At the moment I have Mint on it and also looked around the Ubuntus. Verbal things really went off in both forums. I could counter it without any problems, but my goodness, why does it always have to be that way in specialist forums of any kind? To me, I have absolutely no idea about Linux, and I also admit that I don't want to or can't have any. I just want a platform for surfing, checking mails and finally a decent distro that recognizes and sets up my printer AND scanner unit. It wasn't that easy under Mint. I would also like to stay away from the terminal. At least now I always got the hint that I should stick with Windows after all. I don't want to. I can't solve Windows problems either and the individual (sub) applications are just terribly difficult to find if you only need them every few months.
If I understand correctly, the finished Linux consists of the kernel, the operating system and the user interface. I don't care about the latter. I don't need a fancy dress on the desktop. It should only fit my i5 and 12 GByte RAM notebook.
THE problem has always been so far, when experts and advanced users recommend a distro to a layperson, they always start from their level of knowledge. Just an example. Someone recommended Manjaro to me because it would have recognized its printer and scanner immediately. I was already in a gold rush mood and started google to find out soberingly that it was an Arch offshoot and not for beginners.
By the way, I found this while googling. What did the author mean by that?
"I would generally not recommend a distro that is based on a distro that is based on a distro. You never know what's under the cover." Can you give us an example of this?
It is best to always use a "car comparison". Everyone understands that. You don't drive off-road with a lowered 911 Porsche, or register for the 24-hour race with a Hummer, or drive the Paris Dakar Rally with an off-the-peg Skoada Fabia. And yet the Hummer, for example, is warmly recommended to me because this expert has managed it that way, with his technical skills, so that it can at least be at the forefront. But I don't have these skills, so I would like a distro tailored to laypeople, except for Mint and Ubuntu. Thanks for reading and sorry for the novel.
EDIT: What do you think of this page:
https://www.wintotal.de/welches-linux/
Is it enough to find the right distro, because I couldn't answer 2.3 questions, I had to skip it.
Then you will have to stick with Windows. Because you have probably bought hardware that the manufacturer does not support for Linux. Otherwise this printer / scanner hardware would indicate which system is recommended.
And because your hardware manufacturer is not involved, some tinkering, specialist knowledge and initiative is required. Linux lives from transparency and openness. With "keep away from the terminal" you won't get a meter. Unless an admin has set up the box for you.
"I would generally not recommend a distro that is based on a distro that is based on a distro. You never know what's under the cover." Can you give us an example of this?
Mint is based on Ubuntu, Ubuntu is based on Debian.
Distro that recognizes and sets up my printer AND scanner unit.
Get printers and scanners that have decent Linux support.
I have had very good experiences with OpenSuse Leap 15.0. Is really suitable for standard applications, surfing and emailing are possible without any problems.
Hp and Brother offer printers for OpenSuse, which can be set up perfectly via YAST.
Incidentally, installing OpenSuse is child's play.
I have a 26 year old SCSI scanner from HP with OpenSuse in operation, which works perfectly.
Meanwhile 15.2 π
Tinkering with something is clear. I've been with the Mintusers for 5 years now and I was able to control one or the other via the terminal, so it's not quite like that. Even I can do the little word-for-word copy. But Windows is definitely not an option. I know that there are distros for beginners too, with all their advantages and disadvantages. Is something like on amazon if you read through the customer reviews. I always read the negatives first. In this way I would like to approach a distro, i.e. Weighing up the advantages and disadvantages.
From my own experience I can recommend for Windows switchers ala desktop environment:
KDE, because it looks a lot like Windows at first
Cinnamon for the same reason
Xfce, in case the PC's performance is a little weaker.
When it comes to distribution, your hardware is very important. Would you like to list your hardware? Especially since you need support with scanners and printers that didn't seem to work. So far I have had few problems - although I never use the scanner unit. Goes faster with the smartphone π
If you don't want the terminal, then it's worth it
Linux Mint 20.1
OpenSUSE Leap 15.2 β with YaST almost everything can be done graphically
Kubuntu 04/20
Manjaro is already recommendable for beginners, as it is based on Arch, but you don't compile the thing yourself, you get it prefabricated.
For research, information and help I can highly recommend the Ubuntuusers Wiki (in German): wiki.ubuntuusers.de. That accompanied me through the first few years. π
Otherwise I have to admit that you need support from others at the beginning, especially when the hardware doesn't quite want it. π’ That's why I now make sure that everything I buy is Linux compatible.
If it weren't for a pandemic, I would advise you to go to a Linux user group. With physical access you can usually help a lot more.
You are welcome to write to me with questions. If you describe problems to me well and don't get angry when you ask me, I'm happy to help. I've been using Linux for a good 10 years with various distributions and I'm more of a GUI user than a terminal slave.
Wow, so that's what it means. For my Brother printer there were 2 drivers to download, but either I was too stupid to choose the right one, or I didn't consider the order, if you have to keep one at all. So first switch on the printer and only then start the installation. Everything was too rash. But if my memory does not deceive me, I would have had to connect the printer via a USB cable and not via a network cable, although with this version the printer was recognized as a network printer, but the scanner was not.
Thank you, and my gold rush mood has already awakened again. π
More than suitable for your laptop - OpenSuse also runs on Aldi PCs without any problems.
Someone recommended Manjaro to me because it would have recognized its printer and scanner immediately. I was already in a gold rush mood and started google to find out soberingly that it was an Arch offshoot and not for beginners.
Just because something is Arch-based doesn't mean it isn't for beginners. Manjaro is definitely for beginners, as long as you keep your hands off the AUR. Personally, I don't use it, so I can't speak from my own experience, but this hardware detection tool from Manjaro could possibly be very helpful in your case.
By the way, I found this while googling. What did the author mean by that?
"I would generally not recommend a distro that is based on a distro that is based on a distro. You never know what's under the cover." Can you give us an example of this?
The author probably meant that he has absolutely no idea. That's quite a BS that he was babbling about. Yes, Mint is based on Ubuntu, which in turn comes from Debian. But this is to be interpreted as a disadvantage, to put it mildly, nonsense.
If your printer / scanner is network capable, this should work fine. Ubuntu e.g. Bring everything you need out of the box, open the document scanner and off you go. You don't need to install an extra driver from the manufacturer. Printing works anyway.
Since it is based on Arch, but you don't compile the thing yourself
Arch isn't Gentoo ;-)
Also true. But that's almost what you do when setting up Archβ¦
A Linux remains a Linux. There are no explicit beginners' distros. Because no distro deliberately makes things difficult for the admin. What for?
Thank you for your offer and for the tips. I can't say much about the hardware yet. Except that it is a Lenovo T460s with FHD resolution, 6th generation i5 processor and 12 GB of RAM. The part will only be delivered to me in the next few days. Windows 10 is already on it. I now have the option of flattening it in order to add a distro, or, and I'm as far from that as the Pope is from Islam, of first trying a distro that is stored on a DVD or USB stick. Because it is not enough to stick to the countless google hits. You know, written by professionals for professionals, although they think they got it across. No no, there are still a number of intermediate steps or other basics that are simply required as basic knowledge. I'm pretty sure that I will also enjoy Linux if you take my hand and explain the little 1x1 to me from the ground up. Also as a reading or a link. Only then can I build on it, similar to an apprenticeship.
Let's agree on "it's not entirely trivial".
So the device itself should be well supported. Lenovo PCs are widely used by kernel developers, so any problems are patched.
The problem is always: where do you start with basic knowledge? For example, if I create a tutorial that starts with what a mouse is, nobody will look at it
The Ubuntuusers Wiki is a really good start. Most of the things in it also apply to other distributions. I have seldom found so many and good explanations in German.
Maybe there's something like "Linux, the comprehensive manual" from rheinwerk Verlag. But that's quite a lot and goes very deep π
As I said, offer is available to help.
Good thing you mentioned that. Maybe I can explain it in more detail here. Okay, forgotten for beginners, I see. I'll give you a couple of examples where I had a hard time not knowing how to integrate NoScript into my Firefox, for example. In the end I entered NoScript in the google search bar and then everything ran past my own Mint and was installed. I don't get something like that baked through my BS, for example. Or worse, the automatic spell check. On ebay and luckily only on very few websites it doesn't work, it probably starts from the English dictionary and and see to it that I can't come up with any links. Someone wrote to me that under no circumstances should I have left the installation of the German dictionary to Firefox, but by hand using a terminal. Now it's too late and I don't know how to undo this. THAT I mean by beginner and now you see, you can also see my level of knowledge. If you now say that certain distros do not "automatically" protect me from such errors, I would really (for the time being) have a problem, but back to Windows? Never!
Don't laugh now, I know a mouse, but I stumbled upon "patched problems" again. I've heard patching before, but I don't know in what context. Please don't explain, that's what google is for. And I'm sure that in the Ubuntuusers wiki I will come across hundreds of terms that google will have to help me with. But, that's the way it should be, because I don't claim to understand every word straight away. I will gladly accept your offer, at the latest at the printer. π
