Ask Lemmy

Mint is a great distro for beginners. Coding is not required, but coders prefer Linux because it makes our lives easier in some ways.

I would like to take the opportunity to give you two advices that I think everyone who wants to use Linux should hear:

Install from package manager

In windows the way to install something is to look it up on a browser, open a sketchy website, downloading a binary and executing it on your machine. That is definitely NOT the way to do stuff on Linux. Think on Linux the same way you do Android (which is actually a Linux distro), if you want to install something you look it up on the play store, and only if it's not there you consider alternatives like downloading a random .APK from the internet. Linux should be the same, except there are several alternatives before downloading a binary from the internet, like adding a PPA in debian based distros (Mint is based on Ubuntu which is based on Debian, so this applies to you) which essentially gives extra packages to the package manager or using flatpak/snaps (two different technologies that try to do the same, i.e. a new way of packaging software for Linux)

Keep /home in a different partition

In Linux any folder can be in any hard-drive/partition. So it's possible when you're installing your system to have what you would normally think as C:\ (which is called / in Linux) in one partition and /home (i.e. the folder home inside /) in another. This is great because it allows you to reinstall or change your Linux distro without losing your personal data.

I haven't once in fifteen years needed to do any coding whatsoever to use my Linux computers day-to-day.

Mint is good. It might be worth trying a few different desktop environments to see what you like - you can probably run all of the major ones from a LiveBoot device.

BUT, and this is VERY important, ypu do not need to do any programming or coding on a Linux desktop. Ever.

If you're not a programmer then you are never forced to peel that onion. You can do EVERYTHING from a GUI if you want.

You'll lose the ability to run some games and software, but between alternatives and emulation, that list is getting smaller.

Do:

• Mint if you're coming from Windows
• Ubuntu if you want lots of help online
• Fedora if you want strong and stable
• Bazzite Gnome if you want indestructible, grandma-safe and Apple-like.

You don’t need to know how to code to use Linux. It helps to know how to use the terminal, but you don’t even really need to know that anymore either.

Mint is a great choice. Fedora is another great choice, and it’s what I use. IMHO, Cinnamon (Mint) and KDE are easier to use coming from Windows than Gnome (Fedora). So yeah, I’d agree with the sentiments you’ve read and cited in your post. You can also use Cinnamon or KDE on Fedora if you like though.

The only time you might have issues with Ubuntu is when it comes time to update/upgrade it. I've seen people on Mastodon, every time an update rolls out, say that its broken something. But I think those cases are few and far between.

Mint is a good choice to get your feet wet. Install it with KDE Plasma so it will at least feel familiar to you. Cinnamon is fine but I always found it a little bit wonky. When I first started on linux I got kinda carried away with customizing Cinnamon and it totally just wrecked my install.

There's a lot of documentation and support for Mint/Ubuntu so you can pick up stuff pretty quickly. Once you get comfy with it you can always switch your distro to something else. But yeah there's nothing wrong with starting on Mint to get a feel for it.

Mint is a good option, yeah. Should feel familiar if you're coming from windows.

Note that coding experience isn't really relevant. Only the most advanced users ever really need to write code for their system. 99% of linux users, including the experienced and power users, don't have to regularly code, per se. Note that I'm referring to actually writing programs, not terminal use. Using a terminal isn't coding but that may be what you were thinking of, it's similar but imo not the same. If you wanna do more advances stuff, you'll definitely want to learn the terminal, but for most stuff you'll get by just fine with GUIs like you're probably used to. Mint is particularly good at keeping stuff to GUIs.

Something to note: coming from windows, you'll be used to getting programs by finding downloads on the internet. On linux, that's generally best avoided - you should always look on your distro's package manager first. On mint is believe it's called something like "software center" or "software manager," can't remember off the top of my head but it will be preinstalled for you.

The only coding I ever did was like, some very light HTML on stuff like LiveJournal 20 years ago (because I'm ancient in internet years, haha) and even that I barely remember.

Hi,

Fear not: I switched to Mint when I was already in my 50s... and before that I had been a lifelong Apple user (got my first Apple computer back in the early 80s).

I tried a few distro before settling on Mint and the only reason I picked it up was because, back then at least, it was the only one that would let me use my... Airpods, seriously. Fast forward a few years, to this very day, and you can be assured I would not want to go back to Apple. And I still am using Mint, as I never had any issue with it, not a single one (beside me doing stupid things, but hey that's how one learns :p). It works perfectly well for me.

Not saying that as way to push you to use Mint. I mean, like others have already suggested there are plenty excellent GNU/Linux available and Mint is just one of them, but to let you know there is no need to be an expert in order to use it.

BTW, Mint is based upon Ubuntu (which is based upon Debian), the hate towards Ubuntu is because they force certain tools/choice onto their users which, unlike with Apple or Microsoft, is not something a lot of people in the Free Software world will agree with (I certainly don't, as that's the main reason I quit using Apple ;). Ubuntu is still an excellent distribution, just their policy doesn't sit well with the freedom & choice Linux is supposed to be promoting.

Linux mint is a good compatible baseline yes.

First and foremost, you don't have to stay on the distro you start with. You can try a few, spend a week running it, and then reinstall with something else. Distro hopping is the process if changing distro frequently and is in my opinion a very useful start for learning Linux.

Second, Ubuntu is a perfectly fine distro. I don't like or use it, but I also don't really like chocolate but love licorice, it really is a matter of preference. If you never try it you will never know if it is good for you.

I think the best path would be to either use virtual machines on your main system or try a few distros out on your Windows 8 machine. I would recommend trying a few of the most popular distros including Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, EndeavourOS, elementary, and maybe Pop!OS. That should cover most of the different desktop environments, packaging systems, and overall design methodologies and give you a really rounded sense of what is out there. It should also give you opportunities to have things break a little and for you to try to solve those problems. I find that different distros present failures a little differently and their solutions also work differently, so finding one that works well for you is key.

I personally ended up switching from a vanilla Arch install to EndeavourOS a year or two ago because it had great sane defaults, good packaging, and fantastic performance. The clarity of the logs was better in my mind than what was available in Ubuntu based distros and while I love Arch it was a bit too demanding of my time to figure out each and every choice of package. EndeavourOS gave me good solid defaults and reduced my work load.

Just remember, your choice of distro is like your choice of underwear. You have to wear it, make it comfortable for you and your junk, not for someone else's.

I don’t understand coding either and I’ve installed different Linux distributions before! You can do it! Are you perhaps confusing coding with running commands in the command line? Because even running commands may not be necessary for a graphical installations like the aforementioned Linux Mint, Pop OS or similar.

I will say the nice thing about picking a popular distribution like Ubuntu, Mint, or Pop! OS, is that it’s easier to find solutions to problems, because it’s more likely that someone has posted about it online and found a solution

I think the Ubuntu haters are overly enthusiastic. It's perfectly fine. Actually pretty good.

Mint is extremely popular as a recommendation for good reasons as well.

Both have excellent support communities, which is important. Linux in general has become a lot more "plug and play" in recent years, meaning that it will do more of what you want right out of the box. In all likelihood, you will want to do something with it that requires help, so having a robust community makes a big difference.

Linux Mint is a solid place to start I'd say.

Ubuntu/Canonical has..issues to say the least.

• A primary concern being the ever eternal cursed Snap packages.
• Second being the replacement of existing tools with Rust alternatives without the proper FOSS licenses, so Ubuntu becomes less reciprocal over time and more proprietary over time.

anyways, choosing Linux Mint is a great place to start🤗👍 and I say this as someone that's tried:

• Ubuntu Server
• Raspberry Pi OS
• Linux Mint
• Arch Linux
• NixOS
• Kali Linux

You don't need to do any coding or have any experience in coding. Linux is for everyone and doesn't need any special skills or knowledge to use it. Everything can be done with a mouse and keyboard just like Windows.

You can install Linux exactly as you would Windows - stick in a USB stick and follow the prompts. You can even try Linux using live USB sticks although it'll be a little slow to load compared to an actual install (as USB sticks are generally slower than hard drives).

Linux Mint is a good place to start. It's user friendly and stable, and there are lots of guides out there if you need help, even just to install it.

Pop! OS is also a good beginner distro.

Mint is a great starting point. I might also recommend having a look at KDE (the desktop environment) which will feel very familiar coming from windows and is available on quite a few distributions. I use it with OpenSUSE Tumbleweed - less beginner friendly than Mint, but still an ok plafe to start.

I'll go against the grain here and suggest Kubuntu. It's an official variant of Ubuntu which swaps out the GNOME desktop environment for KDE Plasma. KDE feels much more Windows-like than GNOME, so it's a great migration option for Windows users.

KDE also really focuses on creating a cohesive desktop environment, much more than other DEs. There are over 200 applications built specifically for KDE (https://apps.kde.org/) which try to maintain a common look and feel. You can of course run any Linux application on KDE, but there's something quite nice about having applications built specifically with the DE in mind.

I have zero coding skills and recentky switched to Linux. From what I can tell the difference between different distros is completely negligible unless you're a developer or a hardcore gamer. I settled on Kubuntu because out of the dozen or so distros I tried, it worked best on my machine and was similar enough to Windows for me to get to grips with very quickly.

Some great responses here. One thing I'd add is while Mint is considered "beginner friendly", it's still a Linux based os. If you decide you want to get into more advanced topics in the future (programming, networking, etc.) you can absolutely do those things with Mint if it's the distro your comfortable with. You wouldn't be stuck with an os with limited functionality in that regard.

My 80+ year old mom has been using Debian for over 2 decades now. She is very much not a coder. Just pick whatever distro and try it out, as others have said.

depending on how complicated it is to swap out the hard disk, i'd swap out the windows drive and put in a new one (preferably an ssd, they make a big difference even in older computers) - this way you'll keep the option to put it back if you're really lost, you can back up stuff there
mint is a good place to start, no need for coding.
you do need to get adjusted a bit, the complaints about "how difficult it is to do things on linux" is often because people try doing stuff exactly like they did on windows, and sure, you can do exactly the same thing but you need to set up, sometimes compile tools for it - or you can search in the software manager or search on the web for "xy linux alternative"
for instance file sharing - yeah linux supports samba (the windows file sharing protocol), it works, but imo it kinda sucks (but tbf it sucked on windows too), so i started looking for alternatives and just allowing an ssh connection allows you to directly connect to machines with your username, and also allows sftp file transfers, and it works so much better

I got the chance to install Mint recently for a couple of people who were totally new to Linux. It went pretty smoothly, seems to work for them so far.

I have several older laptops that would not perform well on windows 11 running Linux mint, Debian, Ubuntu with no problem. If you stick with distributions that let you try the os from a bootable usb first, this should increase your comfort level and help you feel better about your decision.

One note, depending on your laptop BIOS, you may have trouble booting a live USB. I experienced this with Ubuntu and Pop-os, but the issue is solved by creating the bootable USB with a GPT partition instead of the default MBR. The only reliable way I have found to do this is using Rufus on Windows, so keep in mind you may need a Windows machine around for this purpose.

Good luck and have fun!

You won't run in to coding.

Having decision paralysis? Best to just pick an option and do it. Expect it to go wrong and be pleasantly surprised when it diesn't. Don't try to plan it all out. Doing is the best learning. Unsure about something? Press enter and see what happens. Start over if you have to.

Pick Mint. It's a good start. load it to a USB, reboot, find the boot menu, boot the USB, let the installer guide you. Have another device handy for internet searches if something confuses you. At this point, If for some reason you wanna try another distro, go ahead! Doesn't hurt to reinstall and try out.

Ubuntu or mint is a good beginners choice.

Once you get annoyed with snap packages or something else you can change it.

I would say Ubuntu, Mint or Debian. They have a lot of documentation online and years worth of forum posts and stack overflow threads answering various questions a user might have.

If you have a seperate computer or hard drive to install on, you can go wild trying out anything you like. In my case, I had one laptop so I needed something stable with good hardware detection and online resources.

(For context, I've tried Mandrake Linux, SUSE, Gentoo, Slitaz and a few others. I keep going back to Ubuntu / Debian.)