this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2025
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Why does Zorin exist?
Linux Mint exists to be defuckulated Ubuntu, and to show off the Cinnamon desktop which is defuckulated Gnome.
Neon is KDE's in-house distro, because I guess they get to have one even if it is functionally identical to Kubuntu.
Manjaro is Arch that's ready to go out of the box.
What is Zorin for? Do they develop any software, or do they charge money for re-themed Ubuntu Gnome?
please do not suggest that manajaro is arch ready to use arch. manjaro is just bad. if you want easier to install arch go endeavour os or cachy or some other arch plus gui installer. https://manjarno.pages.dev/
I said that's the reason Manjaro exists, not that it's any good at it.
Nobody has answered me what Zorin is for.
It's for people who don't know what an operating system is (probably over half the world population or much greater) but can understand "this is like Windows but works faster and with less viruses, and it has something like Microsoft Office but free".
It was the most easy to convince others to use it during the Windows 8 era because it looked so much like Windows 7 and likely the same is happening now with the end of life of Windows 10.
Not that hard if you ever spoke to anyone who doesn't really understand computers. Good for you I guess that you came from a family of tech literate people I guess.
Same could be said about Mint; I was asked several times what version of WIndows I had on my laptop. Some people are convinced to this day they met a guy running Windows 9.
I, personally, think Omarchy is the best "easier to install Arch" out there - you can hand out a flashdrive to anyone with at least the most basic IT-knowledge and they would get a working, useable and upgradeable system within ~20 minutes.
I am not going to get into politics, and just suggest a read of https://xn--gckvb8fzb.com/a-word-on-omarchy/
Yes, Omarchy is in some ways quiet... hacky and has a bit of a "style over substance" approach, but i think that is not THAT important for the role it fills. It remembers me of the various riced up setups from the early 00s (and perhaps late 90s, but my memory is hazy in that regard) that simply looked cool (i just say "compiz") and had this WOW effect on regular Windows users.
Omarchy has this and also benefits from an idiot proof setup routine. If it drags in people from Windows its good, some will start tinkering with it, some will dig deeper into the Linux / Unix world... its an entry level drug in a way.
It's a defuckulated Ubuntu with a a dozen custom Gnome extensions. They do publish the extensions code. It exists because Mint is often ugly and not very ergonomic. See the "file" apps for both distros, Mint's buttons are too small and the progress indicator is a tiny 16px icon in the status bar.