Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Could we add "Distrochooser" to the sidebar? (distrochooser.de)

submitted 10 months ago by onlinepersona@programming.dev to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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Quite a few posts about selecting a distro to use. Maybe it's time to make that link a little more prominent?

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[–] AnonTwo@kbin.social 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Keep in mind that you are an experienced user of linux.

This site is probably about people who are both inexperienced, and also may not have time to adequately learn the system the way you have.

And no, as someone who has gone through Fedora, Mint, and Arch, saying they're for "everyone" just assumes everyone is going to use linux the same way you do. Which is a huge mistake. Arch didn't even have a normal installer up until a year ago, the process even with the arch wiki guide is completely unwieldy for most users to do. Many distros disable popular codecs by default, which a lot of users wouldn't have the patience for. Some will have Nvidia drivers for up to date for gaming, and some won't.

And most of all, you're also running new users into the choice dilemma, where there's so many options they just won't know what to pick.

[–] beta_tester@lemmy.ml 6 points 10 months ago

Good points.

Sry for not being clear enough. Arch is for someone who wants to go deeper into linux. I'd never recommend arch for new users,

If someone was able to add a printer to windows, she's able to add codecs to linux.

I understand your point, yet (e.g.) fedora doesn't hide codecs, they are just not preinstalled. Could it be better? Yes. But it's not like it was unsuitable.

Imo the choice dilemma isn't really a dilemma. If you choose any of the 5 or 10 big distros, you are good to go. Neither is a really bad choice. Oftentimes it's just the default that's not perfect. But as soon as you're on one distro, a default value is no reason to switch distros.

Btrfs, snapper, immutability, etc. those are reasons to switch, not the default values.