>>108717041
mint, best for beginners is arch, then fedora.

>>108717041
prolly arch, fedora is good for that kde/gnome experience, mint seems alright if you stick with cinnamon, also why did you named mint two times?

>>108717041
Isn't LMDE just mint with debian? Anyway the worst one is probably arch because retards don't read.

linux from scratch

>>108717041
If you mean plain Arch then obviously that. Even with ArchInstall they'll be overwhelmed by the options and not know what they're doing and potentially screw themselves over. If you replace Arch with 'Arch-based-distro like CachyOS' then Fedora would be the worst because it has the illusion of being a just werks distro, but it has a lot of noob traps and a lot of newbies will have Nvidia not realizing that they can own themselves.
First time I tried Fedora it was early Wayland and the Installer ran so poorly I couldn't do anything. The second time, even though I checked 3rd party drivers, it failed to install them and I had to do some emergency Grub maneuvers.

I'd put the order as (hardest to easiest):
plain Arch
Fedora
LDME (mostly because they might try Ubuntu-based advice and meme themselves)
Cachy (there are tons of guides and YouTube videos step-by-step explaining Arch, so if it's pre-installed it's actually quite easy for a newbie. Plus the AUR means they never have to actually build something from scratch)
Linux Mint

>>108717764

The problem with linux mint is you ending up with loads of oudated packages that you cannot properly upgrade due to dependency issues.

>>108719647

like exif not exiftool and handless just give error

like brasero install with whatever mint packagemanager is and it complains missing lib

>>108719685

Honestly i had an easier time managing Arch Linux (even including the manuall install process ). It was nice to get up to date packages and proper documentation.

>>108717041
install gentoo

>>108717041
mint is a good first and last distro. at some point you just want something that you don't have to pay any attention to. mint is boring, quiet, and out of the way. it's like a bad jester or a good woman.

it depends on the goal.

if you believe that these "people" can follow instructions, follow their curiosity, they have lots of spare time, and they want to learn then mint is the worst distro because they wont learn anything.
if the goal is to take a windows normie and get them feeling comfortable using the machine in as little time as possible so they can do their work then raw arch linux is the worst.

>>108717764 has a good difficulty ranking

>>108717041
vanilla arch is the worst one for absolute beginners, archinstall is full of terms they wouldn't understand without a guide

Guise, I want to put Debian with no DE on one of those 11 inch MacBooks from the early 2010s.
Will it be a usable device by /g/'s standard?

>>108717041
Mint because no Wayland.

>>108717041
Arch Linux. It teaches you the "Arch way" instead of the Linux way. If you want to learn the ins and outs of Linux go with Slackware as your first OS.

>>108721882
Slackware. It teaches you the "Slack way" instead of the Linux way. If you want to learn the ins and outs of Linux go with Arch Linux as your first OS.

>>108717041
any distro that allows you to install from the commandline is good for beginners who take learning linux seriously and may even want to develop skills geared towards sysadmin

but if by "beginner" you mean someone who is escaping the sinking ship known as Win11 and wants something that "just werks" then literally any of the top 5 on distrowatch will do

>>108717041
Depends on the person. If you're talking about a borderline tech illiterate normie, then they should stay away from everything that isn't Zorin if they're coming from Windows, and anything that isn't Elementary O$ if they're coming from macOS. If they're actually tech literate and capable of following simple instructions, then they should avoid Fedora because of all the obnoxious bullshit they do different from every other distro for no good reason, due to the fact that it will make almost any guide online that isn't specifically written for Fedora useless because none of the steps will apply. After that, gentoo. Compiling everything will make it feel like a time sink and cause them to give up too soon ... Overall my picks for the ones they should use: 1) CachyOS for gaming 2) Omarchy for people who want to use a lot of normie shit like Twitter/X, Spotify, Facebook, ChatGPT etc. 3) Ubuntu for developers 4) Zorin for Windows refugees not into gaming 5) Bazzite for Windows refugees that are into gaming (especially if they're normie tier intelligence. Even though it's built on Fedora everything is set up to be containerized so it's really hard to fuck up

>>108717041
everything other than arch will make you go back to windows

>>108721882
>>108721892
the installah process is pretty similar 4 both distros, stop bullshitting.
>>108717041
probably router based oses simply because you have to learn network stack alongside the system to get your shit done

Arch is the worst. Fedora can be tricky.
LMDE (and anything Debian) is more of an end-game : it’s something people with 20 years Linux xp use when they want something rock solid that just work, but still easily customisable if need be.

>>108722580

I have seen some people make a case for Fedora but i never bothered trying it. Opensuse tumbleweed is another option i see some people recommend.

But i honestly don't see any real benefit of switching to fedora when i am used to Arch Linux and know how to handle things if something goes wrong.

I am also reluctant to recommend something i have not tried myself.

>>108722778
>and know how to handle things if something goes wrong.
literally what goes wrong thoguh ive had the same arch install on my machine for 8 years only twice has it broke after an update and both times there was a fix posted on the arch website. this even involed moving from amd to nvidia and back to mad over that time all on the same isntall. not even windows works properly without using ddu in safe mode after doing that. im certain the people who say arch breaks have never actually used it

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Just put people on Fedora. it has SELinux enforcing out of the box and will likely keep them safe. It's the best desktop Linux available unless you want CachyOS.

>>108717041
Obviously Slackware, Gentoo, Arch and protest distros using meme inits, or distros for niche purposes. You knew what, I'd also say Ubuntu these days.

>>108722891

I recently ran into some graphical issues from installing the cachyOS kernel but i fixed that fairly easily.

Then i found out that the cachyOS was worse in terms of how much ram i could actually use for stressapptest and didn't perform better in ram benchmarks either (overall) so i switched back.

I also had once issue where it said "ad107" already exist in the filesystem (something related nvidia cards i don't have) but i simply deleted those folders and then i was able to upgrade (happened both for my desktop and for my laptop with endeavorOS installed).

>>108717041
The one whose issues for noobs you'd rather not deal with, so ig it depends.
Mint works fine, and I like LMDE even more. Tho if you need cutting-edge packages, like out-of-the-box support for your recent-ish gaming GPU smth, they may not be what you're looking for, as a noob who doesn't know how to handle this.
Installing Arch works best if you're willing to RTFM, which many aren't. Also, I once was the noob who started with Arch, and deciding what gooey etc to pick after the basic Arch install was kinda daunting, cause I had never used Linux before. Then again, the experience of setting up various DEs on my own seems to have permanently vaccinated me against the terrible disease of distro-hopping.
Fedora doesn't support proprietary software, like many codecs - and if you don't happen upon Fedora spins while you're on the website, it also throws you right into the deepest Gn*ome pits. Both issues are fixable if you know what you're doing, but most noobs don't.

>>108717041
your favorite distro

>>108717041
Define "beginner". I would wager an expert programmer who has only used Windows wouldn't struggle with an Arch install but a tranny freak who's distrohopping would.

>>108726277

It's usually not trannies who struggle with Arch Linux. It's just that a lot of people prefer something with a more automated setup. A lot of people don't even want to use the terminal.

install ubuntu

I personally insist on only running the most elite of the Linux systems - Hannah Montana Linux.
Anything else is for little girls.

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>>108728204
moebuntu >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>Fedora
Mint is good for people who don't tinker and want something that just works.
Arch is good if you can sell them on the minimalism meme so they're forced to learn how to fix their own system.
Fedora is like the Windows of Linux.

>>108717041
The ones saying Arch are fucking retarded cultists.

Mint, Pop_OS!, Zorin are the best for non technical people who don't have anyone that can fix their issues easily available.

Fedora, Debian, openSUSE, are the best way to start for people who are technically invested or have someone easily available that can fix their issues.

Arch is not meant for beginners, it is a simplistic distro that expects people to install their shit manually, there are people who likes that and it is not the norm, Arch is not meant to be mainstream, the main project does not support other architectures besides x86_64, there are unofficial versions with its repos.

>Fedora is like the Windows of Linux.
Because it follows american laws?

>>108721882
Slackware is bloated, I don't need every DE in existence just because the package manager doesn't natively resolve dependencies in the year of our lord 2026

>>108728591
You are a retard who can't read.

>>108726277
>Tranny freak who's distro hopping would
No they wouldn't, that's literally most of Arch's userbase

>>108728591
Illiterate kike

>>108728421
>Fedora is like the Windows of Linux.
that's not how you spell Ubuntu

>>108722580
I've thought about this a lot and I really do wonder if we're doing a massive disservice to new users by recommending them Ubuntu/Fedora/Mint. It's like
>Oh I love Linux. It's so good. Install Ubuntu if you want to try it out
<Ah alright. Do you use Ubuntu then?
>lol no I use Arch

I think that's why we saw an actual huge boost to users with CachyOS. Arch is the definitive desktop Linux distro. Having a bunch of software and the AUR make a huge difference to new users because if they want to install X they can run yay/paru packagename and it'll show up. Most random projects will have a way to install via Arch. Ubuntu, Debian, and Fedora/RHEL will always be server first and could definitely cause people to run into a bunch of different traps.