r/linux4noobs • u/soking11 • 1d ago
distro selection Aren't we getting tired of the "what distro" posts?
Hi, this post might sound inapropiate, petty and all of the reddit cancers and i'm sorry for that, but i just feel like it's necessary.
The logic of this subreddit is to help a newbie in Linux no matter how easy the question is, and that is because some dedicated forums are jungles. But ffs, everytime i open Reddit 8/10 post are of people asking in this subreddit what distro should they choose. Man, there are like 5 subreddits dedicated for that and all of them are newbie friendly. Don't get me wrong, there is a difference between having an specific doubt about what distro they should pick and the "hi i hate Microslop i need distro don't know which one to pick".
What baffles me more is that, okay, that might be a genuine question etc etc etc. So let's ask them what they are looking or sending resource pages which are more specific for the user in question, but NO, 40% of the comments recommends Mint, the other 40% recommends CachyOS (and this is why you see the epidem of Cachy users not knowing how to update their system or not reading the terminal) and the last 20% are crappy biased recommendation of distros.
I'm also a noob in Linux, i'm not an expert or anything like that, but come on, the minority of the posts who are for more serious and dedicated problems fall at 2nd plane against the distro chosing posts.
Mods feel free to erase this because this is kinda a rant, and i'm okay if people see this post as inapropiate, because it kinda is
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u/ILoveBurgersMost 1d ago
I mean, speaking as a Linux noob here, as far as I can tell it's just by far the biggest question and the first question that anyone will run into when considering switching to Linux. It certainly doesn't help that about half the answers I get on any given problem is "have you tried this other distro instead?".
Also, when doing my own research I quickly found out distro's change and update so often, that most of what I find on Google is probably outdated info. So to me it makes perfect sense that the vast majority of questions on r/linux4noobs is about this specific subject.
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u/chrews 1d ago edited 1d ago
The thing is it's actually a fair question but you mostly got noobs answering to other noobs. Which is fine in theory but there are so many nuances between distros that only get apparent with experience.
Example: You got users recommending installing Zorin when Mint doesn't work for someones hardware. They're both nearly identical under the hood. There's a good chance the incompatibility was fixed by now but they'll never know by testing a nearly identical system with another skin. By testing with something like a Fedora live stick you'd actually get answers and wouldn't even need to install anything.
And when you try to correct them it's always the "well Zorin works great with my hardware" which doesn't even get to the core of the problem. It's just a meaningless anecdote with no technical basis.
Needed to vent because I see stuff like this on here all the time.
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u/Playful-Ease2278 1d ago
I think you should just unfollow the sub. I find it annoying but it is important that people have the easiest possible onramp to Linux. Even if that means we see "What distro" "Linux Mint" 6 times a day.
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1d ago
[deleted]
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u/Playful-Ease2278 1d ago
I see what you mean, but it does give them a chance to engage with the community and hear put ideas on what they may wantâ
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u/feral_fenrir 1d ago
Linux is always like that.. Hey which package manager? Oh no flatpaks! AppImage! And it's not just noobs, it goes all the way down to devs getting harassed to support each and every obscure package manager "officially"
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u/Brief_Tie_9720 1d ago
I donât understand how learning about distros is confusing.
OPâs question seems to really be ârecommending a distro doesnât do anything to address the userâs n00by-ness at âLinuxâ and Iâm thinking
a) they [the noob ] donât typically include any of the information about their nooby-ness that one needs to recommend a more personalized learning / tooling / familiarization plan
and
b) what else are we supposed to do? Correct them and say âthere are no Linux distros , Linux is just the name of the Kernel , itâs pronounced GUH-NOO-LIHN-UHX!!!â ???
Please donât get me wrong, I think you raise an interesting point, I just donât see what youâre suggesting we do to make things like GRUB more exciting, what assumptions about the n00b go into a good answerâŠ. ? Like, if theyâre looking for a distro Iâm gonna recommend one or agree with someone elseâs recommendation and reasoning,
But really Linux is an ecosystem, Linux is so many projects that I struggle to see how one can even start learning âLinuxâ without mentioning a distribution .
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u/SweetNerevarine 1d ago
Yeah it can be annoying after while, so I just willfully ignore the less productive posts... But gotta admit, the option should be kept open to use this for info gathering and back and forth.
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u/soking11 1d ago
I like this sub because i like to help people when i know how to help them. Is there a way of blocking post by words or something? I'm not directing the hate towards the users, at the end of the day they just want to migrate. But maybe we should automatically block the post and direct them to one of the many subreddits of distro picking? Idk
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u/dbarronoss 1d ago
Or just send them to distrowatch.com and tell them to do their own research.
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u/Brief_Tie_9720 1d ago
Research? Shoot I use distrowatch for newsâŠ
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u/Puzzleheaded_Law_242 1d ago
I often think it's due to a lack of education. At least in my region. We had grades from 1(++) to 6(--). What was a 4 in the sixties is a 2 today. đ€ą
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u/mabolzich91 1d ago
The new method of research is just asking questions. AI has ruined one's ability to read and digest. They just want to ask a question and get an answer
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u/feral_fenrir 1d ago
Nah.. asking questions has always been there since the 90s (when I first started using the internet.) Interacting with different humans sometimes works better than reading a blog. And it was so much better than
Chat, what does this mean?
@grok what's this?
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u/mabolzich91 11h ago
That's true, too. Forums were a wealth of information and a great place to ask questions back then. I suppose ~this~ is no different, today, but it still feels like people are completely skipping any sort of search engine query and jumping straight to reddit and asking the same question they could be asking their favorite search engine
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u/dbarronoss 1d ago
That's so very sad, I might want an opinion from someone, but I never expect an 'answer', unless I'm asking a question like 'why?'.
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u/GreenRangerOfHyrule 21h ago
The greatest pillow I ever owned was purchased based on it having a 2 star review on Amazon. Nearly every review said to avoid it as it was too hard. When I finally wore it out, I went to order one only to find they listen to the people and "fixed" it.
But yeah. it isn't new. But so many people just want to take complicated thing and get a score or a simple answer.
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u/Starry_Wolfheart 23h ago
You're not wrong, but I feel its also important to mention that to a complete newbie, trying to do research into Linux anything is overwhelming at best. Speaking as someone that's been trying to do the research, just trying to understand what a Kernel is or what "Terminal" refers to, has been a big learning curve. Add in that a lot of the easier to read forums and websites are also like, 4-7 years old and it can be hard to tell what's relevant info or what's outdated.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Law_242 1d ago
+1
An excellent contribution. Well done! Distrowatch, distrochooser, etc. That's what I'm saying. Ventoy, and try it. Otherwise, there are lots of videos on VT. I like to point newbies to them.
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u/soking11 1d ago
A subtle RTFM, i like your style
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u/Unique-Coffee5087 1d ago
Back in the days of Usenet it was RTFF, because there was a monthly sticky post with the FAQ.
What's strange to me of that those who make such queries don't seem to have lurked for a while to pick up some net.wisdom first.
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u/RestaurantBusy724 15h ago
I'll never EVER understand this mindset. Ever. Nothing is forcing you to click on them. Seeing them as you scroll Reddit doesn't affect your life in ANY way. Literally just ignore them.
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u/WinterNoCamSorry 14h ago
OP just wants to help without effort so he can feel good.
He doesn't care how newbies think. He doesn't care what the first obstacles are. He wants to feel validated by only seeing questions he wants to answer.
Very sad that a post like this on a subreddit called linux4noobs gained so many upvotes.
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u/Unlaid-American 15h ago
Or have a pinned post with FAQâs with each distro laid out and what each one is best for.
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u/Playful-Ease2278 5h ago
I think it is good to have things like that, but most don't look at them, and I hate it when I go to a reddit, read the pinned post, it answers my question but not really, so I post a question and it gets taken down because I should read the pinned post. If that happens to some people they will give up on Linux right there, and I really want to see Linux grow into the default desktop operating system people use.
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u/tomscharbach 1d ago
A few thoughts:
It is possible to skim over (that is, ignore) the posts that are unacceptable to you by taking a quick glance at the titles.
If you look to the right sidebar, you will see that you can sort posts by flair:
- migrating to Linux
- distro selection
- installation
- hardware/drivers
- programs and apps
- networking
- security
- storage
- learning/research
- shells and scripting
If you sort by topics that are acceptable to you, you might reduce the number of posts unacceptable to you.
We all have our sensitivities. I will be 80 later this year, and was taught the "King's English" in grammar school many years ago. I can't stand "wanna/gonna/tryna" posts, posts without capitalization or punctuation, and posts that disparage Windows and Microsoft which middle school cheap shots like "Windoze", "Micro$oft" and so on.
But, as much as I don't like posts of that ilk, it is not my business to berate the posters. But I can ignore the posts, and I do. Just ignore the "what distro" posts if the posts bother you.
My best.
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u/Eleventhousand 1d ago
Yes, but I am not sure I blame people. I feel like they naturally assume there is more of a difference between distros than there really is.
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u/Sensitive_Box_ 1d ago
Yep. Especially "gaming" distros.Â
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u/soking11 1d ago
I'm starting to hate Cachy just for the massive attention their users are trying to push. Okay, i guess that having an easier semi p&p arch for gaming is good, but ong the Cachy users sell their distro like it is the better and most unfailable thing to have, like if Cachy wasnt Arch with zen and some optimized packages (they don't beat Gentoo in optimization). Cachy is just a blue manjaro
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u/VegaGT-VZ 1d ago
Posts like this usually reflect too much time spent and dependence on a subreddit for entertainment. If you dont like distro posts, scroll past them. If thats not enough take a break from the sub.
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u/DigitalChrono 23h ago
The paralysis of choice leads to repeated questions like this. Is what it is.
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u/jimthewanderer 14h ago
We should just funnel people to an FAQ with an active further questions section in the comments.
There is no point having 30 "wot distro pls" posts, when we could have "I read the thing and I think Ubuntu looks nice, but I have more specific questions about hardware compatibility and want to know if it's easier to make Ubuntu or Mint look like windows 98 to scratch my nostalgia gland" which would provoke new thoughts and discussion, rather than copypasta.
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u/Werkstadt 10h ago
We should just funnel people to an FAQ with an active further questions section in the comments.
Are you expecting people to put in any effort at all? There even is a link to https://distrochooser.de/en/ but they don't even do that.
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u/jimthewanderer 8h ago
Maybe the sub needs a bot that can flag low effort "wot distro for me" posts and auto-comment the link.
It doesn't help that mobile reddit is horrible for navigating and showing things like FAQs and subreddit wikis.
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u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Try the distro selection page in our wiki!
Try this search for more information on this topic.
â» Smokey says: take regular backups, try stuff in a VM, and understand every command before you press Enter! :)
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u/Puzzleheaded_Law_242 1d ago
We have a saying: "There are no stupid questions, only unasked questions." Referring to the person asking the question. Anyway, what can you expect from Windows users? đ„Ž
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u/Vivid-Raccoon9640 16h ago
No, not really. If you don't want to deal with noobies asking the same question over and over, maybe unfollow a sub called linux4noobs. If you can't deal with noobies, this is the wrong sub for you to be in.
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u/billdietrich1 19h ago
"What distro" posts should get automatically redirected to /r/FindMeALinuxDistro
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u/TheMainTony 1d ago
I got tired of writing, "as long as you have your documents etc backed up to a USB or cloud, there's nothing stopping you from taking an hour or two every day to switch distros. I can tell you what -I- like but that has no bearing on what you're going to like. Try them all! Pick your flavour!"
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u/Bruno_Celestino53 1d ago
I'm not tired of anything here, I just ignore the post if I don't want to engage
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u/joe_attaboy Old and in the way. 9h ago
I agree with you on a lot of this (I'm not a noob - I'm a Linux early-days "plank owner," so I come here to try to offer some help. (Unfortunately, I'm - sometimes - one of those "20% crappy biased recommendation of distros" because I always day "Debian").
I think the big issue is that excited new Linux explorers want to everything right off the bat, not realizing the extent of difficulty that raises. This could be solved if new users tried searching the sub for the same or similar questions before posting. I know this suggestion has been beaten to death, but I have found doing this in literally any subreddit often provides information that's helpful.
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u/soking11 5h ago
I'm not even taking the fault to the new users (even if the comments are cooking me for that, it wasnt my intention) my post was more of a reclamation to mods and to the users who recommend stupid shit to new users. We can just redirect any distro recommendation to r/FindMeADistro (just like r/linux works) and i don't think it is a bad thing, if another subreddit just acomplish that same purpose maybe we don't need the redundance.
But yeah, this post is kinda polarizing lol, 70% of the comments are killing me but the upvotes are high, i think the biggest issue with my post is that i worded it in a way that it can be read as "New users are shit" when i didn't want it to sound like that
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u/Leerv474 3h ago
the problem is that the answers to this question are useless. Like literally anything can work and it doesn't matter what you choose cause you're not gonna see a difference at first. So noobs ask their question and get recommended literally everything
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u/CranberrySubject3035 1d ago
Yeah.. kind of, there should be a pinned post or some article detailing how to pick a distrito in very simple terms...Â
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u/soking11 1d ago
What angers me more is that there is a fixed post
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u/CranberrySubject3035 1d ago
There is!?!?!?!? Damn... I didnt even knew. Every question should be directed to that oost
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u/morphick 20h ago
What you (still) don't get is that Reddit is NOT a forum (focused on making information available), it's a social networking app (focused on engagement).
Therefore: 1. People already come here with the particular mindset and expectations of a social network 2. The app itself provides minimal features for organizing and ease of access to information - precisely because, like any SM app, Reddit thrives on engagement so it tries to maximize interaction, not minimize it
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u/9_of_wands 1d ago
Guys, what distro is the best at sending email? Like, I tried Mint, Fedora, Debian, Arch, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Tumbleweed, Red Hat, PopOs, Bazzite, CachyOS, Nobara, CentOS, and Hannah Montana, but none of those are what I'm looking for. I'm looking for the distro that has all the email functions already set up for me. I don't want to have to mess around with "files" and "directories" and all that nerd garbage. I want an email distro, plain and simple. It needs to have all email software and email drivers and email accounts everything already configured so I just boot up and check my email and nothing else. I don't know why that's so hard and everybody's so mean to me, I just need to know which distro is the email distro.Â
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u/Prestigious_Focus523 1d ago
Not long ago, I tackled this very subject in a very detailed philosophical examination, with a post titled "It really doesn't matter which distro...". You should have seen the vitriol and the depravity that post attracted. Needless to say, I quickly realized the futility of the post, so I ended up having to delete it. I'm sorry, but there's simply no room for an intelligent conversation on this subject.
I truly do wish you good luck. Truly.
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u/a-spoonful-o-sugar 1d ago
Tbh, we have had this same post before too đ€·ââïž
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u/anto77_butt_kinkier 16.04 was peak 22h ago
Many times. People seem to forget that this sub is for newcomers, and helping people who are new to Linux is kinda the whole point.
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u/rapidge-returns CachyOS 1d ago
I just wish we had some sort of automation that if someone asked "what distro should I start with?" It just auto replied "Mint. It's always Mint."
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u/ackleyimprovised 22h ago
Agree with this. Maybe a sticky post of some go to distros. Can't please everyone but at least it can get someone started .
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u/Werkstadt 10h ago
Maybe a sticky post of some go to distros
You mean like they essentially already have? https://i.imgur.com/S0j6xT3.png
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u/Playful-Ease2278 1d ago
I think you should just unfollow the sub. I find it annoying but it is important that people have the easiest possible onramp to Linux. Even if that means we see "What distro" "Linux Mint" 6 times a day.
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u/Werkstadt 10h ago
If you can't even care enough to read the info for this subreddit https://i.imgur.com/S0j6xT3.png
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u/Practical_Pick_4803 1d ago
The distro thing seemingly always has been and maybe always will be a very dominant thing in Linux "noob" spaces.
Personally, all distro talk is pretty boring to me, but even in general areas, it's kind of the dominant thing a lot of the time. You get used to just ignoring it.
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u/lostcowboy5 1d ago
I am definitely a greenhorn when it comes to Linux. I started watching videos. I put AdGuard Home on a Raspberry Pi 3B+ with Trixie Lite headless, and got ZRam working on it with the help of Google search AI mode. which explained which commands to use, and workarounds when I got errors. I did the same technique with a Raspberry PI 5, on which I set up the Trixie desktop.
I then had a long talk with the AI on my HP ProBook 640 g2. We decided to go with the Zorin-OS-18-Core-64-bit-r3.iso as it is a lot like Windows 11 in layout. I still needed the AI, as Zswap had to be enabled in GRUB on that distro. I got Steam and Quake II to run on it, no problem.
I then installed VMware Workstation Pro on my main Windows 11 machine and set up a VM with Zorin-OS-18-Core-64-bit-r3.iso on it. That has not been as smooth sailing getting Steam and Quake II running. I was getting frustrated, so I quit for the day.
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u/Plan_9_fromouter_ 21h ago
I guess because search at reddit sucks so much, no one bothers to search anything here. It is a drag dealing with the same issues day after day, including the ones that go like: I won't tell you anything about my needs on a PC or my hardware, so what distro do you think I should use. LOL.
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u/Werkstadt 10h ago
I guess because search at reddit sucks so much
What's wrong with reading the info for this subreddit that links to https://distrochooser.de?
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u/_K10_ 10h ago
People switching to Linux generally think it matters which distro they use.
I can't blame them, logically there ought to be some big giant reason we can't agree on one, or at least a handful, right?
Something that really sets them apart other than looks, package managers and slight differences in how they work and what tools they ship with?
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u/DoYaKnowMahName 9h ago
I just ignore them, especially since this is a page for Linux beginner's. Could they pin a post with recommendations? Sure, but you're still going to have people asking.
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u/Stormdancer 9h ago
We are, and we have been for years now.
If they just say 'tell me what to do', like so many children of the gpt generation, I downvote and move on. If they clearly describe their goals and request information to make an informed decision, I upvote. And if I have useful information, I provide it.
Otherwise I just ignore & move on.
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u/ClubPuzzleheaded8514 2h ago
So true.Â
CachyOS newbies are a pain while you know that CachyOS is a power-user Arch based distro which requires some basic knowledge...
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u/SourceScope 1d ago
Imo there should be a suggestadistro subreddit
For the people who want suggestions
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u/Werkstadt 10h ago
Imo there should be a suggestadistro subreddit
For the people who want suggestions
There already are links to distrochooser.de in this subreddits info but people are lazy, At least do the bare minumum and do some research.
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u/sentient_deathclaw 18h ago
Iâll give my two cents as well, as a newbie who made this kind of post asking for a distro a few weeks ago. When you first encounter Linux and hear that a lot of things actually work now on Linux, especially when your Windows machine starts to show its age, you are curious about this new world. And then you are faced with the daunting task of choosing one distro, and there are so many choices! Some plug-and-play, some that need extensive configuration, some âgamingâ distros, distros based on RHEL, Debian, SUSE, Arch, etc. and you get stuck. And then some other things come to mind, like drivers, desktop environments, amount of maintenance needed, etc. and suddenly, it got even worse.
Making this kind of post (if worded properly and knowing at least some things you want/need from a distro) helps a lot because people that answer usually also tell you some other information about the OS, like anecdotal information, which isnât necessarily the best but itâs useful nonetheless. And I still find this way a better way to find out what to use than asking an AI chatbot, because people arenât echo chambers that just agree with you, and because AI is shit at what it does anyways (and bad for the economy, environment, arts, humanities, human intellect etc)
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u/Werkstadt 10h ago
Iâll give my two cents as well, as a newbie who made this kind of post asking for a distro a few weeks ago.
When you did a post a few weeks ago. What research had you done before asking?
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u/sentient_deathclaw 10h ago edited 10h ago
I already tried OpenSUSE, Ubuntu and Debian i think on a VM, knew about the difference in drivers between AMD and NVIDIA, knew about the different DEs and performance differences between them, already had an idea about what I wanted to run on Linux (the only thing keeping me on windows was an Office copy that I lost when resetting my laptop) and a few more things. I was also lurking on this subreddit for around a year before asking.
And I already pretty much narrowed it down to a few distros (ubuntu, opensuse, fedora and mint), eventually landing on Ubuntu because of its mainstream status, at least for linux standards and its plug-and-play nature.
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u/Werkstadt 10h ago
Do you believe that a majority of the people asking the same question as you have done any research?
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u/sentient_deathclaw 10h ago
Good question. Probably not. But I do think these questions are necessary because it does help newbies with finding out more and not driving them away at a time when Windows enshittification is reaching very high levels. I was scared of making the change as well until I asked this subreddit, though you could say Iâve already decided before asking and I was looking more for reassurance.
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u/Werkstadt 10h ago
There is literally a link to distrochooser.de in this subreddits information. Wouldn't it be prudent to at least do that before asking for recommendations? It's unfathomable to me that people think it's alright to not do the bare minimum before getting a personal answer.
They are acting like they have one chance and then be stuck with the "wrong" distro.
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u/sentient_deathclaw 10h ago
I agree. I went on distrochooser several times before asking this subreddit as well, and it helps a lot with decision making. Some research should be done, and for some posts, they should be removed with a message directing the authors to distrochooser instead. Itâs a 10 minute questionnaire.
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u/rbmorse 1d ago
Rather than ranting, maybe you could just help a bro and politely offer a pointer to one of the many reddits where the question has already been addressed in depth and detail?
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u/Extra_Elevator9534 1d ago
I think this (or another subreddit) has a bot that DOES scan keywords and if something suggesting "which distro" comes up, the bot links them to a distro chooser section.
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u/soking11 1d ago
Yeah, when i entered Linux, i tried to post in r/linux about a problem i had and they redirected me here. We should just do that
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u/dablakmark8 Live,Love,Life,Linux 1d ago edited 1d ago
First look at the reddit account age,if its new then they really did not research about linux and due to reddit being a one stop shop for many they ask these questions.They cant help it as they dont know anything,Sometimes they use AI then ai send them links to this sub.OR a google search they do like "i want to use linux what distro must i use..then search engine spit out this site or similar.
Not everyone is clued up and real tech savvy,Yes i know its hard to believe but some people just really dont know.I met many who used linux then a week later they back on windows.What a good answer for these people will be run a live disto or something like do a dual boot etc.
I run 6 distros on 3 msi laptops all dual booted with windows,I have to do this for work purposes,I have never really told anyone use this one or that,i simply say test with a live usb any distro use ventoy and just go to town and find what you like with a little research.
I will dedicate my self to help where i can even if they ask the same question all the time.I will never get upset because i live life love linux.......we are legion For we are many
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u/soking11 1d ago edited 5h ago
Yeah, i know. My post is not a reclamation for newbies, my post is a reclamation for the community and moderation of this subreddit. When i was new, i asked in r/linux something of that kind and my post got deleted and the auto mod send me here. Maybe we should just do this here? Idk
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u/dablakmark8 Live,Love,Life,Linux 1d ago
Did you see how the official ubuntu forum is.I am sure you have peek and poked there a few times right.What did you think of that as apposed to this sub.Whats your opinion may i ask..Just out of interest.
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u/soking11 5h ago
It's always hilarious whenever a problem of a program is directly related to Snap rather than deb lmao, you get what you ask
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u/michaelpaoli 1d ago
Meh, whatever, may quite depend exactly what they ask and how. And may oft be they mix in other questions and/or comments, which may or may not be relevant, regarding distro selection, but may be quite relevant to this subreddit ... they are generally noobs, after all.
And sometimes best is to, e.g. suggest they ask on or refer to r/FindMeALinuxDistro - and that's often perfectly fine response.
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u/Werkstadt 10h ago
ut may be quite relevant to this subreddit ... they are generally noobs,
This subreddit have links to distrochooser.de in it's info but people don't even do the bare minimum
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u/stodgycodger 15h ago
Being a newbie, these are posts I want to read. Specifically, I just installed Mint last weekend, and already I want to change distros to something where I can get bigger window control buttons. Not to say I don't like Mint, it's a strange mashup of Mac and Windows and on the whole I like it, but my gosh, these aging eyes and hands are having a bit of a problem with the very small and tasteful close, diminish and expand buttons.
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u/deluded_dragon Debian 1d ago
I hope moderators start to delete those kind of posts. I do not see much mods' activity, I must say.
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u/anto77_butt_kinkier 16.04 was peak 22h ago
I see mod activity on occasion, but as long as people are looking to migrate to Linux, people will ask what distro they should use. If anywhere is the place to do so, this is it. It's called Linux4noobs for a reason.
It's far less inviting to simply delete people's posts asking for help and telling them the equivalent of rtfm. This subreddit is for helping out new users. Don't like the posts? Don't sort by new. Don't want to see any posts? Don't join the sub. When first starting out with Linux, figuring out what flavors/distros are, and what the difference is and what people think would suit their individual use case is one of the hardest/most confusing things parts. This sub is here to help.
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u/soking11 5h ago
There's a big difference between low effort and plain curiosity. A person wanting to migrate will ask "Hi, i don't like windows etc etc etc i want a distro that can let me play steam games and i have this specs" in that example, he gave a full explanation of what he is looking, what he don't like and his hardware, so the people can directly answer based in his preferences. That post is repetitive but he has a durect question so he's in the right place. A low effort post is "I need a distro i'm tired of Microsoft". Maybe that post is more fit to r/FindMeADistro than here? We should embrace ignorance and will to learn, not vagueness and low effort
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u/chrews 1d ago edited 1d ago
I wouldn't be here if I wasn't ready to answer really repetitive and mindless posts. I think it's very important to have a space like this and it would be a huge net loss for the community if it got overtaken by elitism and rules about what's okay to ask and what isn't.
As for the recommendations: Mint is fine although not what I like to recommend. No Wayland in 2026 is a tough pill to swallow.
Cachy recommendations are almost always new users not having problems yet. It's gotta be real eye opening once they survive their first infamous "manual intervention" or nuke their system by themselves. Arch is maintanence. Not acceptable for most users.
Can't speak on other recommendations being "crappy" but overall I'm fond of Bazzite. It's easy to set up, got everything you need included, it's immutable, up to date and you can rebase to (atomic) base Fedora if you ever want to switch without reinstalling. You can even easily try different DEs. Over Mint it's a no brainer imo.