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Personally, if I'm recommending something for daily use (as in, you plan to do more than just work on this device) I could only recommend a rolling release wher

Personally, if I'm recommending something for daily use (as in, you plan to do more than just work on this device) I could only recommend a rolling release where your software is always up to date. You'd usually want and expect software to be up to date (at least for software that isn't trying to screw you ;)) and if something you are using has a bug, waiting for the next Ubuntu release is unreasonable. Also, if your packages update regularly (and you update them regularly :)), it is much easier to debug when things go wrong since you can more easily keep track of recent changes. Similarly, I wouldn't recommend Ubuntu to beginners because the dist-upgrade process is very scary and unreliable (in fact, I don't think I've ever seen dist-upgrade succeed fully without errors or manual intervention), so I wouldn't want to have that unpleasent surprise waiting for them when they aren't ready for it. The situation around snap is also likely to leave a sour taste in their mouth ("Why am I being nagged to close Chrome 2 weeks from now? And why am I still nagged after I just closed and reopened it?!" not to mention "Why can't I open this file in Chrome?").

orliesaurus 3y ago
What would you recommend instead of Ubuntu for beginners?
- akho 3y ago
  (not the person you’re asking, but I have an opinion) For beginners who want to learn how things work — Slackware. That distribution guarantees the beginner will soon graduate to a non-beginner status, or understand that it’s not for them. It’s a really quick result. Ubuntu et al. just make it so people stay beginners forever. I really like the Arch trend among beginners; it doesn’t quite have the educational value of Slackware, but at least they try. For people who just want to use a computer for normal things I’d recommend an immutable distribution that doesn’t break (Fedora Silverblue / openSUSE Aeon) and a friend who can help (ideally — with remote access). The second component is essential with any OS.
  - frfl 3y ago
    Can you explain more about Slackware, in what sense does it help you graduate quickly and provide educational value?
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - akho 3y ago
      It's the simplest thing you can do, short of LFS. Packages are vanilla; the user is expected to do all configuration in the way intended by upstream. There is no dependency resolution for packages; you typically do a full install of the distro, and install any extras via the method declared by upstream. Nothing is obscured, no hands are held.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- Adverblessly 3y ago
  That's a great question that I don't know how to answer since I haven't been on the market for a beginner Linux for a while :) If a tech-oriented friend asked for a recommendation I'd recommend EndeavourOS because of the rolling release and great documentation, but also because I could go over the pros and cons with them in person and make sure they are ready for it and because I know they'd have at least one friend who could help them out when in trouble :)

orliesaurus 3y ago

What would you recommend instead of Ubuntu for beginners?

akho 3y ago
(not the person you’re asking, but I have an opinion) For beginners who want to learn how things work — Slackware. That distribution guarantees the beginner will soon graduate to a non-beginner status, or understand that it’s not for them. It’s a really quick result. Ubuntu et al. just make it so people stay beginners forever. I really like the Arch trend among beginners; it doesn’t quite have the educational value of Slackware, but at least they try. For people who just want to use a computer for normal things I’d recommend an immutable distribution that doesn’t break (Fedora Silverblue / openSUSE Aeon) and a friend who can help (ideally — with remote access). The second component is essential with any OS.
- frfl 3y ago
  Can you explain more about Slackware, in what sense does it help you graduate quickly and provide educational value?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - akho 3y ago
    It's the simplest thing you can do, short of LFS. Packages are vanilla; the user is expected to do all configuration in the way intended by upstream. There is no dependency resolution for packages; you typically do a full install of the distro, and install any extras via the method declared by upstream. Nothing is obscured, no hands are held.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
Adverblessly 3y ago
That's a great question that I don't know how to answer since I haven't been on the market for a beginner Linux for a while :) If a tech-oriented friend asked for a recommendation I'd recommend EndeavourOS because of the rolling release and great documentation, but also because I could go over the pros and cons with them in person and make sure they are ready for it and because I know they'd have at least one friend who could help them out when in trouble :)