Linux Distro advice please

fastjet

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Hi, I am considering moving from windows 10 to a linux distro an I could do with some advice please.
I am looking for one which is very plug a pray friendly and has the means to install programs without the need for me to do anything more than a click or two.
For example installing printers, wifi connections, etc.

I did try Linux around 3 yrs ago, but gave up due to the lack of peripheral support and what appeared to be little program choice, have things changed?

Thank you for your time
 


I think with Windows you "plug and pray" but i've never seen something like "you have committed a violation" or words to that effect (Windows) with Linux.

The distro I use "slackware" and users called "slackers" is because there is little trouble to deal with .
 
Violation ?....whats a violation ???...tell us what happened......this is new to me too !

Welcome to Linux.org, fastjet !.......stay here and learn lots...we will guide you as you need.

This a super friendly forum....bullying is not allowed and rarely happens....and if it does we land on the bully like a ton of bricks.

Brian
 
for printers the way to approach it to buy a Hewlett PAckard (HP) slackware has as default HPLIP , other distros you can easily get it. What it boils down to is that HP are pretty much universally compatible with Linux os . To install a printer this is what you might do:

1) connect printer to PC(with some linux installed)
2) Open up a terminal window
3) type hp-setup

that brings up a gui dialogue - just follow instructions and click ,its as easy as that .Regarding programs i don't do any gaming apart from occasional chess. For everything else there is a viable alternative and best of all free:

Microsoft Office/Word : LibreOffice5
video editor : cinelerra-cv
photoshop :GIMP

video player: VLC


i'm on slackware which might not be a beginners choice; if it has not been mentioned Mint will come up; Salix is worth a look https://www.salixos.org/ has a friendly forum
 
i think he was making a joke- i did not say" he" committed a violation but that windows often for me came up with a statement on screen saying "you have committed a violation" . i'm saying that particularly slackware is extremely stable and you will not get that sort of issue with linux . Hope i have clarified. Apart from that my dry humor remains the same !
 
All good mate....I am a bit slow today (and many other days as well !!) :) :cool:
 
@fastjet Try Linux Lite, from their site:
Linux Lite is a 'gateway operating system'. It was created to make the transition from Windows to a linux based operating system, as smooth as possible. It does this by providing easy to use familiar software such as Skype, Steam, Kodi and Spotify, a free Office suite, a familiar user interface or DE (Desktop Environment) layout, and most importantly, by continuing to improve on what we already provide by listening to members of the community.

Write programs that do one thing and do it well. Linux Lite follows the Unix philosophy in regards to software selection and programming as it applies to the modern era.

Linux Lite is free operating system based on the Ubuntu LTS series of releases. LTS stands for Long Term Support, this means each release has a support period of 5 years. This is a great basis for stability, but not only that, you only need to install once every 5 years. During that period your system will continue to receive updates. Linux Lite is fully functional out of the box, this means that you won't have to install extra software when you boot your computer for the first time. We believe that a computer should be ready to use straight away on the first boot after a new install. You're going to need this kind of functionality on a daily basis when you are using your computer so we take the hassle out of trying to find the right software from the start.

Download from here https://www.linuxliteos.com/download.php

Their forum is a friendly and helpful one https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/index.php

Hope this helps! :)
 
Greetings @fastjet
And a hearty welcome to this forum.
I have a little experience on trying to decide what is the easiest transition Linux distro, coming from Windows 10. I've been experimenting with different distros on my experimental machine - 12 different distros so far. {Learning a bunch about Gparted along the way}.
Linux Mint Mate has worked the best for me.
As @captain-sensible has mentioned, HP printers seem to be the most friendly to Linux.
My age has not held me back - too much - yet!!! I turned 85 last November.
Welcome again!
Old Geezer
TC
 
@fastjet G'day and welcome to the community
I'll add my two bobs worth
I use Linux Mint 19.2 Tina at the moment, with what they call the cinnamon desktop which is very much like windows in some respects and very easy to use.


@captain-sensible
Which version of Slackware do you run?
Are the packages Deb or RPM?
 
@fastjet G'day and welcome to the community
I'll add my two bobs worth
I use Linux Mint 19.2 Tina at the moment, with what they call the cinnamon desktop which is very much like windows in some respects and very easy to use.


@captain-sensible
Which version of Slackware do you run?
Are the packages Deb or RPM?
Actually, slackware's packages are in neither .deb or .rpm format. They're tarballs (.tg/.tgz) IIRC. Slackware is awesome, but NOT a beginner-friendly distro at all. :) To get packages not built into slackware, you'd go to www.slackbuilds.org
 
but gave up due to the lack of peripheral support and what appeared to be little program choice, have things changed?

If these are the two reasons. Take a look at Fedora. Nobody has more drivers or more programs.
 
Linux Mint has been suggested already. They just, last month, released version 19.3, a totally excellent beginner distro. I've tried several others, but; I keep coming back to Mint. Installing apps & devices is fairly easy compared to other distros that I have fought with. They have a most excellent IRC help channel at #linuxmint-help with knowledgeable people and fairly friendly too.

The hardest part of switching from M$ to linux (any distro) is understanding that linux has a different way of doing things. IF you try to do the tried and true M$ way you will invite disaster! Especially installing apps. The M$ way is to search the internet, find, download & install. The linux way is look in your distro's tools for the download manager or synaptic and install the app from there. It was a hard lesson for this ol' codger :) Good luck and have fun!
 
are you sure its accurate ; i don't see Slackware in there !
Hi @captain-sensible ,
I think the key word here is "Beginners".
As a fairly recent convert to Linux - a couple years ago - I probably see things a little differently from your "advanced capability eyes".
I have looked at Slackware a couple of times, but it is too advanced for this old Geezer right now, at my level of understanding.
Such is life, eh!
Old Geezer
TC
 
well you know the weather here in Uk is somewhat dismal with quite a bit of "precipitation" - my humor however is untouched its still dry !

To be honest my knowledge is patchy - i have always used the gino d'acampo approach , minimum effort, maximum satisfaction. I never went looking for problems; and still don't my slackware current is behind a month but everything is working and all packages work in harmony. So i'm not interested in upgrading the kernel.
 
Thank you to everyone for the support and information. I have a good starting point now, lots of ideas to consider, thanks.
 

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