I installed Linux Mint for the first time on my personal Laptop just a few months ago, and it ran so well that I didn’t want to mess with it to try out different distros.
But today, my company’s IT department announced that they have some spare old Laptops to give away (technically because they didn’t meet the specs for Windows 11, didn’t stop the IT department from giving them out with Windows 11 pre installed though)
So now I got a few devices to play around with!! They’re a Precision 7530 and a Latitude 7390 2-in-1!
I already got ZorinOS running on the little guy because apparently Zorin is nice for Touchscreen support. For the big guy I was initially thinking that I could try Bazzite, but the installer was like “Intel UHD Graphics aren’t really recommended” so I might try something else first. Any recommendations? I mainly just want to try as many different flavors of Linux as I can haha
Try out Debian. Stable, base of many other distros, loads of documentation, huge helpful community, just runs and barely ever breaks (I can’t even remember the last time I had issues).
debian’s netinstaller is great
For desktop I run debian sid (unstable), despite the name it very rarely breaks. And once in a blue moon when it does it gets fixed in a few hours/a day. Usually it is just some package that doesn’t play nicely with something else, so not like it is unusable during that time.
The unstable part is that they do not guarantee that it will work, it is still more stable than most other distros and you get new packages.
It’s called unstable because packages are constantly upgraded, unlike Debian Stable, which stays the same until the next release and only gets patches. It is NOT called unstable “because they do not guarantee that it will work”, for that you’d need paid enterprise support from some company.
Why doesn’t anybody ever recommend Debian testing? It has stricter quality criteria than unstable while being almost as up-to-date.
I agree that Debian Stable is not a great fit for desktop as the packages get very old between releases.
Testing does not have dedicated security work and issues could be unsolved for a couple more days. You can use testing, of course, but read Debian security advisories. Upgrade packages from Unstable if there’s something critical and do not wait days for a fix.
Testing doesn’t get security updates as quickly as unstable, or even stable sometimes.
Delayed security updates and bugfixes, ig it would be fine to use a couple months before the next Debian version releases when the desire for newer packages is the greatest and auto switch to stable when it releases
Maybe not exactly what you are asking for but try out yunohost. Since you have some spares, one can be self-hosting stuff
That’s a neat pointer! I have been meaning to look into self-hosting anyway since my AWS free tier is running out pretty soon and I need a new place to cheaply plant down my in-development website project haha
That seems to be something a cheap Raspberry Pi 4 can easily handle. I even use mine as an SMB share. Sure, the speed is limited by the network port and USB port sharing data lanes, but it’s fast enough for my needs. Needs tiny amounts of eletricitiy, so I don’t burn the planet that quickly.
Snagged a thinkpad today for just over 100$. Guy mentioned it was because of windows 11. Its hippie christmas for linux!
Void linux xfce. Just uses so little ram I love it.
Very reasonable in this economy!
OpenSUSE is very less recommended but I would suggest it
https://media.ccc.de/v/5012-the-first-encrypted-steam-deck-runs-opensuse#t=0
Also check out their AEON it is still in RC but worth looking out for. Meanwhile Fedora immutable can be used with Intel.
If you are tach savvy want to tinker look for NetBSD or Ironclad OS
Suse has such a corporate feel to her.
Well, Microsoft do the most of all for Linux.
You can, if you have far to much time in your hands, install arch, gentoo, vor any other distro with a non graphical installer. I believe its a great experience, especially because you learn a bit more about the internels, and a few cool bash commands.
Did you try CachyOS ? https://cachyos.org/ I’m impressed by how snappy it is on older computers.
Not yet, but I have seen that it is very popular on Distrowatch! :D It’s definitely in my backlog
You should try Fedora. It’s the one used by Linus.
I always wonder why mint is the one people try. It seems so out of date.
Fedora these days works really well and is really up to date.
A lot of beginners (like me) use mint because it is very simple out of the box and user friendly. It just works (unless, like me, you try using commands from arch on mint, and you break it)
Except when it doesn’t. And really people are missing out, because there is so much more out there. I was playing with it today and I wonder how many people think that is what linux is? Fedora Gnome or KDE is even simpler and also just works.
But choice is good. I am just always surprised how often it is the default linux for new people. When it would be pretty low on my choice of distros. I set it up as a spare computer for guests a few years ago and it turned out to be more of a chore than I wanted to deal with.
…yeah it does break sometimes. Right now my grandma has it on her spare computer, which is a potato, and she said she didn’t know it was linux on there, even though I told her when I installed it. It’s mostly used as a bootloader for the browser, and it’s dual booting whichever windows and mint
It doesn’t always work, I agree, but for some people it does what they need.
If it’s broke, I will absolutely try to fix it anyways, but not on anyone elses stuff.
I have mint as a safe distro, so if I mess up my stuff trying to use a distro I’m not ready for, I can take 3 minutes(ish) fixing it and hoping I didn’t wipe the bios or anything else important off my computer when I tried installing arch with no clue how.
Is there something wrong with mint?
Personally the ui looks a bit outdated and there’s less customization than most other distros
a bit is an understatement. reminds me of windows 7 era ux design. iirc their wayland support isn’t that great either.
not that it doesn’t work, but there are alternatives that much better represents what linux can be right now.
The installer if pretty nice as is the post install I will give it that. Maybe that is the most important part.
I guess I just am surprised by how many people choose it as their “windows replacement” when it is very non windows like.
Also: it is ubuntu tainted, that is never good. Then cinnamin, mate, or lxde which are kind of a pain in the ass unless you are willing to put up with it because you like it.
Lack of any real searching in the ui, a terrible file manager, an older kernel, and so on.
I migrated my mother to GNOME (on Debian), that’s very much unlike Windows, but she immediately got it. The overview of open programs is similar to what she knows on Android, for example. She is someone that struggles with email attachments from time to time, but GNOME works well for her.
It does not have to look like Windows to work for people. People use phones a lot more these days and those do not run Windows (hopefully, at least, cause that’s dead).
If they have never used windows, most things will work. It is people coming from windows and doing more than email. Gnome is fine… If you don’t do anything with it. If you do you are adding extensions.
Oh, you can do serious work with GNOME, most people try to force it into something that it is not.
This video gives a good overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbDLfRjam0E
I know many people that prefer GNOME for their work in IT. I prefer Sway, but use GNOME on phones and tablets, where it works great for me.
Yes I know gnome. Linux has been my primary OS since around 2001. It is funny because even in the video you shared, he suggests adding Gnome tweaks, which was kinda my point.
Personally, Gnomes constant movement drives me nuts, and the focus on one thing at a time is really a pain in the ass. But I do happen to have a laptop with it on it, and given the smaller screen real estate and the type of tasks I do with it, it works ok. Like you mentioned.
But for a windows user coming to linux It is all the little things, particularly the file manager and context menus. Why do I need to open an application when I should be able to right click extract to zip folder name, delete zip in one move?
Clipboard: Gnome has no clipboard. Unless you add an extension. This one drives me a little crazy because the clipboard I use is shared with my phone and tablet and has functions and actions.
And if you are fancy (like using Windows attempt at tiling) Gnome doesn’t do that either.
I get people use gnome, but I find it tries to hard to be not enough. Why isnt the terminal in the file manager window when I want to work that way for example.
GNOME has a clipboard by default–actually it has two: Ctrl-C/X and middle click send to both clipboards.
As for terminal in the file manager, by default you can right click on empty space in the file manager and “open in console”.
A matter of preference.
1 reason it’s wrong to me: https://nosystemd.org/
1 reason it’s wrong to me: https://nosystemd.org/
Under “Notable bugs and security issues” there is a big list of issues which were all (afaict) fixed many years ago.
There have been reasonable philosophical objections to systemd, some of which are still relevant, and as that site shows there are still many distros without it, but for the vast majority of desktop users who want something that JustWorks… using a mainstream distro with systemd is the way to go.
This blog post from pmOS covers some of the pain of trying to use KDE or GNOME without it.
I suspected nosystemd.org had not been kept up to date with the issues… indicated by it proposing some distros that kinda dont exist any more.
Still worth consideration.
Some may realise they do not like that philosophy, and prefer a philosophy that empowers them more deeply with simpler software they could comprehend more easily in its entirety, than mere convenience of going with the popular thick opaque plastic wrap over complexity. Some may prefer a more unix-philosophy of “do one thing, well”, than a gestalt of a pretense of that in a complicated monolith doing all things (arguably if not poorly, precariously, with a single point of failure/usurpation).
It’s interesting there’s still resistance against systemd in 2025. It’s running just fantastically in many distros. I don’t get the hate against it.
have you actually tried it? trying mint after using arch for a year (btw), it’s actually really well made and the consistency is crazy good. The UI looks and feels better in person than in screenshots
Yes. And they improved the updater it used to be much more confusing.
Its too out of date and doesn’t have KDE so it really isn’t for me.
Mint is very boring and middle of the road, exactly as a default recommendation should be. They are also very protective of the user experience. They are unlikely to embarrass me.
Mint has a familiar UX if you are new to Linux. It is not nearly as foreign or locked down as GNOME. It is not as configurable and complex as KDE. There are good GUI tools for most common tasks.
Mint does not change too rapidly or have too many updates but the desktop and tools are kept up-to-date.
They are being very conservative with the Wayland transition. But nobody on Mint is moaning that Wayland is not ready. They are very protective about the user experience.
And there is really no desktop use case that Mint is not suitable for.
I do not use Mint but it is a very solid recommendation for “normal” users.
I think Pop!OS is back to being that too and COSMIC is Wayland only (so no future transition to manage).
Mint has a familiar UX if you are new to Linux.
See this one is confusing to me. It is very different.
You are greeted after install to configure mirrors. What is a mirror? The dialog offers no help, there is no apply, or maybe this one. so you click “restore to the default”. What does that do? And then down the side what is a PPA? Should I have a PPA (answer is NO, you should not). Additional Repositories, auth keys, maintenance…Fix merge lists…
Where is the clipboard? Oh there isnt one. And typing clipboard doesnt offer one. Typing clipboard into software sources offers too many (25 of them!).
Mint is alright I don’t want to come across as bashing them. I just am surprised it is so highly recommended that is all.
I always broke it before long, but that is the Ubuntu curse: super fragile and always breaking.
If you wanna have fun, i woild recommend bedrock linux, haven’t tried it, but it sounds cool and interesting. Also nixos might be fun to try in my opinion.
Nix might be a bit overwhelming when his first installation of linux was only a few months ago, I guess :D
It might be overwhelming but still fun to explore new things, right?
Ooh, Nix looks interesting, I’d be down for the challenge!
I use NixOS myself and I love it, i’ll never use another distro again. plus with distrobox I don’t even need to use another distro, I already have all the major ones on my NixOS System.
If you do decide to go the Nix route keep in mind there’s really no right nor wrong way to have your system set up. it’s all personal preference. Some people will say flakes are the way to go, some people will say the opposite. Some people like having their system in modules, some don’t. Some like using the home-manager, some don’t. It’s all up to you. All I will suggest though is if you do try Nix set up a Git repo somewhere like on codeberg for it. Just makes things easier.
Nix is such a cool project. If I had more time I’d definitely give it a go.
NixOS (and GuixSD) is a whole operating system. But base guix and Nix is a package manager that you can install into any existing distro and use for as many or as few packages as you want.
So you can give it a shot in roughly no time, is what I’m saying.
The main difference between the full system ones and the package manager ones is obviously that it manages system level packages and the kernel, but also that they have configuration systems setup to run daemons and manage system config. But other than that it’s just the same paradigm as the package manager version.
There’s GuixSD too.
Basically the same as NixOS, but purely Free Software only, and, instead of being configured by a bespoke configuration language unique to it, GuixSD is configured in Guile, so you’d be learning a transferable skill at least. I hear NixOS’s package repository’s unbeaten though.
Listen, I use guix so I’m not against you, but claiming that Guile, or even any scheme / lisp, is a transferable skill is a stretch 😛
As a software developer for 20 years, configuring guix is the only time I’ve encountered guile. And the only time I’ve used any kind of lisp is when I forced myself to during a coding challenge or advent of code thing, just for interest’s sake.
So again, I know what you’re saying, but for me, deep in the industry, guile might as well be a bespoke language for configuring guix 😅
But, that you did not transfer those skills to any of the things, or write your own from scratch, nor make use of that superpower seems to be just on you, and while that may be true for you, that it might as well be just a bespoke language only for configuring guix, the skills still remain transferable, if not yet transferred. ;)
(And, I do get what you’re saying… I have similar for haskell, the effectively bespoke configuration language just for xmonad (~ plus a chatbot)).
😛
I mean, pushing pennies up my nose is a transferable skill in that I could push pennies up anyone else’s nose, and I could even make a whole TV career out of a show where I push pennies up people’s noses on the street.
So I’ll instead amend my statement to say that guile isn’t a common or often sought after skill. 😉
Yeah! I was just coming here to recommend GuixSD or NixOS! Not because they’re normal, but because they’re not, and you have an opportunity to screw around 😅
Fedora and Debian are different but also pretty similar. Arch or Gentoo are more different. The atomics like bazzite and silverblue are even more different. And then there’s NixOS and GuixSD that are basically a completely different paradigm of how to setup a system. And that might be frustrating if it doesn’t work for you, but as a test computer go wild! Heck, try NixOS and GuixSD to experience their differences from each other!
The only other thing I might recommend for a challenge is something like Linux From Scratch where you don’t have any distro and you just build everything yourself. Definitely not recommended for normal people! It’s a project rather than something you can just try out for a weekend. And it may be frustrating, who knows. But if you’re into that kind of thing it may be enlightening!
I’ve been Bedrock Linux daily driving since its second alpha release, and, it’s difficult to see its use for a newbie to Linux, since it’s usefulness naturally only seems to become apparent once familiar with at least two different distros. But… perhaps, if one were keen enough to learn, and read carefully… it’s plausible, even if only ever used one distro… even if only still intending to use only one distro (yes, can have multiple strata of the same distro (handy, e.g. for staggered upgrades across major versions, different arrangements and so on).
… Like I said in my review on distrowatch:
I used to be a rabid distroholic. Whether you call it distro surfing, or distro hopping, or distro browsing, I did a lot. Filled spools of cd and dvd before usb booting.
BedrockLinux cured me of my distroholism.
No longer have to choose which one distro to use and contribute to.
But that’s probably some time away yet for the OP.
And end with Vanilla Arch, for me atleast I distro hop every week when I got into Linux for the first time and I thought I’m going to use Fedora, Debian, OpenSUSE, EndeavourOS as my main but ended up using Arch Linux permanently instead. For me it’s the “just work” distro easy to use and troubleshoot
I trialed several distros on my Precision 3550 and settled on Garuda. No regrets!!
Nice! If you like tweaking stuff you should try Arch or Endeavour OS. Another weird but cool choice is Void Linux.
I just got a new laptop for my work (which I also use for personal stuff, it’s a family business).
It came with Windows 11 but I’d got a bigger SSD which I’d installed before I’d even turned it on so Windows never even got a chance to boot.
I installed one of the Fedora atomic distros and it seems to be pretty good, though I’m trying to figure out how to tune battery life. I’ve setup TLP but haven’t noticed any improvement, though, it’s still much better than when I first tried Linux on a laptop.
I’d never used Fedora before, but the first distro I ever used was Ubuntu Dapper Drake and I’ve dipped my toes occasionally since then, but never fully committed until now
