Is Mint still the best user-friendly desktop?

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Or has it been usurped? I use Mint with b00merang's Win 10 theme to make everything familiar. But I don't feel close to replacing Windows, even with most of my work in a web browser. I'm interested in something that updates a little more often. Also, I don't want any spyware like Canonical puts in Ubuntu (one of the reasons I tried leaving Windows in the first place). Bonus question: which distro has the most welcoming community?
 
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Are you referring to the Amazon thing when you say spyware? That hasn't been an issue in a long time, it's no longer enabled by default, been that way for a while, don't get me wrong, I'm not defending Ubuntu, I stopped using it the moment they decided to push Snap on us, from that moment, I told myself I'll never use Ubuntu again (or any distros based on it), unless you're talking about something else and I've somehow missed it.

Fedora is pretty good these days, I made it my default choice of distro couple of years ago, the experience has been pretty good, though as of few days ago, I gotta say it's a bit hard to recommend if you're using AMD GPU due to the VAAPI issue but solutions are in works from what I've seen.

Arch isn't so bad, pretty easy to install since archinstall got added, I can't speak about the community since I don't really get too involved with Linux communities, but their wiki is pretty amazing and covers so many things.
 
Seems so, though not sure if I can recommend Arch for someone who's looking for something user-friendly, all archinstall does is to massively simplify the installation process and sets up a desktop environment of your choice for you, but you still got few things to do post-install, also there's EndeavourOS, which takes care of both things.

Debian's gonna include non-free firmware in their official installation images soon, which makes it a viable option for newer/less experienced users.

Pop OS is quite decent, and they don't have Snap included by default.
 
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TangoEchoAlpha said:
If you like a Windows-esque feel, might be worth a look at Zorin OS.

zorin.com

Zorin OS - Make your computer better.

Discover the alternative to Windows and macOS designed to make your computer faster, more powerful, secure, and privacy-respecting.
zorin.com zorin.com
Click to expand...
I must say Zorin really knows its audience. I pressed win-L instinctively to lock the PC and it worked, while in Mint I had to change some shortcuts. Didn't need separate apps for a timered dark mode or nightshift either. I think it's a much better starter distro for weening off Windows, but I still have to go through the others in this thread.

Research tells me it's a highly customised version of gnome that's hard to replicate. and that if I could replicate it on any distro, Fedora would be a good pick for being more up to date than Debian.
 
Having run Linux on a PC of some sort (sometimes my main system, sometimes a trusty Thinkpad sidepiece) for the last 15 years or so, I always gravitate back to Ubuntu. Probably because it was the first community that I found to be truly welcoming and helpful.

As time went on, Mint has definitely picked up that torch as well.
 
I’d go with PopOS. It’s what I run alongside Windows on my main PC. Windows remains for gaming and work but more and more I’m using PopOS, especially now that Proton support/development has really ramped up since the release of the Steam Deck so I often don’t need to switch operating systems to game either.
 
Linux Mint has always had more affiliate tracking links than Ubuntu?

Just recently Mozilla told Linux distro's to stop piddling about with Firefox if they want support and Clem posted a blog complying with the request yet at the bottom of the blog they still add affiliate tracking links?

blog.linuxmint.com/?p=4244

Firefox no longer includes code changes or patches from Linux Mint, Debian or Ubuntu.
Click to expand...

Which search engines generate an income for Linux Mint?


In Firefox the only engine which generates an income for Linux Mint is Google.


In other browsers the only engines which generate an income for Linux Mint are Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and Startpage.
Click to expand...


​

 
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Still Mint (Cinnamon) for me. Yes, the default search engine in Firefox is Google, but it takes 5 seconds to change that to your preferred search engine, which is about the first thing I do on a fresh install.

There's also the Debian edition (LMDE) if you want to steer clear of any Ubuntu related bits.
 
Well, I came from Linux Mint and hopped to Garuda Linux. Its a bit obscure but updates every night to the latest of everything and looks just fantastic.
It took a week or two to get used to its foibles but i can't see me changing to anything else anytime soon.

Garuda is based on Arch but the post install setup wizard does most of the work

Oh, and the Win(SuperKey)+L locks it. You don't need any Google or Microsoft.

I have a spare box with it on if anyone wants to try it.
Yorkshire
 
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InfiniteNoise said:
Are you referring to the Amazon thing when you say spyware? That hasn't been an issue in a long time, it's no longer enabled by default, been that way for a while, don't get me wrong, I'm not defending Ubuntu, I stopped using it the moment they decided to push Snap on us, from that moment, I told myself I'll never use Ubuntu again (or any distros based on it), unless you're talking about something else and I've somehow missed it.

Fedora is pretty good these days, I made it my default choice of distro couple of years ago, the experience has been pretty good, though as of few days ago, I gotta say it's a bit hard to recommend if you're using AMD GPU due to the VAAPI issue but solutions are in works from what I've seen.

Arch isn't so bad, pretty easy to install since archinstall got added, I can't speak about the community since I don't really get too involved with Linux communities, but their wiki is pretty amazing and covers so many things.
Click to expand...

as someone who has just (for about the tenth time) started getting into linux, I installed ubuntu this week. What's wrong with snap? is that the app store thingy?
 
Snap is like AppImage and Flatpak, applications with bundled dependencies.

My issue with Snap is that launching applications take longer, though they've made improvements to launching speed over the last year, snap store itself is proprietary and controlled by Canonical, and they've replaced some packages in Ubuntu with snaps, which I'm not a fan of.
 
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