A lot of new users are coming to Linux not because they like tinkering with their setup but because they are tired of Microsoft tinkering with their setup. For these people Arch will probably never be the answer. That's ok, we should encourage all Linux adoption and the best way to do that is to start with the simple and familiar.
Weird shot at the Arch wiki, which is truly great. I turn to it regularly despite not using Arch.
Ex arch btw user here. I noped out and wiped after thinking I had it all nailed down, then I tried to connect my Bluetooth headphones and I came to a grand awakening. I am too old for this shit.
Installed Tumbleweed and been happy ever since.
For a total newbie, Linux Mint or PopOS are probably the best options. But EndeavourOS is getting there. There shouldn't be any issues during the installation if one sticks to the defaults. Only thing is, it doesn't come with a graphical package manager out of the box. But once that is installed (I think anyone will be happy to write a single terminal command, at least), I don't see why it's any harder to use than any other distro.
I had a friend who wanted to try linux but insisted on arch because it's what I used at the time even though I said they shouldn't and gave many suggestions for better distros. They gave up after about a day and went back to windows. I don't know what they expected, multiple people warned them not to use arch.
I will always recommend Debian or Debian based distros to anyone new to Linux. They'll find their way to arch eventually
Arch btw
Arch wiki is the reason I started using Arch. After fixing an install from something I found there for like the 10th time I thought "Why not give it a try"
Ok look I'm not a huge Arch fan either (it's great for learning the ins and outs of Linux but I've gotten to the point that stability is more important than anything to me) but the wiki is the most thorough Linux documentation you can get anywhere. It always, always has the answer, even if you don't use Arch, lol.
Arch is easy to install; it's a headache to manage.
If you want a stable Arch, you need to check the updates and take very granular control over packages and versioning.
While some nerds may like tinkering with their system in all those ways, for regular user Arch is simply too much effort to maintain.
More Endeavour recommendations
I don't get the hate arch gets - it's the perfect distro if you want to choose what programs you want to use, it's not meant to be an out of the box experience. Been using it for 3 years, and sure it might take me a couple of hours to set up initially, but after that I don't really have to do anything.
Is this from 2010?
I've used Ubuntu for many years, it is a good start for beginners. Although my new recommendations is Mint.
Use endeavour if you're new
Basically, most of the points there fall into some of 3 categories:
- Your hardware is crap:
- WiFi not working;
- Nvidia failed;
- You ability to read/follow simple instructions is crap:
- WiFi not working;
- Messed up installation;
- Nvidia failed;
- No answer in the wiki;
- Lies/outdated:
- Updater broke system;
- Troubleshoot everything;
- No answer in the wiki;
Currently on second day of troubleshooting installation. (Hopefully) 5 days to go till I finally get to boot
Well there is always Scientific Linux if arch doesn't quite cut it
My first ever distro was EndeavourOS. I installed it when I was 13 or 14 years old because someone on reddit said it's customizable. I never felt like I need to switch to anything else.
I don't see the problem
Yeah, arch isn’t the most welcoming to new users, or so I’ve heard lol.
This is why I recommend Chrome OS /s
Mint BTW
Bah ha ha! All the main distros are amazing these days. You really can't go wrong with most. And if one doesn't work, just pick another of the top 5.
I really like Debian I was using Arch before, but Debian looks better to me
Recently switched to Linux a couple months ago and can't recommend EndeavorOS more. It's great.
Arch Linux with NVIDIA is definitely not great for newbies, especially for people who can't keep up with the distro. If left unupdated for too long, your system may break. Even if you update every day, you could break something. You just never win with a rolling release distro like this. My only saving grace is that I run with an AMD gpu and so far, that thing has just worked.
My tip for anyone switching to Linux is to switch to AMD. Even if NVIDIA is better overall for performance and features, even if the last time you tried AMD on your windows system it was slow and a bit buggy, on Linux, AMD just works, without extra steps.
That reminds me, some time ago I tried installing Garuda on a Ryzen 5800H based mini PC but there where so many issues (namely worrisome graphical artefacting, which has never occurred with other distros on the same mini PC) I had to abort and abandon trying it until maybe the next or a future release.
I simply wanted to check out Garuda (arch based, if I recall well). I used the Cinnamon iso with Ventoy (not sure where the issue arose from).
I've hopped between several distros but settled on Arch because it feels like home. That said, I'd never recommend it to a new linux user
The wiki almost always has the answer even if you're not on Arch.
I'm kinda weird for this one. I started with arch a long time ago, and ended up distrohopping because I borked my install. Everything else had problems for me eventually, including Ubuntu and Debian. At this stage, if you can figure out iwctl you're good to go. This enables me to have a system up and running quickly in which I feel I have no restrictions on my abilities as a developer.
archinstall will do proprietary drivers for you, works great for me.
