I’m literally deciding which distro to install as a first timer. It’s my understanding that Mint is the best for beginners migrating from M$ but knowing nothing about why this is the case one thing nags me:
Why do people switch distro’s? What isn’t in Mint that you get elsewhere? I really don’t want to waste time using Mint if I’m just going to have to reinstall something else because it turns out it is bad for gaming or doesn’t support many devices or something.
I started off with Slackware. It was the only distribution back then.
I switched to RedHat, as it offered better comfort. Then, when RH turned their eyes on commercialization, I moved to SuSE. I switched computers and learned that Nvidia and SuSE was a bad combo, and switched to Kubuntu. Kubuntu is my current distro because it uses Plasma/KDE, but i seriously dislike that snap shit. Maybe I move on to other pastures.
I really don’t want to waste time using Mint if I’m just going to have to reinstall something else because it turns out it is bad for gaming or doesn’t support many devices or something.
I suspect that the distro hopping crew that debate the merits of distros here are a vocal minority.
There’s two popular distros: Bazzite, and “Mint because I already bought a SteamDeck.”
You sound like one of us. We can go a long time without switching distros. I think you will be happy on Linux Mint, if you buy a SteamDeck.
Joking aside, Steam runs fine on Mint, for me, because I don’t have an Nvidia graohics card.
Last time I tried, more of my game collection was equally fine on Steam as on Windows. The hassle to get a poorly made game working was about the same between Windows and Linux.
I mostly game on my SteamDeck now. SteamDeck is a console and feels like one. “SteamDeck Verified” games generally just load and play great.
I have had more and more serious issues with Official Nintendo Switch cartridges on my Switch than with SteamDeck Verified games. (And very few of either.)
Unlike a console, sometimes games that didn’t work well on SteamDeck get a patch that makes them play amazing (which never happened for me on consoles.) I think this is because game developers pursue the “Verified” badge for better sales.
Edit: Have you considered the “Steam Machine”? We (SteamDeck players) think it is going to be a popular choice for folks who just want a PC that can game, out of the box. Usual disclaimer: no one seems to know what it will cost, yet.
Edit 2: To be clear, the vast majority of my game library runs nicely on my Linux Mint PC.
More of my games than run nicely on my Linux Mint PC than on my SteamDeck. The most common reasons a game gets ranked “SteamDeck Playable” (below “Vetified”) are small fonts and needing a mouse - which are not issues on my Linux Mint PC.
I would still play all of my games on my Linux Mint PC, except that now I have a SteamDeck.
Did Linux Mint cause me to buy a SteamDeck?
I guess so. “This, but portable” was a pretty good sales pitch, to me.
For the most part it is more fun to talk about changing between things and comparing them than just picking something and using it for awhile. I know this is a silly point but you are basically seeing people who enjoy that kind of thing (all the more power to them) naturally dominating the conversation.
Think about it like internet car forums, if you search up virtually any brand of car you can find online communities that dominate discussion about said cars but paradoxically the vast majority of people who drive those cars will never interface with that community once or necesssarily care what they talk about. They just drive their cars.
Cars are a really good analogy. I’m going to steal that.
Some people want a trusty Toyota Carolla. Boring as hell but gets you where you need to go.
And some people want sports cars that they spend time pimping and tuning to their heart’s desire
Also weirdly, comically but also sometimes totally straightfaced seriously there will be some toyota corolla owners who treat it like a sports car and spend pages in threads debating the best carbon fiber spoilers or engine mods or something shrugs people are weird hahahah.
It can’t be generalized into a single reason but distro hoppers have been around for as long as there has been more than one distro.
For some, it’s that the grass always seems greener. For others, they follow a flavor that touts something that they resonate with(no non-free elements, media -centric, gaming, a certain desktop) . For a lot, it’s exciting to see new stuff and it’s free to try.
In the 90s and early 00s, I had a habit of moving a lot but for the last two decades, I’ve hated moving and my desktop looks the same. I just want it to work and I’m ok with not rolling a new distro every time one pops up.
Mint will treat you well(I run it on mine). It’s very friendly to those new to Linux and the community is active and helpful.
Lots of long-winded answers here. I started with Ubuntu almost 20 years ago. I bounced through a bunch of distros and stuck with Xubuntu until I switched to Mint 10 years ago. I only moved to Fedora this year because I wanted to play games with my new video card and didn’t want to wait the couple of months for the newest kernel.
Just pick one and roll with it for a while. You will eventually decide what you like and need and either modify it to your needs or move to a different distro.
In some distros you get more choices but have to put in more work or time. This is also influenced by some packages you need/want.
Basically just nitpicking and opinions. Pick whichever one you feel is the most appealing and see what happens. You can hop to another if you think the grass might be greener elsewhere.
I used Ubuntu for a long time but wanted to try out KDE and looked around. I picked Garuda Dr460onized because I like how colourful it is by default.
