Say a friend is looking for a new system, and said person is not particularly savvy with technology, what system would you point them toward?
i just erased windows 11 and replaced it with Linux Mint Cinnamon- not easy for me as I haven’t used anything but apple ecosystem since forever, but I’m extremely happy with it, and the upgrade in privacy is worth it to me even if it weren’t an excellent OS, which it definitely is. you just have to be willing to learn new things
An immutable Linux system. Especially if there a total noon.
If they won’t be doing any modern gaming (like 2025/6 new releases), then Linux Mint.
If they want to do modern gaming, I highly recommend Fedora (KDE Spin for most, GNOME if you really like Mac’s UX).
If you want to do mostly gaming only (not heavy work, dedicated gaming setup), then Bazzite which is a downstream of Fedora.
Mint is a bit easier for a new user, but Fedora arguably gives you the latest Linux has to offer at excellent stability. They also have some nice defaults like BTRFS, zswap, SElinux that you don’t have to worry about configuring manually in any way.
EDIT:
I should add that you probably shouldn’t listen to the average random youtube video on this topic, because a metric ton of them fail to highlight the issues of many distros, desktop environments, software, etc because they provide a dumb tier list based off of their personal interests or something that they read from each distro’s description without actually taking the time to thoroughly test.
ZorinOS is not a real answer just because they advertise parity with Windows. There are plenty of distros that achieve the same thing, better, and for free.
The best thing about linux is that you can try it out first without installing. Really play around with it and make sure it suits what you want.
I’ve been using Zorin for a couple of years and recently installed it on my desktop. It’s free.
Windows is the most common, and most people are more accustomed to that OS.
I’m a Windows hater, but I can’t in good conscience recommend Mac because of the vendor lock-in, and I’m not going to recommend Linux to someone just needing a computer to use when they need it.
Let’s not joke ourselves. I would, however, offer to install Enterprise LTSC and disable as much of the telemetry as possible. After that point, their privacy is in their own hands, but I’ll offer as many tips as I can.
If they are even slightly technically inclined and I know them enough to know they are capable of any level of troubleshooting, I’d recommend Mint.
Fedora, now it’s shockingly easy to use.
I silently replaced windows in the home PC and it took 2 months for the tech illiterate SO to say “WTF, why you put Apple on this PC, I thought you hated them” (put same username/password, same wallpaper, even Microsoft Edge)
At work I was shocked that I could login directly as
user@windows.domainwithout any extra configuration. Plain vanilla fresh install, typed my active directory account for laughs, it worked 😲Also at work I was shocked to see that I could just run the exe of the windows-only accounting software and everything works. I even installed LibreOffice in wine, lol (the accounting software needs
soffice.exefor generating spreadsheets). I could even install foxit reader for windows 😂 (sorry, all the Linux PDF readers completely suck when printing, I need previews and booklet and all the extra features)If you are mainly gaming, Bazzite. For everything else, Fedora.
MacOS.
I hate Apple, and I do not like how they operate. But I cannot deny how user friendly their OS is, how affordable their machines are (Mac mini) and how even those who do not know how to use a PC, can pick them up and use them.
Linux Mint is my second choice
Only Linux which feels like a normal PC, and 99% of features can be installed via UI. There are holes, and I feel an immutable OS would fill this niche better, but for now this is my number 2.
I literally installed mom and dad’s Mac mini yesterday. They need to be able to run commercial software. Moving to Mac was foreign enough for them, I don’t think people in their 90’s would do well with Linux. I will, however, work on getting my sister onto Linux. We will see.
I fell with the right desktop environment like Plasma and a locked down OS that can be used without a password, Linux can be for all. Especially when it comes to using it as a web machine. If they don’t need apps, it’s fine.
Mac’s are my go to if you need commercial software. And the one pain point for Linux as a OS.
Though Valve is bridging the gap
Ya, I do like my Mac, the track pad is phenomenal as well.
But fuck everything about their prices, or at least the laptop prices…
If I didn’t need a mac for work (iOS development), I’d probably try a linux laptop next.
Nice post to stir some shit, OP. 🍿
🍿
Linux. Hands down. Always.
New user? Try Kubuntu Linux
Power user? Eh, you can try anything but I’m still with Kubuntu because Ubuntu with KDE just works so damned nice
Linux mint
Stupid fucking answer.
I love Linux. I use it on multiple machines daily. It’s not for an average user.
Whatever Linux is being sold pre-installed on a machine within their budget.
Told my dad to buy a Dell laptop with Ubuntu preinstalled after his last Windows laptop died. He’s been fine with that for the last 5 years.
MacOS if they can afford it. Otherwise Linux Mint.
Windows. If you do anything work related, you need to be able to use excel and word. It’s still annoying shit, but it works and it’s more stable/easier to use than linux. I have tried both. I say this with poison spitting out of my mouth, because I don’t like the Microsoft AI and forced advertisement shit, but overall, the OS performs better, because desktop linux still has massive problems in 2026.
The linux community may claim that you can “do anything” on a linux system and “make it your own”, but if you’re not a 24-year-old tech god who can code, it’s unfeasible. I tried several times to go on forums and ask for help regarding certain customization changes. Sometimes I got help, but it was very complicated. Most of the time, nobody answered in those threads or if they did, they blamed me for the “problem” and wrote stuff that didn’t help at all. At some point you gotta go: Okay, this is nice and everything, but I want to play or work at some point and this is not capable of doing at least one of the two. And there is no official tech support to help you out if you need it. When I simply wanted to create 1 bug report, I had to create 4 different accounts on different bug report websites and they all got closed, because “it’s not my department” or - I shit you not - “it’s a serious problem and bug, but I don’t have time to fix it”.
I tried Linux Mint Cinnamon. The installer was so fucking shit, that it didn’t recogneize the hard drive and therefore - without warning or telling me where it would install - tried to install itself on the very same USB-stick the install files (.iso) were on, erasing the install files in the process and crashing the entire install, while temporarily bricking the fucking system. The promise of “games are working now on Steam/linux due to Proton compatibility overlay” are greatly exaggerated. I tried starting about 15 games and of those only 2 would even start up. If you would post on the discussion forums, other (linux?) users would just respond with “but it works for me”. Well, gosh, thanks you piece of shit, but that doesn’t help me identify or fix the problem. And trying to run Word or Excel? “Oh man, you need a virtual machine just to run that, bro! You can’t run it natively, because xhgaoohofa. Who even needs that, bro? Use LibreOffice, bro! It’s enough, bro!” It’s fucking shit. Get it running, I need to work. And your 500 shitty fonts in LibreOffice won’t convince anyone that you’re a professional. I want fucking Times New Roman and Calibri out of the box, because that’s the standard for my office work, sorry.
Using Waterfox was a shit show. It’s faster than regular Firefox, but then it proceeded to delete all of my passwords by default every time I closed it, without asking whether I wanted to do that or not beforehand. Then I had to find the fucking hidden option to disable that. I did. But this piece of shit software has a bug. So it ignores that I selected that “hidden” option and continues to delete all my account data and passwords. And linux bros will be like: “Oh, that’s your fault, bro! Our linux programs have no bugs, bro [despite it being listed as an official bug on the fucking GitHub page - but they don’t read that]! You have to use an external password manager, bro! It’s totally safe to insert all your account data into a program from an unknown software developer without back-ups, bro!”
I can’t even change the fucking window closing button design in linux mint without changing the theme of the entire fucking system. The buttons on there are MacOS-inspired and fucking tiny. I want easy to click big boxes like on Windows.
I still got that linux laptop, but I rarely use it, because everything is a fucking chore or doesn’t work out of the box. The update manager - now that thing is GOOD! But I just want to set it to do update shit automatically and I can’t. So every time I use this fucking system, I have to spend my time on authorizing those fucking update installs with my password manually.
Then there is the forking issue. There are 100000000 distros, because the developers are autistic, antisocial shitheads who don’t understand that 1 distro with more integrated customization options would be sufficient and more efficient. So they all want their own distro and create a confusing mess where nobody understands what’s happening anymore except for a few IT guys who can troubleshoot the shit they’re fabricating on a regular intervall. What if I want to work AND game on the same system? I don’t want to choose between linux mint and fucking bazzite. I want the functionality of both in one system. That’s what Windows has managed to do for over 30 years now. Get your shit together. Same for the support. When I have a problem with the Linux Mint install launcher, I have to be redirected from Linux Mint support to fucking Ubuntu support, because the launcher is actually fucking Ubuntu and then Ubuntu redirects me to a special Ubuntu launcher support site where I have to file another report and then the developers/maintainers there redirect me to their personal GitHub page to file another report with another entirely different bug report form there only to tell me afterwards that s/he has no time to fix it, even though the bug is legit and then CLOSES the bug report. Excuse me, but get 1 (!) support website please and redirect reports INTERNALLY. I will NEVER file a bug report for a linux system again, that I can tell you. Go FUCK yourselves, linux mint developers!
And I don’t understand the fucking hype of all these idiots around Steam. Steam is not open-source, it’s not free (you have to buy the games with a big fee % for Valve). It’s a multi-billion dollar for-profit, closed-system, privately owned company that has said “fuck you” to everyone who wanted Half Life 3 or the next Left 4 Dead for years. Despite having BILLIONS of USD at their disposal to make it happen. Don’t get me started on fucking kid gambling with loot boxes and microtransactions in Counter Strike etc. Fuck these idiots! The dominant gaming market and launcher should be free, open source, non-profit and owned by everyone. I don’t want to finance another yacht for Gaben. I want to finance more games, compatibility updates, optimized hardware drivers, remasters of retro games and so on.
To be honest, I hate a lot of todays technology industry and I have good fucking reasons for it. Computers were made to make our lives easier, but all they have managed to do is to make many people more socially isolated and working on them more of a chore than the original fucking paper work. Prove of that? You’re currently reading a piece of fucking text of a person who you don’t know instead of talking to a friend in person. Probably in a darkened room cave so that the light doesn’t interfere with the screen brightness.
EDIT: If you downvote my comment, at least have the balls to comment why.
but then it proceeded to delete all of my passwords by default every time I closed it
- That’s not how password databases like BitWarden and 1Password work.
- On the razor-thin possibility you are still using the browser’s internal password store, quit being a moron. Those are trivially crackable by browser malware, and there are many thousands of script-kiddie browser attacks that go after this store. You would have better security keeping passwords in an Excel spreadsheet, or on paper.
Honestly, I can’t understand how browsers are still allowed to store passwords in 2026. That functionality should have been torn out of them half a decade ago for the massive security flaw that it is.
That’s not about BitWarden or 1Password. That was about the password storage system integrated into Waterfox. And no, they are locally stored and relatively safe. I have used that system for 20+ years and I have never had any of my account data stolen.
And I do actually keep them separately and on paper. Laught about it if you want to, but it’s easy and most reliable. I’ve had pc’s die on me, so I’m happy to have it that way.
Why would you trust companies like BitWarden or 1Password? It’s the same as with EncroChat or similar services. Agencies start up a company that promises to protect your sensitive data. Then you give them your sensitive data. But they put a backdoor into their programs. So now they have all your sensitive data. I don’t know who is behind those companies so I don’t trust them. With Mozilla, that’s just an old habit and nothing of essence is in there.
I have a different way to do it, but I’m not going to disclose it here. Just saying that in the last 25 years, not a single one of my accounts got hacked by my fault. I had 1 Ubisoft account hacked, but that was because their servers got hacked and the password was stolen from there.
Why would you trust companies like BitWarden or 1Password?
Because they are end-to-end encrypted, as evidenced by their account-recovery mechanisms: they cannot offer one.
Why? Because the encryption on your data files is based - in small part - on your master password. So if you cannot get back in with your master password, they can’t get in without it, either.
The only exception is corporate accounts, which are linked back to a master account made by your employer, which has rights to access anything in your specific account and who can expose company-wide accounts to you based on groups and rules.
Plus, BitWarden also has the capability to entirely self-host, keeping their public servers and domains entirely out of the loop. It’s just between you and the server you configure yourself.
But they put a backdoor into their programs.
LastPass had a mere security breach, and they suffered a 50+% market share drop between 2001 and 2024. An active backdoor would drive any company to 0% market share damn quick, which in business terms is called a fatal level of risk – a business killer for anyone in the security industry.
Bitwarden, in particular, has openly committed itself to fighting any attempt to legislate a back door into their product, and - like other companies like Signal - would rather exit an entire market than build a back door into their product.
And I do actually keep them separately and on paper. Laught about it if you want to, but it’s easy and most reliable. I’ve had pc’s die on me, so I’m happy to have it that way.
Wow.
I’m not laughing… I feel sorry for you.
I put the mention of Excel and paper options in as a dare from colleagues. They didn’t think you would out yourself as such a security anti-intellectual.
For the record, not only can you script secure BitWarden exports to your storage enclave of choice, but you can even script exports to KeePass for offline access.
Granted, with an export to KeePass there are things like ToTP and secondary/tertiary URLs that won’t come along for the ride, as it’s not something that KeePass does, but most everything else will.
in the last 25 years, not a single one of my accounts got hacked by my fault. I had 1 Ubisoft account hacked, but that was because their servers got hacked and the password was stolen from there.
X-Doubt.
Ubisoft did not store their passwords in plaintext. Those passwords were all hashed appropriately.
If your password was successfully un-hashed and used, it was because either,
- You re-used a password from elsewhere that had previously and unknowingly been exploited, or
- It was simple enough to un-hash by itself, or
- It was represented in a rainbow table to be trivially un-hashed.
In all three cases, it’s user error on your part.
Check it out, it’s wild. Betchya more than just Ubisoft will pop up.
Because they are end-to-end encrypted, as evidenced by their account-recovery mechanisms: they cannot offer one.
Correction: They TELL YOU that they can’t offer one. Doesn’t mean there actually isn’t a way. Smartphone messaging apps offer end-to-end encryption. Yet, the NSA can regularly crack those. Why? Not necessarily, because they crack the encryption, but because they crack the keyboard systems you use to input your password. You can do the same with any password manager program.
LastPass had a mere security breach, and they suffered a 50+% market share drop between 2001 and 2024. An active backdoor would drive any company to 0% market share damn quick, which in business terms is called a fatal level of risk – a business killer for anyone in the security industry.
Only if it’s discovered, properly delegated to the news and so on. And no, an active backdoor would NOT drive any company to 0% market share damn quick. NEWS about such a backdoor do that. And there ARE and were such backdoors. Just look at EncroChat and Microsoft Outlook for example.
Then, you need to learn about NOBUS approaches. If you have a billion dollar NOBUS approach, normal mortals like you and me won’t find those backdoors. And they will be accessed in a very smart way that you will very likely not be aware about.
I’m not laughing… I feel sorry for you. […] They didn’t think you would out yourself as such a security anti-intellectual.
Yeah, how nice and helpful. That’s surely make me think better of you and not as a salty linux user.
For the record, not only can you script secure BitWarden exports to your storage enclave of choice, but you can even script exports to KeePass for offline access.
I know, and flash harddrives can fail. And exporting them takes time etc. Putting them on paper is fucking easy. You make a .docx or .txt file, input the information, print and file it and you’re done. Unless there is a fucking fire, that shit is secure for 20+ years without a problem. Your pc can break, your harddrives can break, your USB sticks can break or get lost, but that paper is very likely going to still be there. Plus, it’s super quick to read, transport and update. Bonus points if you use an easy encryption system.
X-Doubt. Ubisoft did not store their passwords in plaintext. Those passwords were all hashed appropriately.
Ah, the good old linux user “I know it all better than you”-bullshit. But no, actually, you’re wrong. I got an e-mail from Ubisoft, apologizing for it, because they did not store it appropriately. And yes, I’m aware of haveibeenpwned.com and I check it once a year or so. And by the way: That website is integrated into the Firefox password manager, so it automatically tells you if such a report exists for one of your passwords. And no, there are not any other password breaches for any of my other accounts in the last 20+ years. So go fuck yourself.
In all three cases, it’s user error on your part.
Remember how I said that linux users tend to blame every problem on the user? This is it. I’m sorry, but you’re an ignorant, incompetent hack who pretends to know things he doesn’t know. You know what? Actually I’m not sorry at all.
Dude, your comment is about a decade out if date at a minimum.
What? All that linux mint stuff happened in November 2025 if that’s what you mean.
But I’m used to linux users pretending that there are no problems by now. Your system has bugs just like any other system and your ignorance of it will keep people away who want reliable and working systems.
iOS.
Linux only if they can follow directions.
Posts on linux mint forum asking for help Nobody answers Now how do you follow that direction?
