3d ago

Distro advice for a specific case.

Back again haha, I asked a little while ago about making the switch from Windows to Linux and general consensus was maybe don't, as I use my PC for work doing voice acting, music production, and digital art.

Anyway, my PC has been crashing lately so I may be at the point soon of re-installing my OS, so I may as well bite the bullet if/when that happens. Right now I'm making some backups, making a list of Linux programs I'll need, and just trying to get my ducks in a row so I'm not scrambling if I wake up one morning and have to do the thing. Which brings me to Distros.

I've done some research into it but already but there are a bunch of options (thinking maybe Bazzite or Fedora?), and I'd rather know what I'm going with if my PC dies so I don't have to waste time trying to figure it out then. My PC specs are:

Processor 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-11400F @ 2.60GHz 2.59 GHz

Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.9 GB usable)

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060

Obviously the priority is to get up and running but I'd really like to use a distro that I can learn some as well. I've installed Mint on an old laptop (recommended for being similar to Windows) but ideally I'd like a distro that's a bit more Linux-y. I'm ok taking some extra time getting up and running, though I'm not at a point for something like Arch yet haha.

EDIT: Wow, lots of comments, thanks! I think I've been overthinking it overall based on these responses. I have Mint on my old laptop and it works well, but had issues on my main laptop (Samsung Book3 Ultra) which I've read has to do with Samsung in general. I also had some issues with Nvidia on it but that may have been a Samsung issue more than anything else. My main PC uses Nvidia so I was under the impression that some distros just don't play well with it and wanted to make sure I used one that worked well with that graphics card.

Bottom line, I've been looking into Linux over the past few weeks and there's still distros mentioned here that I've never heard of haha. It seems really intimidating (hence why I asked) but I'm getting the impression that, at least for now, I'll just go Fedora to start when I bite the bullet. Arch looks really interesting but again, seems intimidating coming from Windows.

30 comments

There's nothing you can do in the more "advanced" distros that you can't do in Mint. It is fully-fledged Linux with a beginner-friendly wrapper.
- "Ask not what you can do with the distro, but what the distro has already done for you."
- Except install a newer base system
  
  Why? Mint has a reasonable upgrade path.

plain debian maybe? it's a bit more manual but not to the extent of arch, and the netinstaller is really nice
if you are motivated to learn Linux I really can't recommend trying something basic like debian, arch, fedora etc enough
- Check out archinstall. It does so much heavy lifting. The only thing it isn't is a GUI (because it's a TUI instead).
  
  yes I know archinstall, no I don't think it should be how someone installs arch for the first time.
  the manual install for arch is pretty simple if you just read the wiki and you learn so much troubleshooting information from it. if someone is trying arch they should definitely go through the manual process

That was posted 3hours ago. By now you could have installed at least 1 "normal" distribution (i.e. pretty much anything that allow you to download packages for your architecture, not LFS) and have some of your work files either copied on /home or better mounted as a directory that is safely on another partition or even disk.
Don't like whatever you installed? Explain us WHY then we can better help you narrow down what you need.
Overall software availability and performances are pretty much NOT distribution specific.
It is rare that a specific feature is not available as driver that can not be installed somehow, same for state of the art software, e.g. something coming right of the repository rather than a built package.

If you list what specific software you use and whether you're willing to try alternatives to any of it, people may be able to give you guidance on how your Linux experience may be. There are lots of people doing music production and digital art on Linux, but it depends on your specifics whether it will work for you or not.
Regarding distros, I've seen many people here make the argument that immutable/atomic distros like Bazzite are not ideal for newbies or more complex use cases. If you're considering immutables because of the comfort that comes with their being more easily recoverable from OS update or configuration issues, I would suggest looking into one of the OpenSUSE distros, either Tumbleweed or Leap. Those two give you many of the advantages of easy recovery without the disadvantages of immutables.
They do this by taking a different approach to recovery. Instead of making the OS root immutable/atomic, which forces you to do a lot of workarounds in certain circumstances, they used the approach of automatic and transparent system snapshots whenever you update or install any software, plus hourly (I believe?).
This is the main factor that led me to choose OpenSUSE for my own personal use. There are other positives such as a reputation for stability, excellent integration of KDE, and YaST, which is their easier to use configuration tool for many system tasks. I'm only at the beginning of my journey though, so I can't fully endorse it yet because I haven't fully settled into it and spent much time daily driving it.

Fedora (Gnome or KDE versions) is going to be the most straightforward without a bunch of "extras" to be aware of if you're looking for a desktop. Immutable distros have extra hoops, and anything Ubuntu based has Snap, which you should avoid like the plague.

Install one (say bazzite/fedora) to a USB, boot into it, and try it out for a bit. Then wipe the USB and install something else (mint, whatever) and play around with that. Rinse/repeat until you find one you like.
I recommend doing this before your PC dies-dies, then you'll be ready when it does die (or you'll like one so much you pull the plug early, who knows).

but ideally I'd like a distro that's a bit more Linux-y.
Im not sure how you'd even quantify that? I mean.. there's a lot of variation in linux, so there's not a "standard" linux experience.. DEs like KDE or cinnamon are more Windows-y, and ones like GNOME or Pantheon are more MacOS-y. There's TWMs which to me is what makes the linux experience, but those aren't for beginners and I wouldn't recommend you start with that
Really it doesn't matter what enviroment you use, so honestly im gonna agree with the other comment and just say use one of the big begginer distros like mint cinnamon lol
- There's TWMs which to me is what makes the linux experience, but those aren't for beginners and I wouldn't recommend you start with that
  Gnome has an extension called PaperWM, and it's a fantastic middle ground between common stacking WMs and tiling WMs. It's probably most similar to River WM. I use it, and it's been a game changer.
  FYI, if you want to help get people on the tiling bandwagon!
  
  I started with pop!_os and their pop_shell on GNOME which also has tiling, and that's been fun :3..
  At the moment pop is on the bench for me in terms of distro recommendations tho, cause of their work on COSMIC making it a bit behind, and possibly a bit unstable in the future
  (Though COSMIC will be replacing TWMs for me, as it's imo a nice fresh spin on tiling with the window groups, which to me makes it the smoothest tiling experience even in the current alpha)
- big begginer distros
  I wouldn't say that Mint is a 'beginner' distro. Sure, it's beginner friendly, but it's equally friendly for everyone. I've been a linux user for "a while" and currently I prefer Mint on my workstations. It offers me everything I need from a distro in a neat package and as I've been a Debian user since Potato it's a familiar environment.
  But if OP want's somehting "more linux-y" then good old Debian should do the trick. Basically anything with decently long history besides Ubuntu (in it's current state) will do just fine.
  
  I wouldn't say that Mint is a 'beginner' distro. Sure, it's beginner friendly, but it's equally friendly for everyone
  Ye, that :3. I didn't mean mint is for beginners only, but it's one that's beginner friendly and popular for people starting linux

I know this is a Linux community, but if you're stuck on Windows for whatever reason still, there is a perfectly viable option.
Windows 11 Enterprise IoT LTSC.
There's ISOs and permanent activation at: massgrave.dev
It's basically what Windows should be, and feels like a fresh W7 install. No bloat, no AI, no bullshit. Legit just Edge and Defender, and all telemetry settings can be disabled.
I use it for my daily driver, then every few weeks or months when I see major updates I'm interested in, I hop onto my CachyOS install. I spend a day or so testing to see if everything feels polished/solid enough for me to ditch Windows.

I recommend Nobara OS nvidia version. This comes with drivers during initial installation so no need to follow wiki guides and spend additional time carefully installing stuff. The biggest "plus" is that (assuming you are using discord), they have a pretty large discord server where you can ask questions and stuff.
Even though its just a spin on fedora, I think this community and distro is good for newcomers who also game.

Thanks for all the responses, I really appreciate it! I've editing my post rather than respond to each one. Just wanna say that while Linux seems intimidating, I'm realizing I was being overly cautious and thought each distro was like it's own OS instead of just a variation. You guys really come out to help out newbies, so thank you!

Linux Mint, Nobara, Bazzite. Just try them. Worried? Then try them in a virtual machine.

in your shoes: i would go with a distro that already includes proprietary multimedia support like elive, but only after asking others who already do multimedia work on linux like veronica explains.

I'd like a distro that's a bit more Linux-y
Not sure what this means. If you want more of a sense of it being "yours," try installing Arch from scratch (in a VM first). Otherwise, maybe try something like CachyOS, PikaOS, or EndeavorOS. Find a Desktop Environment you like and dig in for a bit.
I always recommend trying different ones in a VM first. You can see what the install experience is like, what the DE feels like, etc. and uninstall non-destructively if you don't like it. Once you have a sense of what you like, try a Live ISO on a thumb drive, then install if it feels right.

Garuda does will with Nvidia too.

I do audio and quite enjoy Arch with its 'pro-audio' meta package that installs basically everything. Desktop and laptop both have that, so they have the same plugins and applications -> projects open on both machines just the same.

30 comments