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[–] 54 points 2 years ago (22 children)

2024 YEAR OF THE LINUX DESKTOP

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago (19 children)

    I'm replacing a couple of really old PCs at work with slightly less old PCs and I know they don't meet Windows 11 specs without workarounds. I'm thinking about taking the leap but I need printer support to work. Otherwise something like open office and a web browser will do what I need. What distro should I start with? I don't have time to find a perfect fit.

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  • [–] 20 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Probably linux mint. Everything tends to work out of the box and function the way you'd expect. If you're used to windows then cinnamon will have a familiar feel to it. I like xfce myself, but I move things around to make it feel like windows 95.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago

    I’m thinking about taking the leap but I need printer support to work.

    In my experience printer support in Linux is generally pretty good. Even when it doesn't "just work" you usually need only a simple profile file from the manufacturers website that you install.

    In general drivers on Linux have been way less painful for me than on Windows; most importantly you don't need an always-running application for every crappy piece of hardware.

    But you still might want to check your printer manufacturer's website and/or make one prototype Linux PC and try everything out.

    With that being said be prepared for users complaining about some workflow changes (that will be bigger with a switch to something like LibreOffice from MSO) and blaming every issue of theirs on Linux and you.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    I'd say keep it basic with Ubuntu. It's not exciting, but it 'just works' out of the box and there's TONs of support if you can't figure something out.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (5 children)

    2nd. Ubuntu is the place to be if you want your best chances for immediate compatibility, and search results will favor your popular configuration if you have issues.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    3rd, but I recommend getting the kde variety (used to be called kubuntu). This will give you the most windows like experience. Regular Ubuntu ships with gnome and has a different feel to it.

    Also, gnome suxxxxxxxxxxx! There, I said it!

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

    I love KDE, but Kubuntu is a buggy mess, at least it was a year ago when I last tried it.

    Honestly, the best implementation I've seen is Manjaro's, with Nobara close behind.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    I've been on slackware almost exclusively for 2 decades-ish. I'm team kde. I always liked it, but I had shitty hardware from like 2010 - 2020, so I was on xfce because it's a lot lighter. But I always had kde installed so I could use some of their native apps.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It needs testing to ensure you get what you need, but I found printer support worked better on Linux for my obscure printer. If you setup a CUPS server then distros will automatically find the networked printers. SUSE/OpenSUSE also has a very good GUI printer admin with lots of automatic setup and auto driver downloads...makes it so easy.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    I'm loving KDE's Neon distro that's based off Ubuntu. I've not had to do much faffing around to get it the way I want it and anyone that has used Windows should be comfortable using it. KDE Plasma feels very polished and streamlined.

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