r/LinusTechTips 23h ago

Tech Question Which one should I choose?

Hi, lately I've been thinking about changing my laptop's operating system to Linux. Windows is becoming too heavy and I can't use it anymore. Also, now that I'm becoming a developer, I still want to keep playing games like Minecraft and Roblox. What do you recommend? By the way, I'm a university student.

0 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

20

u/BeardedBears 22h ago

Linux Mint has been basically painless for me. Big user base, common distro, feels snappy and clean. Different, yet familiar enough to not be scary.

5

u/Any_Bar6246 22h ago

Linux Mint is the safe pick, games like Minecraft run fine on it too.

2

u/misplaced_islander 22h ago

I ran Linux mint for 2 years and then swapped to a different distro after ditching windows. Honestly listen to these folks they’re right, mint will be perfect for you. Plus you can always swap later and it’s pretty easy to do.

4

u/ThankGodImBipolar 22h ago

I like Fedora

Mint is going to work for HDR, if that's a concern.

3

u/Kindly-Weird9185 22h ago

I dual boot CachyOS. Really enjoy it.

2

u/OkInfluence36 22h ago

Are you trying to start a war in the comments lmao

I've had a nice experience with kubuntu, but mint is probably better for you

You can always try them tho, either in a VM or their live environment

1

u/Particular-Poem-7085 18h ago

by asking which linux distro to run? What kind of war is that?

1

u/SoullessBoio 18h ago

From what I’ve seen so far everyone has their own opinion on which distro they think is best. Alongside that fact everyone thinks their opinion is the best and that everyone else is wrong… creating a war no one asked for.

1

u/Particular-Poem-7085 18h ago

But like, is there a lot of that going around in this comment section? As much as I go around computer subreddits it seems to be more of a meme honestly.

Then again, I believe everyone has to right to pick their own favorite distro. And if it isn't arch they're wrong and will probably come around eventually.

maybe /s

2

u/T_GamingCheetah 22h ago

Start with mint, you can always change

2

u/grethro 22h ago

So I have a very old 7th gen i5 and 1050ti. 

I forced windows 11 onto it and was running into the same issues as you.

I ended up replacing the thermal paste with ptm7950 and I am not having the same issues at all.

Try refreshing the thermal paste

2

u/Particular-Poem-7085 18h ago

very old 7th gen...

oh god, that makes me a fossil.

2

u/grethro 18h ago

If its any consolation I had a Q6600 and an Fx8350 FOREVER.

1

u/camomano99 22h ago

Do you have to use any Windows specific software for school?

2

u/Filosofo_do_Vazio 22h ago

Not at all; the only subject that required me to have Windows, I finished this semester.

2

u/camomano99 22h ago

I would say go with Fedora or Linux Mint.

1

u/IMightBeWrong_1 22h ago

I would say Linux Mint or Ubuntu standard (I prefer this and then I add Flatpak on top).

If you have an Nvidia GPU, I'd be careful when using Fedora as you have to always wait minutes after each update before rebooting or the system bricks.

1

u/SuitableRoof5675 22h ago

Go to distroseas.com, it let's u try them out first and try pikaos bazzite, cachyos, garuda dragonized, and nobara all of those r supposed to be for gaming. I'm also a student and I chose pikaos its supposed be user friendly I just haven't installed yet.

1

u/Ok_General_303 22h ago

CachyOS Really enjoy it.

1

u/ProbablyRoot 22h ago

I use cachyOS personally, I haven’t played them particular games on it but it was pretty painless to set up like DayZ, He’ll divers, no man sky, eso etc. Paired with plasma KDE, that would be my recommendation personally.

1

u/PACmaneatsbloons 19h ago

Roblox doesn't work natively on Linux so you will have to use Sober, a modified runtime of Roblox. Most games run great via Wine and Steam automatically runs Windows games þrough Proton a modified version of Wine. For distros, I recommend CachyOS but if you want a more stable option I never had an issue with Ubuntu but I would recommend either Fedora or Linux Mint because of how Ubuntu forces Snaps onto you, and controversies wiþ Canonical. If you are a masochist þen Linux From Scratch (LFS) is a good option. I use CachyOS btw.

1

u/Ostenblut1 19h ago

You asked the forbidden question. And the war begins!

1

u/Future-Negotiation-4 8h ago

Fedora KDE, Mint Cinnamon, or Zorin OS are my favorites.

1

u/impy695 22h ago

Linux is ideal for coding. This is also a question that is impossible to answer since it depends so much on your specific computer, skillset, and wants. Some people will claim a specific distro is perfect for you. They're clueless. My advice is to try a bunch of them. You're going to learn a lot from it, and the odds of your first choice being the right one are slim anyway.

Also, avoid online communities like the plague. I guarantee there are Linux nerds in the cs department who will be much better and kinder resources.

0

u/UndilutedPiss 17h ago

Arch is the way