The best Linux distro for newbies and average users is EndeavourOS

makes a “Beginners Distro” somthing to the hardware, so it becomes proof against vandalizing machine stormers fighting for a living?

Interesting thought

:wink:

I think it is basically wrong to say Distro XY is not for you because you don’t know enough. I think this statement comes mainly from forum members annoyed by beginner questions. I can understand that, no thing.

A forum is essential for this, but can rarely turn a newbie into an expert. Only the newbie himself can do that, because the effort would be simply too much for those helping. A forum should be seen as a help for self-help and not as an omnipresent problem solver.

Learning by doing is the name of the game.

Whether EOS/Arch is suitable for newbies is therefore not so much decided by the distro itself, but by the newbie himself.
If you expect everything to be done for you, everything always works by itself and you are not prepared to learn bit by bit, then you are rather out of place.
For me, this is what made it so appealing. To learn how Linux works and to develop from an all-around protected Win or Mint user to a user who is able to set up his system the way he likes it.

Everything in life has its price, one must always die a death. If I don’t want to cook myself, I have to live with convenience products or fast food and if you are not willing to take the path of learning, you have to take Win or Mint and live with the disadvantages.

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I have given grandma Arch she loves it! :laughing:

grandma-arch

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Best distro all depends on the end user, some people need a gui others are quite capable and sometimes prefer the terminal over a gui. It really depends on what the end user is comfortable with

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Back in my earlier days I used to be on the Ubuntu forums a LOT (once I had traded up from TAMU) - and I liked helping new users. It was so nice to find someone that actually knew less than I did! I had ‘canned’ step-by-step instructions for the usual suspects (mainly ATI video cards and multi-booting/partitioning) and was happy if I beat the other hangers-out to the newbie! Back then, Ubuntu had a lot of good energy - somewhat like here!

The amazing thing about running EnOS is how stable it really is, especially once you have it ‘right’ once - so anyone can keep it running with reference to the forum here - newbie or not. We may not hold their hand, but we have their back!

Just my take on it now…

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This. People who want a turnkey system won’t like Endeavour because of how minimal the installation is. OTOH, if you want to have a system that only has exactly what you want installed, it’s great.

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Ah - the Arch dream… the only problem with that is that one keeps trying things, and getting to try out (and forgetting them for while) and forgetting what you installed exactly and… you up with some BLOAT! Somehow my package count is:
Repos 1384
AUR 28

and on my Arch build I am under 1000 repo entries (970?) - and I can hardly tell what’s different between them in use!

A great theory - but requires dedication! And the ability to not have all the tools you can think of already handy for use and be OK with that.

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The best thing EndeavourOS provides over vanilla Arch is this forum. This is what makes it a great newbie distro. The OS itself is fantastic (it’s basically just Arch, so of course it is!), but a great community is what makes it so much better for newbies than any similar distro.

But, like I said above, it’s not for everyone. It’s not for newbies who have no desire to learn and tailor their OS to their needs.

It’s really not about how capable the user is, but it’s all about the user’s mindset. A newbie who knows almost nothing can still have a great time on EndeavourOS if he or she has the curiosity and patience necessary to become comfortable with it. It’s an endeavour, and some people might find it rewarding, some may not.

Using the shell in the terminal is not difficult at all, you just type in commands and the computer does exactly what you tell it. It couldn’t be easier, idiots do it all the time. It’s just requires a certain mindset that is getting rarer and rarer these days, as people expect instant gratification and lack creativity and curiosity…

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Kresimir,

Hear, hear!

That sums up my feelings about EndeavourOS perfectly. Well said.
I cannot stand the attitude of the majority on the Arch Linux forum.

I have used umpteen distros over the years and I am currently running Linux Mint MATE on my desktop PC.
LM is easy to live with and is ideal for someone coming directly from Windows.

I run EndeavourOS on my laptops and when my LM needs upgrading I will probably switch to EndeavourOS exclusively.
I love the fact that you only need to install it once and then just keep it updated.

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Based on my experience using several known and user-friendly distributions, I find EndeavourOS much easier to use than I intended before. Of course, you also need to know the philosophy of how Linux works with so-called easy-to-use distributions.

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for me it just feels like Mint is not right for me…
I don’t know what’s so beginner friendly when it takes 10 min to open firefox and the fan gives everything but the temperature is often around 70°C just because you have firefox, keepassxc and yubiouth-desktop open in one window. and when I want to use the package manager and it tells me that it’s being used by another instance, I ask myself: do I have windows installed?

I’ll ask:
For whom is the perfect beginner distribution? really perfect? Is it perfect for the new user or for the one who really knows and takes care of the beginner? And which distro is suitable for the newbie who takes care of himself with the help of the forum?
as long as I can do what I want or need to do from EndeavourOS or Arco, I will do it.

yea remember these times too :older_adult: (also never was a member affair for me )

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tiacati,

No need to get your knickers in a twist.

If you were to ask a million Linux users which distro they would recommend for a beginner, I suspect they would come up with a list very similar to that in the link below.
I am pretty confident that the top two would be Ubuntu and Linux Mint.

Extract from above:
Linux Mint is one of the most popular Linux distributions around. Over the years, it has grown to become one of the chief competitors of Ubuntu, its parent operating system. It’s known to provide one of the most polished and complete desktop experiences to a beginner. Linux Mint will definitely be at the top of our lists if someone asks us to recommend the best Linux distro for beginners.

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I always forget Zorin OS, I’ve never tried it, but I often hear how great it is for newbies.

The problem with most of these lists is that they are more about generating ad revenue than actually helping people.

The reality is that saying which distro is “best” for beginners is a fundamentally flawed concept to begin with and one of the reasons that these discussions never go anywhere productive.

This is because there are many different types of beginners with completely different needs and preferences.

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While this is 100% true, and there is no point in arguing against it, it would be false to conclude from this fact that there is no difference at all in difficulty between various distros, and that every one is equally suitable for beginners. There certainly are distros which stand out from the rest as being good for beginners, even though there is no such thing as a perfect distro for everyone (and for every hardware).

MX-Linux I hear very often too and Solaris, even then it seems that there are other troubles which i can’t assess.

Please don’t missunderstand me, I don’t want to make Mint bad.
but I think it should not be soo much labeled as THE BEGINNER DISTRO.
Its a Distro worth to try…like many others…

I just say: when you are an absolute beginner and you have an OS which is labeled user friendly but it don’t fits proberly to your hardware and you have an OS which fits much better to your hardware but its not labeled user-friendly or beginner friendly, than its the one which makes fewer problems the one which is more User friendly to this particular user.
And its also a question in which circumstances you are and yes what typ of human are you and maybe in which phase of your living are you? 15 years ago I had another ruler to make my decisions than today…
I think it is to often to easy said that somebody new should use Mint. Well I am glad I tried it, and now I decided for myself it is not the right thing. When I see young people administrating the systems for there mothers - and Grannies! then often they know the troubles which can happen in Mint and bay the proper hardware to avoid these troubles. And that’s cool and all fine.
but there are people like me, which bought their hardware the way what was available in the lokal supermarket and decide after that to drop windows and to install Linux instead…
and I think as a beginner you should not get nailed to a special distribution.
And my decision to use EndeavourOS is not because I was so much a fan of the colours…

I think to find the right Distro you must spend much time and interest to learn. When you really just want to use something you will use that what others decided its enough for you. But don’t ask me which Distro this should be, but there are more than just Mint.

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I think you mean…Solus. :wink:

Solaris is probably not the best choice for beginners…

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It is certainly true that some distros are not suited for most beginners. For example, my first thought for a beginner wouldn’t be Source Mage.

On the other hand, if we focused on some distros that are suitable, the conversation becomes harder. Consider some of the different types of beginners that come to Linux:

  • People with limited exposure to technology in general. i.e. grandma
  • People who have experience working with non-Linux technology who see their computer as a tool that should “Just work”
  • Software developers that see Linux as a development platform
  • Technology enthusiasts coming to Linux for the first time
  • Students
  • IT professionals
  • Gamers
  • Individuals looking for more Privacy
  • FOSS supporters
  • Many more…

For example:

  • Is Linux Mint a better beginner choice than Fedora?
  • Is EndeavourOS a better choice than Solus?
  • Is OpenSuse a better choice than PopOS?

The answer to all of those is “it depends”

  • How do they feel about proprietary software?
  • How interested/capable are they in learning?
  • Do they want to learn?
  • What is their background/experience?
  • What kind of hardware do they need support?
  • What software do they need to use?
  • What is the primary purpose for their PC use?
  • Are they interested in joining a community?
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