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"I feel like GNU/Linux needs a stand out distribution that represents how easy Linux can be for beginners and new users. This used to be Ubuntu but now I think

"I feel like GNU/Linux needs a stand out distribution that represents how easy Linux can be for beginners and new users. This used to be Ubuntu but now I think Linux Mint is in a position to take over." I think this statement really misses the spirit of what is probably driving Mint to the top of the charts. "Beginners" and "new users" aren't the ones flocking to Mint (assuming we believe distrowatch.com is an authority). Disenfranchised Ubuntu users who are unsatisfied with the changes to their favored platform are. To the contrary, beginners would more likely favor Ubuntu's Unity interface because it is undeniably simpler. Beginners don't have any concept of features customizing panels, so they don't miss them.

bluedanieru 15y ago
It's the myth of the novice Linux user. This magical creature is both sophisticated enough and has the desire to install a new OS on his machine (perhaps even in a dual-boot configuration!) and learn to use a completely different computing environment, yet needs to be coddled with an unconfigurable, brain-dead GUI. There's also the other myth about how you can have the same interface on a desktop and on a tablet, but that's so crazy that most people who believe it are locked up in institutions. It's great if more people want to use Linux, of course. But it would be better if in so doing they came to have an appreciation for their device as one of the most powerful tools ever conceived by the mind of man, rather than another way to upload photos to Facebook and look at cat videos on Youtube. Those use cases are more than covered. At any rate, Linux Mint is switching to Gnome 3 next release, although with some extensions to remove the suck apparently. So beware.