Any recommended Linux Mint-like alternatives?

[tech3475]

Linux Mint used to be my go to Linux distro because in the past I could just install it and it was more or less ready to use and I liked the Cinnamon UI, however, it's never been perfect (e.g. errors when compiling certain things) and now it's stock kernel is so out of date that it wont even boot on my laptop without workarounds.

So now I'm looking to jump ship to another 'go to' Linux distro, the obvious alternative is Ubuntu which works fine on the laptop (although I ended up replacing the stock UI), but I'm wondering if there are any other recommended alternatives?

I'm basically after something which I can quickly load onto a system/VM with the 'common' software ready (e.g. web browser, media player, codecs, etc.) and has decent compatibility with various other software e.g. Steam.

Thank you.

 

[Blauhasenpopo]

So...i'm also interested in another OS....using Mint since 6-7 Years now...

...maybe take a look here: https://distrowatch.com/search.php

 

[tech3475]

So...i'm also interested in another OS....using Mint since 6-7 Years now...

...maybe take a look here: https://distrowatch.com/search.php

I had looked on there and other sites, but I was after opinions because obviously YMMV in terms of experience.

For example, Mint is still often a 'recommended' distro, but I've had problems with it.

 

[Blauhasenpopo]

I'm very into Mint, but i did not have much experience with the terminal and coding and so...i wish for someone who teaches me for better terminal skills......so i'm with you and be very exited about any recommendations

 

[Takokeshi]

Fedora?

You might need to enable one additional repo for non-free software such as audio/video codecs, and graphics hardware, but if your hardware is very new and you need something easy to use, this is probably your only option. The other beginner-friendly distros aren't going to have a new enough kernel.

Otherwise I'm always happy to teach about the intricacies of Arch.

 

[FAST6191]

By and large if it is not on the list of things https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major then I don't bother with it for day to day stuff, and also I suggest avoiding Arch (do linuxfromscratch if you want to learn how it all goes together). Have smaller ones as toys in a VM/throwaway machine or if you have very specific use cases then consider something else if you want.

I somewhat recently moved back to mint after several years with mx linux following a hard drive death. Only ever do super light desktop environments (XFCE being my minimum there). Routinely have others installed on various laptops and virtual machines. For the most part it is all much of a muchness with any quirks usually coming down to your specific setup, unless you are trying to install something on a bleeding edge version of a laptop and in that case you only have yourself to blame there. Pick whichever has a list of packages you like and a reasonably long support window as changing your everyday OS every 2 years gets tedious.

 

[Takokeshi]

Arch is cool but the problem is that it's led by enthusiasts who do this in their free time. This leads to critical system components sometimes going out of date for extended periods of time (see glibc which was stuck for months with critical security vulnerabilities.)

No hate, they do it for free in their free time and it's a lot of work. But it's something to consider. Fedora on the other hand is backed by Red Hat; people get paid to keep it up to date, you can expect critical updates much quicker. F35 is on kernel 5.16 right now, I don't know if that's new enough for your hardware but otherwise F36 is coming very soon with 5.17 kernel.

Ubuntu also has people who are paid to work on it and keep it up to date, but they're not very good at providing up-to-date software (their strengths are more towards LTS and server environments) and their non-LTS releases are questionable at best. Fedora sticks much closer to upstream, you should have less issues with it on newer hardware.

 

[Flame]

well i use Mint on like 3 setups. you can get newer kernels if you want for it. you can get another desktop environment too for it.

the thing i like about mint is that its more of the same thing year after year. Other distro's devs seem to wake up one day and change everything for the sake of change.

but of course every one is different.

 

[JaapDaniels]

nix