this post was submitted on 03 May 2025
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Linux comes in a million flavors but most people should start with Mint. That sounds like a pun, but it's also true.
Mint is a nice, safe, up-to-date, simple, Windows-like choice that won't unnecessarily complicate the transition to an entirely different operating system. It has good hardware support and good defaults. Most things will feel very familiar and be very accessible. It is popular enough to find plenty of help on the internet and answers to almost every question you could have. It mostly just works and when it doesn't it's usually not a deal-breaker.
It's not my favourite distro, but you aren't ready for my favourite distro. Honestly I'm barely ready for my favourite distro. It's not elitism, it's just practicality. You'll learn as you go, and you'll eventually want to try other distros, but start with Mint, and keep a Mint system around for when you break everything else. Which you will if you start playing with other distros.
Its absolutely ugly and has a very non modern interface, anyone who tries it as their first OS will probrally be convinced Linux is stuck in 2005. Tbh Fedora should be considered the default these days.
Windows interface is also stuck in 2005, and the evidence suggests most people prefer that. Many people claim they want modern interfaces, but then people get literally angry whenever Microsoft tries to update it and almost nobody ever uses any of the "modern" features they add. Mint is a perfectly fine choice for most people, who are perfectly happy to be stuck in 2005.
Im just saying Gnome is the most popular choice on Linux and for a good reason, its a modern UI
You do realise that even though it's not one of the official Mint variants, it's still possible to install Gnome on Mint with minimal fuss?
There are people that still install and run KDE and that hasn't been a Mint variant for some time now.
Or are you saying that Gnome should be the default variant because it's "modern"?
The monkey's paw curled a finger when they took off in that direction. Most old Linux/X applications will run fine under any window manager / desktop environment and, by and large, inherit the look and feel of that environment. Modern Gnome apps say "no" to that and look like Gnome apps wherever they are.
Since the Mint team are forking Gnome apps precisely to avoid that behaviour, I'd say Mint isn't going to adopt Gnome proper any time soon, but as I said, you can install it if you really want.
Defaults matter because most people just don't change them. Also that's a terrible idea, you'll run into loads of issues and a lack of support for troubleshooting.