[ShadowAce]

[Jamestown1630]

Our Linux Mint works almost the same as Windows. The minor differences are easy to adapt to.

[butlerweave]

Watch some of those Youtube videos of people talking about and reviewing Linux

[BipolarBob]

Not every Linux user became one out of pure curiosity, love of technology, or belief in the open-source philosophy.

I sure didn't. Windows slows down over time. So slow you wonder if you have a virus at times. Clearing the cache,virus scans etc, etc every two months gets old and it's never fast. I'm using Zorin. It's okay and I'm a beginner. I just do simple stuff. Nothing techy. But it's as fast now as when it was installed so that's a big plus for me.

[AndyTheBear]

People who think Linux is not really good for non pros are actually right I think. The typical user isn’t really using the operating system per se, they use applications that run on it. Windows is what consumer applications are written for. And there is usually a mac version for those in the apple cult. Linux is a great system for running server applications and dominates the cloud. Its just not so much a client/consumer os.

[Pollard]

Can’t stand Gnome and Ubuntu just made the switch to it. Not very customizable, even with Gnome Tweaks tool. I’m running Kubuntu with the KDE Plasma desktop but don’t really run many KDE apps. Plasma is fast and you can make your desktop look however you want.

[isthisnickcool]

In the early 1990’s on a newsgroup:

Me: We are using SCO, you say you are working on a unix variant?

Linus: Yea.

Me: What’s the cost?

Linus: Free.

Me: I’m in.

The rest of the story would take too long to tell. Suffice to say that LeeeeNuxxx (as he said it) has been very very good to me.

[rellic]

Dual boot Ubuntu for modern machines.
Dual boot mint for older machines.
I Despise Windows.
But I have a computer science degree
and have 6 computers in my home.
So I’m not your run of the mill user.

[Varmint Al]

I have 18 people who have switched from Windows over to Linux Mint Cinnamon. All of them were having problems with Windows and were very frustrated. The Linux Mint Cinnamon I installed on their desktop or laptop was fully configured with all the necessary software so they could continue to do all the things like, browse the Internet, read email with/without Thunderbird, and read/write documents. They could view movies, listen to music, view all their pictures easily. Only one person out of 19, finally went back to Windows because he was too used to the Windows hassle. However, none of them wasted time playing useless games. Even though games can be played on Linux Mint. I don’t play any games. I have better use for my time, like Ham Radio and helping people break the bonds with Windows.

Good Hunting... from Varmint Al

[gracefullyparanoid]

I don’t think I could disagree with this author more. Arch linux? For a linux beginner? Only if you hate your life. If you have to use Arch, then Manjaro for beginners. Debian for beginners? Not unless you want them to back to Windoze.

Kubuntu or Linux Mint are the easiest to transition from Windoze. Maybe ElementaryOS.

[backwoods-engineer]

I disagree with his choices, but I appreciate you posting the article.

I had my wife (a Windows user from the time of Win3.1 onward) using Ubuntu Linux for a year. If she hadn't started using a craft vinyl cutting machine requiring the use of Windows-only closed-source software, she wouldn't have gone back.

[M Kehoe]

Hi.

I’m a neophyte.

What hardware platform would you load the Linux distros on?

For a laptop with doing every day stuff to mining Bitcoin?

From memory and hard drives to graphics and accessories.

Thanks.

5.56mm

[tanstaafl.72555]

I have several machines running linux here at the homestead. THey are split between Mint (KDE Plasma) and MX 21 (also Plasma). I really like the slick interface of KDE, and those two are just the distros I have the most familiarity with. I have one Win 11 box and the only reason I have it is b/c of the trading interface of Schwab. However, they bot out TD Ameritrade, and the ThinkorSwim interface works pretty well in Linux, so I can’t see keeping it.