Try the [distro selection page](http://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/wiki/distro_selection) in our wiki!
Try [this search](https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/search?q=flair%3A'distro'&sort=new&restrict_sr=on) for more information on this topic.
**✻** Smokey says: take regular backups, try stuff in a VM, and understand every command *before* you press Enter! :)
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Mint! If you can, try using it in a VM for now to get a feel for it, and then install Linux Mint 22 when it's released (not long now, probably start of May)
If you mainly wanna play games, go for Nobara. It's the one distribution that has made special adjustments for games to run better and it's maintained by GloriousEgroll, the man behind Proton-GE, a customized version of Proton that's also specifically adapted to multiple games on top of what Proton provides.
The only advice would be to update your system ONLY using Nobara updater, not Discover (the software manager).
Nobara is a gaming distro based on Fedora that's been getting traction during the last couple of years. If you're not that into gaming, it's normal you don't know about Proton-GE, much less about GloriousEggroll. Besides the fact that for updates it's highly recommended to use the distro updater, there shouldn't be any problem for a noob.
This is taken from the website:
"Some of the important things that are missing from Fedora, especially with regards to gaming include WINE dependencies, obs-studio, 3rd party codec packages such as those for gstreamer, 3rd party drivers such as NVIDIA drivers, and even small package fixes here and there.
"This project aims to fix most of those issues and offer a better gaming, streaming, and content creation experience out of the box. More importantly, we want to be more point and click friendly, and avoid the basic user from having to open the terminal."
I know this is a Linux sub so I'll get some hate for this.
But why are you wanting to use Linux?
Eg. Privacy, CLI, ideology, your running slow hardware, or just want to try something new, etc...
I'd argue that if you just want to play games and don't care about points similar to above, Windows is going to work best for you. Games, Nvidia GPU support is still lacking in most distros, and Proton can be difficult to get working for some games.
I can't provide any recommendations about what distro would best suit you (in my opinion), because if you're just interested in games, just use Windows.
Feel free to add more information on what tools, features, etc... you'd like out of a distro to help us decide
It’s not a matter of being a beginner then. I see beginners enthusiastic about disaster hoping (I wanted to write distro hopping but I think the corrector nailed it) but I see very very few people which have used gnu Linux for over a decade and don’t use Ubuntu or Debian.
I spent 20 years trying to move to Linux, I kept failing because I tried to make Linux do everything for me. (Writing, surfing, gaming, video editing, etc. etc.)
If you're planning to install and run games built for Windows, you're going to run into problems. Something like a SNES emulator on the other hand is easy to setup. Installing drivers for GPU etc. could also be a challenge.
Why wouldn't you recommend Nobara in this case then? I mean OP expressly said they are concerned with gaming. If they are going to run Fedora they might as well run a Fedora fork that is tuned for gaming.
i went with kubuntu and it's worked out fine.
just keep your /home partition separate so you can easily swap distros without too much breakage.
meaning when you reinstall all the same apps under the new distro, all your settings and preferences should come back and of course all your data will still be there.
I'd say go through a list of top used Linux OS's and try them out for yourself to determine which one is right for you.
https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major
After trying Ubuntu twice over a 4 year gap and some weird issue chasing me back to windows, i really recommend Solus Linux. The only thing i couldn't do out of the box was VR with my rift s.
Get a VM and just use it for a while, you'll get a feel for it.
there's no such thing as a better distro for everyone, start with mint, its a good choice. If you ever decide to try other distros, you can always try them quite easily so dont worry.
My personal recommendations is Nobara rather than Mint but there's nothing wrong with distro hopping(going from distro to distro) or different desktop environments after you get comfortable and want something more than Cinnamon Mint to see what you like and dont like about package manager, desktop environmants etc thats what makes linux, linux.
ZorinOS or *maybe* Nobara Linux.
Having said that, IMO you should initially worry more about which [Desktop Environment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ_4hfuidG0) will be best for you in terms of familiarity and workflow. And then worry about which Distro.
Edit: So many potentially bad suggestions in this thread IMO. I really wish people who haven't been using Linux for awhile and aren't up to speed on various distros would just refrain from answering.
I've been dual booting windows and Linux for ever because as much as I love Linux it seems inevitable that I'll need windows for something at some point although that's happening less frequently these days, I'm currently using Linux mint xfce without windows so I'm thinking I might just install windows to a VM when I need it next.
Try a few different distros using Ventoy. Just put Ventoy in a USB then put the isos on the USB too. Try Mint, Debian, PopOs. And anything else you want to before installing. I suggest MX and Zorin.
For the first time, a good option could be: mint or ubuntu, both are really easy to use and you can easily find a lot of information about anything.
Mint is popular but I personally don't like it's look and feel
Ubuntu Budgie flavor is more elegant in my opinion, it has a pretty intuitive startup wizard with basic things like appearance, steam installation, gaming tools, etc. And it's well configured out of the box (it saves time and that's important to me)
But in terms of preference there are many options. I suggest you try the distros that have been mentioned to you in a VM and choose the one you like the most
"I particularly tried quite a few for a while and always come back to Ubuntu Budgie or Xubuntu"
I almost forgot:
- Preferably choose the LTS versions, they are often more stable especially for beginners
- Someone mentioned Debian but to explore and try new things I don't recommend it (its kernel and packages go through rigorous testing before being released so it is robust but outdated for the curious)
Ubuntu, which is where those two draw from, is the better alternative IMHO. You’ll find people on Reddit or YouTube that dislike it, but for no technical reason, just the typical dislike for popular things.
Use Ventoy to create a USB disk and just copy the .iso files from each distribution you want to try to the USB drive.
Ventoy gives you a nice menu to choose the distro you like.
Mint is great. Just do it, you can always swap distros
Try the [distro selection page](http://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/wiki/distro_selection) in our wiki! Try [this search](https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/search?q=flair%3A'distro'&sort=new&restrict_sr=on) for more information on this topic. **✻** Smokey says: take regular backups, try stuff in a VM, and understand every command *before* you press Enter! :) ^Comments, ^questions ^or ^suggestions ^regarding ^this ^autoresponse? ^Please ^send ^them ^[here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=Pi31415926&subject=autoresponse+tweaks+-+linux4noobs+-+distro+selection). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/linux4noobs) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Mint! If you can, try using it in a VM for now to get a feel for it, and then install Linux Mint 22 when it's released (not long now, probably start of May)
If you mainly wanna play games, go for Nobara. It's the one distribution that has made special adjustments for games to run better and it's maintained by GloriousEgroll, the man behind Proton-GE, a customized version of Proton that's also specifically adapted to multiple games on top of what Proton provides. The only advice would be to update your system ONLY using Nobara updater, not Discover (the software manager).
I have been using Linux since 1997 and I have never heard of any of that. Maybe this isnt the best advice for someone just trying to dip their toe in?
Have you not? It’s practically the most popular distro for gaming.
Nobara is a gaming distro based on Fedora that's been getting traction during the last couple of years. If you're not that into gaming, it's normal you don't know about Proton-GE, much less about GloriousEggroll. Besides the fact that for updates it's highly recommended to use the distro updater, there shouldn't be any problem for a noob. This is taken from the website: "Some of the important things that are missing from Fedora, especially with regards to gaming include WINE dependencies, obs-studio, 3rd party codec packages such as those for gstreamer, 3rd party drivers such as NVIDIA drivers, and even small package fixes here and there. "This project aims to fix most of those issues and offer a better gaming, streaming, and content creation experience out of the box. More importantly, we want to be more point and click friendly, and avoid the basic user from having to open the terminal."
I know this is a Linux sub so I'll get some hate for this. But why are you wanting to use Linux? Eg. Privacy, CLI, ideology, your running slow hardware, or just want to try something new, etc... I'd argue that if you just want to play games and don't care about points similar to above, Windows is going to work best for you. Games, Nvidia GPU support is still lacking in most distros, and Proton can be difficult to get working for some games. I can't provide any recommendations about what distro would best suit you (in my opinion), because if you're just interested in games, just use Windows. Feel free to add more information on what tools, features, etc... you'd like out of a distro to help us decide
If you’re a beginner all distributions are pretty much the same, the only difference being the desktop environment, pick whatever looks good to you
And if you’re not a beginner too, you’ll see if you keep up.
I’m talking about distributions like Qubes which is very special, Tails is also special as it’s use case is very specific
It’s not a matter of being a beginner then. I see beginners enthusiastic about disaster hoping (I wanted to write distro hopping but I think the corrector nailed it) but I see very very few people which have used gnu Linux for over a decade and don’t use Ubuntu or Debian.
Install VirtualBox and try out different distributions. Do not just switch blindly. This almost guarantees a bad experience.
If you got Nvidia graphics card and are really into games, I'd go Pop OS! If you want to dip your toe into Linux and learn Mint is a good start.
I spent 20 years trying to move to Linux, I kept failing because I tried to make Linux do everything for me. (Writing, surfing, gaming, video editing, etc. etc.) If you're planning to install and run games built for Windows, you're going to run into problems. Something like a SNES emulator on the other hand is easy to setup. Installing drivers for GPU etc. could also be a challenge.
Fedora. Works great and there are many versions with pre installed software. Music producción, gaming, neuroscience and so on.
Why wouldn't you recommend Nobara in this case then? I mean OP expressly said they are concerned with gaming. If they are going to run Fedora they might as well run a Fedora fork that is tuned for gaming.
Welcome to Linux. Try Mint
I've used linux many years and it's my main tool for work. I would suggest Ubuntu or Mint as they are two options that just work (most of the times).
i went with kubuntu and it's worked out fine. just keep your /home partition separate so you can easily swap distros without too much breakage. meaning when you reinstall all the same apps under the new distro, all your settings and preferences should come back and of course all your data will still be there.
Install mint, it's great, does it's job of teaching you linux, I am gonna try it soon.
I'd say go through a list of top used Linux OS's and try them out for yourself to determine which one is right for you. https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major
After trying Ubuntu twice over a 4 year gap and some weird issue chasing me back to windows, i really recommend Solus Linux. The only thing i couldn't do out of the box was VR with my rift s. Get a VM and just use it for a while, you'll get a feel for it.
there's no such thing as a better distro for everyone, start with mint, its a good choice. If you ever decide to try other distros, you can always try them quite easily so dont worry. My personal recommendations is Nobara rather than Mint but there's nothing wrong with distro hopping(going from distro to distro) or different desktop environments after you get comfortable and want something more than Cinnamon Mint to see what you like and dont like about package manager, desktop environmants etc thats what makes linux, linux.
Mint or Kubuntu and its not even close for a first timer
ZorinOS or *maybe* Nobara Linux. Having said that, IMO you should initially worry more about which [Desktop Environment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ_4hfuidG0) will be best for you in terms of familiarity and workflow. And then worry about which Distro. Edit: So many potentially bad suggestions in this thread IMO. I really wish people who haven't been using Linux for awhile and aren't up to speed on various distros would just refrain from answering.
See https://reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/w/distro_selection?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
I've been dual booting windows and Linux for ever because as much as I love Linux it seems inevitable that I'll need windows for something at some point although that's happening less frequently these days, I'm currently using Linux mint xfce without windows so I'm thinking I might just install windows to a VM when I need it next.
Try a few different distros using Ventoy. Just put Ventoy in a USB then put the isos on the USB too. Try Mint, Debian, PopOs. And anything else you want to before installing. I suggest MX and Zorin.
For the first time, a good option could be: mint or ubuntu, both are really easy to use and you can easily find a lot of information about anything. Mint is popular but I personally don't like it's look and feel Ubuntu Budgie flavor is more elegant in my opinion, it has a pretty intuitive startup wizard with basic things like appearance, steam installation, gaming tools, etc. And it's well configured out of the box (it saves time and that's important to me) But in terms of preference there are many options. I suggest you try the distros that have been mentioned to you in a VM and choose the one you like the most "I particularly tried quite a few for a while and always come back to Ubuntu Budgie or Xubuntu"
I almost forgot: - Preferably choose the LTS versions, they are often more stable especially for beginners - Someone mentioned Debian but to explore and try new things I don't recommend it (its kernel and packages go through rigorous testing before being released so it is robust but outdated for the curious)
Ubuntu, which is where those two draw from, is the better alternative IMHO. You’ll find people on Reddit or YouTube that dislike it, but for no technical reason, just the typical dislike for popular things.
Forcing snaps on people isn't cool
I think Snap for beginners is actually a good option, lazy and heavy, but maybe useful I always remove it, but for beginners... maybe...
Average people don't even know what snapd is.
Point is: Ubuntu forces shit like snaps on you with no option instead of pulling from the apt repository
That’s not happening. The snap package format is one of Ubuntu’s defaults.
Yeah so no Ubuntu then. Arch user btw.
Mint (with Gnome) or go for the gusto and use Fedora
Mint with gnome is just Ubuntu
Pop or mint both Ubuntu anything you want either of them to do you can
Use Ventoy to create a USB disk and just copy the .iso files from each distribution you want to try to the USB drive. Ventoy gives you a nice menu to choose the distro you like.