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Why does nobody here ever recommend Fedora to noobs? (lemy.lol)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I have tried Linux as a DD on and off for years but about a year ago I decided to commit to it no matter the cost. First with Mint, then Ubuntu and a few others sprinkled in briefly. Both are "mainstream" "beginner friendly" distros, right? I don't want anything too advanced, right?

Well, ubuntu recently updated and it broke my second monitor (Ubuntu detected it but the monitor had "no signal"). After trying to fix it for a week, I decided to wipe it and reinstall. No luck. I tried a few other distros that had the same issue and I started to wonder if it was a hardware issue but I tried a Windows PC and the monitor worked no problem.

Finally, just to see what would happen I tried a distro very very different than what I'm used to: Fedora (Kinoite). And not only did everything "just work" flawlessly, but it's so much faster and more polished than I ever knew Linux to be!

Credit where it's due, a lot of the polish is due to KDE plasma. I'd never strayed from Gnome because I'm not an expert and people recommend GNOME to Linux newbies because it's "simple" and "customizable" but WOW is KDE SO MUCH SIMPLER AND STILL CUSTOMIZEABLE. Gnome is only "simple" in that it doesn't allow you to do much via the GUI. With Fedora Kinode I think I needed to use the terminal maybe once during setup? With other distros I was constantly needed to use the terminal (yes its helped me learn Linux but that curve is STEEP).

The atomic updates are fantastic too. I have not crashed once in the two weeks of setup whereas before I would have a crash maybe 1-2 times per week.

I am FULLY prepared for the responses demanding to know what I did to make it crash and telling me how I was using it wrong blah blah blah but let me tell you, if you are experienced with Windows but want to learn Linux and getting frustrated by all the "beginner" distros that get recommended, do yourself a favor and try Fedora Kinoite!

edit: i am DYING at the number of "you're using it wrong" comments here. never change people.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

Because SE Linux drove me bonkers once and I am petty.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

I typically run fedora kde, both server and desktop. I've a laptop using hyprland which is great once you remember all the shortcuts you've setup, but fedora kde is worth its weight.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

I'm generally more of a Debian user, when I use Linux at least, so anything red hat based doesn't even occur to me to recommend. I generally don't get involved in distro discussions though.

My main interaction with Linux is Ubuntu server, and that's where my knowledge generally is. I can't really fix issues in redhat, so if someone is using it, I'm mostly lost on how to fix it.

There's enough difference in how redhat works compared to Debian distributions that I would need to do a lot of work to understand what's happening and fix any problems.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Fedora isn't a beginner distribution

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Fedora has been my default choice for non-techies in my family the last couple of years and it has been glorious!

All they need is a browser with uBlock, maybe an email reader and LibreOffice. With Silverblue, eveything updates automatically, and upgrades between major versions is a one-click operation. Easy rollback gives me peace of mind.

All they need to know is where the Super key is located on the keyboard. When pressed, it shows the dock with all apps they use and all open windows. Double-tap the Super key and you see all apps, but that is usually not necessary.

I also use the built in remote desktop feature (RDP) in conjunction with a Wireguard connection to my home network. So nice and a joy to never have to fight teamviewer again 😝

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

What makes a beginner distribution and why isn't fedora one?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I dunno if I'd say any distro of Linux is really beginner friendly.

It takes quite a bit of learning the ins and outs of operating systems before Linux makes sense in any capacity.

If you're just looking to run a few basic apps like discord/slack/teams/zoom, and run a browser, then sure, just about every distro can do that without trouble, and can be configured to be as "friendly" as Windows, with a few exceptions.

But anybody who wants to do intermediate/advanced stuff with little to no prior Linux knowledge? I'm not sure any distro is much easier than others. Again, with a few exceptions.

The exceptions are distros that are almost intentionally difficult to use, or that require a high level of competency with Linux before you can attempt to use it.

There's always a learning curve, that learning curve is pretty much always pretty steep.

I've been using Linux for dedicated servers for a while and I don't use Linux as a desktop environment, in no small part because despite having a fairly high level of competency with Linux, I don't feel like I know enough to make Linux work for me instead of the other way around.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago

I have always wondered what advance is when ppl say Linux is difficult when you have to do something advance. Isn't that the same for all oses? A os no matter what os (mac, android, Windows, iOS, linux) is difficult to use the first time. It doesn't matter witch os it is everyone will have a hard time the first time until they learn how it works. Mac for example, it was extremely hard for me to find how to get to my root folder without using the terminal and when I told a friend about it who use mac didn't they know either... I found out by accidently by miss clicking. Android depending on brand (what you had before) can also be annoying to use the first week or weeks until you have relearned.

Linux is the same, it isn't more advance than windows or Mac the first time, it is all about learning how it works (most ppl build their Ikea furniture first and then read the manual) and windows and Linux in that regard is at least kinda similar because they don't hide stuff as mac os does (you still ned a lot of knowledge to use windows too) and they are kinda alike, Mac is completely backwards in my opinion. I think everyone forgets how it was the first year they used a computer for the first time. Ppl laugh when studies shows that the younger generation do not know or do not understand the folder structure. It is all about experience and knowledge, if you know something exist then it is easier to find it.

The biggest problem i had using Linux for the first time was finding good alternatives for programs. And learning these new programs. You don't have to use a terminal with most distros now days but it is a very nice and fast interface to use. It is also easier for everyone to learn and use because it is less dependent on what kind of environment you are in.

But I think we both are kinda agreeing with each other I just want to point out that all os are difficult the first time and you don't have to make it harder than it is, linux is beginner friendly just like any other os.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago

There are couple of concerns and how Fedora Workstation is designed for… well, development workstation. There is SELinux, that sometimes gets in a way, now they ditched codecs with loyalties by default, some default configs are a bit controversial and maybe not perfectly suited for home computer and non-tech savvy users, 3rd party packages are sometimes lacking and when you want to go beyond what’s in stock repo and rpmfusion, you can even break the system by installing random COPR packages (I mean AUR is not a whole lot better, but is more complete and less needed given how much there is to stock repos, PPAs are just as bad) or end up compiling stuff manually. But I still think that Fedora can be pretty nice for many people out of the box.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

I generally do mention that I like my Fedora KDE, but I'm a little worried about SELinux. I have had two or three run-ins with it, and I think that would be hard to diagnose for a noob.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Unfortunately boring distributions don't get recommended because users of boring distributions don't bother commenting on distribution discussions.

And it's really unfortunate that obscure distributions have more vocal fans, because boring distributions are much better for beginners.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Ironically this is how I feel about Arch, for me it's worked flawlessly for years.

I don't bother getting in 'discussions' about using it, because if other people have problems I'm not going to convince them that I don't.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It's mostly the installation and initial setup that's a pain on arch, so definitely not a beginner distro, but very good nonetheless

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Yeah totally, I think to use Arch successfully you need an opinion about what your system needs, and that takes experience with using Linux.

Installation is pretty trivial these days with the install script

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Back when I moved over to linux I wanted to get away from the mainstream. Fedora/Red Hat were too mainstream for me at the time but I have never had any real objections to it. I eventually ended up settling on Debian and ever since then i've stuck with descendants of that distro because having the same toolchains of software as Debian makes transitioning distros slightly easier.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

I have never touched Linux/GNU and I installed Linux after the Microsoft recall and when with standard workstation (GNOME) as a dual boot. After the first two weeks reinstalled fedora over top of windows and haven't looked back.

That was 2 months ago and and having no issues even gaming on my machine works great.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I love Fedora. But, part of my day job is also managing linux servers. I tend to recommend things that I think are the easiest to get running. Although Fedora is super easy to get running (at least to me), I find the installation process of mint or pop os to be much easier overall. Between those two OSes, I have moved several people from windows to fulltime linux and I'm not entirely sure that the conversion would have been as successful with fedora and without more help from me during the install process.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

I'm a big fan personally. I an experimenting more with OpenSUSE's distro including microOS but that not because of Fedora but more so I want to recommend options that are easy to scale into FOSS professionally for people too and unfortunately RedHat no longer offers that path for Fedora users.

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