[kwlug-disc] linux distro for nontech windows user

[William Park]

- I'd recommend *Mint* or *Xubuntu*.  Both are Ubuntu family, so they 
can ask questions or find answer online.

- If your friends use LibreOffice, Thunderbird, Firefox, Gimp, then it 
doesn't matter which distro.  Also, all distros have torrent client, 
media player, etc.

- Fedora "atomic" has the same workflow as Mint, ie. backup and fresh 
install.  Just that, Fedora does it for you using BTRFS snapshot 
features, whereas you have to it manually in Mint.  But, Fedora rubs me 
the wrong way, I don't know why.

- Mint has better hardware support than Ubuntu.  If wifi doesn't work in 
Ubuntu, then it's dead end.

- Xubuntu is simple enough to run major applications, yet still has 
modern GUI desktop feel.


On 2025-10-16 17:02, Doug Moen wrote:
> I have non-technical friends who are considering moving from Windows 
> to Linux due to Microsoft shenanigans. They don’t want to become Linux 
> nerds like me; they don’t want to learn how to install Linux and fix 
> it every time it breaks on upgrade. I guess what they need is a distro 
> that “just works” (if that even exists), or at least the one that is 
> least frustrating and broken, plus a tech person to fix it when it 
> does break. I know that their current computer runs Windows 10, but is 
> old enough that it isn’t supported by Windows 11.
>
> What's a good Linux distro? One of their acquaintances suggested 
> Zorin, which I know nothing about, but which is marketed as being very 
> Windows-like and suitable for non-techies. I know that computer 
> recycling installs Mint, which I currently use as well. And I see that 
> the Kwartzlab Windows-deinstall event is installing Fedora, although 
> there are many spins and editions and the announcement doesn’t say 
> which one.
>
> I am hesitant to recommend Mint, since the recommended upgrade 
> process, needed every year or two, is to back up all data and 
> reinstall from scratch, then reinstall all your apps. This procedure 
> is too onerous. And I had a lot of breakage when I tried to do an 
> in-place major version upgrade.
>
> Zorin is based on Ubuntu LTS, as Mint is, so I don't see why the 
> upgrade process would be any easier or more reliable.
>
> I tried Fedora Workstation with Gnome for 6 months and hated it. Part 
> of it was Gnome, and based on that experience I won’t recommend Gnome 
> to someone who is used to Windows. Fedora now supports KDE as a 
> "flagship" edition, rather than just a "spin", and KDE looks more 
> Windows-like out of the box, so that might be an option. I hate the 
> bugginess and unreliability of desktop linux, so I'll choose 
> "flagship" over "spin" for that reason alone.
>
> Part of my problem with Fedora was dealing with my environment 
> breaking every 6 months on upgrade. One motivation for switching to 
> Mint was that I could defer upgrades for a few years, meaning fewer 
> occurrences of "upgrade week".
>
> My GrapheneOS phone auto-updates to a major new release of Android and 
> I don't even notice. It would be nice if something similar existed for 
> desktop Linux.
>
> Fedora has "atomic" editions, which I know virtually nothing about. 
> But it is claimed that these editions solve the upgrade problem. The 
> Fedora "Kinoite" edition is atomic KDE. Based on just what I wrote so 
> far, that might be the best option for an upgrade from Windows. But I 
> have no experience with atomic Fedora.
>
> The caveat is that when you install an app on a Fedora atomic edition, 
> you are getting a flatpak. My experience with flatpaks is that every 
> flatpak I have tried to install so far has been broken due to the 
> sandboxing mechanism. So I just avoid them. Maybe all the problems 
> with flatpaks have been solved in 2025? I'm skeptical, but my friends 
> only need a few very popular apps, primarily just a web browser and 
> Libre Office, and those flatpaks are probably better tested than the 
> more obscure flatpaks I wanted to run, so this approach might work for 
> them.
>
> What do other people recommend as a Linux distro for non-tech Windows 
> users? Any comment on my theory that Fedora Kinoite might be a good 
> choice for my friends?
>
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