Distributions

I have never used Linux before and was wondering which distro I should use. I don't want to get comfortable in a "beginner" distro just to move because it doesnt have the capabilities of other distributions. Any insight appreciated.

xubuntu

maximum comfy

Arch or gentoo

xubuntu should be fine for babies first linux

I really doubt you're going to find the "right" distro the first time, but I recommend Fedora. Up to date software, mostly stable and I think it strikes a good balance between aesthetics and customization.

OP don't listen to these faggots. If you really want to learn about GNU/+Linux choose Arch or gentoo.

Do you think it would be a waste of time or do you think Ubuntu is necessary and shouldnt be skipped for say, gentoo?

Don't install Gentoo unless you're experience with cli and you have time to kill. Ubuntu is a decent starter distro but there are a lot of reasons that I'll never use it again.

Like?

botnet

Whatever you do, don't choose a dead-end distro which adopted the systemd cancer, i.e. avoid Mint, Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, or Arch. Much rather, choose a true Linux distro such as Slackware, Gentoo, Devuan, or PCLinuxOS.

Manjaro is nice

I prefer yum (now dnf) to apt, I hate Untiy with a passion, Ubuntu makes it difficult to change the default shell (zsh tab completion is GOAT), and I'm not sure if they're still doing this shit but recently Ubuntu started including Amazon botnet in their distro.

Use Arch or Debian. They're both pretty beginner friendly and will teach you everything you'd need to know about how to use Linux.

Arch installation is not user friendly.
>but muh wiki!

They all have pretty much the same capabilities.
Their major difference (once set-up) is in their package management which is how you install software and keep it up to date.
The harder to install distos just let you customize what's initially installed, sometimes down to full austism levels but it's not like they do anything special outside of taking up less disk space and having less things using resources, which is a two edged sword because those things using resources are usually what's making things work conveniently so you have to already know what you need or don't ahead of time to make them worth while.

It's not incredibly difficult, unless you've literally never used a terminal before. The wiki is also available for you to use whenever you want and the documentation is great. They detail each step of the process very clearly.

The wiki is better than the distro.

Ubuntu 16.04 with Unity.

It's the easiest distro to set up, incredibly large repository and many PPAs, everything just works so I can move on to the tasks that matter.

The Unity DE is great for a keyboard-centric user. Features like integrated top bar, HUD and Dash offer unmatched convenience compared to other DEs.

Otherwise, Fedora with Gnome is a great, modern Linux experience. Download Korora if you want codecs, apps, and theming out of the box.

Arch. Seriously.

How about you use the fucking /fglt/ threads

Thanks for the tips and advice guys, I'm leaning towards trying Arch, do you think I should bother with vmware or just go for bootable from a usb?

No.

Arch is great but you have no experience whatsoever so you will just get frustrated. Go for Xubuntu or Mint or Debian at least.

Just go with the bootable usb.

Arch is easymode post install. Scripts do everything for you.

try whatever distro in vmware first

Ubuntu or CentOS if your future employer is a redhat shop.

>The person in question probably has no experience with cli at all.
Don't listen to this faggot, just install Debian.

This. Solid advice mate don't bother with the big install and fuck things up when you can just do it in vmware and realise its shit and convert back.

Get a feel of it by running it in virtualbox, just so you know what you're getting yourself into once you install Arch. Once you're satisfied with how it works, you can make a bootable disc/usb.

What DE and Windows managers do you prefer?

It's just a graphical shell which runs on top of your OS. It makes zero difference what you choose really, pick whatever looks most eye pleasing and aesthetic to you.

Any distro has the capabilities of Linux and the command line. Some just add a lot of friendly graphical button stuff on top.

If you want to be "future safe", I'd recommend Debian (because the upgrade from one version to the next just works), Ubuntu Long Term Support version (because you'll have 5 years of support until you have to reinstall a new version), or Manjaro (because the system upgrades on the fly and stays current forever).

just do the usb

Also I'd recommend against Arch at first unless you have some time to kill to figureout how to use it, it can be confusing if you don't have much experience using the command line

Ubuntu MATE

slackware, learning curve but ultimately a great starting point to do whatever you want with linux.

xubuntu

>I don't want to get comfortable in a "beginner" distro just to move because it doesnt have the capabilities of other distributions. Any insight appreciated.

Almost every distribution is capable of exactly the same things. Just because a distribution is user friendly does not make it a "beginner" one.

>cant inb4 autists suggest gentoo and arch because its already happened

You're either retarded or trolling.

That is a horrible suggestion.

you circled the wrong date

My point is:
Nothing happened between the release of the current version, and the year 2013.
And nothing will likely happen for the next 3 years either.

>Arch installation is not user friendly
It's not beginner friendly you mean.

a month is hardly a long time so?

It's retarded.
Name one reason why forcing laptop users to set up wireless on the command line as a first step, without access to documentation (since access to the wiki requires internet) is a good idea, when an automated installer can do the same thing in a second.

>OP has never used Linux
>use Arch or gentoo
this is bait

security patches? new version added alot of support for cgroups and lvm and a couple other heres and theres. what was suppose to happen? If you want software install it, otherwise if it isn't broke why fix it. A distro doesn't have to completely reinvent the wheel every time some new software comes out.

I agree with this, the install is some weird combination of psuedoknowledge and pretentiousness like "hey why don't you know how to use this, lets drop you into a config file"

>LVM support
Hold the fucking presses! I'm sure we can expect UEFI support any decade now.

and slackware-current exists without news on the website

Linux Mint Cinnamon/Ubuntu MATE /thread

Arch or Gentoo is nothing for a beginner. Those who recommend them to a beginner are fucking dumb faggots.

oh lord its had that (but you knew that). That's just the stable version, they have packages they develop concurrently. If your type of person who needs a new distro install everyday because "oh my god something new exists" then i don't know what the big deal is to go install that or some security patch or just customize it however the fuck you want. Distro wars are stupid, they're all pretty much the same except how they handle package binaries, i like slackware because it keeps a base pretty close to upstream and isn't that invasive. But please tell me how $YOURDISTRO is best thing that ever existed.

Is there any botnet free beginner friendly distro?

Every distro has the same capabilities, just different ways to handle them.
Ask yourself what is it that you need or want, search for a few distros that match your needs. Read their descriptions an think what you want, from what they're offering. Based on this you can specify down what you actually want, and then work with it.

All of them, *buntu being a botnet is a fucking meme

No, it's not.
>Telemetry for Amazon is just a feature

>Fedora with Gnome is a great, modern Linux experience.
Too bad a lot of software will only support actual RHEL, sometimes CentOS, and Ubuntu/Debian.

>"true" Linux distro
Opinion discarded.

seconding ubuntu, although i think kde and gnome are both better than unity

if there is a piece of software for linux it's guaranteed to work on ubuntu, with every other distro you might have to get your hands dirty

i've tried pretty much everything at this point and i'm back to ubuntu because installing/maintining things is so much less of a hassle

>"beginner" distros don't have "capabilities" of other distros
lolwut
they can do all the same things, the only advantage to using a harder distro is the learning experience.