I tried it recently and had so many issues with it like apps not indexing in the “open with” file menu, and flatpak apps not interfacing with any system functionality.
I recommend it for gamers. It has many convenient features for them.
Otherwise I prefer Debian/Ubuntu-based distros that are - in my perception- much more user friendly. LinuxMint is my goto recommendation.
Honestly, I think Kubuntu is slept on as a beginner’s distro.
Yes, Ubuntu has its issues … but those sorts of issues are really not going to affect a newbie much. And it’s stable, easy to use, KDE defaults will be pretty familiar-feeling for Windows refugees, and it should be relatively easy to find help – 90% of the time, if you just type “how do I _____ in Linux?” into
GoogleDuck Duck Go, the results you find will be perfectly applicable to Ubuntu. Want to install 3rd party software that’s not in their repos? In pretty much any software that offers a Linux version, the Ubuntu-compatible install method is the first one they list.(Oh, and the installer is literally one click if you just let it do everything in automatic mode. No keyboard needed. The install image boots into a full GUI installer with mouse support, and if you want, all you have to do is click ‘automatic install’ and wait. Once it’s done and reboots, you’re in your new OS.)
Once you become an advanced enough user that you get annoyed by Snap packages or feel like you need more cutting-edge package updates … well, then you should also be advanced enough to do your own distro-hopping.
As far as Arch-based distros go, CachyOS has a lot of helper tools included, and a lot of GUI programs. That’s probably why people consider it beginner-friendly.
I wouldn’t really consider CachyOS as a beginner distro. It’s probably the most accessible for anyone looking for something highly optimized, but there are plenty of others that are easier to set up and use.
Been daily driving Cachy for a couple years now, and I love it. It’s not for everyone, though.
I’ve always been very confused why fedora isn’t the go to distro…I mean I do understand why Ubuntu is so popular to newcomers but I’ve never understood why fedora always goes unmentioned
It’s by far been my easiest out of the box experience for regular desktop use
At least for a long time, you had to set up RPMFusion to be able to play media, and having the additional repos tended to break on major upgrades for a bit after release
So, for beginners, it was a bit painful to suggest
Yes, thank you! Ubuntu, in my opinion, is not a beginner friendly experience. It also tends to break easily, at least in my opinion. I’ve had ongoing problems with Ubuntu, as soon as I installed Fedora all the problems went away.
Who the heck did that!?
I see lots of people doing it on reddit
Well there’s your problem. But really, it’s because long-time distro hoppers will finally find the one that meets all their needs and assume it meets everyone else’s needs as well.
About the only thing other than Mint that I recommend to beginners is Endeavor or Bazzite if they need gaming. And even then, is lean toward Endeavor first just because it’s less modified and they’ll get more consistent results during troubleshooting.
But yeah, new users really don’t need anything other than the bare minimum otherwise they’re likely to get turned off pretty quickly by documentation not lining up to their distros edits.
I’d not recommend Endeavour. It’s just a preconfigured Arch, which is great if you want Arch but not great for users not used to dealing with Arch.
Because it is the only distro I tried so far that works 90% smoothly for a MacBook with T2 chip. Wifi doesnt work yet… but with fedora, ubuntu, mint, pear and debian I had no wifi, keyboard or trackpad.
I tried CachyOS. Took three tries for the installer to install without bombing on an error. Third time I got it after changing file system type to ext4 and not using full disk encryption.
Then I updated everything post-install. Black screen. No boot. AMD CPU and GPU.
Installed Fedora KDE. Works perfectly. Haven’t looked back in three months since leaving Mint.
I, too, don’t understand it. I’d rather install straight Arch. The archinstall works fine.
I’m almost in awe at how unlucky you were. Out of hundreds of cachy installs on countless system. Iv never seen or heard of such problems.
Hey! You took all his installs! Give them back.
