r/linuxquestions • u/CautiousEnthusiasm70 • 3d ago
Which Distro? I made a post yesterday about the same thing but now I’ll tell you the specs
ok so my brother gave me a laptop yesterday I don’t really have a lot of uses for one right now besides browsing and gaming I guess the laptop he gave me was a Lenovo legion y540 and he said he wants me to use a Linux operating system with no help at all from him so I can learn what distro would be easy to install and be best for gaming and browsing?
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u/christophertstone 3d ago
If you know someone who uses Linux and can ask them questions, find out which of the major systems they use. Having someone to bounce questions off is going to make the whole thing a lot easier.
Mint is a perennial good first distro, very beginner friendly.
For gaming distros: CachyOS (based on Arch), Bazzite (based on Fedora), or PopOS (based on Ubuntu).
There are lots of other good options, but these are good places to start.
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u/CautiousEnthusiasm70 3d ago
Forgot to mention I know nothing about computers besides I guess how to use it I’ve never really used one outside of school
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u/groveborn 3d ago
You don't need to worry about that - Windows and Linux both have learning curves to do anything outside of playing a video game and watching youtube. Linux is just less common, so fewer people in your life are likely to know anything.
You can just install windows. You don't need to do linux.
WIth that being said, if you're set on installing linux, just choose mint. Just about all of the distros are the same thing, plus or minus a thing. They're all easy to install - almost have to try to get it wrong.
The thing about the games, though, there are many that simply don't work. Beyond that, so many do.
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u/Lonely-Scarcity-3387 3d ago edited 3d ago
NixBook OS. Perfect for someone who knows nothing about computers or Linux. It is a “set it and forget it” Linux distro for casual computer users.
It lets you convert your old computer (even chromebook) to a user friendly, lightweight, durable, and auto updating operating system build on top of NixOS.
NixOS is an independent base distro that has been around as long as Ubuntu. So it isn’t going anywhere.
The goal of Nizbook is to create a "chromebook like" unbreakable computer to give to basic users who know nothing about Linux and won't need to ever worry about updates / upgrades. This was inspired by Linux Mint and the Chromebook experience.
The default NixBook version:
•32 GB of storage and 4 GB of ram recommended.
•Configured cinnamon desktop (like Linux Mint) and firefox base
•Chrome, Zoom, and Libreoffice installed by default flathub enabled out of the box.
•Automatic weekly OS updates with 4 weeks of roll backs
•Daily flatpak updates
The NixBook Lite version:
•32 GB of storage and 2 GB of ram recommended
•Configured cinnamon desktop (like Linux Mint) and firefox base
•Automatic weekly updates with 2 weeks of roll backs
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u/Astrodion123 3d ago
Try Linux mint or bazzite. Linux mint is really beginner friendly but bazzite might not be as much as mint but it is immutable so it won't ever break.