I might re-look at Solus and Antergos again wenn i have some time.
Its be a while since i looked at them.
So the Solus software repo´s might have grown allot latelly,
last time i checked them out is about a year ago or so.
Antergos is also a while ago i checked them out.
Had allot of issues with the cinci installer that didnt really work well.
But once finally installed it was sorta kinda okayish.
But the experience i had with it sofar doesnt make it a distro for new commers.
But i might change my mind on that wenn i re-look at it.
I’d start with Ubuntu because most commercial software with Linux support has ubuntu support.
Until you learn enough to know why Ubuntu pisses you off or doesn’t do something you want/need, then make your own choice based on your requirements.
But yeah, Ubuntu is the stereotypical noob distribution because it’s the path of least resistance. This isn’t necessarily bad. I’m running ubuntu at work for example (despite starting with Linux in 1995) because I have shit to do and it generally doesn’t randomly break, and software installs are normally a piece of cake.
Just because ubuntu is noob friendly, it doesn’t make it an inherently bad choice.
Rolling release/bleeding edge distributions cut both ways. You get the new features before everyone else. But you also get the new bugs/breakage before everyone else as well.
We’re not in the 1990s any more where major, major progress was made with new versions of KDE/Gnome/Kernel/etc.
The base system at this point is fairly stable/usable. The only reason I’d suggest to go bleeding edge these days is for bleeding edge hardware or if you’re doing something cutting edge like GPU passthrough/looking glass/etc. Until then… keep it simple.
Thank you so much, everyone! I’m glad to see so many people willing to help a noobie, lots of communities would do quite the contrary.
I have been using Kubuntu and been having a fantastic time, resoundingly glad I switched. I have had a few problems with KDE and 3 monitors (apparently there are some errors with the OSS drivers), but the little bit of tweaking I’ve been doing edges me closer to becoming where I want to be.
The code is out of date, security is lacking, the owners don’t care to update the repositories, GPU drivers used to fail (nvidia) but I hear that its better recently so they have at least one plus.
Just don’t use bloody mint. Use ANYTHING else.
TempleOS is better than mint, ok. Thats the levels of hatred I have for mint.
I have installed Mint twice and I kind of agree here, I always had some weird issues that went away when I installed Ubuntu later on. Though currently I’m back on Windows because… stuff happened.
This is the most important thing — as far as I’m concerned. New (to Linux) users should pick a distro that has the highest chance of “just working” so that their first experience isn’t a shocking one. The learning curve flattens out dramatically if you use this approach. There’s plenty of time to become more discriminatory later on.
A new to linux user has enough to learn when things are working “as designed”, never mind troubleshooting why random application won’t work (e.g., steam game) because it was compiled for Ubuntu LTS (for example) and your distro doesn’t include some library or correct version of said library.
Those are the sort of headaches that you want to put off until you learn the ropes a little bit and figure out for yourself what ubuntu doesn’t do for you, or does a bad job of.
Ubuntu definitely isn’t perfect and it isn’t for everyone. But until you learn for yourself what you don’t like about it, it’s a relatively easy thing to get started with and virtually ALL significant linux software (including GOG games, steam games, VMWare Workstation, etc., etc.) is available or even specifically made for Ubuntu unless it is distributed only as source.
Even if you’re not a noob, if you want the thing to just work because you’re using the platform to do your job, Ubuntu is a good choice there too.
I’m not exclusively Ubuntu for example. I run Ubuntu at work for the above reasons and Fedora or whatever else at home where if it breaks I’m not screwing around fixing it instead of doing my day job.
I was recommending Antergos too for long. Once it’s up and running it’s awesome. But lately, Cnchi has had some major Problems. The Installer often Fails for various Reasons (Lately, unavailable links, Wrong Gpg Signatures, Non updated KDE Packages braking dependencys and failure of the Repo Sorting Script thing they do).
Out of my 4 last attempts to install Antergos, two failed completely, one worked and one needed manual Repo Lists and some package replacements. I’m not sure why this is (as it has worked perfect for me in the past), but the Antergos Forums suggest it isn’t just me.
Since you seem to be a Solus Fan (and it’s one on the list of Distros i still want to try), how are their repos in terms of Linux related Gaming? I’ve last looked at them several months ago and missed some stuff. Are the wine esync builds available? I saw PlayonLinux and Lutris are. Whats the Nvidia Driver Situation like?
How does Solus handle things that aren’t in the Repos? Can they be complied from source and git like any other Distro?
My only gripe with it was that it doesn’t come with enough packages with what I needed to do (largely due to some legacy/stuff I wish I didn’t have to deal with). So I went back to Ubuntu Mate.
It also has snaps and flatpak so the only real thing it doesn’t do well with are situations where you have legacy software with no source available.
But if your use case is general desktop/office/gaming then it checks all the boxes.
Package choice is manicured which is both a good thing and a bad thing, unless you want to compile a missing package yourself your are not getting it. For example palemoon is not there and they won’t add it. So the distro straddles ease of use for new users but leaves out the middle ground users (most semi-technical people on here) and lets advanced users go off and try compile themselves…
That’s also a good thing and a bad thing, like above. Watch new users ask for a package they didn’t want in for [insert whatever reasons] a few times over and you will see the Dev’s reaction, i heard a few people walking away not for the lack of software but the “perceived” NFG attitude. Solus is a very manicured experience, again that is their personal choice and might suit the ‘just need to get stuff done’ kind of user.
It’s update system is good but just an FYI at the moment there is a bug that when you install solus and update from the GUI the system breaks. That will be getting fixed in the next release. There are also some budgie bugs, power management things screen saver things but that’s nothing new on Linux. I also found some applications slow to load for the first time. All these things will get resolved im sure.
It’s pretty fast though.Don’t think i have encountered a modern DE as fast as budgie anywhere else.
I’ve never installed updates via gui. Always opened up a new terminal session with ctrl alt f1 and then performed the upgrade. But I could see how this would confuse new users.
Sure, but the vast majority of Distros these days and indeed the general GNU/Linux ‘mantra’ is that it is on par with Windows now, it’s just as easy to use and install. It’s not really the year of the Linux desktop if you have to sudo-alt-f2-compile-chown etc…
(I know people who won’t choose an AMD card on Linux because there isn’t a GUI control centre.)
This is a thing that more tech savvy linux users say. Some people will always be effectively new users, they just want to do things the easiest and most visual way possible. Newer gen PC users fit into that category imo.
I can appreciate that they’re more tactful and classier about it than the Arch community (in my experience). I can see how it comes across kind of douchebaggy.
I’ve tried, on my beefy rig it does not run very well at all. I’ve not put much effort into tweaking it, which is why I’m willing to give it more of an effort.
Been that way since 1994 lol
I appreciate your insight on the matter, and I think it will help others. Outside of OS X, I will only use Ubuntu as a “production” system in the workplace. But that’s an argument for another day. Most of my home stuff is Fedora or Debian (when I don’t rage quit).
i was being a little bit tactful about Solus also
It’s not a bad distro at all, very good. I don’t tend to evangelize things like this and get tribal, if there is hype i need to run it myself to see if it lives upto it, rarely it does.
