this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2023
50 points (90.3% liked)

Linux

47946 readers
1594 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

A friend might let me install Linux on his secondary laptop he uses for university. He's not a tinkerer and wants something that just works.

Linux Mint is known for being very user-friendly and stable. Also easy to get help online.

However, in my opinion Mint seems rather outdated, both with its Windows-like workflow, default icons and look and also Xorg. When I tried it I had some screen stuttering I couldn't resolve, probably due to Xorg.

Instead, Fedora with GNOME is very elegant and always uses the newest technologies. It feels and looks actually nice and not outdated. But I'd have to install media codecs via terminal first which suggests that Fedora is for experienced users. Also university wifi eduroam doesn't work on Fedora for me because legacy TLS connection is not supported in Fedora (at least I couldn't get it to work). I'm at a different uni than him tho, so it might work there. In general, less help on the web for Fedora than Mint.

What do you think? (Btw, KDE is too convoluted in my opinion. Manjaro too, it breaks too often. I will not consider it.)

EDIT: From what I've gathered so far, I should probably install Mint. He can try Fedora with a live usb or on my laptop. If he prefers that then I can warn him that this may be less stable and ask what he wants.

I've only tried Ubuntu-based Mint, but LMDE is more future-proof so it will probably be that.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Feyter 14 points 1 year ago (6 children)

In general I would recommend any Debian derivate for beginners that just don't care about how their computer is operating. So if this is really just a question regarding eight Fedora or Linux Mint then I would say Linux Mint because it's a Debian derivative.

That's simply because chances are high stat you will at least find a Deb package for any proprietary software you might want to use. Making it "easier" for the user.

If you install the system for your friend you're free to change the Desctop environment to everything you want.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (5 children)

That’s simply because chances are high stat you will at least find a Deb package for any proprietary software you might want to use. Making it “easier” for the user.

Fedora ships unfiltered Flathub outof the box since quite some time. If easy access to proprietary software is a deciding factor, Fedora is among the easiest options.

[–] Feyter 1 points 1 year ago

Ok so I guess it really just comes down to personal preferences at this point.

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)