A friend might let me install Linux on his secondary laptop he uses for university. He’s not a tinkerer and wants something that just works.
Linux Mint is known for being very user-friendly and stable. Also easy to get help online.
However, in my opinion Mint seems rather outdated, both with its Windows-like workflow, default icons and look and also Xorg. When I tried it I had some screen stuttering I couldn’t resolve, probably due to Xorg.
Instead, Fedora with GNOME is very elegant and always uses the newest technologies. It feels and looks actually nice and not outdated. But I’d have to install media codecs via terminal first which suggests that Fedora is for experienced users. Also university wifi eduroam doesn’t work on Fedora for me because legacy TLS connection is not supported in Fedora (at least I couldn’t get it to work). I’m at a different uni than him tho, so it might work there. In general, less help on the web for Fedora than Mint.
What do you think? (Btw, KDE is too convoluted in my opinion. Manjaro too, it breaks too often. I will not consider it.)
EDIT: From what I’ve gathered so far, I should probably install Mint. He can try Fedora with a live usb or on my laptop. If he prefers that then I can warn him that this may be less stable and ask what he wants.
I’ve only tried Ubuntu-based Mint, but LMDE is more future-proof so it will probably be that.
Mint.
You’re working to his requirements, not yours.
Mint is like 99% plug and play on most laptops, so I’d recommend they go that route.
Fedora is not for beginners.
Mint is.
I could go into more detail, but I’ll leave it there.
Mint has very nice tooling but its a weird Ubuntu derivate. One day a specific software doesnt install, or you have an XOrg problem that will never be fixed, or standard updates simply break something, and then…
Mint is nice and easy to get going, but its outdated a lot, and uses a Distro model that I dont like to install on random laptops that are never updated.
So you’re a power user? Case in point, you’d be better for Fedora.
Also my second distro was mint, after 3+ years of the old hdd’s non-use, I pulled it out last year when my install of some OS broke, updated it to zero issues (I was curious), used the software for a bit, all was good.
3 years without an update to zero issues.
Haven’t seen any issue with Mint updates yet like I’ve fought in Fedora
Power users do not care about the distro, linux is linux, they will compile everything how they like it.
From your post:
laptop he uses for university. He’s not a tinkerer and wants something that just works.
Mint:
Linux Mint is known for being very user-friendly and stable. Also easy to get help online.
Fedora:
have to install media codecs via terminal
university wifi eduroam doesn’t work on Fedora
less help on the web for Fedora than Mint.
Unless you’re sure that screen stuttering is going to be a major annoyance, you know what I am going to suggest.
Fair enough.
university wifi eduroam doesn’t work on Fedora
As a fedora eduroam user I’m pretty sure it does.
I was just quoting OP. I am making no claims of my own.
Yeah, I missed that. Sorry, guess I should pay more attention.
No questions it’s mint, it runs and looks very good.
Keep in mind “it just works” also includes the windows like workflow.
Mint
As a fedoraman myself, I think Pop!_OS is a great option.
But are you doing this because your friend wants linux or because you want it? It’s okay to recommend it but don’t push it if they don’t need it.
Begin small, end big. That works for everything when learning something new. So, with that said, go for Linux Mint Cinnamon.
I begun my Linux journey with elementary OS which is more for macOS users. I was a Windows user so I switched to Linux Mint Cinnamon. After a few years of exploring and learning, I am now using EndeavourOS.
I recommend Mint.
Chances are your friend’s secondary laptop doesn’t have extra resources for Gnome to run smoothly. Sad thing is nowadays Gnome is very heavy and bloated.
Also, he may try both distros live-usb. Maybe he don’t care about Mint looking outdated. But if he does, you may try Fedora live-usb and check if university wifi works properly.
It’s his laptop after all, so I believe your appreciations on the beauty of desktop environments are secondary.
Good ideas, I will consider that.
It’s his laptop after all, so I believe your appreciations on the beauty of desktop environments are secondary.
You are right. I was thinking that the Fedora workflow might give him some Linux-exclusive benefits over Windows so he might consider switching his main laptop too. Mint is rather a drop-in replacement for Windows so the advantages of Linux are not very visible/important for a newcomer. At least compared to a DE like GNOME.
Do mint, if you really wanna do fedora try Nobara
Have them check with their University if they do any Linux support. If they do - use one of the distros they support so they might possibly have KB articles about accessing University recourses from Linux.
Source: am Linux admin at a University that writes such documentation. I have seen exactly the Eduroam issue you mention and came up with an Ubuntu workaround for example.
You would get less hassle with Mint. One thing that came to mind is the codec.
ZorinOS? I saw no talk of it here and I haven’t personally used it in a couple of years. It uses gnome and can be set to mimic the look of windows, mac, or just stock gnome. It looks super clean, modern and pro. It’s easy to use and based on ubuntu. It was a just works distro for me.
Even if Mint (Cinnamon) doesn’t look as good as GNOME, you can always install another desktop environment.
I’d recommend fedora silverblue. You’ll install all graphical packages via a Software store and you won’t brick your system. Even if, you may just recover an old state. I installed media codecs via the software store, not command line.
Fedora is very beginner friendly too
