but i woud like debian
Could you elaborate on this? I'm just curious.
yala
joined 7 months ago
Vast swathes of user interfaces are non-intuitive to the point of new users not knowing that options exist.
Yeah, because they simply don't care (enough) (yet). Operating systems are mostly just portals/platforms for internet/mail/games/office or what have you. As long as the desired app/program/software works as needed, you won't see anyone budge about it.
I would love it if people cared more, but they simply don't (understandably so). Unfortunately, the easiest (or simply least cumbersome) way always thrives. Fear of learning something new or change even terrorizes the Linux space; e.g. systemd, Wayland, atomic/composable/immutable etc.
Heck, most of us don't read instruction manuals etc. Is it bad behavior? Sure, I guess. But should this prevent us from approaching this problem more pragmatically?
Are there any good resources for helping someone getting into Linux?
Do we feel the need to provide resources when one makes the switch from Android to iOS or vice versa? Or how about Windows to macOS or vice versa? Exactly, we don't. Don't get me wrong; I'm with you on the fact that those platforms (by virtue of their deals with vendors) are able to provide more streamlined experiences. However, I'd argue we've finally reached a critical level of 'polish' that should enable your average Joe to engage with Linux without hell breaking loose. The only questions that remain are; Which distro to recommend? AND What further advice do we give them?
The question of which distro is very, very important; first impression and all that*. I'd argue that a whole bunch of distros simply are not suited. (Almost) all of the independent (upstream) distros (so that would be Arch, Debian, Fedora and openSUSE) know who their audiences are and see (understandably so) absolutely no reason to change their respective installations to be a lot more cumbersome for the sake of improving the experiences of a couple of lost newbies. And I haven't even mentioned how some of them outright can't even deal with some particular issues that involve proprietary blobs/drivers and what not due to fear of court. Furthermore, our desired distro has to be ridiculously popular, function very reminiscent to other popular operating systems and be very predictable. Hence, it's unsurprising that we find in this spot our standard distros for newbs: Linux Mint, Pop!_OS and Zorin OS. Between these, ultimately, I believe the impact of their respective desktop environment and/or UX on the (new) user should be the deciding factor. Beyond those, the (opinionated) images provided by Universal Blue are excellent. The exclusion of Ubuntu (or any of its flavors) is due to its conundrum/dilemma with Snaps and how they've been dealing with the issues that users are having. Don't get me wrong; I'm aware that some users don't experience any issues. However, often enough, they tend to make life a lot more difficult.
As for the advice we give them; they should regard it as more similar to their phones. They don't install random stuff found on the internet on their phones, right? So, they should not do so on Linux either. Furthermore, the included Software Store is their refuge whenever they need software that's not already readily available on their systems. Finally, in case they can't find something in there, they should refer to https://alternativeto.net/.
What works best for gaming nowadays?
Depends on your system/setup. Though, you should be able to get it to work on most distros (eventually). Consider checking out https://linux-hardware.org/ to see which distros are known to work for your new laptop. Personally, I'm inclined to believe that Bazzite is the most hands-free solution for most people. However, other good options include Linux Mint and Pop!_OS.
Is manjaro good for that?
I really wonder where newcomers get to know about Manjaro 😜. Manjaro does a bunch of good stuff and has in the past been great for providing a platform by which Arch Linux (Manjaro is based on Arch) could be (relatively) easily consumed. However, Manjaro has since tarnished its own branding (see Manjarno). Hence, I find it hard to recommend it ever since.
I’ll also do some book keeping, writing et cetera but I don’t think it’s much to worry about.
You should be fine unless you need specific software (that's not available on Linux) to do those things on. For most software there are decent alternatives; https://alternativeto.net/ might be a helpful resource in that regard.
I also hope to use my Valve Index on it.
Unfortunately, I don't have any experiences on that. Therefore I abstain from giving any further comments. Wish ya good luck with that though!
Thank you for answering! 'Stability' as in "less inclined to change" does indeed better apply to the standard Debian installation than to either of Fedora or Ubuntu. However, Fedora derivatives like AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux offer similar stability and so does Ubuntu LTS. So, while it does potentially explain why OP may have preferred Debian, it does not (IMO) by itself make a strong case.