Can someone recommend a Linux distro for a newbie?

mthelm85

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I built a new PC in January and I've been flirting with the idea of switching to Linux ever since (but haven't taken the plunge yet). Here's my hardware:
  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 3.5 GHz 16-Core Processor
  • CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 120 56.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
  • Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard
  • Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory
  • Storage: Sabrent Rocket 4.0 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
  • GPU: EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB BLACK GAMING Video Card
  • Case + Power Supply: InWin A1 Plus Mini ITX Tower Case w/ 650 W Power Supply

I'm currently running Windows 10 on this simply because that's all I've ever run on anything. Below I've included some of the software that I consider indispensable and a couple of applications that are just nice to have, but not necessarily indispensable:

Indispensable apps:
  • Chrome
  • Visual Studio Code
  • Julia programming language
  • Node.js
  • Git
  • Postman
  • Atom text editor
  • Skype for business
  • Something for simple Word/Excel file viewing/manipulating
  • Spotify

Other indispensables (these are critical for GPU computing with Julia):
  • NVIDIA drivers for my GPU
  • CUDA toolkit

I'd like to have these, but none of them are deal-breakers:
  • EVGA Precision X1
  • Ryzen Master
  • ASUS Armoury Crate
99% of the time all I'm using is Google Chrome, VS Code, Julia, and Spotify. I really don't use anything else so I'm considering the switch to Linux because it seems to me that its light weight, simplicity, and security might make sense for a user like me that doesn't really take advantage of all of the bells and whistles that Windows 10 offers (Cortana, Mail, People, blah blah).

I'm hoping someone here can suggest a good Linux distro for a user like me.

Thanks!!
 


I heard out that Ubuntu 20.04 is going to support nvidia drivers by default, so, if you wait some days until Ubuntu 20.04 is released, it would be an amazing distro for a newbie, as its one of the most known distros out there.
 
FerenOS -- like Zorin bur FREE. Check it out. Should work well with your specs.
 
U R welcome, and enjoy!
 
Other indispensables (these are critical for GPU computing with Julia):
  • NVIDIA drivers for my GPU
  • CUDA toolkit
Well, drivers seem to be available for Linux https://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/138279/

and so is the Cuda toolkit as well https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-downloads?target_os=Linux&target_arch=x86_64 The Julia programming language should be availabel in most distros repositories, it is in Debian, Ubuntu and Arch. I'd say install Virtualbox, download some isos for some distros and try them out, once you find one that caught your attention, burn the iso to a USB and try it out ... or just burn the image and try in LIve mode, that's the best and only way you'll find out. FWIW, I read Manjaro, based on Arch seems to provide a tool to install drivers in a friendly and easy way. https://manjaro.org/ Also, there's Q4OS, based on Debian Stable and think's a really good choice for people coming from Windows; The Trinity and Plasma desktops look pretty familiar to that of Windows, Q4OS software centre eases installing process of apps making it almost identical to that of .exe files. https://www.q4os.org/index.html
 

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