Hello, friends I’ve been using linux for 6+ yrs by now, most of which was Arch and EndeavourOS One of my friends decided to drop windows for his new laptop which he is to buy in a month, and I wanna help him get around. For this reason I think to advise him to get some arch-based distro (since I h…

The latest Mint has (I believe) kernel 6.14, so it’s not that old. If you need newer than that, look into their edge iso.

What about a distro that holds their hand, like MX Linux, while still providing control? The documentation and help is right there in the menu and on first launch. Plus it comes with Timeshift in case the user makes a mistake.

MX is a very good choice. The default UI is less appealing to new Linux users, though.

Use a live iso to try on the new hardware. Mint/Zorin should be able to handle it w/o any problems.

In this case, I’d actually recommend the KDE AHS version. And if you’re helping them set it up, then you can give them a nice theme (from kvantum) to go with it. I too do not like MX Comfort, nor Greybird. :face_vomiting: You may also wanna give them the latest Nvidia driver during that setup. The…

@dbarronoss asked a similar question some time ago. See this thread: [image] Support script EndeavourOS pub I am toying with the idea of being brave enough to install Linux on a person’s new machine instead of loading them with Windows (which is all they’re ev…

I honestly think the recommendation to use things like Linux Mint for casual users is outdated thinking. Some of the newer immutable distros are simpler to learn and much harder to break. That being said, you have already identified that this user is the type that enjoys learning and technology so…

Just give them EOS! How could you go wrong? :laughing:

I would say it depends on the the type of person your friend is, which so far seems to be one who likes to learn. I personally started Linux as a beginner in June 2024, straight to EOS and then moved to Arch after 7 months, and still on Arch now and tinkered with OpenBSD. I haven’t had any issues a…

[image] dalto: I have said this many times over the years but “beginner” tells you almost nothing about a person and shouldn’t be a strong factor in choosing a distro. [image] ricklinux: Just give them EOS! How could you go wrong? :laughing: I agree. There is a very little chance that …

Advice to choose a distro for a friend

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SemLraug January 28, 2026, 4:27pm 13

@dbarronoss asked a similar question some time ago. See this thread:

Perhaps there’s some useful info in there as well for you.