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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Kubuntu is most normie. Its just Ubuntu but with KDE instead of Gnome. KDE Neon has the latest KDE but the update process is a mess so I can't recommend it.
Personally I use EndeavourOS with KDE and find it very easy. Updates are literally just typing yay. But I understand that Arch based distros aren't for everyone.
I'm using kubuntu right now. Test it out fedora for about 3 hours before I ran into a bug and went back to the KUbuntu hard drive. Normie means it just works, or at the very least googling the answer leads to good solutions. Only ubuntu has that
Does Plasma on EndeavorOS include Discover? For those that want GUI updates
Fedora KDE spin.
openSUSE Tumbleweed. It's rolling and reliable.
OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, great KDE defaults - up to date - stable. Does things a bit differently than most distros but it's pretty easy to get used to.
That what I use, and it's perfect
Fedora kde spin, kubuntu (ubuntu but with kde), kde neon (kde's distro). I've never used neon or kubuntu as a daily driver (just when I was looking for a distro) although they are supposed to be quite good, but I use fedora gnome as a daily driver and fedora kde should be fairly similar. You can also use distrochooser to find a distro that suits.
Well, judging by the fact that it gave me my favorite (and current (Mint)) distro on the first try, I'll say this tool is pretty solid lol
Fedora kde
I've been using this for a few months now. It's really good. A normie might want to look in to Slowroll though for extra stability. Is Slowroll even out yet?
It's available, but still experimental I think.
I think fedora kde is the one you should go with.
If you go with kubuntu you'll be using snaps by default (which can be removed entirely with some tweaking) and they aren't actually good (as with the recent steam issues)
Rolling release: openSUSE Tumbleweed Semi-annual release: Fedora KDE Spin LTS: Kubuntu (3 years), Debian (5 years), AlmaLinux (10 years)
I personally think semi-annual is where it's at. You get packages that are mostly up-to-date (and with Flatpak user-facing software is up-to-date anyway), and you don't have to fear that something will break/be incompatible with every small update.
I'm running TW and it's great. If you don't want a rolling release, OpenSUSE created Slowroll, that is supposed to release major updates every one or two months, which would probably be my go to if I were to start over.
Slowroll is experimental and it's still a rolling release that tracks tumbleweed. It might be less maintenance, but not necessarily more stable in terms of bugs. I've seen some people report pretty major issues with it in the last couple months.
Leap is the version you want if stability is your priority. You can even get the tumbleweed nvidia driver if you have an Nvidia card and want the latest driver. The only os I've used that was more stable than leap was debian. But Leap is much more flexible than Debian.
Yep ! From the official documentation of tumbleweed
Who should use openSUSE Leap instead of Tumbleweed?
While every effort is made to build them, at this point there is no guarantee to have all additional modules available in openSUSE Tumbleweed like for example, VMware or VirtualBox. And while the Packman Tumbleweed Essential repository attempts to deliver them there is no guarantee they will always succeed due to the incompatibilities with the quickly advancing Linux kernel. The problems with proprietary graphics drivers are similar and there is no guarantee they will work tomorrow, even if they do today. If you don't know how to compile your own additional kernel modules and you don't wish to learn or keep a very close eye on what is being up dated, please don't use Tumbleweed.
Everyone is waiting for Slowroll I think.
I highly recommend Kubuntu. I don't use any snaps though. And I always install the LTS version. Been using it for over a dozen years.
I don't use any snaps though.
Oh sweet summer child...
Fedora Kinoite, specifically the version from universal-blue.org.
It comes with all codecs (and even baked in Nvidia-driver if you want!).
Why that and not the normal (mutable) Fedora Workstation KDE spin?
This. Or, nowadays secureblue Kinoite!
Its a hardened Variant of ublue kinoitr, but I tested it and especially using the "userns" variants, a lot works
"userns" means user namespaces, a technology used by browsers, flatpak and Podman/Docker/Toolbox/Distrobox to create Sandboxes, isolating processes. It is used by default on Fedora, so these variants are pretty much like regular Fedora.
Dont think a secure Distro is user-unfriendly. It works pretty normal, but is simply way more secure.
If you want to use Firefox or Torbrowser, install their binaries.
https://github.com/trytomakeyouprivate/Recommended-Flatpak-Apps
I'm using Manjaro because SuSE Tubleweed didn't want to install that day. People like to hate on Manjaro but I honestly don't know why - the defaults are fine and I very rarely have issues despite using software from the AUR
This is why: https://manjarno.pages.dev
It has been 442d 15h 07m 53s since Manjaro !$%&?*# up.
So a year and a half? That's not all that bad really. And that time it was a (admittedly bloody stupid) cock up involving the SSL certificate of their website not of the distro itself
Sure, maybe they're better now, but this long list is why the reputation stuck.
That and EndeavourOS exists
Also I've just actually looked at EndeavourOS' website and it says very clearly front and centre that it's focused on the terminal, which is entirely not what OP was even asking for. It might be a fine distro, I don't know, I've never used it or checked how many years it is since they cocked up, but it doesn't present itself as a KDE focused distro which is what OP (and I) want!
Kde neon isn't bad. If I'm remembering right, it's based on Ubuntu and made by the kde team
neon is amazing
KDE Neon
Kubuntu, KDE neon, Debian with KDE.
Fedora kinoite
I don't think immutable is normie.
How more normie could it be? You install all graphical apps via flatpak and since flathub uses reverse domain names it's much easier to install via the store than on terminal
And want to switch to another DE? don't reinstall your whole system, just replace the base layer.
Well immutable os have some limitation mainly from flatpak.
MX Linux with KDE?
If you have an AMD machine it even has a "advanced hardware system" iso for high end pcs
You have to reinstall mxlinux every time a new debian version comes out. Not really "normie" IMHO.
Do you really have to reinstall from scratch or is it sufficient to update the sources.list to the new Debian release and perform dist-upgrade like for Debian?
I read their documentation yesterday, and it strongly advised a complete reinstall. While they do have a tool that eases the process of storing your setup and then recovering it on top of a new install, it's still significantly more complicated than just 'sudo apt upgrade'.
TuxedoOS
Fedora KDE spin. One of the easiest to use distros without all of the annoyances of Ubuntu (e.g. snaps).
Probably the most normie would be KDE neon (Ubuntu) as it's made by the KDE community https://neon.kde.org/
Personally, I use EndeavourOS (Arch-based) with KDE and it worked out-of-the-box for me.
Endeavour OS with KDE
stable
without issues
Arch
Normie and Arch based don't fit together in the same sentence tbh
I've had an excellent experience with endeavor OS, which can install KDE as well as some other DEs from the installation options. It's based on arch