this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2023
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If you just want to get to using and enjoying an operating system without reveling in nerdery (which can be fun!), Mint is fantastic. Just make sure you understand partitioning basics if you want to install alongside Windows.
You can't go wrong using something like VirtualBox to try the install process without touching your actual system :).
If it were depicted in this comic, it would be even easier than Debian because it doesn't lean toward any particular extreme, it just goes for being usable.
I'm pretty sure there's a simple check box to include proprietary codecs and things that are commonly used, so you can still watch Netflix or open .mp4s and stuff.
Wide variety of drivers. Should just work on most systems. Friendly community if it doesn't!
That said sometimes the applications feel a bit old, and you're looking over at people playing with shiny new features in something like Blender or Krita...
Well, Mint has flatpaks built into the software store! Flatpak is basically a self-contained app that can be the latest version so it doesn't care about the rest of your system and "just works."
Hope you enjoy it! :)
What's the process of switching distros? If I start with Mint but do decide later I'm enticed by those shiny new features, will switching over be akin to starting entirely over and learning a whole new system, or is it gonna more similar to just like reinstalling windows for a clean install (to use an analogy situation I'm familiar with)?
edit: wrote dispo instead of distro, goddamn stoner brain
Create a separate partition for /home so you can change distro without having to backup and restore the files in your home directory. Just be sure to NOT format that partition in the installer for your new distro. Take a backup anyways.
It's mostly a clean installation. You can copy the contents of your home directory, which is where personal configuration files are stored, in the hopes that some stuff will transfer, but surely that won't be complete.
You could also try dual booting, installing two OSes and you'd choose which to run at start up. You can configure these so that files on one are accessible from the other. This is pretty easy to do if you're even slightly tech savvy.
I've found that the shiney new features are usually buggy. If you're into helping improve things, using and fixing the new stuff is a great way to contribute. If you're reasonably tech savvy, you're going to be able to figure out any distribution. With few exceptions, they're all easy enough to use. I even doubt the portrayal of Arch in this comic. If you're not into developing stuff or just want to get your feet wet before diving in more, starting with Mint is easy. And it's also easy enough to switch or expand if you decide to try something different later. There's not a lot of lock in with Linux stuff.