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Wait... I'm just about to switch over to Linux on a laptop and was going to use Ubuntu. This looks kind of cursed though?
Tbf, Unbuntu works, but they're ran by a company which has made some questionable choices. You can still go with it if you don't care too much, it has the advantages of being user friendly and well documented.
If you'd rather not, but you want something not too far and equally easy, you can go with Linux Mint, which is based on Ubuntu but disables snaps. They also offer differently choices of desktop environments, the default being Cinnamon (which looks a bit more like windows), and another being Mate, which is closer to Gnome.
They also have a "Debian Edition", which aims to stop being dependant on Ubuntu and may or may not replace the default edition someday, but so far it's not the one they recommend for new users.
Switching to Ubuntu is way, way better than staying on Windows.
That being said, Ubuntu is maintained by the Canonical company, and they have made some really sus decisions in the past. Things like putting Amazon ads in the application launcher and then trying to gaslight people when the inevitable backlash arrived.
The meme above refers to Canonical's own Snap packaging format (think of it like UWP/Microsoft Store apps vs. "regular" Win32 apps), and the way they're pushing for its adoption. Snap is installed by default on Ubuntu and official Ubuntu flavors. You can uninstall it manually, but Canonical has modified the APT package manager so that when an application is available as a Snap package, it automatically installs the Snap back-end and the application as a Snap package without notifying the user (instead of installing the
.deb-packaged applications, which is what happens on all other distributions that use APT). Canonical recently also ordered that official Ubuntu flavors (which are maintained by independent groups) can't include Flatpak, a universal packaging format that directly competes with Snap, in their default installations.You could try out Linux Mint¹, they're Ubuntu based and disable Snap by default².
Linux mint has no GNOME or KDE variant, so while they fix many Ubuntu issues, they are still on XOrg.
So? There's nothing preventing someone from installing either, and they're adding Wayland support to Cinnamon.
I did just that when I first switched to Linux, I installed KDE Neon on Linux Mint. And it broke everything. And when I went to forums to ask for help everyone yelled at me. So maybe don't recommend installing KDE on Linux Mint.
True one can install it on Mint. But at that level, just
- install Kubuntu
- add timeshift
- run unsnap (removes snap, installs flatpak and flathub, installs apps as flatpaks)
- add the new official deb repo for Firefox
- remove a possibly installed Firefox Flatpak (has missing sandboxing) and install with apt
While this is not that hard to do if you're used to linux, I would not reccommend this to someone who is switching from windows.
Yeah probably. Installing Mint and GNOME or Plasma on there will be waay easier.
Use flatpak
Also how do you know snap will stay removed? I wouldn't be surprised if it magically came back. Might as well use something that's a little more respectful of your rights. Pop OS or Fedora seem like good choices if you just want gnome wayland. If you want KDE go for Fedora KDE
I moved to Fedora kde. Smaller, newer packages(kde 6), and wayland updated.
There is no reason to fight Ubuntu, just pick something that is not against your priorties. I came from Windows 10 and there was a lot of fighting for respecting user choice.
I would never use dnf Fedora again, it is an unstable mess.
I am on Kinoite since a year or more? Works great. Fedoras Packages are awesome, stable and often better than Uwuntu or OpenSUS
But dnf upgrades simply were extremely unreliable.
It doesnt matter how your distro looks, thats the desktop.
It matters how it backups, upgrades, recovers.
Use timeshift on your brtf partions. Also dnf5 is soon coming and going to be default.
So far no problem at all for me. It is also pretty fast to reinstall if needed.
- install Kubuntu
Or even better, install KDE Neon. Same as Kubuntu, but with less bloat and the latest KDE Plasma.
Haha no, not even KDE devs use it.
I am on Fedora Kinoite and happy. But this was about Ubuntu, and Fedora simply serves a different use case. Kubuntu and KDE Neon are both Ubuntu LTS.
It is a work in progress. Also I don't think it is going to matter that much for most people. Worse case you can install gnome on Linux Mint.
It's not as bad as it looks, especially if you aren't hardcore, but for long-term linux users it's not great.
Debian has become what Ubuntu wanted to be: An easy, clean distribution that basically just works, which is a major reversal.
Also consider fedora.
But don't be worried about Ubuntu, it's still completely usable.
Just install something else like Linux Mint or Pop OS. Ubuntu doesn't seem to want to respect your rights as a user. You do one thing and the sneakily do something else. Its a bit like how Microsoft makes Edge the default after an update.
Pick whatever looks best. It's not a big of a deal as we make it out to be.
Fedora KDE is also an awesome choice though if you must choose something else.
Ubuntu's packet manager Apt was already kind of awful in many ways, especially with its PPA hell. But them adding Snap packages somehow managed to make them reach even new levels of awful.
Download the live disc images of Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, Arch blah blah etc etc etc.
Distrowatch.com is a great resource.
Take them for a test drive before you commit.
If this is your 1st forlay into Linux and you just wanna ride, do yourself a favor and install Mint. It works, and it's a great way to get into it easily and painlessly and operates (mostly) how you would expect it to coming from another OS.
Welcome
Switch to Linux but you have major paradigm you need to pick. Do you want your computer to be bleeding edge but it be a hobby? Or do you want slightly older and rock solid? Or do you have an enterprise support contract? You only pick Ubuntu/RHEL if you have the last one.
KDE Neon or EndeavorOS are also options, depending on whats important to you in a distro. I recommend getting a live usb so you can boot into linux and try it before installing the whole system.
Can't recommend EOS. Awful community when something breaks. Definitely not something for people coming from Windows.
Awful community? Its Arch, which is regarded as having one of the most comprehensive guides and as long as you find someone willing to not be a dick, the community is great!
I'm specifically talking about the EOS forum, which was just dicks throwing insults towards me having a support request and the admins consequently closing the thread and hiding it, telling me to make a new one if I still need support.
Why the hell you on EOS forum? Never looked at it, didn't realize it was a cesspool. But like, no ones forcing you to use that shitty forum? I doubt most EOS users even bother to look at it.
Because Arch users would've shunned me for asking for support when I don't use literal Arch.
True lmao
I recommend LMDE nowadays, but it doesn't really matter.
Ignore the noise and go with Ubuntu LTS. When you get comfortable with that, you could try Debian.
You could play it backwards too. Try Debian, if you can't get it to do what you want, wipe and do Ubuntu LTS. But I do not recommend this path if you have no idea what you're doing. People underestimate how difficult it is to do simple things when you don't know how to, no matter how trivial.
I would suggest not judging distros by what the online community says.
Install Ubuntu and see whether you encounter any issues. If not, who cares about what some meme says.
Install cachyos
Nah, this is just the same "hivemind hates thing" leaking over from Reddit. It's not that different to the systemd hate. There's a core of a point, but if a small fraction of the energy spent on the daily Two Minutes Hate were redirected towards fixing the things those folks don't like, they wouldn't have any molehills to treat as mountains.
