OP Cyril Strobe is functionally a troll.
A few hours ago he asked, “What is a divisive topic on lemmy?” He received the answer, “What Linux distribution is best?” and immediately created this post.
Then he comes in here and complains about Lemmy’s hostility problem.
https://sh.itjust.works/post/66827976/27452133
Block and move on.
Which woodworking tool is the best?
That’s a fine answer in a generalistic sense, but IMO there’s no need to downvote OP. It’s evidently an honest question which many have asked before, and many will in future. So why not skip the snarkiness stage and try to get the person started in a meaningful way, eh?
https://www.google.com/search?q=what+type+of+linux+installation+would+be+best+for+my+needs
The linux community as a whole is absolutely terrible at welcoming newcomers. Not having 5 years of experience using Linux is treated like having STDs and any genuine question gets reacted to with snark and zero understanding. If you guys wanna know why so few people switch to linux, its because the linux community is too busy bashing newcomers with simple questions and too unwilling to lend them a little bit of understanding and patience. Linux is confusing, try helping people out instead of handing them a shit sandwhich. We were all new once and had too learn what a package manager was and which desktop environment has what things.
I cant even tell you how many times ive gone looking for a solution to a problem with linux and every forum response was some variation of “LOL YOU ARE AN UNINFORMED IDIOT. GIT GUD.”
Wow…
Is it really that bad? oOI don’t know any other group of people so far up their own asses about what software they use. If using linux gives you a superiority complex, I assume you have nothing else going on in your life.
That being said I love linux and will continue to use it.
Whilst from my limited knowledge of the Linux community, that what you said appears to be true, I’m starting to feel like this platform in general has a sort of hostility issue. Or at least a toxicity one. Like I posted a fun red bull meme and, though the meme itself was well received, the commenters ripped each other’s heads off in a debate over sugar and aspartame. Im not even joking
Its hard for me to tell if this community is like that because it already had a bunch of linux users or if its just part of the whole leftist purity testing culture going on here. To have an answer for your actual question, I started with linux mint because people said it would be easy and it was. Eventually some ubuntu packages breaking stuff annoyed me so i moved to LMDE for stability (uses debian packages instead which have a higher standard for stability). Then I installed KDE plasma because some games run better on Wayland instead of x11 on my machine.
Thanks for the straight answer and without hostility.
That is precisely the… ‘Nirvana’ point that I was bloody well dreading.
Like-- I knew it had to be something, right, but why the superiority and viciousness point of inflection? Why the total excursionist aspect of Linux, right?
(bah, I’m retreating in to Jim Jefferies mode, I’ll have you know)
So you chose war …
That’s not an easy question to answer…It usually boils down to: What is easier for new users to adjust to, what is more customizable, what works on the latest or oldest hardware. I don’t think there is an objectively best distro out there, there is no one distro to rule them all. There is a bad one, don’t use Omarchy as it is a fascists distro. Fascists are investing a lot of energy, money, vibe-coded slopware, putting that on top of Arch Linux (which I hope doesn’t get a bad reputation due to DHH, the bastard). There are other easier to install and use distros like Mint, Fedora, openSUSE. These three that I have mentioned have a reasonable amount of documentation on them, and active communities to ask questions of if necessary!
If you absolutely must have Arch Linux and are prepared to learn: EndeavourOS, Garuda Linux, CachyOS (be prepared to fight a lot of little issues with that one) are the three main easier to install Arch Linux based distros. Better for more recent hardware because drivers are a bit more up to date. Arch Linux is a rolling release distro so be prepared for updates.
Then you have easier to run on older hardware like Debian is nice for that purpose, they don’t really update all that often with major releases.
Nice detailed answer, thanks!
“best” … for what?
Someone moving from Windows?
Most compatible on old hardware?
Best for security?
Best for gaming?
I could probably type another 10 questions.
Just in general. I’ve heard there are a lot of opinions on this, I was just curious what the masses thought. Any really.
Like others have said Mint is probably easiest for casual users to begin experiencing Linux. Beyond that it will depend heavily on specific use case. Just beware Hannah Montana Linux, I hear it can give you diabetes.
I’m sorry, wtf is Hannah Montana Linux?
Behold:
i know this is a non-answer, but unironically the one that fits your needs and opinions on how your computer should behave… thats the great thing about linux
This is the only good answer to this silly and lazy question.
Amazing how even when you try to limit your question to the basics, the toxicity still seeps in…
You my think you are asking a simple question but it is actually a complex one and you give zero context to your actual question.
Its like when someone ask why their phone isn’t working and gives zero info about what isn’t working, what phone is it, what have they tried so far.
Crap in, crap out as I call it.
That was your intent with the question though.
wtf???
Just pick whichever you like.
“Which vehicle is best?”
Either be specific if this is a personal request, or just google your question for info…
I’m just curious what the general idea is, is all, amongst users here. I was told they were knowledgeable on this topic.
Whichever distro works best for you. It’s hard to objectively say one is better than the other, because they all have advantages and disadvantages and quirks and different philosophies.
I think CachyOS is the best, because I’ve only ever used it, Bazzite, Mint, and Ubuntu. But I wouldn’t assert that it’s the best objectively, because CachyOS may not work for every user.
Depends on use-case. For general instances, Debian, CachyOS, Fedora, and even Bazzite are all good options depending on whether you want a rolling release, stable, etc. Even something more niche like Void can be good for general use. Stay away from Palantir-affiliated distros like NixOS or fascist-run distros like Omarchy.
Debian.
If you’re asking in a general forum, you’re probably new to Linux. So I would point to Linux Mint, as it’s more user friendly and has a common interface that is more Windows-like, and well supported but not bleeding edge updates. Ubuntu would be the next, but it has some “issues” with who controls it (Canonical). That being said, it’s well supported too as far as when installing things. Mint is an offshoot of Ubuntu, so they’re related. They both have different install version also, depending on how old or limited your machine is.
There are plenty of others, but these are the two that will usually be mentioned for someone starting out.
