Ubuntu still the most user friendly distro?

PaulieG · Apr 6, 2021

So, I'm looking to use a linux distro on 2 of my WCG crunchers. I haven't tried anything Linux in 7-8 years. Is Ubuntu still the most user friendly when moving away from windows 10? Just an fyi, I don't even know enough about Linux to be dangerous. Any help is greatly appreciated.

TheLostSwede · Apr 6, 2021

Mint maybe?

night.fox · Apr 6, 2021

I also think it is mint but you could try Pop OS as well. Still ubuntu based

PaulieG · Apr 6, 2021

Sorry guys. I was skipping over words this morning. Fixed.

R-T-B · Apr 6, 2021

I'd say yes, that or one of the official alternative desktops (kubuntu, etc).

bug · Apr 6, 2021

Ubuntu is all Gnome3 now, which is quite alien coming from Windows. You may want to look at OpenSuse instead.

R-T-B · Apr 6, 2021

bug said:
Ubuntu is all Gnome3 now, which is quite alien coming from Windows. You may want to look at OpenSuse instead.

hence me advising kubuntu. I agree gnome 3 was made for aliens.

bug · Apr 6, 2021

R-T-B said:
hence me advising kubuntu. I agree gnome 3 was made for aliens.

Kubuntu is still a strange beast. If you want Ubuntu with a KDE face, Neon is the way.

R-T-B · Apr 6, 2021

bug said:
Kubuntu is still a strange beast. If you want Ubuntu with a KDE face, Neon is the way.

I honestly did not find it that strange. But I suppose I am more adaptable to weird desktops, lol.

abactuon · Apr 6, 2021

Ubuntu was a promising "startup". But it didn't work out. Now it's just a regular Linux distribution. No better than others.
Arch Linux the most ineresting.

bug · Apr 6, 2021

R-T-B said:
I honestly did not find it that strange. But I suppose I am more adaptable to weird desktops, lol.

It's not strange visually, but under the hood. It eats a lot more resources than Neon (I've read once it's because it doesn't get rid of unnecessary leftovers from Ubuntu - haven't checked myself). Ubuntu also packages ancient Qt versions which are always a good source of bugs. Neon trims all the fat and packages the latest Qt, making it a much better distro overall. Fwiw, I've used Kubuntu for over 10 years, Neon for about 2.

WatEagle · Apr 6, 2021

also manjaro kde is good... installing it on my laptop while writing this

PaulieG · Apr 6, 2021

I appreciate how some of the distros are more interesting etc but what I'm looking for is ease of use coming from Windows. I want it to require as little as possible to get comfortable with it. Visually, I'm fine having the desktop looking different etc., but I want to avoid needing to do extra work to have the OS be functional for everyday activities.

bug · Apr 6, 2021

PaulieG said:
I appreciate how some of the distros are more interesting etc but what I'm looking for is ease of use coming from Windows. I want it to require as little as possible to get comfortable with it. Visually, I'm fine having the desktop looking different etc., but I want to avoid needing to do extra work to have the OS be functional for everyday activities.

Ubuntu can do all that, if you can get to terms with Gnome. If you can't, the best KDE distros are OpenSuse and Neon (Ubuntu derivative).
Manjaro mentioned above is also nice, but idk whether it fits your "everything should just work" requirement.

I think that's the gist of it.

Edit: Tbh, many things are easier to do in Linux than they are on Linux (e.g. setting up a VPN connection, updating all your stuff with a simple CLI command). But not all. And there will always be peripherals that are no more than paperweights on Linux, because of lack of drivers.

PaulieG · Apr 6, 2021

bug said:
Ubuntu can do all that, if you can get to terms with Gnome. If you can't, the best KDE distros are OpenSuse and Neon (Ubuntu derivative).
Manjaro mentioned above is also nice, but idk whether it fits your "everything should just work" requirement.

I think that's the gist of it.

Edit: Tbh, many things are easier to do in Linux than they are on Linux (e.g. setting up a VPN connection, updating all your stuff with a simple CLI command). But not all. And there will always be peripherals that are no more than paperweights on Linux, because of lack of drivers.

When you say "if you can get to terms with gnome", what do you mean?

SomeOne99h · Apr 6, 2021

I guess he means if you have no problem with having gnome as a desktop environment.
Pop!_OS (a Ubuntu-based one) is easy and simple too. It is my choice when I am going to install Linux, I just need a laptop.

Pop!_OS by System76

Imagine an OS for the software developer, maker and computer science professional who uses their computer as a tool to discover and create. Welcome to Pop!_OS.

pop.system76.com

ZenZimZaliben · Apr 6, 2021

Ubuntu is still the easiest to use. A nice mix/cross between Mac OSx, Windows, Android.

Liquid Cool · Apr 6, 2021

PaulieG,

+1 for ubuntu if you're looking for ease of use. I'm not a fan of the desktop(since leaving unity) environment, but use it anyway ~ for that very purpose.

Everything..."usually" just works.

Best,

Liquid Cool

Solaris17 · Apr 6, 2021

If you want Ubuntu with enough interesting can give ubuntu budgie a try.

Ubuntu Budgie

Your favorite new Ubuntu Distro

ubuntubudgie.org

Ubuntu in general I would say is the go to if you want simple in a lot of aspects, its pretty friendly and very well documented.

bug · Apr 6, 2021

PaulieG said:
When you say "if you can get to terms with gnome", what do you mean?

I mean I've tried for years and it still feels awkward to me. Last I tried it took me like 10 minutes to figure out how to make the file explorer go to the root folder.
It's not a bad desktop environment, many people are fine with it. I just think coming from Windows, you won't feel at home with it.

Still, you can download whatever distro you want to try, put it on USB stick and run it from there. That should be enough to figure out if Gnome is made for you or not, before committing to a full-fledged install.

ThrashZone · Apr 6, 2021

Hi,
Forget about the little linux spawns stick with the bigs like mint mate or I use 20.1 mint cinnamon
Linux hasn't gotten any easier sadly.

WatEagle · Apr 7, 2021

bug said:
Still, you can download whatever distro you want to try, put it on USB stick and run it from there. That should be enough to figure out if Gnome is made for you or not, before committing to a full-fledged install.

whithout the hassle to create a live you can also use https://distrotest.net/index.php to try it live really fast and easy

PaulieG · Apr 8, 2021

WatEagle said:
whithout the hassle to create a live you can also use https://distrotest.net/index.php to try it live really fast and easy

I've never seen this before. It's perfect. Thanks!

Processor	Ryzen 5900x/Ryzen 3900xt/i9 10850k x3
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix B550-F/Asrock z590 Steel Legend/MSI MAG z590 Tomahawk/MSI MPG B550 Carbon/ MSI Unify
Cooling	EK AIO 360 (2)/EK AIO 240 (3), Alphacool Eisbaer 360
Memory	32 GB Ballistix Elite/32 GB Gskill TridentZ/32GB Mushkin Redline Black
Video Card(s)	3060ti FE/Sapphire 5600xt/HIS 5700xt/Asus 750 ti
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB/WD Black M.2 NVMe 500GB/Adata 500gb NVMe
Display(s)	Acer 1080p 22"/ (3) Samsung 22" 1080p
Case	Lian Li Lancool II Mesh/Corsair 4000D/Phanteks Eclipse 500a/Test bench from the bones of HAF
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 850G/Phantek Amps 750w/Seasonic Focus 750w/Enermax Marblebron 650w
Mouse	Generic Black wireless
Keyboard	Generic Black wireless
Software	Win 10/Ubuntu

System Name	Overlord Mk MXVI
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 3800X
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master
Cooling	Corsair H115i Pro
Memory	32GB Viper Steel 3600 DDR4 @ 3800MHz 16-19-16-19-36
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte RTX 2080 Gaming OC 8G
Storage	1TB WD Black NVMe (2018), 2TB Viper VPN100, 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND
Display(s)	Asus PG27AQ
Case	Corsair Carbide 275Q
Audio Device(s)	Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply	Corsair RM750
Mouse	Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard	Wooting Two
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	https://valid.x86.fr/33u9si

System Name	COVID Bonus Build
Processor	Ryzen R9 3900XT 4.5 Ghz @ 1.275V
Motherboard	Asus ROG Crosshair Viii Hero Wifi
Cooling	Lian Li 360 Galahad
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32gb OC @ 3733 mhz CL14-13-13-21 1T @ 1.43V
Video Card(s)	Sapphire RX 6900 XT Nitro+
Storage	Seagate 520 1TB + Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB + lots of HDD's
Display(s)	Samsung Odyssey G7
Case	Lian Li PC-O11D XL White
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex SE Platinum 1000W
Mouse	Logitech MX Master 2S
Keyboard	ABKO K660 ARC GAMING
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Have tried but can't beat the leaders :)

Processor	Ryzen 5900x/Ryzen 3900xt/i9 10850k x3
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix B550-F/Asrock z590 Steel Legend/MSI MAG z590 Tomahawk/MSI MPG B550 Carbon/ MSI Unify
Cooling	EK AIO 360 (2)/EK AIO 240 (3), Alphacool Eisbaer 360
Memory	32 GB Ballistix Elite/32 GB Gskill TridentZ/32GB Mushkin Redline Black
Video Card(s)	3060ti FE/Sapphire 5600xt/HIS 5700xt/Asus 750 ti
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB/WD Black M.2 NVMe 500GB/Adata 500gb NVMe
Display(s)	Acer 1080p 22"/ (3) Samsung 22" 1080p
Case	Lian Li Lancool II Mesh/Corsair 4000D/Phanteks Eclipse 500a/Test bench from the bones of HAF
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 850G/Phantek Amps 750w/Seasonic Focus 750w/Enermax Marblebron 650w
Mouse	Generic Black wireless
Keyboard	Generic Black wireless
Software	Win 10/Ubuntu

System Name	Pioneer
Processor	Intel i9 9900k
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Taichi
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory	G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4-3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 FTW3
Storage	2x Mushkin Pilot-E 2TB NVMe SSDs in bootable RAID0 by HIGHPOINT - SSD7202
Display(s)	55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case	Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s)	VGA HDMI->Panasonic SC-HTB20/Schiit Modi MB/Asgard 2 DAC/Amp to AKG Pro K7712 Headphones
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Titanium 750W
Mouse	Razer Deathadder v2
Keyboard	WASD CODE 104-Key w/ Cherry MX Green Keyswitches, Doubleshot Vortex PBT White Transluscent Keycaps
Software	Windows 10 Enterprise (Product of work, yes it's legit)
Benchmark Scores	www.3dmark.com/fs/23478641 www.3dmark.com/spy/13863605 www.3dmark.com/pr/306218

Ubuntu still the most user friendly distro?

PaulieG

Moderator

TheLostSwede

night.fox

PaulieG

Moderator

R-T-B

bug

R-T-B

bug

R-T-B

abactuon

bug

WatEagle

PaulieG

Moderator

bug

PaulieG

Moderator

SomeOne99h

Pop!_OS by System76

ZenZimZaliben

Liquid Cool

Solaris17

Dainty Moderator

Ubuntu Budgie

bug

ThrashZone

WatEagle

PaulieG

Moderator

Processor	Intel i5-6600k (AMD Ryzen5 3600 in a box, waiting for a mobo)
Motherboard	ASRock Z170 Extreme7+
Cooling	Arctic Cooling Freezer i11
Memory	2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V (@3200)
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage	500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 3TB Seagate
Display(s)	HP ZR24w
Case	Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s)	Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply	Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse	Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard	G.Skill KM780R
Software	Arch Linux + Win10

System Name	The Worker/ Laptop
Processor	Ryzen 5 3600/ i5 1035g1
Motherboard	MSI b450 Tomahawk Max / Lenovo proprietary
Cooling	Arctic Freezer 33 eSport One
Memory	16Gb DDR4 3200 Mhz Corsair vengeance LPX / 8gb ddr4 3200Mhz
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte gtx 1660 Ti OC @2030Mhz core and 7400Mhz memory / Intel G1 UHD
Storage	1 970Evo plus 500gb, 250Gb Samsung 850 Evo, 3TB HDD / 250gb WD SN530
Display(s)	Asus mx259h / 15.6 FHD TN
Case	Corsair Spec Alpha
Audio Device(s)	Onboard / Onboard
Power Supply	CoolerMaster G750M
Mouse	Razer Deathadder Chroma
Keyboard	Gamdias Hermes e2
Software	W10 64bit, Kubuntu

Processor	Intel Core i5 9400f 2.9GHz/4.0 Turbo
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z370M D3H rev. 1.0
Cooling	An okayish Cooler but it is better than Intel's stock
Memory	Corsair Red Line 8x2 16GB 3000MHz DDR4-3000 15-17-17-35 (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15R) V1.35 ver 4.24
Video Card(s)	NVIDIA GeForce MSI 980 Ti Golden Edition \| Spare: GTX 650 Ti 1 GB
Storage	Samsun 860 EVO 1 TB \| Spare: WDC Black 930 GiB WD1003FZEX
Display(s)	Asus VG248QZ 1920x1080 144hz 24" (Current: 60hz, because Contrast is lowered with 60+ Hz)
Case	Corsair Air 540
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC892
Power Supply	Corsair 850W RMi power supply (Overkill I know -long story-)
Mouse	Logitech M105
Keyboard	Logitech K120
Software	Windows 10 21H2

System Name	TheReactor
Processor	i7 10700k @ 5.2Ghz
Motherboard	ASUS Maximus XII
Cooling	HeatKiller VI CPU/GPU Block -2xBlackIce GTX 240 Radiators - Swiftech MCP655 Pump
Memory	32GB G.Skill 3600Mhz Cas 14
Video Card(s)	PNY RTX 2080 TI
Storage	Samsung 960 EVO 500GB
Display(s)	Acer Predator xb271hu - 2560x1440 @144hz
Case	Corsiar 550
Audio Device(s)	on board
Power Supply	Antec Quattro 1000W
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Corsair Gaming k70
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64bit

System Name	Graphics Card Free....
Processor	Ryzen 3 3200G
Motherboard	MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX Wifi
Cooling	Cryorig M9a w/ BeQuiet! PureWings 2 ~ 92mm
Memory	Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 3200 ~ 16GB(2x8GB) Cas 14-14-34-76 1T
Storage	Samsung EVO 870 500GB
Display(s)	AOC 24G2
Case	Cardboard...
Power Supply	eVGA SuperNova 550w G3
Mouse	Logitech T400 Zone Touch Mouse
Keyboard	iKBC CD87 ~ (Silent)Red Cherry MX Switches
Software	Windows 10/Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Benchmark Scores	It's fast enough for me.

System Name	Venslar
Processor	I9 7980XE
Motherboard	MSI x299 Tomahawk Arctic
Cooling	EK Custom
Memory	32GB Corsair DDR4 3000mhz
Video Card(s)	Nvidia Titan RTX
Storage	1x 250GB 960 EVO \| 1x 500gb Intel 720p \| 32TB SAN
Display(s)	3x AOC Q2577PWQ (2k IPS)
Case	Inwin 303 White (Thermaltake Ring 120mm Purple accent)
Audio Device(s)	Schiit Fulla 3 on Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pros
Power Supply	Seasonic 1050W Snow
Mouse	Roccat Kone Aimo White
Keyboard	Ducky Shine 6 Snow White
Software	Windows 10 x64 Pro

System Name	Ghetto Rigs x299 & z490 & Q9550 Old timer
Processor	9940x with optimus sigV2 & 10900k with optimus foundation & Q9550 with EK Evo
Motherboard	X299 Rampage VI Apex & z490 Maximus XII Apex & Acer WG43M
Cooling	D5 combo/280 GTX/ VRM water block copper/280 GTX/ D5 Top/Optimus sigV2/TitanXp/Mora 360x2
Memory	Trident-Z 3600C16 4x8gb & Trident-Z 3600c16 2x8gb & 4x2gb crucial
Video Card(s)	Titan Xp & 1080ti ftw3 & evga 980ti gaming
Storage	970 evo plus 500gb & 970 evo 500gb many 2.5" ssd's and WD BLK hdd's
Display(s)	1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Case	D450 second floor for 2nd rad x2/ Cherry Entertainment center
Audio Device(s)	Built in Realtek x2 with Insignia 2.0 sound bars & 1-LG sound bar
Power Supply	evga 1200P2 & 1000P2 with APC AX1500 & 850P2 & CyberPower-GX1325U
Mouse	Redragon Perdition x3
Keyboard	G910 & G710+x2
Software	Win-7 pro x3 and Linux Cinnamon 20.1x2 & win-10 pro x3