I have moved the Wifi issues to a new topic.
Please do not continue wifi discussion here… this topic is for distros discussion.
I’m at around 26 distros I tried in the last couple of months. Though I’ve used MS OSs since 1989, I did many years back try a VM with Mint and something else. My first foray was with KDE Neon Plasma the early 6.xx. I have several PCs and HDDs (one SSD in a 2006 Compaq laptop replacing the original) This machine is a rebuild in an ancient tower Win 11. But might try something on it.
If it is 32 bit or an early model 64 bit, try antiX… it is supposed to be designed for older computers… but dont expect a fancy DE in antiX.
For a more modern computer, most people start with Linux Mint.
As a learning curve I understand, but to change so many times within a short period, do you see so much difference or even remember what they look like, or even try to use them after loading.
I was going to say thats more often than I changé my socks….
Interesting topic
As follows my 2 cents. So far my evolution was:
- Redhat (year 2000)
- Fedora Core 1-17
- Ubuntu (I think at 2022 18 to 24 LTS)
- Fedora Workstation 36 to 41
- Debian 12/13
- Peppermint (based on Debian 12)
Other OS’ were macOS which was replaced by Ubuntu and of course Windows …
To be honest something I saw is the improvement about the installation process, now is straightforward. Furthermore, years ago it would be “complicated” for dualbot … I remember was very important have a strict partition control. Was mandatory install first Windows and then Linux
Now my concern is security, performance and have a software (i.e: VLC) available in multiple OS’. Of course have the latest release of a software already available in the “repository”
That is where rolling release wins.
I installed Mint back in 2018. Today I am still on Mint as my every day OS. Yes, I install maybe a half dozens or more distro to take a look and test a little, but never used them much except for MX. I dual boot and have MX as my guest OS and use it from time to time. If Mint was every to disappear, I believe MX would be my next OS of choice.
That is about a new distro every 2 or 3 days. How did you keep track of which ones you like and for what reason? Now after all that testing, have you settle on a distro you like or are you still in the testing mode?
The only machine not with any distros is my Ryzen/3050 rig. I’m making a recovery usb drive as I type.
I actually lost Manjaro, Baruda, and Zorin in the installs of Fedora, Mint, and Debian, or maybe MXOS. Centos and Blendos didn’t hang around either. My very ancient (2006) Compaq laptop started out with KDE Neon Plasma ok, but then would go bonkers after sleep or whatever (seems to be a consistent problem with Linux on old hardware). I picked a wrong hdd on my Win11 gaming PC lost everything on one HDD. I had avoided that for that reason, learned the hard way. Reformattled it in ExFat, thanks to ExFormatter from SourceForge, I find openSUSE hard to deal with. Netrunner have, but Vailux gone, both tried because they were the newest. Just like I did an upgrade with CLI from Fedora 43 to 44, which, after my experience find the KDE Plasma the best desktop. I guess I became a distro hoarder, a step up from just a hopper.
I can sympathize with that. I currently have 6 distros in one machine , with a multiboot.
It might suit you to use a VM for trying out new distros. I use virt-manager. Several other people here use virtual-box. One uses Gnome-boxes.
Mistakes are an essential part of learning
“It is the true nature of mankind to learn from mistakes, not from example”
Fred Hoyle
“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” — George Bernard Shaw
Not that anyone really cares, but I have found that MODICIA works as intelligently and cooperatively as Fedora or Debian and is not nearly as idiosyncratic and fussy as Arch or *buntu. It simply works. It supports Boxes, so I can sample other distros for a few minutes. And it behaves nicely in grub. I can’t ask for more.
This distro looks interesting. I looked it up and saw it is geared towards multimedia. You sparked my interest, so I downloaded a copy and will give it a spin.
Another distro to consider is Zorin. It is based on Ubuntu and is in the top 10 list on Distrowatch hit page. Release 18.1 has been just been release and got a very good review on ZDnet.
Modicia is from Italy and is Debian based. Zorin is from Ireland and is Ubuntu based. Both are fixed release and systemd. So , to my mind, traditional members of the Debian family.
I guess the attractions are what is installed and the wallpaper?
Not the wallpaper. That is easy to change to what ever a person likes. I am an old technical person, but not with Linux. I do not know how Linux works. Yes, I am learning a little more with each year I use it. But I have no reason to know the ins and outs of Linux. There would be no benefit to me other then to learn something new. It would not have any value for me.
And after learning the nuts and bolts of Linux, at my age, and not being able to apply that knowledge in my daily life I would soon forget a lot of the knowledge I gained.
So why do I like the Debian family and some of the distros Like Mint, MX, Zorin, Xubuntu, and Lite. All of which I have used. For the most part they just work, most right out of the box. And yes, they have useful software already installed
I am what most people would call a User of Linux. If I get some type of an error message at the CLI or something does not work when I try it I am stuck. I have to turn to either this forum, search the web, or go to AI to try and find an answer.
So as a user of this great free OS called Linux, I like for my OS to work for me with little to no problems. A lot of the Debian family of Linux seem to do just that.
I install Variety so I can have an infinite changing selection of wallpapers. And I can install Vivaldi to have a better browser. No, Neville, the attraction of MODICIA is that it works all the time and needs no ‘under the hood’ work from me. As a user (Like Howard), I much prefer a distro that does what I need without fussing and hosts grub in a way that allows me to try other distros on other partitions without a problem.
I just tried to install Omarchy but had to abort it because it wanted to use the ENTIRE disk! Imagine the gall of the developer to hog the whole disk! Omarchy is another distro for the discard pile.
Yes, for most people , the Debian family are great distros. I started my Linux experience with Debian.
There are some Debian family distros (eg antiX) that are minimal or at least not fully configured.
They can be more difficult and may not be fully functional out of the box. A lot depends on what you want Linux to do.
Hope your programming/gaming hobby hasn’t made you one of my hax nemesis on Battlefield, lol.
Yes, I have Debian 13 on a couple of PCs ( have 5 with different combos, two have Windows, one 10 (the missus), my gaming rig with 11 (almost bricked it trying to install openSUSE, lol) Did manage Zorin, but Fedora 43 didn’t play nice with its grub on it, back to grub> fix, not the strongest Terminal/Konsole person, if it wasn’t for cut n paste, well, how’d folks do before the internet? Windows 11 takes forever, or even fails to restart. My other PC with Mint or whatever, was it MX or was it Aduninos, shutsdown quick, I’ll say! It’s becoming Distro Slopping now, lol.
Also it has been said to repeat mistaken actions is a sign of insanity, lol.