So, I'm a noob and I prefer... Debian?
Yeah, I'm just another one of those who has recently switched to Linux. And, as many, what I did was to go for a distro catered for beginners. I chose Ubuntu at first because I had briefly used it like eleven years ago at high school as part of computer class, and actually liked it back then, and, all in all, I do like Ubuntu's current GNOME adaption.
However, I decided after a few days to move on to a community-based distro as it aligns more with my way of thinking (as well as for a couple of issues which were Ubuntu/GNOME related), and the obvious choice, having tried Ubuntu, was Mint. And I do like Mint, even more than Ubuntu; I especially like Mint's adaption of the Xfce DE and I would definitely use it if I had a low-powered computer.
What didn't quite convince me, though, was the limited DE selection available. While learning about all the Linux stuff I came to know about desktops, and I felt like, if I wanted to ever use a different one, yes, it could be installed the hard way, but I would rather have a distro that can be installed with my desired desktop by default, and the one that got my attention was KDE.
And that's how I've ended up on Debian. Yeah, not your usual recommendation for beginners but... I don't see anything bad about it? Like, yeah, I have Nvidia, but I honestly wouldn't mind going through the hassle of installing the GPU's driver through the terminal (and I haven't even bothered yet cause I don't really game much anymore). But, apart from that, I'm delighted with what I see. I could've gone with Fedora, which was my next choice, but I actually like Debian's slow update cycle, as I don't want to be bothered often with setting up my system again. I want something as close as "set it and forget it" as possible. Plus, it is also the one I have felt the most at ease with thanks to KDE indeed.
So that's my story! It's been an intense few days of learning, installing, deleting, and reinstalling OSes on my system, but I now feel at ease and will be installing my favourite programmes or searching alternatives for the ones I used on Windows.
Thank you for reading and have a nice evening!
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Maiq
in reply to chris14 • • •One of my favorite things about linux is the freedom to choose. There is not a perfect one size fits all starterpack. Everyone has different needs and expectations which is why the starter distro questions have so many different answers. Those answers aren't wrong as they meet the needs from the presenters point of view.
Debain is a great choice. Nothing wrong with debain. I use it for my media server.
Welcome to your linux journey.
ChristchurchAsshole
in reply to chris14 • • •Debian, not a bad idea but where I live I have shared wireless only, so I'd have to install the wireless drivers manually using my phone to search for advice. Not even sure how that'd go. Easier if I had ethernet.
I like the idea of fewer updates and fewer bugs.
Snot Flickerman
in reply to chris14 • • •Linux in general is the wise choice, no matter the distribution.
HubertManne
in reply to chris14 • • •some_guy
in reply to chris14 • • •BlueSquid0741
in reply to chris14 • • •atzanteol
in reply to chris14 • • •'sudo apt install kde-full' is "the hard way"?
Da Oeuf
in reply to chris14 • • •Great choice. And if you do ever find yourself in a hurry for the latest version of something, there is flatpak and appimage.
It is a wonderful time to be a Linux user.
Ghostie
in reply to chris14 • • •morto
in reply to chris14 • • •That's one of debian's strengths and an often overlooked feature that I believe many people would love as well. I even had a professor migrating from windows to debian simply because he's, in his words: "tired of things changing all the time without my permission. I want a system that stays the same for as long as possible and barely changes". Debian was like a natural choice for him. I thought he would be asking me for help in the transition, but he said he's "ok and learning by searching on the internet", and that he's "investing some time on earning it, because the guarantee of minimal changes makes the it an investment, instead of a waste of time".
timmytbt
in reply to chris14 • • •sepi
in reply to chris14 • • •I started with Debian as a noob many years ago. Still using it. It's good. I distro-hopped a bit in my first few years but ended up with Debian. Now I've a mix of Ubuntu (which in my mind is debian), Debian and raspbian.
There's other distros that are good too, this is just what worked for me.