Linux for Starters: Your Guide to Linux – Choose a Distro

Linux Links ^ | 7 May 2021 | Steve Emms

[ShadowAce]

This is a series that offers a gentle introduction to Linux for newcomers.

You’ve decided that you want to try Linux but are unsure how to proceed. You are confused by the many hundreds of Linux distributions (distros) available. Which distro should you try?

There is no ‘perfect distribution’ and there isn’t a magical answer to the question. It’s a decision which will depend on your requirements and personal preferences. The best way we can help is to focus on a few key considerations.

Your Hardware

Your hardware is an important factor when choosing a distro.

• Feature rich distros. Their recommended minimum system requirements are around a 2 GHz dual core processor, 4 GB of RAM, and 25GB of hard drive space.
• Lightweight distros uses lower memory and/or has less processor-speed requirements than a more “feature-rich” distro. Even machines with very limited amount of RAM (256MB or 512MB) can still offer a capable desktop environment.
• Niche distros for specialised hardware such as single-board computers (like the Raspberry Pi).

Beginner Friendly

We’re assuming that you have little or no experience of Linux. On this premise, we recommend that you choose a distro that’s beginner friendly. By beginner friendly, we mean distros that help with the following:

• User-friendly custom utilities which reduce the complexity of basic tasks. Things like an intuitive package manager (to install and uninstall software), simple backup and simple security measures are important.
• Provide software that fulfils the requirements of a typical user.
• Offer a simple desktop environment.
• Adopts a “point release” distribution model rather than a “rolling release”. We explain what these terms mean and the advantages of each distribution model on this page.
• Offer good quality official documentation and manuals.
• Has a large user support community. When using anything new, you may need some help. Having a well established community support on web forums or chat channels is an advantage.

Our Recommendations

Assuming you want a feature rich distro we recommend Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and elementary OS for beginners. They are “point release” distros.

Ubuntu is arguably the most popular distro with an official support line and a huge community. Its default desktop is GNOME, renowned for being efficient, stable, and reliable while remaining incredibly user-friendly.

Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu. It’s also very easy to use and takes a conservative approach to software updates.

elementary OS offers a gentle learning curve. Its Pantheon desktop environment is superb and wonderfully elegant. Being based on GNOME it pares down complexity without losing functionality.

Editions

Some distros offer different editions (sometimes known as spins and remixes some of which may be unofficial). These editions have different uses such as:

• Desktop – run a graphical desktop environment and software such as a web browser, office suite, email client and more.
• Server – for serving up websites, file shares, and containers.
• Other uses such as cloud computing and Internet of Things.

Point Release Distro v Rolling Release Distro

A point release distro puts out installation images under a regular schedule. Often this can be every 6 or 9 months. Each release is given a unique name. Between these major releases only security patches and updates are released, although specific applications may get more frequent updates such as Firefox, Chrome, and LibreOffice.

Pros of a Point Release Distro:

Stability – this distribution model has the opportunity for more end user testing of each release. Each release uses older, better tested software.

Compatibility – most hardware is supported. It’s fairly uncommon for new hardware not to be supported by the latest distro point release, although there can be issues with specific types of hardware found in laptops.

Convenience – you want to minimise disturbance from updates with less maintenance required. This may be an important factor depending on your skill set.

Upgrades – many point release distros offer an upgrade path from one point release to another without having to wipe the system and reinstall.

Possibility for Long Term Support (LTS) offering a greater period of support for a release. Efforts are made to stabilise the release early by significantly limiting the amount of new features, and avoiding structural changes as far as possible.

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A rolling release distro is continuously updated in all areas, including the kernel, and all software applications such as the desktop environment, multimedia, utilities, and development tools. The distribution of installation images serves only as a starting point for a new system.

Pros of a Rolling Release Distro:

Latest hardware support – this may be an important factor if you have a new computer (particularly laptops) that has specific hardware (such as touchpads, wireless network adapters and graphic display controllers) which are not recognized with older versions of the Linux kernel.

Software – offers the possibility of the most current versions of software. This may include programs which are generally not included in the periodic updates of a “point distro”. The latest versions may offer essential new features you need, fix bugs, improve security, and more.

Upgrade – often this process is painless and incremental although there’s the possibility of more maintenance required given that updates are more frequent.

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In the next article, we will walk you through installing a distro.

[ShadowAce]

[ShadowAce]

Ping for an answer to your question last week.

[ShadowAce]

DistroWatch is a website listing and tracking popularity / news of various distros as well. Worth a look if you haven't been there before.

[Mr. K]

THIS is why Linux (a superior operating system) is not the leader and Windows is.

1) Choose a Distro.

Explain that to Grandma who just wants to turn it on and see pictures of her grandchildren.

[ShadowAce]

Perhaps, but “Grandma” is not the target audience for an article like this.

[Flick Lives]

I said chose a "distro", not a "bistro"!

[Pollard]

Your mid article link is bad

You have
https://freerepublic.com/linux-starters-guide-linux-choose-distro/2/

When it should be
https://www.linuxlinks.com/linux-starters-guide-linux-choose-distro/2/

Seems like you did the same thing on your last FR thread based on a Linux article from this same website.

[Pollard]

Just install grandma’s system for her and use whatever distro you see fit. She probably wouldn’t be able to install it herself anyway.

[usconservative]

Ubuntu. Most compatible, easiest to install & use. So simple even a Windows Admin can do it.

[ShadowAce]

My bad. I copied the source code, and sometimes the source code uses relative links, rather than absolute links.

I do check it most times. I didn't check it this time.

[ByteMercenary]

oooooh - snap !

[usconservative]

Yeah, I should apologize to Windows Admins for that comment since I'm only on my second cup of coffee and still a bit ... "mean" this morning until I'm caffeinated up.

But I won't. :-) (I used to be a Windows Admin back in the early part of my career btw.)

[Pollard]

Assuming you want a feature rich distro we recommend Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and elementary OS for beginners. They are “point release” distros.

Ubuntu, Ubuntu and Ubuntu. LOL

Ubuntu and it's variants(Oh I hate that word now) really are the best for the general public. Anything else is for complete nerds and if you try to get help, they turn into very nasty little nerds.

I've looked at all the non Ubuntu lightweight distros recently and they're all weird in some way. Linux Lite isn't half bad. Peppermint OS also. The rest are for the fore mentioned nerds.

Xubunt & Lubuntu are pretty lightweight yet main stream enough to have plenty of usage, plus, general Ubuntu support works for most things. You can type a question into duckduckgo and half the time, the answer will show in a block to the right of the general results. That block will be based on an answer from stackexchange or askubuntu

[SecondAmendment]

Raspian :) ....

[ShadowAce]

heh—I’ve got a couple of Pis sitting on my desk, next to my laptop.

[PreciousLiberty]

“Explain that to Grandma who just wants to turn it on and see pictures of her grandchildren.”

Grandma should just get a Mac, which is also a Unixlike operating system. Apple is excellent at limiting excess choice (including some things they should have like an affordable user-serviceable tower).

Windows is a superior gaming environment, and that’s about it. Even that is changing fast, Linux is about 75% of the way there, and even Apple is making progress. If you’re willing to do the setup, Linux is actually better for some games. With dual boot, you can use the best tool for the job.

For new users, I recommend Ubuntu as a distribution. It’s got good ease of use, allows proprietary drivers, and is fine for serious work. It’s the most popular Linux distro among software developers, and is probably the most popular overall for non-server use. Red Hat has its niche on servers by providing reliability, security and stability as value adds.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Imho the idea of “update pain” is an historical concept but not really relevant any more. Used to be you updated your computer and something that used to work stopped working or there was some dependency hell to go untangle. Nowadays I just don’t see it. Everything just works. Am on Fedora 34 at home and Ubuntu 18.04 at work. No problems to report. Upgrades are not an issue but I think articles like tbis have not caught up to this reality.

[Dutch Boy]

I whole heartedly agree. I just bought a mini PC and installed Ubuntu on it about a week ago. I’m hooked. When my laptop goes, I will never get a new home computer and run Windows again. For the things I run, a Celeron based mini PC on Ubuntu is running about as fast as my i7 on Windows 10. The Mini PC I bought was only about $220 and has more connectivity options than my laptop.

I am currently finding Linux alternatives to everything I do on Windows. I am very close to succeeding. Some of the Linux alternatives are considerably faster than my original Windows programs.

[Dr. Sivana]

Ubuntu. Most compatible, easiest to install & use.

My understanding is that Google provides funding /support for Ubuntu. If I go full-time Linux I want Google out of there.