Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Looking to dip my toes into Linux for the first time. I have a 2016 Intel MacBook Pro with pretty solid specs collecting dust right now that I think I’m going to use. Research so far has indicated to me that the two best options for me are likely Mint or Elementary OS. Does anyone have any insight? Also open to other OS’s. I would consider myself decently tech savvy but I am not a programmer or anything. Comfortable dipping into the terminal when the need arises and all that.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

TL;Dr elementary will give you what you want if you like Mac's interface. Depending on the complexity of the thing you're doing you won't need to dip into the terminal too much

Elementary was my favourite out of all of em until I moved to NixOS so I'd recommend that especially coming from Mac

Realistically distro doesn't really matter that much with a few exceptions (arch, NixOS, qubes all do something different) the thing you'll want to pay more attention to is desktop environment

Main 3 imo are GNOME (looks kinda like android, everything is setup sensibly but not much customisation) KDE (looks like windows 10 out of the box and functions in a similar way, very customisable) XFCE (looks kinda like windows XP/7, one of the most lightweight ones)

Elementary uses a modified version of gnome (I believe) called Pantheon

Pop uses their own spin on gnome though they're currently writing their own

Mint uses their own DE called Cinnanon

Ubuntu and fedora I believe both use gnome by default but can also be installed with others