@gamingonlinux But how will we get more people on Hannah Montana Linux?

@gamingonlinux I recommended Gentoo to my grandmother and now she doesn't send me money on birthday anymore :(

@gamingonlinux installed mint on my mom's computer. Never heard a complaint

@gamingonlinux for a new Linux user, not tech savvy, I have only recommended 3 distros: ZorinOS, Linux Mint and elementary OS.

All of them have been fairly "support free" after the initial tour I give after installing.

@gamingonlinux

For a new user, i wouldn't recommend Ubuntu anymore because with snap and apt, there is here two distinct packages mechanisms.
It's confusing.

In my mind, few years ago, Ubuntu was a good choice, but for now, Debian is a better choice.

@gamingonlinux
Since I don't have the time anymore to tinker with Linux, I also switched to an Ubuntu distro.
So I'm not a beginner but an enthusiast with a shortage in time 🙂

@gamingonlinux <ignoring everything you've just said> new users should start with poopix right away and build their kernel from scratch

@gamingonlinux One more thing, please stop recommending wine as a solution for apps that doesn't work with Linux natively. There are so many things that can go wrong with that approach. Video Games are a different thing and that's where wine/proton do an amazing job at. Linux might not be a good choice for those who are completely dependent on those apps and I don't think a native version would be made for Linux just because they use the windows version of app on linux.

@gamingonlinux at this point my main recommendation is OpenSUSE since it has both a point-release and rolling-release option with snapshots enabled by default if you use btrfs. If that wouldn't be a good fit, then Fedora/Nobara, Pop_OS, and Mint in that order. I'll occasionally recommend Kubuntu but for the most part I'm disappointed in the direction of all the official Ubuntu flavors.

@gamingonlinux yep, give them mainline distros, if they will feel brave enough, they will explore something else afterwards.

@gamingonlinux why not Debian since Ubuntu is actually "just" derivative of it?

But the most silly thing in my eyes is to praise something like Kubuntu over straight Ubuntu... It's just a different desktop environment. If you really want it you can just install it. No need to swap out the entire OS for it. I think that confuses new Linux users more than anything else.

@gamingonlinux
the best linux distro for newbies: paldo

@gamingonlinux generally agree, but I've had much less issues reported back to me with Mint than Ubuntu, so I'm sticking with that as my recommendation

@gamingonlinux I think the exception is Nobara for gaming.

@gamingonlinux
What if I want to cause problems?

@gamingonlinux totally agree

@gamingonlinux Hot take but a lot of tiny distros just suck.

Bless the developers for working their best on it but they gotta stop saying their distro is for "New Users" when it hardly works.

I'd name drop like 6 distros off the top of my head right now but I think most people are aware of them.

It's ok to be a fun boutique power-user distro. Not everything has to be about the newbies

@gamingonlinux reminder

@gamingonlinux I would personally recommend Linux Mint over Ubuntu, specially after all the questionable decisions of Cannonicals

@gamingonlinux
Please and thank you.

@gamingonlinux Distro comment Wars on 3... 2... 1...

(waits a minute or two)

"Open Source" vs. "Free Software" comment war starts in 3... 2... 1...

(Leaving the place because I know the important thing is the first step and either @ubuntu or @fedora are good choices... So are Mint or @pop_os_official )
🙄🤦🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

@gamingonlinux

1) Mx Linux (KDE)

# 1 on Distro Watch for 5 years for a reason. Based on Debian, but better hardware support, boots on anything, has the out of box Windows experience.

2) Ubuntu Budgie

Best Ubuntu out of the box experience. Both easy to install, includes post install wizard

3) Kubuntu

Lighter, no wizards or tool-tips as Ubuntu Budgie

4) Ultramarine Linux (KDE)

Fedora, but with the media codecs, firmware, drivers, and repos already included out of the box

5) Fedora (KDE)

@gamingonlinux Ubuntu is shit. So is Fedora (for beginners at least). Try Linux Mint or Tuxedo OS. Both are backed by either a huge community or a Linux focused OEM and are built on Ubuntu but reverse a lot of Canonical Ubuntu crud, like Snaps and other things like poor flatpak integration when installed. Or better yet, use Debian.

@gamingonlinux i feel like my timeline is at odds, because i understand both sides of wanting to suggest ubuntu, but at the same time its ubuntu.

I typically recommend people distros based on individual stuff, like how quick of a learner they are.

@gamingonlinux
I would rather recommend Linux Mint or Linux Mint LMDE to new users than Ubuntu, but yeah I guess Ubuntu could be fine too only because they will find support much easier if they need help. Small niche distros are absolutely will give a bad first taste for new users if they're not tech savvy and they just want to explore niche things for a fun of it. Most new users want something that just works and doesn't need too much maintenance.

@gamingonlinux

also, i personally would NOT recommend ANYTHING that isn't ubuntu-based to a completely new user.

@gamingonlinux Okay but install gentoo anyway.

@gamingonlinux Okay I get it. But Hannah Montana Linux might be worth a shot 😉😃

@gamingonlinux Dying on the Fedora hill from this day forth. But I completely agree with the sentiment. Started with Ubuntu, tried Mint, Pop etc. Settled with Fedora and am happy, and it's easy to use.

@gamingonlinux Someone recommended I start with Gentoo.

After the initial install things were fine for a month until they weren't again.

Learned a lot of new words that day.

@gamingonlinux I made the mistake of putting a friend on Arch... He's willing to retry Linux because he's afraid of digital surveillance, and this time I'm just going to put him on Fedora KDE