Comments on: New to Linux? Stick To These Rules When Picking Distro

By: aRubes

aRubes — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 13:45:20 +0000

This is a timely and excellent article. I have distrohopped at least 10 times and agree with all of your suggestions.
I’d like to add a point that I don’t see covered often. If a newcomer to Linux has the option to install their distro on a file system like btrfs or zfs (e.g. OpenSUSE, Fedora), they can benefit mightily from having the option to roll back immediately without having to look for the thumb drive they used for installing and learning how to rescue the OS.
I would also love a similar article on more installation advice for newcomers in the vein of your SWAP recommendations. The installation of a new distro for a newcomer can be daunting and I would wager a tonne of people gave up because of this.

By: George N. White III

George N. White III — Fri, 09 May 2025 20:38:45 +0000

This article will be very helpful to many new user. A few things I would add:

* Users starting out with Linux should visit the online help forums of the distros they are considering.
* Point-release distros make it easier for others to reproduce issues as many variable factors get reset at each new point release.
* Users associated with large organizations such as a university may be be able to choose a distro popular with peers who can help with issues related to the local environment. Many issues can be resolved quickly by an experience user looking over the shoulder of new user.

By: Cameron Bosch

Cameron Bosch — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 14:14:49 +0000

In reply to The Illustrious Wazwinker. The problems with Mint for me are the lack of a KDE flavor (there is Tuxedo OS now which is basically like that though so it's no longer an issue) and before Linux Mint 22.2, the kernel would likely fail to boot with newer hardware, making installing Mint bascially impossible, and the super old repo packages and being heavily pushed to use them over Flatpaks. Again, these may just be “me” things, but they’re reasons I don’t use Mint and prefer at least rolling releases for the kernel and DE.

By: Cameron Bosch

Cameron Bosch — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 14:12:09 +0000

The biggest problem with point release (non rolling) distros is that many times, new hardware just will not work on it, and in some cases, it won’t make it past the boot process.
That was a big reason I went with EndeavourOS in 2021 from Windows 10 (when Windows 11 released) instead of going to Linux Mint, as well as the fact that I wanted KDE, which Linux Mint hasn’t offered since Linux Mint 18.3.
My 2021 laptop back then refused to boot from the then lastest Ubuntu release ISO as well as any Linux Mint ISO, so I was bascially forced into a rolling release because nothing else would boot correctly. And this was before Tuxedo OS existed.

By: Jake

Jake — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 10:51:39 +0000

I learned the hard way twice when my OS was shutdown overnight. I used the first Solus that Ikey shut overnight, then I used Point Linux that a was a one person developer who eventually just didn't have time and shut it down. They were both great distros, Point the best OS I have ever used, but now I stick to major distributions with a team of developers so my OS doesn't disappear overnight.

By: Jake

Jake — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:53:47 +0000

I would never recommend standard Ubuntu to a new person. The gnome3 desktop would scare them off. KDE, Ubuntu Mate or Xbuntu would be much better recommendations. All standard classic style desktops. Personally I would recommend Ubuntu Mate over Mint Mate. I have used both, and on the surface they look the same. Under the hood their are a few differnces that don't make a lot of difference. The big place Ubuntu Mate shines is the forum. Very friendly Everyone gets an answer. Some of the most knowledgeable Linux people I have ever seen in a forum. That is very unlike Mint, which has multiple desktops that can be confusing in a forum for newbies. Mint also has pages and pages of unanswered questions from present to years ago. For a new Linux user a great forum can make all the difference to get help and not go running back to Windoze.I

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 00:33:35 +0000

Great article. Don’t usually leave comments, but this one deserves to be read by newcomers to Linux. I would love to see one about the different desktops for people new to Linux. I could never love Gnome, but have used KDE from almost the start with what was then Mandriva. I have known others who loved Gnome. I’m not saying one is better than the other, just that they are different and can really change a new user’s impressions of Linux.
For the record have been using Opensuse for it’s stability for years now.
Again a great article for new users

By: Ronald

Ronald — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:12:49 +0000

Very solid advice. It is how I got into Linux back in 1998. There was no convenient, high speed internet to speak of, so downloading was out of the question. Mucked about with boxed Red Hat in 1998. I settled on SuSE 6.2 back in 1999, as it supported my hardware better. It came with the book "Installation, configuration and administration" by Michael Kofler. Excellent book. Easily accessible and gives the nitty gritty about the Linux system in understandable terms. It is still in print in modern versions.Having or accepting limited choice confines you to really getting to know the system you are working with. Knowing how the basic layers cooperate together to give you your computing environment really helps to understand the issue when problems arise. It gives you the tools to not be helpless when something goes wrong. It doesn't happen very often, but it is a good feeling knowing you can fix it when it does. It certainly beats having to reinstall, because you don't know any better.

By: The Illustrious Wazwinker

The Illustrious Wazwinker — Sat, 08 Feb 2025 18:56:05 +0000

I installed Endeavor on my wife's laptop, she is NOT tech savvy and hated the constant updates. "Too much like Windows!" I heard. Wow, bet that's a first for lots of people! 🙂 Anyhow, I showed her Mint and Zorin – she poked around with both for a moment or two and said, "This one" (meaning Zorin). I was a little surprised, since she didn't like any of the Pro layouts (yes, I paid for Zorin – twice! 16 and 17). Since she only surfs the web and watches youtube, I went with a minimal install. I'm still surprised she picked that over Mint. But that's my $0.02. 🙂

By: RetiredIT

RetiredIT — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 12:07:15 +0000

In reply to Kevin. Distrowatch lists distros by number of clicks, not download popularity. I often check a distro for one reason or another and do not download it. For REAL popularity and reviews on any specific distro you're much better off studying the "average visitor ratings" which appear at the bottom of the top box for each individual distro. That tells the REAL story about a distro; not the page hit ranking. Even then, the distro may not work well for everyone since there are so many hardware and third party software variables.