I daily drove Linux for about 6 years and finally managed to convince some of my family members to try it!
However, I realized I don’t have a lot of ideas about beginner distros. I have some requirements that led me to some decisions, but there doesn’t seem to be a fit-all option:
- Minimal maintenance -> Debian-based (stable release)
- High compatibility -> Debian-based (.deb seems more convenient than say, AUR)
- Familiarity -> KDE Plasma (looks like Windows, very customizable)
It’s for a Thinkpad X1. The main purpose is going to be academics.
All of that points to Kubuntu, but I worry about the Canonical Snap store stuff.
Everyone recommends Linux Mint for starters, but it doesn’t come with a KDE Plasma flavour. I know I can install it myself, but the integration is gonna be bad and they’re gonna bug me a lot.
I use Endeavour OS personally, so I’m somewhat familiar with Arch-based system. I guess .debs can be installed with debtap, but that feels like a whole another hacky solution. I have done university courses with my Endeavour OS laptop and I know quite a bit of software comes in .deb but not AUR.
What should I pick for them? And should I get more input from them? If so, what should I ask about?
I’ve been there. My mom is not able to do anything. All distros I tried broke at some point. A sound issue or a WiFi issue, easily solvable with one command line but totally impossible for my mom to even do it when I explained. I ended up installing an immutable distro, Bazzite. It has been 2 years, 0 issue. It’s the longest ever. So my recommendation for noobs is to go immutable. They don’t need to tweek the system anyway.
I often have this conversation with the people I do Linux support with. We either go for Debian, which can be a bit tricky to install on some machines or Fedora/OpenSUSE with KDE Plasma. Since you want an Ubuntu based system, maybe check out MX Linux, but be aware, that it needs manual migration between major versions (https://mxlinux.org/migration/). Maybe also have a look at this list: https://distrowatch.com/search.php?desktop=KDE+Plasma#simple
Why not just use Debian + KDE then? Keep it simple.
I second this advice.
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Debian as a base, flatpaks/nix for anything new or shiny.
For the most part this confines anything that might break to your regular user account (so you’re even less likely to break the system).
I would still recommend Linux Mint based on your requirements. Cinnamon looks close enough to Windows to make the lack of KDE Plasma a non-issue.
Fedora KDE should fit the bill, I think.
I’ve never used Fedora. I guess it can be a good learning opportunity but that also means I can’t provide fast solutions based on my experience. I’ll look into it though.
Don’t think too much about it. There’s little reason not to try Kubuntu even with snaps. If it starts to bother you, backing up your files is simple then you can redeploy them on another distro. I’ve used Ubuntu for a couple years now with no issues other than some audio funkiness. But as I understand, that’s just linux in general sometimes and I fixed it in like 20 minutes.
The sooner you stop being determined to get 100 concensus opinions from “experts” and instead just roll with what features suit you and form your own opinion, the happier you’ll be. Snap has never once got in my way and the moment it does, I’ll figure out a solution or jump ship if it’s a big enough issue. The same way I did with Windows, Reddit, Twitter, toilets, disposable napkins, etc.
Toilets? Do you poo in the garden? Otherwise good advice!
Good advice actually. They likely won’t care about this and if they do, I can always change it.
If you’re worried about them bugging you, it might happen regardless.
Cinnamon is fine enough for a “fire and forget” installation, and comes with user friendly enough guardrails. Part of the ease of use is due to Cinnamon based settings.
If you’re hellbent on KDE for them, why not just install KDE, and uninstall cinnamon? Whichever KDE flavoured OS you choose is going to have the KDE settings and get them to reach out to you if they don’t get it.
You might also be able to set up a login manager that lets you choose the UI, and just leave both on there. Try setting it up like that on Gnome Boxes and see if they can manage either UI or if you can manage to set it up that way.
I’m aware I will be bugged, just hopefully not as much. KDE is not a must, I just have a general good time using the DE, and I believe they would like it too. My main worries about replacing the DE myself is that the integration will not be as great and there can be more annoying stuff coming out of that.
just stick to LMDE and cinnamon.
What you want is an immutable OS.
My recommendation covers #1 partially and #3: https://fedoraproject.org/atomic-desktops/kinoite/manjaro kde, it tells you when you need to update, and all you do is push a button. Most users should be able to get everything they need from official, or flatpak if need be. I don’t use the AUR at all.
mint is such a weird common recommendation
debian is annoying for no good reason
ubuntu is for when you want linux to go down the windows path
LFS + twm FTW.
You seem to have a good sense of what disros are out there. I think any beginner friendly distro with wherever user friendly DE it comes with will probably be fine.
I’d say maybe stick with a deb or rpm one which most are anyway, for the compatibility point you already made. If you/they need something that’s otherwise not available in your distro’s repos, there’s probably already packages or third party repos available.
But the ask is a recommendation. I find myself generally recommending Fedora, despite not having used it myself for years. It’s easy to install, you can choose your DE, it’s stable, has a good release cadence, and is easy to upgrade and maintain.
At the cost of a little disk space, you can install KDE,gnome,i3,etc, and they can try each.
Is this user far away, and will they need support?
I live with them, so I can always provide tech support, though I believe they possess the ability to problem-solve themselves too (if they try). I can try to get multiple DEs on it, but from my experience multiple DEs often pull in their own software and the application launcher starts to get overwhelming.
