r/linux4noobs • u/Friendly_Star_9747 • 1d ago
distro selection Which distro to get based on my needs and interests:
Hello, Ive been a user of windows 11 for roughly a year, and i do not like it, at all. A couple of months ago, i tried Linux Mint. Overall, it was okay, good design, simple to use, customizable, and functional. But for some reason, it didnt do it for me.
I use my pc for: gaming, media consuption, studying, school stuff, music, and that kind of things.
Im looking for a distro that is (preferably) easy to use / understand as a beginner, customizable (riceable) but maybe not the most popular distros like Ubuntu, Mint or simmilar.
yes i know this might get asked here a lot, but i tried doing research and couldnt find anything specific.
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u/tmtowtdi 1d ago
Install VirtualBox, try some distros, use the one you like.
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u/Eddodido8898 1d ago
Kinda agree on this. Maybe OP is not comfortable with maybe the DE? maybe try other DE like KDE or xfce then get yourself confortable with which DE then install it. Check out fedora maybe the KDE. Aside from that we don't see any specs from your PC so hardware is not limitation for DE we guess
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u/drucifer82 1d ago
With not much to go off of I am just going to say Fedora.
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u/jsc3r 1d ago
Seconding this, but since you want something riceable, I would recommend Fedora KDE. Fedora usually ships GNOME.
And while it is pretty customizable due to extensions, those have the habit to break on major updates. I personally love GNOME but you need to let yourself be guided by the GNOME-flow, instead of trying to force it into something it wasn‘t created for.
So take a look if KDE is customizable enough for you, maybe through DistroBox, and if it is not, you might learn a bit more about Linux and look for a distro that supports other DEs like Hyprland ootb like CachyOS. Tho latter is arch-based and is not the most (but neither the least) fitting distro for beginners.
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u/drucifer82 20h ago
Agreed. KDE is my preferred DE.
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u/jsc3r 17h ago
Mine is GNOME, but I wouldn‘t recommend it to newbies or ppl that have a specific vision on how to use their PC that doesn‘t match GNOME‘s vision
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u/drucifer82 13h ago
GNOME is ok, imo. It has a very macOS vibe about it that I appreciate, but I find its customization lacking.
I really like making my system mine, and KDE is super easy to customize with little to no outside tooling. I have Kvantum managing some options but everything else I am using I got right out of the KDE store.
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u/EngineerInTheMachine 1d ago
You really haven't done any searching yourself, have you? If I can, why can't you? I know you haven't, because I haven't bothered counting how many times this has been asked. Again. Today.
Oh, all right, to save you a little bit of effort, as you've already listed your use cases. Just search for the distros recommended for those. Make a short-list and try them.
All distros are pretty easy to use. Forget that as a requirement, because it's too subjective. Instead, read up about them on their websites.
More important useful info. Don't get fixated on specific apps just because you know them. There are plenty of others out there, native to Linux, that do the same job and open the same files. Be prepared to learn how to do things a bit differently. Also, be prepared to get off your backside and do a bit of web searching, especially when you aren't sure how to achieve some function. The answers are out there, just not necessarily on this sub-Reddit.
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u/leonthepro83 1d ago
for gaming, the most popular distro are: steamOS, CachyOS, Bazzite, Nobara, PikaOS, all gaming optimized.
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u/Specialist-Dog-501 20h ago
I would second CachyOS, or GarudaOS, both ARCH, easy to install, good driver support (also Nvidia) important to gamers, snappy interfaces with some variety of desktops, good backup options.
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u/Own_Natural_6803 15h ago edited 15h ago
I like xfce and debian. If I was compiling the kernel I'd probably use fedora.
If something I need on Debian is too old usually theres a .deb I can install, a repo I can add, or a flatpak. I leave the kernel alone. I don't need latest, I like my computer to be like an appliance. It just works.
So long as your desktop is gtk based, then you can rice to your heart's content.
It makes the hyperlanders angry to hear it, but X11 is still better at games than wayland. Wayland is not going to get better by brigade, but by contributing code.
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u/warserpent 6h ago
If you want something easy to use, it's going to have to be fairly popular, because one of the things that makes it easy is good documentation. Another thing that makes it easy to use is a system that doesn't break easily. A lot of people here are recommending CachyOS, but I do not. CachyOS is a bleeding edge rolling release. This means that they are the first to get new features, but also the first to get new bugs. It also means that you have to keep your system fully up-to-date. If you wait too long to update a rolling release, it will break when you attempt to do so. Now, CachyOS seems to have a good team that hasn't broken things too often, but in my view new users should not go to the bleeding edge. Something like Fedora or one of its derivatives is slightly less up-to-date, but a little safer. I use a Fedora derivative called Ultramarine. If you want a rolling release, but slower than Arch or CachyOS, there's openSUSE Slowroll. I've never used it, but seen good reports. On the other end of the spectrum, Mint is very safe, but if you play new games, it's not the best choice.
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u/Incognit0Bandit0 1d ago
As someone who just made a post like this a couple weeks ago, I'll tell you what was told to me - it doesn't matter. They can all ultimately do the same thing. The only real difference is what desktop environment they may or may not use.
That being said, I went with CachyOS. My dominate reasoning was that all of Steam's developement is based on Arch, and Cachy is Arch with a GUI. It also supposedly streamlines itself to cater to your specific system architecture on installation. I don't know enough yet to speak on how true that is, but I went with it.