Linux comes in a million flavors but most people should start with Mint. That sounds like a pun, but it’s also true.
Mint is a nice, safe, up-to-date, simple, Windows-like choice that won’t unnecessarily complicate the transition to an entirely different operating system. It has good hardware support and good defaults. Most things will feel very familiar and be very accessible. It is popular enough to find plenty of help on the internet and answers to almost every question you could have. It mostly just works and when it doesn’t it’s usually not a deal-breaker.
It’s not my favourite distro, but you aren’t ready for my favourite distro. Honestly I’m barely ready for my favourite distro. It’s not elitism, it’s just practicality. You’ll learn as you go, and you’ll eventually want to try other distros, but start with Mint, and keep a Mint system around for when you break everything else. Which you will if you start playing with other distros.
I use Mint and I support this message.
it’s just practicality.
I have “enough” years under my belt with Linux and I still prefer Mint on majority of my “daily driver” type machines. I already spend my working hours messing around with all kinds of different systems, figuring out problems, installing new ones and so on and I’m old enough that tweaking system just for the sake of it isn’t really what I’m after anymore. I just want something which doesn’t crap the bed, stays out of the way and lets me run whatever software I happen to need. At least for me Mint checks most of the boxes and the ones it lacks it’s pretty trivial to beat it back into submission.
Absolutely this. I like mint because I no longer like fiddle farting around with my PC. It just works out of the box. An overlooked bonus is when I need to learn how to do something the Mint forums usually have the answer, and its catered to Mint defaults. It’s not the end of the world, but when answers match your file explorer, text editor, system editor etc…it just makes it easier. Compared to finding answers elsewhere that are for Debian and then having to wonder if it’ll work or not based on the family lineage of the OS is just unnecessary for most people.
Specifically Mint Cinnamon. It has a UI that is very similar to what people are used to in the Windows world.
It was my go to for computers that i didn’t need windows on at the time.
Now i have bazzite on my gaming pc and currently experimenting with arch hyprland on my surface go 2 that could no longer get windows updates.
I just bought a gaming tower. Should I go Mint, Pop OS, or something else? I’ve used linux a lot at work, but never really had to set a lot of the basic stuff (drivers, etc) up by myself.
Mint would still be my initial choice, unless you’re really intending to dive right into playing the latest AAA games in which case Bazzite might be a better starting point.
But it’s really easy to install both. You might even prefer to have both. You can install Mint on a disk partition with only 50-100GB or less. Most Linux installations will work fine with about the same. It’s only once you start installing games that it’s going to consume tons of disk space.
Was a while since i used mint so might have improved since then, but my recommendation is peppermint , runs on lower specs , just works and comes with the all the basic stuff. Debian based , click to add extra stuff, UEFI supported
Tried to install Mint on my laptop, wouldn’t work. Googled the issue, had to rename a file in the boot directory for some reason.
Tried again, wouldn’t work. Googled issue, had to turn off secure boot in bios.
Tried again, installed, okay now we’re cooking. Connected to WiFi, updated packages and drivers. All good, reboot. Install Steam. Login via QR code, it begins loading user data.
Loading… Loading… Loading… Okay it’s clearly stuck. How do I kill a process on Linux? Google it, okay that’s not too hard. Try launching Steam again, same thing. Google this issue, get a lot of different potential causes, involving delving into some obscure directories.
I consider myself technologically competent, more so than the average person/consumer. I am a lot of people in my social sphere’s “computer guy”. Way more than most people are not going to figure this stuff out for themselves.
I’m really sorry to say but Linux is still not ready for mainstream consumers and users if this is the experience of the most recommended stable distro for the average person.
Linux is still not ready for mainstream consumers
Jorge Castro of Universal Blue likes to say that the average person doesn’t install operating systems, and I fully agree with him.
People rock what comes installed on their computer. Anyone who installs an OS them self is not an average user.
I think we’ll see the average user start to choose Linux as more and more manufacturers ditch the Windows tax and ship computers with Linux.
I had the same issue with the secure boot in bios when I switched a computer to Linux Mint a few weeks ago, but it’s been smooth other than that.
I agree with you, I’m in similar situation and yet people here will screech at you for saying stuff like that. Don’t mind them.
Tried to install Mint on my laptop, wouldn’t work. Googled the issue, had to rename a file in the boot directory for some reason.
UEFI problems, sorry. Would have them with Windows too probably.
Tried again, wouldn’t work. Googled issue, had to turn off secure boot in bios.
Unfortunately Microsoft pushed Secure Boot everywhere, so yes, for most distributions you have to turn it off (some have signed kernels or whatever).
Loading… Loading… Loading… Okay it’s clearly stuck. How do I kill a process on Linux? Google it, okay that’s not too hard. Try launching Steam again, same thing. Google this issue, get a lot of different potential causes, involving delving into some obscure directories.
So removing the
~/.steamdirectory after doingpkill steamdidn’t help? That seems simpler than most Windows tasks. Anyway, I have Steam working even under FreeBSD.Nobody will believe that you don’t have some Windows experience exceeding what you seem to consider the maximum acceptable requirement for Linux. Don’t even try.
This is one of those situations where that xkcd comic about experts comes into play.
So removing the
~/.steamdirectory after doingpkill steamdidn’t help? That seems simpler than most Windows tasks.I don’t know how to convey to you that 99% of the people that use Windows wont know how to do anything beyond trying to kill the app via the task manager. I’m one of them. What you said sounds like mystic gobbledygook to me.
Mass Linux adoption is still far out of reach for the average user.
doesn’t mint/cinnamon have a graphical task manager? and deleting ~/.steam can be dont from the file manager
Wait… wait… So your average Facebook mom who has a laptop lying around that they use to watch their series in the evening, but will have to chuck it due to EOL of win10 and no win11 support, will not be able to adopt mint after she has someone install it for her, because you couldn’t get a hyperspecific app to run on it? (Steam is hyperspecific in the grand scheme of things).
What a hyperbole.
beyond trying to kill the app via the task manager
Which is exactly what I said, just in shell commands because that’s quicker for me. Except
pkill steamkills everything containingsteamin the process name,steamis a little bitch spawning a lot of them. Quicker.What you said sounds like mystic gobbledygook to me.
“Task manager” is not some fundamental term either. Someone who hadn’t use Windows, if there were many of such people, wouldn’t know that it’s a GUI application listing running services and some of the processes.
Mass Linux adoption is still far out of reach for the average user.
If you are going to measure it by what advanced users are used to not being immediately understandable for others, then it is.
Please god not the distrochooser site, when someone asks you where to install Linux you send them anything but that.
Exactly. Too much choice can lead to analysis paralysis. I’ve been telling everyone who brings up Windows 10’s expiration date that now is a good to install Linux Mint as a good beginner place to start.
At our repair cafe we only suggest Linux Mint. Sure if the person knows something about linux and want/needs a other distro we will help. But it helps us with support/writing manuals and for most people Linux Mint is fine.
I’m know my why around linux a bit, but for alot of other volunteers it also there first time touching Linux in anyway.
We don’t want to scare people away with 100+ options. Just simple, windows like and sane defaults.
Yes, Mint is good advice. Beginners will need something mainstream with a solid base and good community support, that works out of the box and doesn’t require manual configuration, and that doesn’t look too different from Windows.
A number of the questions are impossible for “regular users” to answer. 32 bit or 64 bit system? Isolated spaces?
Just recommend Ubuntu or Mint. That’s it. We can figure out other distros later if necessary.
My dad had problems with Ubuntu since the snaps didn’t communicate well. For example opening links in Thunderbird using Firefox.
I would recommend mint just to avoid the snaps.
I’d never heard of it so I tried it out, it seemed fine until the end where it listed about ten different distros with no real way to differentiate them.
Like, yeah, mint and Ubuntu and elementary and zorin and xubuntu all work for my use cases. I wanted it to give me a reason why one is better than another.
So, yeah, can’t recommend that website. It’s trying to help, but it won’t, really.
The important thing to remember is that Canonical keeps making poor decisions, so Ubuntu and it’s derivatives are no longer recommended nor used by me.
I like Linux Mint, and since they have a Debian-based distro, I went with that.
Yeah that too.
I’m happy with mint I just wanted to see what it said.
I finally switched to Linux for my daily driver and gaming PC. It was easy.
So honestly, which percentage of your game collection runs on Linux? Because I’ve looked into doing this just a few months ago, and unless the industry had some kind of mass exodus, less than 10% of my games run on Linux, and that’s a generous estimate.
Not defending Windows or anything, this is just my experience.
At this point it’s pretty much only the competitive games with kernel level anti-cheat that don’t work on Linux because of their kernel level anti-cheat.
But then again, if 90% of the games you play are competitive games that require kernel level anti-cheat, you should probably consider expanding your gaming experience lol
idk where you looked, protondb.com is a good database for this stuff, from your later reply insurgency sandstorm and hund showdown are both “gold” rated, they should be okay
but the thing is … you could just try for yourself, for freeI had just looked at the publisher’s system requirements on Steam, since my experience with Wine from over a decade ago was a dead end. I’ve learned a lot from this thread, though, and it seems things have improved dramatically.
it seems things have improved dramatically.
Like maxo said, things are definitely waaaaaaaay better than 10 years ago.
I’d say roughly 80% of my windows only games run as good as on windows, and probably 25-30% of my full library (not just what runs in proton) runs better in Linux with proton/wine than they do in win11.
Mostly what doesn’t work is stuff with kernel level anticheat.
I know you’re getting a ton of replies already, but I switched to Arch Linux two months back or so and I just want to say nearly every game I’ve tried works great out of the box, a handful of games required me to go to my steam settings a flip a switch or copy and paste something from protondb, and no games have failed to work.
Gaming on Linux is so good that you end up flipping one switch in steam and get nearly perfect performance (with most games running identically or better than they did on Windows for me). It’s been such a surprise, I just played the Arc Raiders technical Alpha and I thought for sure Linux would fail me then. And it did. For the first day, then on the second day they patched proton and the game and I played all week and weekend with zero issues. It was fantastic!
I would highly encourage any gamer who’s thinking about switching to Linux but worried their games won’t work to not worry as much. Check protondb for your favorites, but you can safely assume most game work out of the box.
Thanks, I appreciate your insights! I wonder how many people like me are simply looking at publisher notes and under the impression Linux isn’t sorted. I’m genuinely impressed by the overwhelming feedback that it’s simply good, and I’m excited to try it.
Ya, happy to spread the word! I was hesitant for a long while for the same reason but then Steam Deck happened and I looked into it more and BAM here we are. It’s one of the more hopeful changes in this tech landscape - the growth of open source and/or free software that’s often equivalent to the paid software.
Multiplayer games and ones that require Uplay or Origin (can’t remember their new names) have issues, but most single player stuff will run fine. You’ll typically have to run them via Wine or Proton, but Steam will handle that for you.
I’ve never tried Proton, but I’ve gone down a rabbit hole of trying to use Wine for running games a few years back. I’ll look into Proton, thanks for the suggestion.
Yeah Proton is definitely the way to go over using Wine directly. Valve has put a ton of work into making it seamless. I have a large steam library and have found literally only one game (Destiny 2) that doesn’t work. And that’s just because Bungie has gone out of their way to make sure it won’t run on Linux for “anti cheating” reasons.
If you bought the game through Steam, using Proton is often as simple as installing it and hitting play. If you’re curious about specific games, search them on ProtonDB
I’m on Garuda, every game I have tried has worked great, sometimes I just have to choose a different proton version with an easy pull down menu. The only game I have given up is Destiny 2, because they say they will ban anyone on Linux because of their anti cheat.
I just made the switch this weekend. I have not had a single incompatibility yet. I have seen an oddity here and there in Helldivers 2, but nothing crazy.
Oddity 1: In normal windows play async issues sometimes happen where a player steps on a mine in the other person’s client but not their own. They continue to play because their client doesn’t mark them dead. To the other person, they appear as a person missing some number of body parts (sometimes just a floating torso). We call this torso mode.
Since switching to linux I have not seen my friend go torso mode a single time. He still sees me go torso mode.
Oddity 2: The artillery rounds are color coded for what each of them does. Since switching to linux they only appear silver for whatever reason. It’s a nonissue, I just read them when I walk next to them. If anyone asks my character is colorblind.
One additional note:
If you install steam with a flatpak, you’re going to have to tangle with the permissions related to a flatpak. Once you add directory permissions for an additional directory via flatseal (for example, if you want a library on each of your harddrives), you won’t have to touch it again and it’s great.
Maybe these issues are significant to you, maybe they aren’t. Ultimately, god I love my system starting up in just a few seconds. And having true control over it.
Sorry but how did you only have 10% running on linux a few months back? I run every game except apex legends, warzone and fornite… This is ridiculous misinformation of you
I’ve based my information on what Steam says: https://store.steampowered.com/linux
I honestly don’t know what to say about the misinformation accusation. Blame the publishers, I guess?
I’ve since learned from this thread that it doesn’t accurately reflect how well games run using Proton.
Honestly proton running the windows version under linux is typically better polished, better performing, and more compatible than the “official” native linux version that most publishers put out, except in very rare circumstances where the developer actually understands and uses Linux and makes it a primary development focus. It’s counterintuitive, but proton actually is that good (also most official linux releases are pretty lazy, like “console ports” if not worse).
Not gonna blame steam or publishers, rather gonna blame the guy that talks out of his ass without googling it for 5sec
Why are you being so hostile? How have I been talking out of my ass? I feel I’ve provided a wealth of context here about my experiences over the years and how I came to this conclusion.
In fact, I think my experience is representative of many people’s perception of Linux support for games.
You said you tried it a couple months ago and only 10% was playable, which is a massive lie, since proton has been working for a couple years now. Maybe you need me to google it for you.
https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=how+much+games+on+steam+work+on+linux
And there you said it at the end, presumptions, perceptions… Nothing based on facts.
Many years ago, back on my dual boot Toshiba laptop running Ubuntu 10 LTS, I became frustrated with how Windows was running and spent a good amount of time trying to get Steam and several games running on the Linux partition. I eventually managed to get Steam to run using Wine, and even got some games to launch, but they were unplayable. Although I can’t be sure exactly which games I tried, I enjoyed Counterstrike, Unreal Tournament and Left 4 Dead at the time and suspect it must have included those.
Having been unsuccessful at getting anything to work (including some unrelated desktop software for work)—and I spent a considerable amount of time trying—I was left with the impression that this was a hopeless endeavor.
Fast forward to a few months ago: I heard about the Steam Deck and read that it was running a version of Linux. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see which games in my library are compatible. Steam helpfully shows a compatibility symbol on the product page, but unfortunately doesn’t provide an overview from your own library. So I ended up having to do spot checks, and among my favorites it was less than 1 in 10 that were listed as Steam Deck / Linux compatible.
Now I’m sure there are all sorts of great results for searching the web for games that run on Linux. However, like many people, there are specific games from my library that I prefer to play.
Based on my past experiences with tinkering with Linux to get incompatible games to run, combined with publisher’s own information provided regarding system compatibility, I have been left with the perception that not many games run on Linux. This was the motivation for my original comment that sparked this conversation.
None of what I’ve told you here is a “massive lie” and I’m genuinely confused about why you’re so upset. Instead of having a civil discussion and teaching me about Proton, like many others in this thread have, you’ve attacked me and made wild accusations. Perhaps you might reflect on our interaction and reconsider how you choose to speak with other people.
less than 10% of my games run on Linux
I’m kinda curious to see your games list
As much as you guys like to worship Linux, that shit isn’t mainstream compatible
that shit isn’t mainstream compatible
That “shit” is steadily getting better, while windows steadily decays. That “shit” won’t remain niche forever.
I couldn’t find a way to get a breakdown of this, but browsing Stream’s Linux compatible list showed just a handful of games I own (Portal 2, Dying Light, Terraria), and spot checking my ±20 favorites resulted in just one compatible title (Cities: Skylines). So I ballparked it at <10%.
I’ve since learned from this thread that this information doesn’t accurately reflect Linux support, though.
The list you linked is for games with native ports to Linux, not the ones you can run through proton. But dozens of others already pointed you to it, check it out sometime.
Yes, I’m aware of that now, I was just providing background regarding how I came to the 10% in my original comment.
There it is, the Linux bros always jumping in
Well yeah. The Mac bros are too busy polishing their yachts to spend time on Lemmy.
MS is for a rude awakening when general populace will not update their hardware with record inflation.
People will just keep using insecure windows 10 versions.
Or, you know, Linux, and be done with the crap
The general populace isn’t going to switch to Linux. They’re just not.
The path of least resistance is to continue using Win10
I’ll be doing both with Linux as my primary and Win10 as a compatibility fallback.
JFC it doesn’t become a honeypot on November 1.
I think you would enjoy the adventure of learning the Linux.
Its boring. You open a web browser or Steam, you do a thing, you go to sleep.
you do a thing
Is that the thing when you switch from light mode to dark mode?
Again… So much proprietary software is the industry standard, particularly Adobe, and much of it is Linux-compatible, making it not so easy to make the switch as a freelancer
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You’re right but not correct due to that’s not all the time. With my partners/clients I was able to use affinity and/or Davinci Resolve. Also Avid has Linux VM support which is nice. Also you can import a lot of modern adobe formats these days and also universal formats between the two. If you say “that’s a lot of work”, know your software more= write scripts and/or actions. It’s all automated now, just have to set it up once.
well, i did buy a new computer. But for linux
I ran Microsoft Activation Scripts (MAS) on my PC, making it W10 IoT Enterprise and then ran Sophia script from GitHub to debloat my Windows. It’s pretty sweet, works for me so far.
::laughs in kde::
Imagine all the people, using their PC’s.
No Dell below us, above us only Pi
Using their PC’s what?
What’s MS’s plan after this? Everyone I know that uses Windows/M365 hate it more with every passing day and is looking to leave.
I really don’t want to be in tech support in 2029 when they kill off old outlook. There will be blood on that day.
Yeah yeah, I will get round to it, stop bloody nagging me.
Is Windows Enterprise LTSC a good idea?
Nope.
Yes
Maybe
Please elaborate
It’s fine. It’s mostly crap-ware free, and it’s more stable than other versions. It’s Long-Term-Stable-Channel, it’s used by corporate, so it doesn’t change frequently. It still gets security updates but not the latest BS, like Recall, and on-by-default Bitlocker. It also doesn’tt require a MS account during setup.
System latency, weird USB drivers that don’t play nice with my audio deck, video drivers won’t be kept up to date and compatible soon for gaming cards as it’s meant for commercial applications. Also fuck windows.
It is.
I love Linux, but my older system has an older Nvidia graphics card in it and I lost 15-20 FPS when I switch to Linux.
Nvidia isn’t really the best, no
20% downgrade on nVidia GPU’s when using some Linux OS.
The new cards seem to perform better, but the old stuff is really hit and miss…
Im not upgrading my OS, and im not building or buying a new computer.
Im just going to ride it out until it explodes. the tech market is so messed up right now that I’ll end up paying more than what I did for my Machine in 2019, and it will be comparatvely, nowhere near as much as a performance jump as when I made the last switch from my 2012 build.
i have an older desktop with 10, it doesn’t have tpm, but there is a slot, i could get one and upgrade but also i mostly use linux on it
but i still feel like i’m going to lose something and it stresses me out a bit
