Yo linux team, i would love some advice.
I’m pretty mad at windows, 11 keeps getting worse and worse and I pretty done with Bill’s fetishes about bing and ai. Who knows where’s cortana right now…
Anyway, I heard about this new company called Linux and I’m open to try new stuff. I’m a simple guy and just need some basic stuff:
- graphic stuff: affinity, canva, corel, gimp etc… (no adobe anymore, please don’t ask.)
- 3d modelling and render: blender, rhino, cinema, keyshot
- video editing: davinci
- some little coding in Dart/flutter (i use VS code, I don’t know if this is good or bad)
- a working file explorer (can’t believe i have to say this)
- NO FUCKIN ADS
- NO MF STUPID ASS DISGUSTING ADVERTISING
The tricky part is the laptop, a zenbook duo pro (i9-10/rtx2060), with double touch screens.
I tried ubuntu several years ago but since it wasn’t ready for my use i never went into different distros and their differences. Now unfortunately, ready or not, I need to switch.
Edit: the linux-company thing is just for triggering people, sorry I didn’t know it was this effective.
If you want to test several Linux distributions Ventoy can be useful. You can have 10 or more different Linux distributions on one USB stick depending on the size of the stick. This will also save you time “flashing” an image iso to the stick each time because with Ventoy you’d simply copy the image iso files to the stick, quick and easy.
Ventoy has changed my life. No more having to find a unused usb key to format then flash.
Just drop the ISO, boot on the key and choose whatever you want to try/install.
I just discovered it last week and feel frustrated with the time I wasted sleeping on it
Huh I always thought ventoy was just another iso to usb writer. I’ve been totally sleeping on the fact it can hold a bunch of isos and installs them directly. That’s so handy
Or try them for a while in a VM, VirtualBox may not provide the best performance out there but it’s very easy to set up. This way you don’t have to commit and install the OS over your main machine or anything like that.
In all honesty, you should decide between Debian and Fedora. If you’re new to this, stay away from Arch Linux, Gentoo, or Manjaro. Simplicity is key. The two systems I mentioned are known for their reliability, so you should be fine with either one.
- Affinity Designer can be run under Linux with Bottles translation (forum post how to set it up)
- Canva does not support Linux
- GIMP is natively supported on Linux (official website / flatpak)
- Adobe is not supported on Linux at all
- Blender is natively supported on Linux (official website / flatpak)
- DaVinci Resolve is natively supported on Linux (offical website)
- VSCode is natively supported on Linux (official website / flatpak)
- almost every DE has a file explorer
- no ads included 😀 👍
If you are made out of matter stay away from manjaro. Other than that I agree, and would recommend debian slightly over fedora but that is just personal preference. Also I feel like opensuse deserves an honorable mention. Maybe not tumbleweed, but leap could be suitable for a new user and yast rocks.
Edit: Also vscodium can be good alternative to vscode. It is vscode without Microsoft’s tracking, but an exact copy otherwise.
Indeed, I use VSCodium on my Fedora system every day, but since the question was about VSCode, I provided information specifically related to VSCode.
Debian rigorously tests its packages over an extended period before they are released in the official version, ensuring a very stable system. This approach means the software is generally older, but it’s been thoroughly vetted. Fedora, on the other hand, provides newer software while still maintaining a good level of stability.
On the other hand, Arch Linux — and its sub-distributions like Manjaro and Gentoo — releases software much more quickly, sometimes almost immediately which can kill your system during updates.
I’d go so far as to say that Arch Linux is less stable than Windows.TL;DR: If you don’t want to find out five minutes before an online meeting that your system won’t boot — avoid Arch Linux.
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I use Canva in the browser, but I gotta say that it works better in Microsoft Edge than in Firefox. I think it may be a Chromium thing, but I haven’t tested other browsers.
Microsoft Edge works great on Linux. It is my second browser after Firefox.
Imagine switching to Linux and installing Microsoft Edge 💀
Just grab yourself some Linux Mint, and try to ignore Arch and Gentoo crowd here.
Half of the apps you mentioned have Linux version right in the system package manager. Davinci has Linux version on their website.
CorelDraw might be a problem, WineHQ lists it’s compatibility for the latest version as garbage, so you will probably need to switch to Inkscape.
Anyway, I heard about this new company called Linux
Pedantic explanation about GNU/Linux is coming in 3… 2… 1…
Here you go ;-)
What you guys are referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called “Linux”, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.
There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called “Linux” distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.
I second your advice against Arch, EndeavourOS, or Manjaro as I would not call them ‘beginner-friendly’.
Wooo yeah! Now waiting for the explanation how half of mobile phones on the planet and every smart TV in existence runs some variant of Linux kernel.
I mean, it’s always nice to know more. I’m not here pretending to know linux or kernels in details.
Arch user here (by the way). I agree - ignore us.
What you guys are referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux.
That’s not necessarily true any more. There are distros built without the GNU tools.
I know, Android is probably the most prominent one, but also e.g. Alpine.
Linux is not a company lol I hope that was a joke. Also Linux is not new.
Now to the software: it will likely run everywhere. Davinci resolve is a bit picky but also fine.
You have quite some Windows-only software. Check https://alternative-to.net or try running it through WINE with Bottles
To the Distro: this is complex. Many people will recommend Linux Mint and it is easy to use but very restricted. I dont think it is great really.
There are many many parallel efforts, so on Linux Distributions (Linux + packages + desktop + …) you can get very different software.
For a painfree experience running Windows software and Davinci Resolve I recommend to try Bazzite
It is very different from others:
- it updates automatically in the background. But completely different from Windows. Updates always work and are efficient and stable. No 10 times rebooting
- updates finish and you can reboot any time to apply it. Literally a week later, nobody cares
- the reboot takes just as long as any other reboot, no downtime
The system is way better and more stable than “traditional” ones. This is quite complex but lets say while on Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora etc. you will have an indivudual system, with individual packages and in the end some strange errors only happening on your setup, with Bazzite you will have exactly 1:1 the system that the developers create.
It is based on Fedora Atomic Desktops which are pretty great. But for your use case I dont recommend them.
I recommend the Bazzite Desktop version with the KDE Plasma desktop. This will be Windows-like in a very good way, but incredibly more efficient, faster and also more powerful. Like a Filemanager with tabs and extensions, that is not written in whatever bloat Microsoft uses (their Win11 stuff is so slow…).
To sum it up, on Linux you have to decide:
What Desktop environment?
- I recommend KDE Plasma a lot
- GNOME is also good but veery opinionated and minimalist
- I dont recommend others like Linux Mint’s Cinnamon yet, as they dont support modern standards (Wayland)
What Distribution family?
- Debian, Fedora, Arch, OpenSUSE
- they are all a bit different but basically doing the same
- Ubuntu stems from Debian and became popular as “the beginner Linux” but they do very controversial stuff nobody else does (like the Snap store) and have tons of bugs. I used it a lot with bad experiences and dont recommend.
- Linux Mint and others also use Ubuntu or Debian under the hood
- Arch is very manual and difficult for new users, dont use it
- OpenSUSE does whatever they do, not recommended
- Fedora is pretty modern in their software, has a nice community and a big variety of options. They are not allowed to ship restricted media codecs for stuff like h264 video though
- uBlue (Bazzite, Bluefin, Aurora) is a project using Fedoras versions and adding nice stuff to it, making them usable out of the box. This is their goal, and they do it really well.
Wow, thank you for all the info in details! I need to start testing some of distros I guess and see how it goes (sounds fun too). UBlue project looks very very interesting.
Ublue also has Asus-specific variants which I assume probably has some compatibility fixes added in that would have to be installed manually in most other distros.
Since you use VS Code I’d strongly recommend the developer variants of ublue, which are only available for Aurora and Bluefin, as it gives you a preinstalled VS Code which will be a better experience than trying to install it after the fact. (if you go to the download page for them, answer “yes” to “are you a developer?”)
For minimum learning curve, use Aurora over Bluefin as the UI is more familiar. Also, make sure you pick the Nvidia option for the GPU question.
True, but Aurora/Bluefin dont have WINE preinstalled.
I wouldnt run WINE stuff on the system, but that is likely less complicated, as using Bottles means you cannot really use a Windows program to edit stuff on your system by default.
I started using Linux 2 years ago or something. Linux Mint, Kubuntu, MX Linux (wtf Distrowatch), Manjaro, KDE Neon, Fedora KDE…
broke all. On Fedora Kinoite since then, switched to uBlue Kinoite, no complaints.
Currently using secureblue but many things I disagree with, planning a fork.
The good thing is that most distributions have live images that you can basically put on a USB stick and run without installing anything. It won’t give you quite the same experience as an installed instance but will at least let you play around with things (especially Gnome or KDE etc.)
I would stay away from Fedora based anything if you want stability. Linux Mint is is as flexible as you make it.
Fedora has 2 versions supported, the current release and the old release. It is pretty modern in packages, but this is normally not a problem at all.
I never used the old release but that would give more stability. On the atomic variants this means though that you dont get automatic updates, as using
latestwill auto update when upstream sets the new version as latest.
Try Kubuntu as a Distro. Any KDE Plasma Distro would be good as well. -Sincerely The Linux Company
Or the new Ubuntu Cinnamon
Or how about no
For people coming from windows i think linux mint is the best choice.
Gimp, blender and vscode works well on linux
U can code dart/flutter with no problems on vscode on linux, android studio also works fine if you need to export to android.
For file manager i use nemo (default on mint cinnamon).
Other software mentioned i have no idea.
Fedora will always be my go-to, and the KDE spin should be pretty familiar layout wise for former windows users.
Since you have an nvidia gpu, Pop OS will probably be your best bet if you need it working immediately.
I wouldn’t recommend Ubuntu anymore, as it’s been pushing snaps (package manager) MS-style, and it’s gotten some shit from the community for various reasons over the years.
Linux Mint is also good, too. It’s very easy to just get up and going, perfect for people who aren’t familiar with Linux, too.
The worst part about snaps isn’t the fact that their packaged like Windows files, it’s that it makes updating everything on your computer confusing as fuck when you don’t really want to ever think about it.
Me updating my system then updating Flatpak because the gpu driver difference breaks everything
I generally have 2 recommendations for beginners who don’t want something specific, one of which is a community favorite, the other is my own favorite.
The community generally recommends Linux Mint for new users. It’s based an Ubuntu, so it had a lot of great support, but it has the enshittification of Ubuntu (snaps, tracking, pro subscription ads, etc.) removed. It’s a great, simple distro for beginners that generally works all around without tweaking. It’s basically the #1 recommendation for new users, and I gladly support that recommendation.
My personal favorite recommendation is Fedora, through I understand why there may be frustrations for those with Nvidia graphics cards who need to install their drivers. The process to do it on Fedora isn’t very complex, and can be looked up easily, but new users tend to feel intimidated by the command line, and I must admit that the installation of Nvidia drivers and media codec are more difficult than something like Linux Mint (for Fedora, this is a copyright issue, since their main sponsor is Red Hat, a private company). In every other area, I’d say Fedora is great for beginners, and provides a great way for users to get new features quickly without having to worry about any of the instabilities or quirks of something like Arch.
You couldn’t go wrong with either, but you’re certainly going to see more recommendations for Linux Mint in general (especially on Nvidia hardware).
Just stay away from Manjaro, Gentoo, and Void (there’s a long list of complex distros, but it really isn’t going to help to list them all). Gentoo and Void have their place, but are not a great place for a beginner to start. Manjaro simply has no place, just avoid it like the plague.
You could also recommend the Linux Mint Debian Edition!
My personal pick that is gonna get downvoted into oblivion: Manjaro.
Manjaro is an actual “Arch for your grandmother”. Combining rolling release with two-week checking period, taking the speed and customizability of Arch and wrapping it in a noob-friendly, everyday system - it’s Arch that just works, is sleek, welcoming and easy.
What else to ask for?
Arch already just works, Majaro breaks more (at least for the one month I tried it while getting into Linux).
Arch includes the setup process (not just installing the OS, but like adding literally every piece of software), which is super not noob friendly.
New users should just use an installer and get ready-to-use system. Manjaro, Fedora, Mint do exactly that. Arch does not.
Also, Arch may break in very unpredictable ways due to the way the updates work. You’re essentially always in a beta - price of a very bleeding edge.
I had a better experience with Manjaro, and generally the advice for Manjaro users goes as “do not abuse AUR, and you’ll be fine”.
If you want easy Arch, recommend EndeavourOS. Manjaro is a pile of steaming garbage just waiting to break itself. EndeavourOS is easy for beginners, doesn’t break itself constantly, and gets all the features of Arch from mainline Arch, not the Manjaro repos. I strongly suggest you revise your recommendation to EndeavourOS; there’s very good reason behind why this community dislikes Manjaro.
Nope, EndeavourOS to me is a useless project from the start that doesn’t really simplify everyday operation of Arch and just cuts corners on installation and minimal quality of life.
If someone needs pure but accessible Arch, I’d go with Garuda, though it has all the issues of pure Arch as well.
Manjaro is still my choice. A good majority of Manjaro haters just hear about AUR issues and never go there, although they are fairly rare and can be resolved, or you can rely primarily on extensive repos that probably do have what you need. Some others just blindly use solutions for Arch, and while Manjaro does allow for it, it shouldn’t always be done, as devs themselves warn. If you won’t treat Manjaro like mainline Arch, it will not break. But as any Linux system, it does allow you to shoot yourself in the foot.
The difference is - in Arch, noobs destroy their system and power users (kinda, usually) do not. In Manjaro, it’s the Arch power users that don’t know the difference and blindly apply their experience that get rekt, while noobs do just great without even knowing stuff that can break it.
Also, backups and snapshots are a must for absolutely every Arch system, that is just the reality of it. Arch does break, as anything bleeding-edge. Manjaro helps with that - granted, by introducing another issue that can easily be circumvented.
If anything, I’m a happy Manjaro user for 1,5 years, and I’m just alright.
I used Manjaro for about 6 months, never used AUR or made any real modifications to my install (except for troubleshooting), and had to fully reinstall 2 times and fix config issues on files I’ve never touched a handful of times in that 6 months because a standard update broke everything. I then went on to use EndeavourOS for a year and never had a single issue the entire time I used it, so my problems were not related to Arch, it was Manjaro. Similar stories are constantly echoed about Manjaro, and I have a hard time believing that the entire Internet is astroturfing a Linux distro for no reason. I, as a quite experienced Linux user of over a decade, have never tried any distro that has been anywhere close to as bad as Manjaro. I’ve had an install brick itself once outside of Manjaro, and that was due to an obscure hardware bug that got through QA. I’ve never had to spend as much time fixing a distro as I did with Manjaro, and it was on a laptop that I only used for browsing and schoolwork. I didn’t even bother to change the wallpaper because I only had it there to try out. So no, nothing that happened was related to the packages I installed, the (nonexistent) changes made to configs, or the use of the AUR. That was a perfectly normal Manjaro install breaking itself for absolutely no reason. You can feel free not to trust my anecdotal evidence, but almost everyone I’ve seen in this community who has said they’ve used Manjaro has echoed similar stories. This isn’t a unique or rare experience.
EndeavourOS has great value to users new to Arch that don’t want to set everything up from scratch. It is basically vanilla Arch without the setup hassle of vanilla Arch. I don’t see why that wouldn’t have value, and I don’t really understand why you’d recommend Manjaro over it. The 2 week freeze that Manjaro does on packages doesn’t actually help stability. It does nothing at best, and makes things worse in most other cases.
Guess we have very different experiences.
Wonder if it could be in some way hardware-related.
I’ve previously looked into and tinkered with EndeavourOS a little, and I don’t get the reason for its popularity and existence.
Archinstall+minimal tinkering for 20 minutes=equal system but without relying on some obscure distro.
Again, Garuda at least adds something to it. And Manjaro adds a lot.
I ran Linux on a Zenbook Pro Duo. Fedora’s KDE distribution was the only release I ever found that worked out of the box with both touchscreens as I’d expect. You’d think a big release like Ubuntu would work, but whatever they have set up for touchscreens is slightly out of whack. For example, touch and drag would select text instead of scrolling the page.
By default, your laptop might try to stay awake all the time. The second screen is treated as an external monitor, and there’s a setting you can find in the configuration menu that forces the laptop to stay awake when an external device is connected.
Some other things to note. If you’ve got an older model, you might be able to find a third-party software suite such as this one that will allow you to use your laptop almost normally.
However, if your laptop is new enough, you might be unable to find any software (third party or otherwise) that supports the built-in features such as quick screen swapping, numpad, or turning off the lower screen. The lower screen is LCD anyways, so you won’t get burn in. If you’re worried about power, I’ve found that despite the lower screen being on full-time, Linux still doubled or tripled my battery life compared to when I ran Windows. I think the biggest immediate drawback is that you may not have any on-board audio due to a lack of drivers, though that might have been fixed in Fedora 40. I know they were working on that in the newer version of upstream Linux (which may not have arrived yet), but I haven’t been following it. And finally, you won’t be able to adjust the brightness of the lower screen without some configuration. Again, some of that might be mitigated if you can find some compatible and reliable 3rd-party software for your laptop.
I will say that despite all the limitations mentioned above, I still vastly preferred Linux to Windows. The battery life alone was enough to warrant the switch.
Thanks, I was hoping to find someone who did this before. And apparently not the first time I read that fedora is my best/only option for the type of laptop. Great tips!
Hey OP, I just installed Fedora KDE as dual boot on my desktop (slowly transitioning from Windows) and I can vouch for what the person above you is saying. Good luck, and feel free to ask anything. I’m no expert, but I can at least listen.
I heard about this new company called Linux
I thought it was funny at least, so you gave me a good laugh.
I’d say Linux Mint or Ubuntu (you’re familiar with this one) would be good “Out of the Box” options. They run an environment known as “Debian” so they’re super similar and are pretty similar to what Windows offers in all honesty. You just burn them to a USB, run them from your desired computer’s BIOS, and the rest is through a GUI interface you can follow along with. I have no experience with a touchscreen as I’m running Linux Mint XFCE (lightest weight version) on a laptop from the early 2010’s with an Intel N2820 in it, but I’m assuming some workaround can exist to implement that. You also seem somewhat familiar with the alternative programs for different purposes, but rest assured both Ubuntu and Mint come with file explorers (Mint XFCE uses one called Thunar which is pretty effective) and you can easily swap out/install a different file manager to get jobs done as needed.
Plus - any programs you used with Windows which may not have Linux alternatives or versions - can be run through Wine. I’ve encountered a few hiccups when doing this (like a program I needed for school which was unable to pass the initial installation and actually run the program).
I’ve run Linux Mint XFCE as my daily driver for work and school tasks on my laptop for about 2-3 years at this point and it’s been pretty great. Full disclosure: I still run Windows 11 on my main PC at home and have Windows 10 on a HTPC/Server with docker on it (though I’ve been debating switching to Ubuntu for this as well) so I still know there are benefits to a Windows system (while working to remove any and all advertising and AI garbage) but if I were to recommend someone a distro it would be as I’ve said above.
Good luck! Hope you find one that works for you!
Thanks, I feel like Mint could be already a valid one but maybe Fedora kde could be more useful. I’ll check both for sure asap. It’s crazy how bad windows is honesty and still so necessary for some jobs.
Can Mint read files from a Windows partition or is it a different filesystem?
I’m waiting until there’s a good sale on Hard drives to set up a dual-boot.
Reading filesystem is not about which distribution you have but drivers on disc. If you have FAT the defaults should work, for NTFS you might have to install the ntfs driver. I don’t use mint but it’s the linux way so either it’s already there or you can install it. Once you have driver just mount it like a normal drive and it’s done.
Good to know. Thank you.
Isn’t Google dismantling the flutter team?
It was supposed to be the react-native killer!
Doesn’t mean your company didn’t bet on the wrong horse. Luckily we stay far away from anything Google touches, but I have friends in other companies who weren’t as lucky.
So far we’ve been lucky. But, we are concerned with some of our stack. We help where we can, but it’s a bit of an unknown. The google graveyard basically screams to keep away from any of their tech.
I’m still recovering from the news.
Visual Studio is not available on Linux and not really working in Wine, sadly. You can use IntelliJ IDEA as a good alternative, it supports Linux officially and has a Flutter plugin.
For a beginner, Linux Mint is perfect. It is based on Ubuntu which is based on Debian, so you can follow most tutorials written for either distribution (like the installation instructions for IntelliJ IDEA or other software that is not available from the APT package manager).
Sorry, I honestly didn’t know it was that different Visual studio from visual studio code. I use the VS CODE and it seems available on linux, but I’ll check also Intellij IDEA.
Visual Studio is meant for C/C++/C#, IntelliJ is made for Java (as the name might suggest). JetBrains has IDEs for C (CLion) and C# (Rider) though. All JetBrains IDEs are available for Linux. Visual Studio isn’t, Visual Studio Code is. I recommend using an optimized version of Visual Studio Code called VSCodium.
For a beginner, Linux Mint is perfect
Mint for Mint then maybe the Debian Edition (LMDE) instead the the common one based on Ubuntu, which again is Debian just LTS.
Also, if OP is tired of Microsoft enshittification imagine him finding out Ubuntu’s company Canonical decided that apt command should sometimes install snap packages instead of deb binaries, because “reasons”(NVM lucky us at Mint there are sane people). Or that it tried to put ads in their OS even before Windows even tried.What? VS Code is available on Linux and that’s what they’re using
The post was edited
I have a native Linux version of Visual Studio Code on my Tumbleweed system and everything works fine so far for me
VS, not VS Code
Why anyone outside the Microsoft ecosystem would want to use Visual Studio though, idk
I know, I feel very bad for this, but I needed Github Copilot, because I’m too stupid to code on my own
I think you’re mixing up Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code. Visual Studio is a massively bloated IDE mostly used for .NET development, but supports other things too. It’s proprietary, massive, slow and a pain to work with, and doesn’t run on Linux afaik
Visual Studio Code, on the other hand, is an Electron app and therefore runs almost everywhere, and is (partly or totally, I’m not sure) open source. Nothing wrong with coding in VS Code, it’s a decent IDE
Telemetry, licensing and proprietary extensions in VS Code is the whole reason for VScodium to exist.
https://github.com/VSCodium/vscodiumTbf I think OP is also mixing up VS and VSCode because the dart/flutter recommended setup is all based on VSCode and VSCode extensions.
Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code is not the same thing at all 😂
And Microsoft really sucks at naming things. Windows 10 wasn’t the 10th Windows version, the Xbox One wasn’t the first Xbox, there are many more examples.
As a Dart developer myself you won’t have any problem with VS code and Dart. Actually, it’s a bit better than on Windows because it was originally not much of a windows centric system anyways
I’m at the point whe recommending distros fir new comers its Debian, Arch, Fedora and Linux Mint.
Debian is my go to. Stable, I love the apt package manager. Desktop environment is a bit irrelevant with recommendations because you can easily install any desktop environment or window manager. You will figure out what environment you like along the way. Installation is simple, you can do minimal installs as well and it’s what many big name distros are based on.
I really like Arch. Minimal, great package manager, AUR extends application availability even when you have flatpaks, snaps and app images and the repo. You can use the archinstall script these days so you don’t have to worry about installing the old-fashioned Arch way. It will also teach you what to do when updates fail because it’s a rolling release.
If none of those are appealing then I would advise Fedora. Great package manager, get newer packages if package versions are important for you and a solid distribution that is the upstream for Red Hat. It’s the best of both worlds of Debian and Arch in my opinion.
The last one is Linux Mint. I’ve found myself avoid recommening forks. This is my exception. I can’t say a lot because I haven’t used it much. But I’ve installed it 2x to different family members who never used Linux before and use it and love it. I did it because they are forks and I can give support because I’m familiar with what it’s based on and the high recommendation from the online community. It’s great for beginners and veterans alike from what I can tell from the online community. Great team of developers.
I would not recommend Arch for beginners. I like it, but it’s best for someone a bit familiar with Linux already. Yeah, the install is pretty simple now that Archinstall is a thing, but it’s not the method recommended in the Arch Wiki and if there’s something wrong with your install and you complain on the Arch Forum they might not be super helpful.
More generally, the mood on the Arch forum and Arch communities at large isn’t super beginner friendly, and thay’s understandable: In a distro meant to be user friendly and aimed at general user, if the user does what seems natural to them and the system break, the community will feel a responsibility towards them, because the system wasn’t stable and user-friendly enough. In a distro primarily aimed at power users and devs, if the user does what seems natural to them and the system breaks, then the user is a fool and should’ve read the wiki.
Because it is a very fast rolling release, some updates can break stuff. It doesn’t happen often, but it can happen at a bad time and be a big problem for someone who doesn’t know how to deal with it.
Debian is more stable, and easier if you go with a D.E, but you still have to make several choices during the install, which might be a bit complicated for a beginner who doesn’t know what any of these options mean… Tho of course, it’s possible to go with all the defaults and it’ll be alright.
But my prime recommendation would be Linux Mint.
I will not debate your thoughts on Arch though I personally have more problems on other distros. What I will say is that the EndeavourOS forums are pretty friendly. EOS is Arch for non-elitists.
Generally speaking, I have nothing to really argue against that…but I can only recommend based on how I have learned Linux. I have found myself only enjoying the base distros and not forks because no matter all the time I wasted distro hopping, I felt like I was using the same thing over and over again beyond the package manager or installer.
One thing I would add is, when I used Arch, I avoided the Arch forums…specifically because of what you mentioned. In one way, one should expect that of the Arch forums. If you choose to use a distro that forces you to build the system yourself, you should expect to fix your problems yourself. So the forums I found useless and never posted there. The fact there is even an Arch forum that offers supports, beyond the wiki, I find funny. I would just use the wiki and search engines.
What about popos?
I’ve never used PopOS. I’m not into forks and it is based on Ubuntu. This isn’t to say I think it’s bad. I just don’t recommend forks. If you want to try PopOS, go for it.
Try Linux Mint.
Is Linux Mint well adapted for touch screens?
I think I would go for GNOME if I were to use Linux with a touch screen. Then again, I’m using it anyway, so I’m probably biased.
I got a laptop with a touch screen for a young kid in my family, installed Fedora Workstation with its native Gnome desktop, and touch worked great without any tinkering.
Gnomes workflow is a big departure from windows, but with its gesture navigation on a trackpad, I think it’s a highly superior way to use a laptop. My desktop gets KDE Plasma, but if I had a laptop it would use gnome
Gnomes workflow is a big departure from windows, but with its gesture navigation on a trackpad, I think it’s a highly superior way to use a laptop. My desktop gets KDE Plasma, but if I had a laptop it would use gnome
+1, GNOME dumps the whole desktop and taskbar thing in favor of gestures and the overview. Once you get a feel for it I think it’s honestly a lot more usable than traditional taskbar and desktop icon GUIs.
Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.2 touch support works perfectly with my Asus T100 “tablet” (I lost the keyboard dock). Also, I specified the version because LM v21.2+ removed the traditional panel option (taskbar with labels), like what MS did to Win11 :(
Honestly anything shipping a MATE desktop edition would be good too. MATE is similar enough to windows that most people get it pretty quickly.
It doesn’t have as great of support as cinnamon
