I’m moving away from Windows and I’m looking for distro for coding and occasional gaming. If more context is needed please let me know.
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Use Linux Mint until you know what other distro fits you better.
Linux Mint is awesome for beginners.
Ubuntu or Mint (Ubuntu based) are the clear winners, I see recently a mild return to Fedora and OpenSuse but I wouldn’t start with them
Why not? I’ve been using nobara KDE (fedora based) for the past weeks now (just a few weeks of pop os before) and I’m perfectly happy.
LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition).
I’m an Ubuntu user, which is built off of Debian, but as most others have said Snaps can be annoying. It also typically uses more resources than Debian (depends if you use the base version or some derivative). My next install will be LMDE (or some other Debian distro) because I prefer starting a little more barebones then getting things just how I like it. Ubuntu is more like Windows where things are nice and convenient OOTB but it’s more of a pain to dial it back. With Debian you’ll need a little extra work to get proprietary drivers installed but it’s nothing that has been done by thousands of others.
If you don’t really want to tinker with the OS and focus more on games and coding (non-OS) then Ubuntu is a safe bet.
Debian + KDE Plasma if you want a working, stable operating system.
but only if you don’t want to experiment, distro hop and god knows what arbitrary challenges to face and never be completely satisfied.
Windows main here but occasionally use Debian, why do you think almost noone in this post recommend Debian? As far as I can tell it works great.
it’s just my opinion, but I think because it’s LTS and has a philosophy behind the OS that doesn’t ring well with hardcore modding.
I kinda feel that Debian is sort of the “boomer OS” in the community; it just works, the way it works, it’s the “easy route” (if it makes any sense). also, some people doesn’t like APT or initd, I don’t know what’s up with nVidia drivers on Debian, or the support for any other super proprietary stuff.
you also don’t always get the freshest of stuff with it.
I personally love Debian, but granted that I haven’t tried out the whole Linux repertoire and I really don’t need too exotic stuff in my life if it’s about my main computer.
but to me, for developing, working, browsing the web, fuck around with documents, consuming media, networking etc etc., is more than perfect.
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Is Kubuntu a good choice?
Yeah it’s fine. That’s the one I started with and still use at work.
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The problem with this is that most people will choose a distro based on the default desktop enviroment.
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I’m not saying choosing based on the desktop environment is a bad thing. I’m just saying that it’s better to recommend something like Fedora and let people choose a spin instead. The desktop environment is a lot more important when starting out. The user can then decide to switch to a different distro after having gained a bit more experience / knowledge about the inner workings of Linux distributions.
I moved away from Windows few months ago, and i would recommend linux mint, its easy, stable and beginner friendly. And you can of course Distro Hop to another distro. And with steams proton or wine (almost) every game can be run! For those few that doesnt run good or at all, you can still dual boot windows and linux mint.
Tumbleweed!
Snapper already saved my ass more than once when switching, then later updating, prop. nVidia drivers.
I am a experienced Linux user and I just use Ubuntu. Community support is good and it just works and gets out of your way, with that said I probably fiddle more with it than I realise… Depending on the system you install it on there is also a possibility that the hardware is tested and supported by the manufacturer. In my case I use it on a Thinkpad p52 workstation and a Dell XPS 13, both of which was/is sold with Ubuntu versions. And if you don’t like it just distrohop and go crazy, it can honestly be a lot of fun and a learning experience in itself Edit: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Long Term Support)
Honestly, just go with Ubuntu. If there are any problems you can very easily find answers. Second option would be the get something Ubuntu based, like Mint and Pop OS. Being based in it basically means they take Ubuntu and modify a bit to their liking but at the core they’re Ubuntu, meaning that almost everything you find for Ubuntu will work for them.
You can always switch later to something else if you feel like it.
Garuda is a great Arch distro which is gaming-focused. I do some coding, and it works fine for that, too, but I actually don’t know which distros are better for that than others.
On the other hand, Garuda also does things a bit differently than other distros, so I don’t know if it would be good for somebody new to Linux. I recommend checking out some videos on YouTube just to see what it looks like.
If you want a comfortable experience moving away from Windows, I recommend Zorin. It feels somewhat similar so you should feel at home.
I keep telling people that the UI being similar is the least of the worries of a Windows expat. I promise all of Linux’s mainstream GUIs are perfectly intuitive for a frequent Windows user. The things that are most annoying are software and hardware compatibility and not having to manually hunt for support or equivalent software.
