Please stop recommending mint. These days now modern alternatives are just better, especially when they might want to game even just a bit. But it's not just shut taking, mint is kind of stuck in the past for a lot of things.
this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2025
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Perhaps it would be useful to list some alternatives?
Bazzite for gaming. If you don't want immutable, a lot of people have been recommending CachyOS lately.
I love Cachy, but would never recommend it to a Linux newbie.
Start with Bazzite. If you need more control, switch to Fedora. Cachy is a good choice for those already comfortable with Linux and the commandline.
Interesting — how easy are they to install compared to Mint, and would there be a way for Mint friends (I have a NixOS config for my fleet, and run our shared services) to easily migrate?
I can only speak to Bazzite, but it's super easy to install. GUI installer, walks you through it step by step.
People might say that you are restricted with Bazzite, but that isn't really true. You can do pretty much anything you can do on an non-immutable OS, it's just a different process. You just use rpm-ostree instead of dnf. Tons of shit on google if you search.
All major Linux distributions are roughly equally trivial to install these days. Mint is actually harder due to the relatively old kernel at least having more potential for lacking hardware support causing issues. The actual process is get similar for most of them.
Frankly the installation isn't what is likely to cause issues for most people. But something breaking down the line, or wanting a new something (at adding app/functionality/running Windows program/...). How hard/easy it is for them to figure out how to fix that.
I've been daily driving Mint for about 2 years now and I still love it. I do a lot of work with Python including some data science, and it works well for all that. The one bug I can't deal with is the fact that fractional scaling causes screen tearing in the Cinnamon DE because it still uses X. Because of this, I use Nobara on my gaming PC. My experience with Nobara has been that every update is a coin flip on whether or not I'll get a new bug, but they're mostly just minor inconveniences. Otherwise I like it a lot.
least obvious bait.
Weirdly I've never been able to get the installation media for Mint to boot, but that's fine because it led me through a few other distros that helped me learn what I was doing with Linux.
Now I've been happily using Garuda with KDE for more than 6 months with no issues.
I’m doing bazzite because I like atomic for this use case (primarily a gaming box, with some additional utility as a server/general use PC + dev box; I want stability)
But I’m stoked that the Linux migration movement is getting more traction across the board
Mint has a bigger install led base for gaming then Bazzite (fedora based) looking at the Steam stats.
I use LMDE
Or, one of a few other Linux distributions for starters, such as Ubuntu, Fedora, or Pop!_OS
Linux Mint can be nice if you want a very “light“ windows experience, but you can also pick one of the thousands of other Linux distributions. One of those may suit you better.
Always remember: Linux is about choice
I've recently discovered Zorin OS and it's a pretty awesome alternative to Mint IMO.
Mint is a great starting point for a lot of people, but there are a lot of other and better choices out there
Always remember: Linux is about choice
That is one of the advantages of Linux. Let’s not let it be a liability.
When coming to Linux, it is about “taking that first step”. If you are coming from something else, any distro is a positive move and they are much more alike than they are different (compared to the OS you are coming from). So, start with something safe. I do not use Mint but it is an awesome choice.
Once you learn more about Linux and about what you like, you will learn that you have 1000 choices. Once you know the difference and know which once suits you, you can switch. At that point, you will find switching easy.
The idea that people “have to choose” at the beginning holds many people back.
Any of Mint, PopOS, Fedora, or Ubuntu would serve a new user just fine. I recommend Mint because the UX is familiar to Windows users, it is “batteries included”, and it is conservative (stable). But the others are great too.
Too many can cause decision paralysis. Letting people get their feet wet with a light windows experience isn't a bad thing. And it can lead to finding something more suited to their needs down the road. No need to deluge people in choice right off the bat.
Most people can come to a moderate and chilled decision without being swayed by the extremes.
Let me tell you something about the current worldwide political problems we've been having...
Glxbadconfigerror :(
I will, soon. I just want to get certain gaming projects out of the way.
I won't bash Mint, because I think Mint Cinnamon is great (if a little ugly out of the box).
For the past 3-4 years, though, I've been using Fedora and I've been very impressed. Almost as cutting edge as Arch, yet it's well-tested and in my experience rock-solid stable.
LMDE for me. But I'm not inexperienced.
I recommend xfce edition
Maybe I'm just picky, but I think Mint replacing the standard Firefox icon should lower its place on the list of distros for people coming from Windows. Out of their preinstalled applications, Firefox is the one a Windows user is probably the most likely to be familiar with, and out-of-the-box they've got it pinned to the taskbar with an icon that a Windows user won't recognize. There's so many other distros where a Windows user can log in and clearly spot Firefox.
Zorin is much better in every way
Stop recommending Mint, especially to beginners. Ubuntu, Fedora, and Bazzite are all better for first time users because they actually work, they have much larger support networks, and are overall much higher quality with a focus on basic reliability.
My recommendations:
Try Bazzite first. If you want more control, switch to Fedora.
Avoid Ubuntu at all costs.
Thirding fedora, seconding the Ubuntu hate. Specifying FedoraKDE, however.
Ubuntu is meh. If there was one that was "run, screaming, in the other direction, as fast as possible", it would probably be Oracle Linux.
Mint is based on ubuntu, and doesnt have the corporate slop. Bazzitte relies on flatpaks which is janky at best. Try explaining why you cant drag and drop in applications because they've been sandboxed....
As for fedora.... what does it offer better? Or is it just personal taste?
The Flatpak drag-and-drop thing I've seen before (even on Mint) and I think it's because of permissions. Try installing Flatseal and monkey around with your Flatpaks' permissions; it may help.
Mint is based on ubuntu, and doesnt have the corporate slop.
What's corporate slop? Mint is just a mediocre rebrand with a different default DE, and way less maintainers/testers (which is why there are so many people asking why X doesn't work, where "X" is a basic thing any other distro does effortlessly)
Bazzitte relies on flatpaks which is janky at best. Try explaining why you cant drag and drop in applications because they’ve been sandboxed…
Flatpaks support drag and drop just fine. I think you're confused?
As for fedora… what does it offer better?
Than Mint? The same thing Ubuntu does: reliability. The average windows user isn't going to sign up to a web forum to post a question asking how to fix something that doesn't work, they'll just go back to Windows.
The best way to avoid that is to not recommend a fragile OS like Mint. Fedora, Ubuntu, and Bazzite are all far better choices.
What's corporate slop
Do i really need to iterate the shenanigans of canonical?
Flatpaks support drag and drop just fine. I think you're confused?
I once installed discord as a flatpak and couldn't drag and drop files. Installed the .deb and it worked perfectly fine. I also had a lot of file permissions issues with flatpaks. I now avoid them like the plague.
The same thing Ubuntu does: reliability
And how is mint less reliable? Because it has less maintainers? So if you have a billion maintainers, then it should be more reliable? Right? Totally wont be a spaghetti mess. Unless you can actually provide metrics... we can assume windows is more reliable for having thousands of highly paid developers... by your own logic.
Y'all never get tired of preaching to the choir, do ya?
Anyone with technical chops has likely tried Linux, or is running it now. 99.954% of the Windows users will either upgrade or roll without updates. Converts are going to be exceedingly rare.
Only way I've got people using Linux was when I fixed "little old lady" computers as a charity thing. I'd throw whatever spare parts I had in there, swap in an SSD, load Linux Lite. I never told them it was Linux. Show them how to get FaceBook and email, done. And I never got a call back!
New people are born every day. They don't jump out of the womb with a Linux USB in their hand.