this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2025
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I just found out my fiancee wants to switch to linux, lets start a distro war, what should be her first? + other questions (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 day ago by StarvingMartist@sh.itjust.works to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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So i was surprised today when my fiancee told me she was thinking about switching over to linux. Surprised because she is absolutely not technically minded, but also because she was weary about having Microsoft AI slop forced on her PC every update. ( i'm so proud!)

Now i've used a little linux but i've always been a holdout. Won't stop me from moving someone else over but i have too much going on in my setup to deal with that right now. So i'm not super versed but i was able to give her the basic rundown of what distros are, concerns when switching, what may and may not be available, shes still on board so we're doing this! Knowing her she would like to not have to transition too much, whats something fairly hands off and easy to learn. I've heard some good things about mint from hanging around you nerds the past few years but also some not so good things, any suggestions?

next concern is what kind of transfer process is this going to be? i have some spare HDD's so we can try and get everything ported over but i'm so busy with school right now i can't quite allocate the time to really deep dive this.

Any help is appreciated, cheers!

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[–] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 19 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

I guess a good question would be what software you plan on using. If it's something more reliant on frequent updates and feature releases like gaming, the choice would be a bit different compared to something like office work or common browsing, where stability would be prioritized (at the cost of slower updates).

Mint, for example, is a great jumping off point for Windows users because of the familiar User Interface and a focus on stability and lack of prior knowledge required - but it lags behind when it comes to cutting edge stuff for things like gaming.

[–] zdhzm2pgp@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Since Mrs. Erinaceus is considering switching, I was going to try and steer her towards Mint, but since she's a gamer and I'm not (I know, boring) perhaps this would not be the best choice? Please tell me more.

[–] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 1 day ago

Like 9limmer mentioned, Bazzite would be a good gaming focused choice for a beginner. There are alternatives like CatchyOS, but those are geared towards more experienced users.

[–] 9limmer@piefed.zip 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Greddan@feddit.org 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Went with Bazzite for my main gaming rig almost a year ago. Really good all-round distro imo. Haven't had an issue yet. NixOS for my other machines because it's cool and I can have them fit for many purposes by just switching a single config file.

[–] 9limmer@piefed.zip 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Nix is new to me, but what I've read seems like it's very polarizing. Curious what kind of real world use makes it a good choice?

[–] pivot_root@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Curious what kind of real world use makes it a good choice?

It's declarative. Everything is (usually) configured via Nix itself, without requiring manual steps of running additional commands. This ends up being pretty useful when you have a fleet of devices that you want to configure.

Changing config is atomic. If you end up breaking your system when trying to tweak it, you can boot into the previous generation and try again with different settings.

[–] LogicalDrivel@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 day ago

I just switched a couple months ago to Pop OS because it is supposed to be more up to date on Nvidia drivers and game stuff. I haven't tested to many games yet but the couple I did worked fine. I was going to go with Mint originally but the gaming thing sold me on Pop. Its been pretty smooth but I would like more built in setting options for customizations.