What Distro Do You Recommend?

Software & Operating Systems Linux
1

I have tried Ubuntu ( so far the most stable ) i have tried Ubuntu Gnome ( fairly unstable ) and i am now going to work on Fedora either tonight or tomorrow.

Now keep in mind i am HIGHLY inexperienced with Linux and i have a vast amount of knowledge to gain. For those who ask why i think Ubuntu Gnome is unstable is either because of my inexperience or the fact that every distro does not like my mouse, Ubuntu Gnome does not like to download anything through Software Center.

With all that aside, What do you suggest?

2

Well, I'd say stick with Ubuntu or if don't like the stock version, go with something like Xubuntu or Lubuntu.

If Ubuntu really isn't for you then I'd say go with Linux Mint.

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3

If your not as experienced with linux, I would recommend Mint. But for anyone else I recommend Korora (Fedora based). If you don't like Korora, I would then recommend Manjaro.

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5

You should try out Linux Lite, it's based on Ubuntu and it uses the XFCE desktop environment. It's newbie friendly and it's lite and quick.

Here's a video preview of it:

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6

Jump into opensuse if you want to change distro to something fresh and new.. They have a unique approach to configuring linux and managing settings.. Yast is amazing.. I have videos on suse studio where you can create your own distros.. which is cool.. have fun

7

I'm the kind of person who runs before he walks, I like to jump into the deep end but once in a while depending on what it is, stay near the side of the pool, Honestly since i am having issues i would rather figure out how to fix something such as the App Center not functioning properly, But there are multiple ways of installing a program, BUT i do want to taste different flavors of Linux so maybe trying all these out is not such a bad idea, That way i can get a feel for the different distro's on the platter.

EDIT: I also want to most customization type of linux but widely supported and does not break easily xD i LOVe customizing my OS so that would be a huge plus if a distro like that is available.

8

Well most actively supported distros are supported well.. and any linux distro can be customized to DA MAX... but hey give opensuse a try since you are asking for all that... have fun

9

I've been using Ubuntu 14.04 for a month now. On first install, I didn't care too much for Unity so I wiped it and installed the Ubuntu 14.04 GNOME flavor. I customized the shit out of GNOME but got to where I didn't really like it either.

I JUST installed Mint Cinnamon this morning on a separate SSD and immediately I can tell you I like it better. It's easier to navigate, has most everything I want/need to customize the DE already built in, and seems to be just as stable/fast as my Ubuntu installs.

From one Linux noobsicle to another, I'd give Mint a try.

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10

Linux Mint is the most stable distro out there, and it also comes with Cinnamon, my second favourite desktop environment ;)

11

Since you are very new to Linux, I would recommend that you stick with Mint or one of the Ubuntus. What mouse are you using?

12

ArchLinux is pretty optimized and bleeding edge instead of fixed releases.
If you can get around the Beginner's guide, it's satisfactory. Sadly I can't recall how you'd get a similar experience with easy installing now that ArchBang is dead.

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Arch is not for beginners, please ignore this guy.

14

I just read the guide myself and did a jump from using Ubuntu/Xubuntu.

15

it depends on how much time you're willing to invest on initial install and how much knowledge you have of the applications you use.

For example, I used ubuntu for a long time, since it was what worked the easiest for me. But if you're comfortable with the base system of linux I can't stress enough how great a learning experience a more minimal distro install can be, for example the debian minimal install, or what I use and prefer, Arch linux.. The arch linux install really isnt hard if you follow the wiki and you're left with a very minimal system on which you build upon.

Doing the process this way gets you, or atleast it gave me, a greater idea of all the individual applications needed for you system to be in a shape you enjoy using.

Currently on my desktop I have 840 packages installed, and 730 on my notebook by doing this method, basically the only things installed are what i need (and their depenencies)

You can also install either manjaro or antergos. They are both arch based but have a graphical installer, of those two, i suggest antergos more because its closer to original arch and that leaves less issues with bugs and broken packages.

I suggest manjaro on a laptop because their hardware manager for drivers is absolutely great, both of these routes leave a less minimal system though.

Again I need to stress that the install for arch is not hard, you follow the instructions to the letter and you will have a working pc in an hour.

EDIT: oh i forgot to mention the best part and the real reason that i consider arch based distros the best for people of all experience ranges. the AUR, arch user repository, a repository of packages maintained by the community that has nearly everything you will ever want to install. It is simply amazing, and since it is actively maintained can be many times easier than compiling programs manually.

There were programs i simply couldnt work out dependencies for on ubuntu after many hours, that i simply installed with 1 line on Arch (of course i couldve read the pkgbuild for the aur install and got them but i wasnt familliar with the AUR or its workings at that time.)

The aur is one of the best features of any distro out there.

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16

This is hardly even a contest when it comes to new Linux users -- USE UBUNTU! And yes, I am aware of Canonical's tendency to be a bit "snoopy" with things like Amazon being included in the Unity search tool which you can easily turn off. But if you're concerned about privacy you better get a handle on nearly everything "Google" and those other messes we all know as Microsoft Windows and Apple OSX! So let's not go there and say Ubuntu is naughty or something. Ubuntu is still a very good choice -- even for most Linux experts.

Yes, Mint is probably a better choice -- if your hardware is supported. And yes, there are other "newbie" distros like Fedora, Open SuSE, etc. where you can almost certainly get weirdo hardware to work. But if you're new to Linux that may be something you can't do right now. The other huge issue would be support and the mere ability to USE your new OS. And since Ubuntu is probably the best supported Linux distro out there right now THAT'S why I say stick with Ubuntu and all it's uglyness which really isn't all that ugly. The only thing you might want to do is turn off the a fore mentioned online searching from within Unity which is a very quick and simple thing to do that doesn't involve the CLI.

Now, if you just like pain and want to experiment with the real deal "Linux," may I suggest Slackware? Did I say this would be painful?! Please let me be clear. Slackware is probably the oldest still maintained "Linux" out there and it can do some amazing things but there's a huge learning curve (assuming you actually stick with "Slackware" and not one of it's derivatives). I only mention Slackware to give you an idea of the extreme of how complicated and frustrating "Linux" can be. So if you're new to Linux, don't make things harder than necessary (unless you just like that kind of thing). Use Ubuntu until you get a feel for it.

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17

Very interesting replies from everyone since last night, Looks like i have quite a few great distro's to play with and learn about, I may contact a couple of you about the specific Distro's and questions and what not so i hope you all do not mind :D

18

Well, I would say the other way - Ubuntu might be a better choice if your hardware is supported.
I had a Huawei 3G modem when I was in another country, I tried many distros, and it didn't work in any, except for Linux Mint - it worked perfectly ootb.

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One of the problems I have with recommending Mint is all their confusing offerings. It's a great OS! But for a new user, simply choosing between Cinnamon or even MATE could be enough to make them go running back to Windows. I won't even go into the horrible mess of upgrading which Mint seems to require more frequently (the thing to think of here might be "LTS" which Ubuntu wins hands down).

Another might be hardware support. It's great to hear that Mint's hardware support works for you -- and that would be a huge reason to use it. It's also probably one of the top reasons most people distro hop too. But with all the different hardware I've dealt with I've found Ubuntu to work a lot more often, especially when it comes to things like ACPI power settings.

On top of that, there's the issue of relatively young DE's like Cinnamon which simply hasn't had time to be fully cooked to include all the support that something like a GNOME or even a KDE system might have. Don't get me wrong! Cinnamon or even MATE has a lot going for them and they already look very promising. In fact, Cinnamon appears to be pound for pound compatible while even adding slightly better performance (slight). But when I look at GNOME which is what Unity is based on, or even KDE I see a lot more support, history, and experience, to say nothing of the shear numbers of people who still work on them.

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https://forum.teksyndicate.com/t/we-cant-tell-you-what-distro-distro-hopping/72607

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21

We dont even all use the same kernel, different distros use different releases and can have different patches.
but I guess thats irrelevant to this guy since kernel version shouldnt be a conern to him... unless he had some real legacy hardware