Which Distro Is Right For Me? (Redux)

I still value the insight and freedom that Linux has, it just is not for me.

You say that Linux is just not for you, but you should give it a fair try and you might like it.

I agree, I will give it a fair try. In fact, I am downloading Manjaro Cinnamon 64 bit as we speak. I will install it and who knows? If I like it, I may keep it. Windows 10 i presently too greedy of resources on my pc.

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 UPDATE-I installed Manjaro Cinnamon and am giving it a fair shot this time around. I like it so far.

Edited by JesseRBassett, 28 May 2020 - 05:54 PM.

I agree, I will give it a fair try. In fact, I am downloading Manjaro Cinnamon 64 bit as we speak. I will install it and who knows? If I like it, I may keep it. Windows 10 i presently too greedy of resources on my pc.

 

 

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 UPDATE-I installed Manjaro Cinnamon and am giving it a fair shot this time around. I like it so far.

@ Jesse:-

A lot will, of course, depend on your personal 'use-case', and if you regularly need to use Windows apps that don't have either:-

a ) A Linux port, or

b ) A Linux equivalent that offers the same functionality.

Many of us here use Linux exclusively; I, personally, have neither use nor time for Windows. There's absolutely nothing, using a combination of native apps & web-clients, that I've yet to find I can't achieve with my daily driver, "Puppy" Linux. YMMV....

Choice of an operating system is a very personal, subjective thing; we all have different needs & requirements from one, yet we need to remember THIS at the end of the day:-

That an OS - any OS - is merely a means to an end.....that of enabling us to run the software we need/want to run. By itself, an OS is neither use nor ornament if you can't put it to productive use. It's not an "end" in itself.

This is what some "geeks" completely lose sight of. They become so completely consumed by the whole process of installing/un-installing/re-installing one OS after another, that for them, the afore-mentioned exercise ends up as the entire reason for having a computer in the first place..... 'Distro-hopping' is a phase all Linux users go through at some point; there's so many to choose from, and I know of very few who are completely happy with the very first one they try. In the end, though, most settle down with perhaps 2 or 3 that they can live with!

Mike. 

Edited by Mike_Walsh, 29 May 2020 - 08:17 AM.

Wise words there! Thank you for the kind words!

Linux Mint is good for everyone!

pcpunk, With that big grin that you placed at the end of your post, you make it seem like Linux Mint is a toothpaste.

HA! HA! HA! I love me some Linux Mint in the morning.

I've tried quite a few distros and always feel like I wasted my time.  Though I do like Kubuntu and Neon Mint is in the top three for sure.  Ubuntu may be nice too, but I never could get on with the way the DM worked.  

Hi. New to the forum. I am also a Linux enthusiast. 

Has anyone tried Porteus Linux before? I use it as a live USB Linux OS, but not sure if it can serve any other purpose. 

I have experience using Ubuntu since the good old days they ship "free" CDs. But it seems like newbies like Mint more these days. 

Any thoughts on this?

Hi. New to the forum. I am also a Linux enthusiast. 

 

Has anyone tried Porteus Linux before? I use it as a live USB Linux OS, but not sure if it can serve any other purpose. 

 

I have experience using Ubuntu since the good old days they ship "free" CDs. But it seems like newbies like Mint more these days. 

 

Any thoughts on this?

Hallo, Porteous.   to the Linux & Unix sub-forum.

I've been a solid, Puppy Linux-only user for several years now. For me, my distro-hopping days are pretty much over, though I do like to keep an up-to-date copy of ZorinOS on a USB stick. (Don't ask me why; I guess I just like the approach by the brothers Zorin; for a couple of guys who were still at school when they first set out with it, current incarnations are pretty impressive, full of neat little touches that make for a very pleasant experience.)

Every so often I get the itch to take a look at something else, though my focus nowadays tends to be on lightweight distros that can run from a USB stick. I took a look at Porteous just a few weeks ago, but wasn't that taken with it. Then I tried Slax. Unique desktop set-up.....and, quite by chance, I discovered that many of the 'portable' packages I've put together over the years for the Puppy community will, with slight modifications, run straight off in Slax. So; that's one I quite like..!

Mint is popular here for one simple reason; because many people run it and, therefore, there is a large 'pool' of individuals who are available to give advice. Plus, of course, it appeals to Windoze refugees because it has a familiar, similar lay-out. That's important for a Windows user; it means they can try out summat else without feeling like they've strayed too far out of their "comfort zone".....

Mike. 

Edited by Mike_Walsh, 27 June 2021 - 03:05 PM.

Hi Mike. Nice to meet you. 

I am aware of puppy and came across you name in the various puppy-related forums. Glad to see your efforts. Sorry to hear about the recent developments about Puppy and the passing of John. 

I tried Puppy once and it worked for a 2011-built netbook, the OS itself was fast but due the hardware limitations, browsing the Internet was rather slow for me.   

Thanks for the insights on Mint. I am wondering if the popularity of Mint is only limited to this forum. From Distrowatch, I observe that Mint, Manjaro etc. have always surpassed Ubuntu in terms of popularity, notwithstanding the dispute on Distrowatch's "popularity" measurement algorithm. Is there anything wrong with Ubuntu itself over the years? 

@ Porteous :-

No, I wouldn't say there's anything intrinsically "wrong" with Ubuntu. More likely a lot of the apparent 'fade' in popularity is simply down to some of Mark Shuttleworth's more questionable decisions in recent years. That, and the fact that Ubuntu, as released to the general public, is trying more to provide a direct alternative to Windoze itself; Ubuntu compile their own kernels, and it seems they're in rather more of a hurry to drop support for elderly hardware than, perhaps, some of their 'competitors'.

On top of all that there's been a fair amount of 'competition' for Ubuntu over the years, and especially more recently.

If you've been with Linux any length of time you'll know yourself that choosing a full-time replacement for the Redmond 'beast' is very much a personal decision. There's hundreds & hundreds of different distros out there, then you need to decide on a file-manager; a DE; what software you need (and how you intend to use it), etc, etc. "One man's meat is another man's poison", and so on.

Distro-hopping, as it's termed, is almost a necessary facet of the beginner's Linux experience. You can't really know what any given distro is going to be like until you try it out; fortunately, most distros make this a painless experience by allowing you to try them out as a 'Live' session. Lets you and the distro size each other up, and is a rather good way of finding out if you're 'compatible'.

Mike. 

Edited by Mike_Walsh, 28 June 2021 - 05:06 AM.

Ya, I notice Ubuntu is more focused on enterprises these days. Their main landing page has changed dramatically from the old days which was more welcoming to new/prospective Linux users. Probably that explains the decline in popularity too.

That said, it works well as a USB stick OS, at least for me. As for Porteus, are you aware of any long-time users here? Seems like a not-so-popular distro to me.  

 

I wouldn't say there's anything intrinsically "wrong" with Ubuntu

I would, they got rid of Unity Desktop.

Now days I prefer the elegance and simplicity of Arch Linux or Puppy.

@ Porteous:-

TBH, in all the years I've been a member here, I think you're the first one who's really asked about it.

You have to understand one thing. With few exceptions (and there's always exceptions, who mistake this place for the lair of long-term, experienced 'ubergeeks!'), most of our Linux users are not a particularly adventurous crew. For many of them, they've either managed to make the break with Windoze, or are wanting to.....and for them, that's a HUGE step. We try to help them as best we can, knowing that many still require a fair bit of hand-holding; Linux is, after all, sufficiently different under the hood that it's like an alien realm to most.

This is why Mint is high on the list, because it's simple to understand, easy to use, it LOOKS very like Windoze, and even Windoze refugees who've never tried anything else can in short order start to feel 'at home' with it. And because so many of our members either use it exclusively OR dual-boot with it, there's plenty of folks around who can step-in and help out with queries.

But we should never lose sight of the fact that an OS - any OS! - is merely a platform to enable us to run the software we want to use. Quite a number of self-styled Linux geeks often forget this, and become so completely consumed with the whole process of installing/uninstalling/re-installing one Linux distro after another that, for them, it becomes the whole reason for having a computer in the first place. And to me, that's a bit "sad".

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Myself, I'd run Windows almost since the beginning; after more than a quarter of a century with it, by the time EOL for XP rolled around I'd had more than enough. I still wanted to use my 'puters, but wanted a break with Redmond. I started off with Ubuntu because that's what everybody recommended; I was running 2 pretty elderly machines, but after less than a year Canonical decided to drop support for the graphics on my main rig. Freeze-ups became the order of the day, and Ubuntu became pretty much unusable for me; Unity's accelerated hardware requirements weren't helping, either.

An acquaintance on the Ubuntu Forums recommended I look at Puppy, so.....I did. I liked what I found - really liked! - and as it turned out, it was the first distro I'd ever found that would also run, OOTB, on my ancient Dell lappie, without having to jump through hoops to get the display behaving itself. I was very, very impressed with this, and with the exception of rare forays outside of Puppyland, it's been my "home from home" for several years now. The Puppy community have some amazingly talented coders amongst their ranks, and there is nothing - nothing at all - that they can't find a way of getting to work or run with Pup.

In short, I have no use for Windows. I don't NEED it in my life. And if I can help others to break those shackles, I will bend over backwards to do so.

Mike. 

Edited by Mike_Walsh, 28 June 2021 - 06:25 AM.

'Distro-hopping' is a phase'

You are right about that, Mike.

As a mater of fact, I am going through it right now.

I wasn't happy when Mandrake was switched to Mandriva.  So I "hopped" to Ubuntu, in 2007.  But I didn't really like that either,  so I hopped again, to Xubuntu, around 2010.

Now, I am considering hopping again! 

I just got another Pi4-8GB to set up in my workshop, which runs on solar.  It has a very low draw on power.  It is more suited for my use than my big ugly tower.

Because it will be running Ubuntu Mate for ARM64, I am considering installing Ubuntu Mate on all my machines, for the sake of simple standardization.

OK, so I hop really slow. 

Cheers!

Naught