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View Full Version : Which Linux distro would you recommend to an absolute NOOB



plurworldinc
April 23rd, 2010, 03:41 AM
For the past year I have been promoting Linux to all of my friends and family and basically anyone that would listen to me. Since I use Ubuntu on all of my computer it only seemed natural to recommend Ubuntu to all of my friends. But then i had a slight change of heart because I had to come to the understanding that a lot of my friends I wanted to convert were not computer savy but just people that wanted a system that worked right out of the box. So now I find myself recommending Linux Mint and Ultimate edition to my friends depending on there level of skill with a computer. I still highly recommend Ubuntu for those people that want to customize there systems from the ground up. But I do wonder, what would you recommend as a good distro for a noob that has ever touched of heard of Linux before.):P

carl4926
April 23rd, 2010, 03:50 AM
This has been asked before.
I expect this thread may get moved by the Mods
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1459107

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=302

Kingsley
April 23rd, 2010, 03:53 AM
Ubuntu.

carl4926
April 23rd, 2010, 03:55 AM
What the heck.....Mint

akand074
April 23rd, 2010, 04:07 AM
Ubuntu is the way to go. It works the best out of the box, easiest to use, and largest community for help.

JamezQ
April 23rd, 2010, 04:09 AM
Try mint and ubuntu ?

kaldor
April 23rd, 2010, 04:17 AM
Ubuntu's perfectly easy to use. If people aren't computer savvy enough to learn to click on the Applications menu instead of a start menu, I'd give up. =p

Mint's more convenient as an out of the box setup. Ubuntu can do just as much as Mint by just installing restricted extras etc. Nothing special. Mint is more of its own distro, but it still is an Ubuntu rebuild with some added features.

I'll say go for Lucid when it comes out. The music store, software centre, etc.

Khakilang
April 23rd, 2010, 04:40 AM
Crunchbang Linux which derive from Ubuntu and now Debian.

witeshark17
April 23rd, 2010, 04:49 AM
Why not suggest a try for fun an older distro along side a current one? :popcorn:

ScarySquirrel
April 23rd, 2010, 05:01 AM
Ubuntu compromises between two values:
Freedom
Usability

Sometimes they must trade some usability for freedom, as with mp3s, proprietary drivers, and DVD playback, and making these to work involves some configuration of Ubuntu. Believe me, until I found Mint, I tried, and failed, repeatedly. :(

Mint (http://www.linuxmint.com/about.php)
Clement Lefebvre released Mint as a pre-configured Ubuntu for those of us who do not want to have to deal with the usability tradeoffs that Ubuntu has made on behalf of Freedom, but still want all the support and compatibility of Ubuntu. I can have my cake and eat it too. :KS

I offer an excerpt from their about page: "...a strong focus on making things work out of the box (WiFi cards drivers in the file system, multimedia support, screen resolution, etc)."

VeeDubb
April 23rd, 2010, 05:02 AM
Asking that question at an Ubuntu users' forum is a bit like asking an acupuncturist what the best remedy for headaches is.

You know what their answer will be before you ask.

ScarySquirrel
April 23rd, 2010, 05:04 AM
Furthermore, I do not recommend linux anymore to the "absolute noobs" I know, no matter what the distribution, period.
I have been down that road before, and it ended in tears. Mine.
If you have your heart set on linux, so be it, but to someone "not good with computers/not a tech person" I say "prepare for pain."

kaldor
April 23rd, 2010, 05:08 AM
Furthermore, I do not recommend linux anymore to the "absolute noobs" I know, no matter what the distribution, period.
If you have your heart set on linux, so be it, but to someone "not good with computers/not a tech person" I say "prepare for pain."
I have been down that road before, and it ended in tears. Mine.

Linux is perfectly easy to use and requires very little tech knowledge to use if you stick with Ubuntu/Mint these days. It's only hard if you say something like "I'll put Linux on your PC to fix it" and they don't know what they are getting into.

My girlfriend is by no means a computer expert, but she finds her laptop much easier and simpler to use since I put Ubuntu on; contrary to popular belief, there's less tinkering needed on Ubuntu than on Windows! Windows you need to be careful of malware, security problems, housekeeping (defrags, registry cleaning etc) whereas with Ubuntu it's more of like... just "there". No worries. Nothing in the way.

Edit: I also noticed she was a bit timid with configuring computers and such, so I kinda made her install Ubuntu herself. Her exact words were "..wait, that's all?" when she entered her details into the installer and pressed install. Same with karmic's software centre.

ScarySquirrel
April 23rd, 2010, 05:12 AM
...she finds her laptop much easier and simpler to use since I put Ubuntu on; contrary to popular belief, there's less tinkering needed on Ubuntu than on Windows! Windows you need to be careful of malware, security problems, housekeeping (defrags, registry cleaning etc) whereas with Ubuntu it's more of like... just "there". No worries. Nothing in the way.

We both speak from experience here. I'm glad you had better luck than I did.

vinutux
April 23rd, 2010, 05:56 AM
+1000 > ubuntu :)

standingwave
April 23rd, 2010, 06:00 AM
... come to the understanding that a lot of my friends I wanted to convert were not computer savy but just people that wanted a system that worked right out of the box. If they're adept enough to download/burn the ISO and install Ubuntu then shouldn't they be capable of installing the restricted extras?

ScarySquirrel
April 23rd, 2010, 06:09 AM
If they're adept enough to download/burn the ISO and install Ubuntu then shouldn't they be capable of installing the restricted extras?

Check my post about my experience with non-mint Ubuntu.
I'm proficient with the command line, can mount network drives, built my own computer and NAS, etc, and I STILL don't want to **** around with getting mp3s to work. Freedom is slavery, etc etc.

*fans embers, hopes for flamewar*

standingwave
April 23rd, 2010, 07:44 AM
*fans embers, hopes for flamewar*Mp3? What are you, some kind of apostate? I'm telling rms!

I could use the old refrain, "I've never had any problem," but what exactly does Mint do differently (re: mp3) that the restricted extras don't handle?

cguy
April 23rd, 2010, 09:15 AM
Kubuntu!! With a "K"!

(and some Gnome programs, of course - eg: the printer installation program or the PDF reader which is complementary to Okular)

asddf
April 23rd, 2010, 09:23 AM
Furthermore, I do not recommend linux anymore to the "absolute noobs" I know, no matter what the distribution, period.
I have been down that road before, and it ended in tears. Mine.
If you have your heart set on linux, so be it, but to someone "not good with computers/not a tech person" I say "prepare for pain."

I've had quiet the opposite experience, since moving non tech family/friends to Ubuntu I've had nothing to do. When they ran Windows it was litrally every 5 minuites X problem Y problem...............arrrrrrrrrrg

All most people do on a computer is:

Email
Web Browse

A certain percent also:

Instant Message
The odd letter on MS Word/Open Office

But thats it and Ubuntu is super easy for that stuff, it all comes as default and it's positioned great with hardly no menus to do all of those functions.

They get no viruses, no crashes, no problems.

Their security updates are auto everyday, and the maintenance required is zero.

asddf
April 23rd, 2010, 09:24 AM
Edit: I also noticed she was a bit timid with configuring computers and such, so I kinda made her install Ubuntu herself. Her exact words were "..wait, that's all?" when she entered her details into the installer and pressed install. Same with karmic's software centre.

Why do people have this understanding that installing an OS is difficult? even the windows ones are super easy

szymon_g
April 23rd, 2010, 10:12 AM
OpenSUSE

nice kde, not too high memory consumption, fast and good package management

cascade9
April 23rd, 2010, 10:19 AM
I'm going to go a bit silly here.

If the user wanted to do 'stuff' (install different DEs, programs, etc) after the distro is setup, probably a *buntu or maybe mint (orpossibly even debain). If the user just wanted to install it, get going and never touch anything again- sabayon.

BTW, I really dont like sabayon ;)

cespinal
April 23rd, 2010, 10:25 AM
Make a poll!!!

count me with mint... that's the way I have introduced some friends to linux...

ubunterooster
April 23rd, 2010, 12:44 PM
@asddf: What? Installing Win is easy?!? I installed 8 times and removing bloat and built-in advertisements is annoying and takes hours.
@cespinal: true, Mint is a good beginner OS. I went to Mint and ubuntu b/c of this active community forum.
I can think of better OSs but still no matter how good the OS is a community to help with problems is priceless.

cascade9
April 23rd, 2010, 02:08 PM
@asddf: What? Installing Win is easy?!? I installed 8 times and removing bloat and built-in advertisements is annoying and takes hours.


Hours? o.O

Anywayl, once you've installed windows removing a lot of the 'bloat' is pretty much impossible. nLite (or vLite for vista/win7) is a nice tool, and its a lot faster to remove stuff you dont want from there as well. Mind you, that does mean you have to reinstall windows, but its worth it IMO.

forrestcupp
April 23rd, 2010, 02:18 PM
The Windows that is already on their computers.


Asking that question at an Ubuntu users' forum is a bit like asking an acupuncturist what the best remedy for headaches is.

You know what their answer will be before you ask.

+1 :lol:

NennokraH
April 23rd, 2010, 02:32 PM
If the friends are playing games a lot the you should not recommend any Linux distribution UNLESS you are ready to teach them how to install all the games (and also uninstall them). You will also have to check the threads for all their questions about video and sound settings (I bet not all games in Linux have this sorted out).

I know most of the games have a Linux version but be careful at this aspect as it may be important.

scouser73
April 23rd, 2010, 02:33 PM
Ubuntu

XubuRoxMySox
April 23rd, 2010, 02:40 PM
No one said Xubuntu yet? It seems to be a well-kept secret! But I think it's ideal for newbies because the Xfce4 interface is so fast and easy.

For people who like lotsa eye candy and have the resources for KDE, I think I would recommend Mepis or PCLinuxOS. Really nice implementation of KDE that isn't so scary for newbies. But for those older hand-me-down 'puters like mine, Xubuntu rawks for newbies. And I find it every bit as fast and light on its feet as LXDE was on this old dinosaur - but with lots more features and configurability.

-Robin

PS Oh by the way, just hafta say this: In before Arch!

cgroza
April 23rd, 2010, 02:47 PM
Ubuntu is the right choice... 2 years ago i thought linux is just an os whre you do everything with the arrow keys... until a friend of mine came to me because my windows had a BSOD (i was reinstalling windwos every 2 months coz it kept going in BSOD), he proposed me Ubuntu.So we installed ubuntu and in like about 2 weeks i coul do everything by myself. So ubuntu is easy enough for almost every people.

madjr
April 23rd, 2010, 02:58 PM
Ubuntu is the right choice... 2 years ago i thought linux is just an os whre you do everything with the arrow keys... until a friend of mine came to me because my windows had a BSOD (i was reinstalling windwos every 2 months coz it kept going in BSOD), he proposed me Ubuntu.So we installed ubuntu and in like about 2 weeks i coul do everything by myself. So ubuntu is easy enough for almost every people.

yes lots of people mistake ubuntu with Pong-OS

koleoptero
April 23rd, 2010, 03:02 PM
Arch Linux

Someone had to say it.

ubunterooster
April 23rd, 2010, 03:02 PM
@dixie: Gnome is the most used and therefore you are most able to get community help for it. [Where is the thread like this that I killed before...]
edit: the thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1443497)

plurworldinc
April 23rd, 2010, 05:32 PM
This has been asked before.
I expect this thread may get moved by the Mods
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1459107

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=302


One of the main points of this thread was to looking at it from the idea of an " Absolute Noob" What I mean by that is a person that is learning about computers for the first time and may have very, very little experience with Windows. In my case I am referring to no user experience at all with any OS.

If this was going to be your first computer and first OS then what's your recommendation.

Khakilang
April 23rd, 2010, 05:49 PM
One of the main points of this thread was to looking at it from the idea of an " Absolute Noob" What I mean by that is a person that is learning about computers for the first time and may have very, very little experience with Windows. In my case I am referring to no user experience at all with any OS.

If this was going to be your first computer and first OS then what's your recommendation.

Base on your info I think Ubuntu 9.10 and arriving soon Lucid Lynx will be the most likely choice. When I first use Ubuntu 8.10 which is my frist experience with Linux. I find it extremely easy to use and beside I have try out other Distro just to compare and Ubuntu is still my prefer choice. There is always a learning curve for any OS. They have to pick up and learn instead of being spoon fed.

d_skillz
April 23rd, 2010, 05:49 PM
Ubuntu is the way to go. It works the best out of the box, easiest to use, and largest community for help.

The largest user community and the simplest distro to use by far.

sunk8
April 23rd, 2010, 05:55 PM
Well, If your friends have tried Windows XP before, ill recommend the lxp desktop...
It can be easily stalled over Ubuntu flavors... They have a .deb file for download...

They can have LXP on any flavor and slowly shift to Linux completely... Hope this helps...

Chk out...
http://lxp.sourceforge.net/

gnupipe
April 23rd, 2010, 05:58 PM
Ubuntu of course. :)

gnupipe
April 23rd, 2010, 05:59 PM
Arch Linux

Someone had to say it.

I disagree with you ;)

ubunterooster
April 23rd, 2010, 06:06 PM
If this was going to be your first computer and first OS then what's your recommendation.
The one that has the largest helping community ;)
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1443497

pickboy87
April 23rd, 2010, 06:58 PM
For the past year I have been promoting Linux to all of my friends and family and basically anyone that would listen to me. Since I use Ubuntu on all of my computer it only seemed natural to recommend Ubuntu to all of my friends. But then i had a slight change of heart because I had to come to the understanding that a lot of my friends I wanted to convert were not computer savy but just people that wanted a system that worked right out of the box. So now I find myself recommending Linux Mint and Ultimate edition to my friends depending on there level of skill with a computer. I still highly recommend Ubuntu for those people that want to customize there systems from the ground up. But I do wonder, what would you recommend as a good distro for a noob that has ever touched of heard of Linux before.):P

I hate that phrase "works out of the box". There is NO distro that works 100% out of the box. Have you ever tried to install Windows XP or even Vista fresh from a disc? It's ridiculous the amount of work it takes to get a usable system.

Honestly, I would suggest something fairly straight forward like Linux Mint or Mandriva or even PCLinuxOS. All are fantastic and pretty user friendly. Ubuntu is good, but right off the bat it takes a decent amount of work to get it where the system can essentially be left alone.

carl4926
April 23rd, 2010, 07:07 PM
Have you ever tried to install Windows XP or even Vista fresh from a disc? It's ridiculous the amount of work it takes to get a usable system.
Yes, it's true what you say.
Linux is easier for sure.

ubunterooster
April 23rd, 2010, 08:29 PM
I'd say mint is best out-of-box. Though I hate the phrase also

jrider
April 23rd, 2010, 08:54 PM
Asking that question at an Ubuntu users' forum is a bit like asking an acupuncturist what the best remedy for headaches is.

You know what their answer will be before you ask.
haha

plurworldinc
April 24th, 2010, 02:35 AM
I hate that phrase "works out of the box". There is NO distro that works 100% out of the box. Have you ever tried to install Windows XP or even Vista fresh from a disc? It's ridiculous the amount of work it takes to get a usable system.

Honestly, I would suggest something fairly straight forward like Linux Mint or Mandriva or even PCLinuxOS. All are fantastic and pretty user friendly. Ubuntu is good, but right off the bat it takes a decent amount of work to get it where the system can essentially be left alone.


Your so right, now thanking about it I can remember the last time I purchased a new laptop wit Windows on it and it took forever to get everything up and running and just right. The funny part was Windows can preloaded and it still took forever, and a fresh install of Windows can take hours. I guess in the end it just comes down to how much work you are willing to put into learning your OS when you pick one.:P

nl4m
April 24th, 2010, 04:41 AM
Try the Ubuntu netbook remix. If I'm not mistaking there are huge icons and simple menus.

standingwave
April 24th, 2010, 07:28 AM
Try the Ubuntu netbook remix. If I'm not mistaking there are huge icons and simple menus.I can see it now...


http://i43.tinypic.com/2iig0wl.png

plurworldinc
April 28th, 2010, 11:06 PM
Base on your info I think Ubuntu 9.10 and arriving soon Lucid Lynx will be the most likely choice. When I first use Ubuntu 8.10 which is my frist experience with Linux. I find it extremely easy to use and beside I have try out other Distro just to compare and Ubuntu is still my prefer choice. There is always a learning curve for any OS. They have to pick up and learn instead of being spoon fed.

Now I love this train of thought, because what ever distro or OS you decided to use there will be a learning curve. I found that to be the fun and tricky part of using any Linux distro because for Linux people we are willing to learn. One of the downside for anyone coming from Windows is they are already for the most part people with computer experience and find it somewhat trick to learn a new OS. Nevertheless , for those brave souls, Linux is just to amazing to let go of.

MrD_scifi
April 29th, 2010, 03:22 PM
I tried Ubuntu first, but I had issues and it required too much installed to work for everyday tasks that wasn't in the repositories or easy to find .deb files. I was then pointed in Linux Mint's direction by a girl I know and I haven't looked back. Although there is a learning curve trying to make my Brother multi-printer unit to work!

In fact, even though the new Ubuntu is out today, I'm not going to install it even to try until Mint produces their 9th edition that works with it.

GSF1200S
April 29th, 2010, 03:43 PM
Virtually every issue with crashing or confusion I have seen when introducing someone to linux (always been Ubuntu) has been due to gnome. Im not hating on gnome, but its the truth of my situation.

My 52 year old mother (with NO linux experience) and a good friend of mine are now both using Xubuntu on their computers (as do I). I dont understand why everyone seems to hate Xubuntu- its not as lean as other XFCE distros, but its not slower than Ubuntu and its very easy to understand.

I would say Linux Mint, but they dont have an XFCE version that I know of. Yeah, you can download XFCE, but then why not just add restricted extras to Xubuntu?

MrD_scifi
April 29th, 2010, 05:04 PM
I would say Linux Mint, but they dont have an XFCE version that I know of. Yeah, you can download XFCE, but then why not just add restricted extras to Xubuntu?

One came out 31st March 2010. I guess the last time you checked will have been a month or more ago then. The community versions do take a while longer to come out than the main Mint edition.

surfzombie
April 30th, 2010, 02:30 AM
For a noob I would suggest in this order.
1. Mint
2. Ultimate Edition
3. Ubuntu
4. ZorinOS for the Windows croud as it is most like windows and an easy transition. That said I love them all.:popcorn:

bruce89
April 30th, 2010, 02:40 AM
Any one they like best. Fedora

ubunterooster
April 30th, 2010, 04:10 AM
@FSF1200: Um KDE may be more UI but I still say it confuses more people proportionally than does gnome.
And mint's xfce is really good. like mrD-scifi said.

@surfzombie:I say:
1, Mint [xfce]
2, Mint [gnome]
3, Xubuntu
4, Debian [I started with Knoppix which is pretty much the same]
5, Xebian.
6,Ubuntu. [reccomended by me only because of the community]

I'm thinking I need to keep copies of Mint on hand...

Twitch6000
April 30th, 2010, 04:22 AM
Well if they ask me to help try linux. I would suggest mandriva or opensuse.

A_T
April 30th, 2010, 08:27 AM
Ubuntu

swoll1980
April 30th, 2010, 08:36 AM
Did anyone mention Ubuntu yet?

sxmaxchine
April 30th, 2010, 08:36 AM
ubuntu
or maybe mint