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Installing Linux on friend's new PC, which distro should he use? (sopuli.xyz)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/linux@programming.dev
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edit: Fedora it is then!

He will be running the AMD 9800 X3D w/ RX 9070 XT, B850 motherboard.

I am deciding between either Fedora (probably KDE) and Bazzite (also KDE), but I'm not sure whether an atomic distro would be better/worse for a newbie.

As far as I understand, atomic distros can be easily rolled back after an update, but you are unable to use apt/dnf/etx, you need to use Flatpak, I think. Would that be limiting for the average user? Also, does Bazzite have better driver support for newer AMD hardware compared to Fedora?

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[–] 5 points 10 months ago (5 children)

And what does he want to use it to do?

Regular Fedora should be perfectly fine. I'd ensure a separate /home partition and a backup for ease of reinstallation if it gets wrecked. Yes, an atomic distro or btrfs snapshots could do that too, but like you mentioned, there are other considerations for atomic distros. And a separate /home partition eases installation of other distros if Fedora doesn't do it for him for some reason.

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    He will be doing some gaming (mostly single player stuff, like Minecraft) and will also be doing your normal everyday stuff (schoolwork, internet things, and probably a bit of programming since he is doing CS)

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    Coming from windows, Linux mint cinnamon will be very familiar to him. It also runs games well, being based on Ubuntu.

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  • [–] [S] 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    Actually, he isn't coming from Windows. He only has an iPad, I think this is his first PC

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago* (1 child)

    I vote Fedora as well, I love it having come from windows myself about a year ago. Not a big gamer anymore, but can confirm Minecraft runs well on Fedora KDE Plasma and looks similar to windows. I am a homelabber by hobby and an electrical engineer by trade. I do a bit of light CS and networking/SCADA for in my job. Understanding Unix-based systems is helpful for both realms. If your friend is a CS student and doesn’t have a PC already as a daily driver, this is THE time to get into Linux in my opinion since they are a blank canvas. I’m of the opinion knowing Unix-based systems, like Linux is only going to help you later in your career so might as well learn it now. Haha

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