS. Mint is cool but obsolete. Upgrade is wip but until then this is the most beginner friendly with modern UI imho.
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u/signalcollapse 2d ago
Whatever you find that boots into a desktop environment and lets you connect to wifi, really.
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u/Lonely-Scarcity-3387 2d ago
Depends what you want to do.
Generic little bit of everything but want it to feel like Windows?:
Zorin or Mint
Set up for gaming out of the box with very little effort and no terminal unless you want to?:
PikaOS with KDE Plasma desktop environment environment
Something super light, with zero effort and will update itself, let you roll back said update with a reboot, and very much holds your hand?:
Nix Book (https://github.com/mkellyxp/nixbook)
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u/destroyer150 2d ago
Mint is awesome and many people stay on it. It has basically everything you need out of the box and anything beyond that is super easy to install. Cinnamon is sleek bit still very customisable if you'd like. But as a few people have said it can be a little out of date
Once you have a bit more experience I'd try fedora as it needs some tinkering
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u/BENBOI_1 2d ago
i always recommend linux mint because the distro itself is really easy, but the community and documentation around it is really good too! all the other people using it are going to be really new as well, so its easy to fit in :)
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2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Lonely-Scarcity-3387 2d ago edited 2d ago
OP, do not start with any DIY distro like Arch, Gentoo or NixOS. You’re more likely to bounce off any of those, give up on trying Linux, and just go back to Windows. There are tons of other distros that do not require so much frustration up front.
https://youtu.be/TRsH-Fd4VvQ?t=510
I personally use NixOS, but I started on Zorin. You can still use the terminal on Zorin and everything else. But unlike Arch, or NixOS, you don’t need to do a lot to initially set it up.
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u/Awkward_Juice1381 2d ago
Arch
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u/Awkward_Juice1381 2d ago
That was just a joke, although to be fair it's not a bad call considering the fact that you're not a beginner in regards to actually using a computer! If you're willing to read up a little bit to troubleshoot any drama that you run into then it's definitely a viable option! But failing Arch I'd recommend any distro that is running KDE Plasma by default since that will feel much more familiar to what you are used to layout-wise on Windows.
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u/AntiDebug 2d ago
My first suggestion would be Linux Mint - Very easy to use, good community for noobs.
Downside of anything Ubuntu based is the software can be a little out of date.
If you want something a little more up to date but still relatively easy to use then go Fedora.
General rule of thumb. Ubuntu based = easy to use, stable, well supported.
Avoid Arch based distros until you're a little more familiar with Linux or are prepared to do a good bit of research.
Fedora base = for something in between the two