Why Do So Many YouTubers Run Arch Rather Than Mint?

[@joegee2815]

I've tried many distros but have mostly settled on Mint because I just don't have the time or desire to hand craft a custom system. But I do enjoy watching other people go through the process.

[@ForeverZer0]

This is bit of a red herring nowadays, akin to a Windows user still saying "you can't play games on Linux" in 2023. It was definitely true in the past, but the Arch ISO has shipped with an automatic install script for a few years now, and will get you to the same place base system with a DE, graphics, audio, localization, etc. that even a Linux newbie can understand. It might not come pre-packaged with your favorite theme already applied, but even that is accomplished by simply typing in the name of the additional theme packages you want during install selecting upon your first boot.

[@hamobu]

@@ForeverZer0 Even if what you say is true, Mint already does all that, has been around longer so fewer bugs, and also Ubuntu based systems are better supported by companies and a wider eco-system. Mint is simply the most functional system right after install.

[@nahiyanalamgir7056]

@@hamobu You're right. However, I don't think the packages system of Ubuntu is preferred by everyone. The idea of hunting PPAs for your desired package[s] isn't ideal. Arch community unified the process and you can find all user repositories in one place. Moreover, most packages stay up-to-date all the time, unlike Ubuntu's.

[@hamobu]

@@nahiyanalamgir7056 yeah but if you buy a printer, Ubuntu will probably be supported. If you want something like DropBox, Ubuntu will be supported, etc.

[@RobertR-v9w]

Ironically i just have an easier time with the aur

[@lorduggae]

The last statement is the truth "you run what you wanna run, I run what I wanna run". Should be the motto of more people in the Linux world. ALL our distros of choice have value, if only to us.

[@melanovapedia7924]

I use Arch + nvim and still single, btw. RUN baby Run!!!!! 🤣(that the truth, btw)

[@marsdrums6298]

That's the new Meme... I Run What I Wanna Run BTW. :)

[@zonnodon163]

GIGACHAD

[@PropaneWP]

@@BobbyT-ov3rk Agreed. The subject has been debated to death. It's frankly amazing how many videos that revolve around this topic. There are so many Linux youtubers who sit and talk about the same trite fanboy bait. I want to see them actually _showing_ me some cool stuff instead.

[@JAnx01]

If you lack experience, have no basis to decide on and so you just ask. There's no harm in that.

[@louishurr393]

I’ve found that no matter what you do in life, the more you learn and the deeper you go, there will always be someone more advanced than you who looks at you like a novice. Most people don’t even know what Linux is, let alone know the difference between the “advanced” distros and the “beginner” distros. Anyone actually looking down on you for running Mint and not whatever, probably just has an insecurity problem. No one can be an expert at everything. 😂

[@SamuTheFrog]

I preach something very similar all the time. People get too caught up in their egos.

[@SarcasticTofu]

You are using Arch so that you can walk to a complete stranger and whisper to that person's ear "I use Arch by the way!" 😜

[@marsdrums6298]

It's a cute statement but it's also getting kinda tired as well. That same statement can be used for Linux in general (I use Linux BTW). Gentoo (and now Nix) have become installation burdens as well but I don't see anyone saying, "I use Gentoo BTW" or "I use Nix BTW". It's just a stigmata that has stuck to Arch and it's really becoming a tired statement.

[@martinhertz4957]

​@@marsdrums6298Couldn't agree more, well said! I usually refrain from saying which distro used on support forums and say e.g tested working on my used distro, for "fear" of being put into that "box", annoying as heck really.

[@penguin2137]

@@marsdrums6298 well, if you asked me, i don't know anyone who would nowadays say 'i use Arch btw' seriously, this statement has grown into a meme

[@arthasmenethil2201]

False. They'll say "by the way" as "be tee double u".

[@Ratelibish]

"I use an abacus btw"

[@brq034]

Mint is a good distro for people who want to use desktop Linux without having to go under the hood on a regular basis (also for older family members to have a low maintenance machine). Arch is a good distro for those who want to deep dive and learn everything about Linux as well as develop their skillset. I use Fedora because it's the perfect middle ground for me where I can just use the defaults and occasionally learn about more advanced stuff with the safety of an easy workstation.

[@JamesJacob-lr5gt]

What skillset lol. Ricing Linux?

[@Ball_Chat_FC]

@@JamesJacob-lr5gtmany financial institutions and hedge funds use Linux servers for their software platforms. They also pay 6 figure salaries for engineers to maintain/upgrade their systems. If you want said job then learning to install arch using cli is a good place to start

[@artikos8750]

@@JamesJacob-lr5gt i agree. my first was ubuntu but it was waaaay back in 2014. Recently ive tried linux and choose arch, i had no problems at all installing. It didnt require any skillset at all, all that comes to just ricing. Then i tried Debian with i3, and then switched to ubuntu. Only skillset i needed was writing an easy script for my mouse with acceleration off and putting it on autostart. So apart from ricing idk what people are talking about when they are stating that arch is more difficult than any other distro. I think the real difficult distro is maybe Gentoo

[@JamesJacob-lr5gt]

​@@artikos8750 using arch as a desktop gets you good at ---using arch as a desktop. You may pick up a little here and there, but you will not become a software engineer, a sys admin or an OS designer. Just wish people would stop telling tall tales about linux. It's a great free server OS with a basic desktop experience with very limited proprietary app support. What most people want is Windows or a Macbook.

[@alopeztywonek2401]

Same

[@themisterchristie]

Like others I've settled on Mint because I don't have the time for too much playing around but still like to play around. I worked with the XFCE version and slowly customized AwesomeWM to something I'm pretty happy with. Like you said, Run what you want, it's all good.

[@fubaralakbar6800]

Pop OS here. I'm always excited when someone switches to it, but I would never pressure anyone to do so.

[@pikachusolu1606]

pop os? lmfao yeah im not installing a distro with a silly name like that..

[@willabytes]

​@@pikachusolu1606 the official spelling is even "Pop!_OS". Bad marketing tbh. Quite good OS tho, but no great reason to not just run LMDE or just plain Debian instead.

[@BlitzinMackGaming]

@pikachusolu1606 I know, right? I'd much rather install something worse that has a cooler name because the name of a distro is what we look at and use the most!

[@Merc399]

​@@pikachusolu1606What kind of nerd basis an opinion on information so irrelevant. Go watch sportsball or something if you want to be that shallow dude... Then go install base arch, configure it and set it up with Open box and tint2 :) I like to know literally every package installed on my pc

[@garychap8384]

Got PopOS with my System76 laptops... used it for about 6 months. It wasn't terrible... ... but they all run some combination of Deb, Arch or BSD now.

[@marsdrums6298]

I've never understood questions like that regarding Linux. Linux is VERY broad with unlimited configuration possibilities and singling out a certain distribution and asking why you don't use it is like asking someone why they don't use Calligra or OnlyOffice rather than LibreOffice... Because that's what I feel comfortable using. I've used Mint and it's a great distro. But when I switched to Arch, I wanted to try something different. My attitude was, if I can get Arch installed, I'll check things out with it. 3 years later, I am glued to Arch and AwesomeWM. I love it so much! I don't have any desire to go back to Linux Mint. As great of a distro that is, it's just not built right for ME anymore. It's a great beginning stepping stone though.

[@BWGPEI]

Well said! You learned, and moved on to where you are happy. Says I, Good on you!

[@ashab1]

What do you love about Arch and AwsomeWM?

[@toranshaw4029]

Switched to Linux is a big Linux KZbinr that uses Mint, especially on his main work machines. EDIT: Awesome Open Source is another channel, I've noticed, where the host uses Mint.

[@Fred-oliveiriks]

Só does Chris Were, and I think Joe Collins too

[@riseabove3082]

No he's not; even though he's been a YT for almost 10 years.

[@KeepItTechie]

I'm the same way. In order to get certain things set up for recording it's easier to install a stripped down system. Thanks DT for breaking this down. Linux is all about freedom and personal preference.

[@kackotopi]

One thing I got an issue with, is when some recommend Arch or Arch-based distros to potential new GNU/Linux users whom straight up say they want to switch from Windows to GNU/Linux, that is like scaring them away. I'll always recommend Linux Mint to them, not only because it is a perfect replacement, but their community/forums is friendly and all around great for a new user.

[@Bike_Lion]

Yeah, unless maybe it's a Windows techie who's wanting to get really deep into tinkering with Linux. If it's just a regular user then Mint is the best option for transitioning from Windows, 100%

[@bhutchin1996]

EndeavourOS also has a friendly community, and it'an Arch-based distro. Mint and other Debian-/Ubuntu-based distros are good for those new to Linux because it's the standard nowadays. Years ago in the late 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century, if you wanted to install something, you had to do everything manually on the command line, so SuSE with the YaST installer worked great for me. In most Linux tutorials they're going to teach you 'sudo apt install {package_name}' after running 'sudo apt update'. Imagine someone new running an Arch-based distro or Fedora trying to follow that tutorial...

[@jongeduard]

@@Bike_Lion Yep, depends on de person. That's the most important aspect. People frequently talk about "beginner" level, people being new to something. But that does not cover the whole point. What actually matters is how much of a technical person you are and how much time you want or are able to invest into learning these things (learning curve). In fact, for a technical person it can be an unnecessary slowdown to start with "beginner" oriented things first.

[@Bike_Lion]

@@jongeduard - Yeah, I'd pretty much agree. Like I said, if someone is a beginner who's looking to become a serious Linux tinkerer, then something like Arch might well make more sense. For me personally (as someone who switched over from Windows more than a decade ago), and for the majority of other people switching over, Mint is perfect, since its user interface is similar to Windows, and we're not usually looking to do more than maybe tweak a few settings. We mostly just want the OS to stay out of the way and let us run our applications, without having to worry about the system becoming sluggish due to viruses, or anti-virus software that's constantly scanning in the background, or various applications wanting to update themselves in the background, etc.

[@nietzschescodes]

I use Debian, by the way.

[@afriquelesud]

I do that, but also use LMDE6.

[@christophernuzzi2780]

DT isn't anti-Mint, he's anti-mouse.

[@Winnetou17]

LoL

[@SamuTheFrog]

Most accurate + anti-GUI

[@valdimer11]

Probably 3 years ago i used to be that guy asking which distro was best and why people use arch over mint or mint over ubuntu over and over. It took me a long time to simply realize that its as simple as the answers i was given. Customizability. Thats it, there's no magic distribution out there. Period. I think its because we live in a world where companies compete against each other to try to create better products. Linux just doesn't work that way. Sure, Ubuntu and Mint work to create the easiest environments to use, but that's just to draw in users to start using linux. The problem is, simply because you use Ubuntu doesn't necessarily mean you understand what Linux is actually capable of and that revelation was how i realized WHY other distros exist.

[@Skelterbane69]

There's also rolling release vs stable. I want rolling, so I use an arch distro, otherwise I'd be on debian. (Or based slackware)

[@friedrichdergroe9664]

My big beef today with Ubuntu is with snaps, which it started pushing hard some time after I abandoned Ubuntu for Arch. Glad I got the hell out of Dodge when I did! LOL

[@valdimer11]

@@BobbyT-ov3rk yeah, control is a good one as well. Customization just came to mind because it can encompass control and everything else. But you make some very good points as well.

[@rhiethreal]

Mint is the only distro that I have ever installed on friends' and family's computers that didn't result in them immediately asking me to install windows instead.

[@igelineau]

what about Pop! OS?

[@rhiethreal]

@@igelineau Nah, looks and feels too different than what they are used too.

[@beardedsonofnelbeardedsono3877]

Great explanation of why you use Arch. Mint guy here. I a firm believer that everyone should use what they want. That's what Linux is all about, choice!

[@distant6606]

After 6 years of using arch i got tired of it breaking and I've switched to mint cuz i had tried every other major distro available, and there was nothing that quite cut it. Happy with it for a month or two that I've used it. Riced i3, configured NVIM + TMUX, for my developer workflow, and haven't touched it since.

[@IdAefixBE]

The reason why Arch CAN break is because of everything you couldn't even try on Mint. But using Arch doesn't mean you HAVE to do those things, it just means you can if you could handle it. If you stick to reasonable things, don't copy any command you don't fully understand in the terminal (in fact you don't much need the terminal altogether) and stay away from the AUR, just live your life with the main repos, flatpaks and appimages I bet you you'll be as fine as you are under Mint. With much more software at hand. I think the whole point of this video went over your head, especially if you're using Mint for ricing i3, which is literally going against the main feature of distros like Mint. The preconfigured DE. Like this video said, the kernel is eventually almost exactly the same for most distros, and apart from software availability most of them are the very same. You guys should stop saying "Arch breaks". You just didn't make the same mistakes on Mint because you either now know better or just did not try to do the same thing or even simply because the available repos wouldn't let you do it anyway. But it surely doesn't mean that Arch ever broke on itself, more often than not it's its users breaking it with outdated AUR packages, wrong understanding of system modules' roles and interactions and, overall, carefree black magic attempts ^^'

[@folksurvival]

@@IdAefixBE What are the things that you couldn't try on Mint?

[@distant6606]

​@@IdAefixBE 1. "Arch CAN break is because of everything you couldn't even try on Mint". Incorrect. There is nothing you can do on arch that you cannot do in mint. Unless you re talking about specific software not available on one of the two. 2. Incorrect as well. Im a professional software developer and open source enthusiast that minds his own privacy. I never run random commands/scripts even from the AUR. Some arch packages are broken even inside the official repositories. (cause ive experienced it as well). 3. "Main feature of distros like mint is preconfigured DE". Again I disagree. Although that is true, linux is all about freedom and customization. Just because arch comes barebones doesnt mean that mint that comes full serve, cannot be customized. Do you think all people that use arch, have done so with the original iso and not some calamares installer version that ususally comes with additional software from the distro maintainer? Bottomline is Mint has no purpose for me, its just another linux distro that enables me to customize it to my heart's content. 4."Like this video....magic attempts". I guess I was one of the unlucky ones whose arch broke by itself then. Like i mentioned earlier I never broke arch because of my human error. And I know that because I know what run, like i said earlier. I know very well how linux works, what you should and shouldn't do. Its just that arch makes it really easy to shoot yourself in the foot accidentally.AUR has tons of broken or outdated packages, that for most people if they dont read scripts/versions/etc they break their system without them even knowing. Thats unacceptable.Mint on the other hand ive added 4-5 ppas/repositories and there is no problem with any software, ever. And just to mention until i started using mint a couple months back, I always HATED debian/ubuntu based distros, mainly because of the slow release model. Now that I use them and Im a developer and I just want my shit to work I appreciate the extra stability these distros provide. Im not one of those 'Mint Fanboys'.

[@testtest8399]

@@folksurvival Say "BTW I run Arch"

[@artvandelay9131]

@@testtest8399lol

[@Zeioth]

I like how well explained this is and how it doesn't look down on other distros. Because it's true! It is just a different case of use. You very rarely have a "this is better than this". Ultimately it boils down to what you need. And how would you know what you need if you don't know what there is to explore in the first place? That's the beauty of it.

[@jimw7916]

cant you see......... he is "looking down on other distros"....... hes simply playing it safe and NOT straight out saying that.

[@robsku1]

@@jimw7916 Not really, no - definitely can't see it. But I could imagine someone who has an emotional attachment to their chosen distro that puts them on defensive when someone likes to use something else - that's the kind of person who also look down on other distros. That's reflecting. I also prefer something else than Mint for myself, but have no dislike towards it - quite the opposite, same as DT I like Mint for what it is and often install it for others just for that reason. Can you give me any reason to assume that he is not being honest and is looking down on other distros?

[@ringo8410]

Put it this way: I'm not offended by legitimate criticisms or dislike of Mint; I like and use Mint but I'm not "married" to it. What aggravates me is the snobbery involved by some in Linux world (not you, DT, nor any of the KZbinrs you mentioned) who look down on people because they use a "beginner" distro instead of building their own OS from the ground up. I think some segments of the Linux community is one of the biggest barriers to "normies" adopting and using Linux.

[@PadlockCheeseCake]

Yeah it is a issue for sure. I just concluded most are super nerds who's whole identity is Linux itself. Most people do not have the time to tinker with a OS for hours or days on end. Anyone who steps outside the windows world to try something new or different, which can be scary, deserves respect.

[@kylerjohnson988]

Hey DT, I love your videos and your pragmatism. I'm really glad you did this one - a lot of people needed this message. I've been using GNU/Linux for over 7 years. My daily driver is Ubuntu. I don't need to customize it all that much - just a few extensions and a theme. I'm a software developer so my focus needs to be on the software I'm developing, not my OS or constant system maintenance necessary to keep a rolling release distro stable. I have another machine I run Arch on and I tinker a lot on that one, but if I break it (or I don't do my due diligence and a package from the AUR breaks my install on an update), I don't lose productivity.

[@glidersuzuki5572]

Another developer here. I used to run MX Linux but I'm using Fedora now. I also have arch on separate part but I don't trust it enough to use for production

[@BitsOfTruth]

Very well put Dude. And you didn't need to cut down any body, group, or distro to say it. For as smart as you are, (and you truly are smart), you are definitely not full of yourself. I like the way you explain things about 98.8 percent of the time. You nailed it again.

[@eskrest]

Here's my logic behind my choice of a distribution. I like rolling release, but I want my system to be stable because I use it for work. I like to build my system from scratch, installing only the things I need. That's why my choice is Debian Testing. I've installed it 4 years ago and for 4 years I've been updating it without reinstalling. It just works.

[@flow5718]

I've been managing Debian servers for a long time but didn't know sid was _this_ stable. Wow!

[@nietzschescodes]

@@flow5718 Debian Testing is not SID.

[@eskrest]

@@flow5718 not sid. sid breaks pretty easily. testing branch gets updates from sid after a couple of weeks of testing

[@glidersuzuki5572]

I always get confused on whether Debian unstable or Debian testing is relatively safer to use

[@nietzschescodes]

@@glidersuzuki5572 ah, ok. Debian Testing is between Unstable and Stable. If after around a week or so the new program has no bug in Unstable, then it moves to Testing. The rank is Experimental-Unstable-Testing-Stable. So even Unstable is not that unsafe, and Testing is relatively safe.

[@Technopath47]

So I love Linux Mint, and the Cinnamon desktop in particular, when it comes to my personal laptops, but my main rig just must use Arch or an Arch-based distro since I seem to have this really bad habit of breaking Linux Mint whenever I try to do anything advanced (like my multi-drive encryption setup or if I want to use a different DE). Arch just lets me do what I need to do without much trouble. I'm actually switching to EndeavourOS since I'm still learning how to get encrypted drives to play nice with GRUB and this lets me get my main rig operational again. Arch actually is just easier for how I use my system, even if it's a lot harder out-of-the-box than something like an Ubuntu-based distro. So now I've got EndeavourOS for my main gaming rig, Linux Mint for my primary laptop, Fedora Workstation for my creative writing PC, and Fedora Server for my two servers.

[@MarioKL]

Mandrake->Ubuntu->Debian Stable for over a decade. I still don't understand the appeal of Arch. '11 was the last time I used Arch, for about three months and it was a clusterfuck of an experience.

[@mrk2197]

To me this video missed the real question, which is "What do you prefer about an Arch installation compared to a barebones vanilla Debian installation?". Unless I am missing something, you can build everything you want from the ground up in vanilla Debian, so I feel like the comparison between Arch and Debian is more apt than between Arch and Mint. I myself mostly use Mint Cinnamon, but recently installed qtile and am starting to experiment a bit with it on the side, and have found some of your videos on qtile to be quite helpful as I go (I'm a long way from getting something I'm satisfied with yet). Also I really like your t-shirt; perhaps you could plug where you got it from.

[@ForeverZer0]

Package management is the only real difference between distributions. This is what makes the tons of -based superfluous IMHO, but to each their own. The very few "grandfather" distros like Arch, Debian, etc. are the only thing that matters. After that, it is all just a matter of which configuration of someone else's settings and pre-selected software is preferred, but all that can be achieved without an entirely new distro

[@martinhertz4957]

Debian is nice, but not rolling so outdated, and Debian Sid has freeze break which is annoying. Then Debian enables services by default on install, splits packages (needlessly - arch only when makes sense, as in big wasted space), doesn't have as nice package building system as arch, AUR, and like minded smaller changes, so both nice, but much prefer arch still myself.

[@BruceCarbonLakeriver]

watch again: 6:50 there you go and 9:40

[@robsku1]

@@ForeverZer0It may be the most obvious and common difference, but I'd argue that some distros have more than that difference between them. You can argue that it's all "just" how it's configured and set up and that you _could_ set up any distro the same way - ok, I'm willing to give you that, only there's nothing _"just"_ about that. Damn Small Linux (and possibly Puppy Linux as well) implemented a curious system with filesystem overlays and application packages that can be installed and removed on runtime filesystem. The media and partition DSL is installed on remains the same, you may have a removable media that gets overlaid on top of it and changes are written to it and you can keep applications simply as install packages - and take use of them when you want. The latter is especially useful when loading the filesystem on ramdisk so you can keep the default RAM consumption low and leave out applications you don't want by default. That's not "just how it's configured by default", there's nothing "just" about it. As owner of Nokia N900 phone with Maemo 5 as OS, I'd argue it's got some interesting differences as well. And I'm ready to try out two different distros next: Arch and Gentoo. I've been reading the Gentoo Wiki beforehand and I've found it to be extraordinary and different from every distro I've tried. But sure, in the end even there every difference between it and others revolves around package management and how you build and manage the system. I don't know what to say there; it's Linux, were not comparing whole different OS's here. It doesn't mean the differences are always little though. BUT: I re-read your comment and realize that you mention "thousands of -based" distros... Well, yeah, I guess most of them will fall perfectly in some kind of "distro-theme" category if you will, so I feel foolish now writing all that. Still I feel that Ubuntu (Debian-based) and Mint (Debian/Ubuntu -based, if you will) are worthwile to mention as something that IMHO is different enough from their "base distro" that they should be simply lumped together with Debian (unlike many Arch-based distros are thought to belong in one "distro-group"). I feel writing this comment was futile though as I feel like I misunderstood you on first reading :x

[@dissident1337]

I use Mint for my development machine because I need something that Just Works for work. My gaming machine uses Garuda because I get the benefits of Arch with less of the setup fuss.

[@bradm1507]

Good explanation, DT. Some people gravitate to Arch because they want the perception of being a "leet" power user, which primarily stems from Arch's CLI-based, bare-bones installation. But folks who don't care about that should keep in mind that you and the other YTers you mentioned are Linux content creators. And by virtue of this, you often need the latest and greatest versions of apps, window managers, CLI utilities, etc., and Arch makes it pretty easy to obtain these.

[@NightmareRex6]

what i found is cant pirate games on linux becuase no linux pirate sites :(

[@DanielQRT]

@@NightmareRex6 just pirate the windows version and run it under wine/proton

[@DienerNoUta]

​@@NightmareRex6justo use lutris and wine and run the exe installer...

[@Auxxua]

I like to use Mint on my gaming PC, just because I want to sit down, turn it on, and start gaming. If there are updates, it's 99% chance that it will work even after the update, so it's stabe, it just works. Sure, it's not as effective and bleeding edge as Arch, but it works. But, I like to fiddle around with other distros on my Thinkpad. I've tried arch, fedora, ubuntu, debian, etc. on it, and now I run Tumbleweed on it. I've tried tiling window managers on it and different desktop environments, just to know what I actually like. I'd recommend everyone to do the same. Have a good stable PC and another to fiddle around with.

[@GCrocker662]

This question is like asking a person that drives a manual transmission why they don't drive an automatic. I use Mint because it's easy. Saying that I don't ask why others don't do what I do.

[@kayqueoliveira5980]

You're absolutely right, I want to try others distros in the future but right now I'm completely satisfied with my Linux mint, and that's all right.

[@tailsorange2872]

Hey DT, Do you use mints for fresh breaths?

[@JoeZombie-nq7qj]

After 10 years in Linux, I'm not bothering with much customizing and fiddling anymore and go for the low maintenance approach. Love Mint! (although I still changed the Cinnamon layout a fair bit, can't entirely help it :p)

[@elkcityhazard]

I have used both and am currently using Linux Mint. I am writing software and using mint is just nice for when you need a quick off the shelf linux solution so you can focus on your work. I love Arch as well, but that just isn't my focus right now (customization).

[@markfern10]

This is a very good explanation of why I use Arch. But I agree; Mint is an excellent distro, and when they have a new release, I'll usually install it on an old laptop just to check it out. Of the 20 or so distros I've used, Mint is the only one that I never had any issues with; everything just works correctly. Nevertheless, I can't daily drive a pre-configured OS that has hundreds or thousands of packages installed that I don't need or want. I like to build my system from a minimal install and put what I want on it.

[@LiegeMaximo]

If i could do the same that you wrote in the last line "I like to build my system from a minimal install and put what I want on it." But on a stable build, not a rolling one, then life could have been different...

[@bhutchin1996]

EndeavourOS is very minimalistic out of the box, that's one thing I like about it, not to mention being able to install from the AUR.

[@ultima00005]

Thanks for the insight. I’m now perfectly content with Linux Mint. I just want to adjust the colors and leave everything else stock. As long as it does the thing I’m good. I don’t have the time or desire to configure everything from the ground up.

[@dolorsitametblue]

That's why I enjoy OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. You have multiple options during install - full desktop (Gnome/KDE), minimal desktop (LXDE) or no desktop environment. With Last option you literally get Arch (rolling distro), but a lot more stable, because you can't do partial updates. OpenSUSE even has AUR-like user repositories supported in package manager.

[@bhutchin1996]

I used SuSE back in the day, 20 years ago. Does OpenSUSE still use YAST as an installer?

[@MartinJungblut]

@@bhutchin1996 Yes, it does. But to be fair, you can uninstall YAST completely after you install openSUSE. I mean, it's a completely optional component of the system, even if it's one of its main features. You can ignore it completely and manage it as you'd manage any other distribution! I'm aware you didn't ask for that specifically, just adding my 2 cents.

[@manuel.garcia021]

Great video, I personally use Mint in my house's PC due is easy to navigate and stuff for me, my wife and children. At work I made a installation of Zorin OS in all PCs and people is actually now used to it. Linux is so amazing 😍

[@DefiantYeast0426]

Minute twelve into the video. I'm relatively new to Linux and use Linux Mint. I'm going to hazard a guess that most KZbinrs use an Arch Based system because they actually know what they're doing and like the increased utility Arch probably gives them over the pretty standard and tame experience Mint gives them. Can't wait to see if I guessed even remotely close.

[@Ferran-Gnu-Linux]

I have the both distributions in my machine. I feel that Linux Mint is a good point to work in a office, save personal documents, read ebooks, etc. while Arch Linux is perfect to develop informatic software, etc. It's only a subjective impression but it works for myself.

[@starymarine]

Hi DT, I am on Mint personally yet trying various WMs when I feel like it. With linux for way over 20 years - been on Mandrake, Red Hat, Lunar Linux, Ubuntu, Arch (when it started and biggest selling point was i686 packages ;) ), Debian (testing) etc. Well, as I grew older I need to have distro that just works and I is kind of bullet proof. Also Fluxbox as WM for years. Keep up with a good work.

[@hopelessdecoy]

Why are they not using Mint? Because Arch has the latest experimental packages and they need content that people don't already know about Mint/Ubuntu is great for users Arch is great for tinkerers, linux close to metal developers and content creators Everything in-between is great for everyone in-between these two categories listed.

[@mihairomulus2488]

there's something for everyone with linux

[@moodymac7297]

I would imagine most people who run Linux Mint have never heard of you. No insult intended. Most people, like my wife and daughter, barely realize what they are running. And the majority who do use it are getting away from windows and their ways. The KZbinrs who run Linux and Ubutu systems are performing to an audiance interested in those systems. I use the terminal often to do various items, but use Cinnamin 95% of the time. If I run into a problem with a system package I scan the internet, find what I need to fix it, copy and paste into the terminal and am completely happy. I do not care what you run and am sure you run what is capable of doing what you want and need. Good for you, good for me.

[@Jeff_Seely]

I love Arch for its customizability and the repositories are enormous. However, I feel that people get too caught up on distros. Criticizing distro selection is almost like criticizing dog-breed selection. They are many good choices and all represent the freedom to choose.

[@nyanates]

I’m new to Linux and have been getting my feet wet with Mint (and really loving it). I’m also interested in what an experienced user uses ‘cause I’m a tinkerer at heart. Your explain makes total sense and gives me something to look forward to as I get further sucked into this black hole my wife will have yet another reason to divorce me over. Thanks for sharing. 👍

[@lepidoptera9337]

Is tinkering your excuse for not getting any work done? Mine is that I am lazy by nature. I am an honest kind of guy. ;-)

[@BENDER_TECH]

Oh, you know how to spot a Linux Arch user, right? It's super easy! They'll make sure you know they're a Linux Arch user before you even finish saying "Hello." I mean, who needs small talk when you can dive straight into a discussion about your obscure Linux distro preferences, right?

[@barrycuda1722]

They're more annoying than vegans. At least vegans have the courtesy to tell you they're vegans at the dinner table.

[@BENDER_TECH]

@@barrycuda1722 yes 😆

[@Gnomemad-f3m]

I moved from Windows (in frustration) some months ago to Mint. I love it. I'm years long in an IT career and just wanted a home computer that worked and didn't tick me off. Great overview, and in the future if want a Linux server, I'll do it. Again great balanced overview.

[@KAZVorpal]

Because they're smart. Mint is dumbed down. Debian is in the middle. Arch is the best available. I say this as someone who's used Linux since 1992. I went from Slackware to Arch, and still use the command line for most actually OS tasks. With the hell that is Windows 11, I've even started using Arch for my GUI tasks. My remaining self-built Windows machine, running 10, is only for Adobe product like Photoshop, and a few modern games that only run on Windows without emulation/VMs.

[@VinylRescue]

I was using Zorin 17 because I couldn't get Mint to do what I needed. Then after some research with some trial and error I finally got Mint to do everything I needed and I'm loving it! I only log into Windows when I have to. You make very good reasons for why you use Arch. I needed a good desktop distro and it works!

[@jeffrodrequez]

Well said. I have followed the typical route, started with Ubuntu then some other Debian based and eventually found myself on Arch and Window Managers (bounce between Hyprland and Wayfire, Arch allows me to easily set both up) or Arch based distros (Archcraft). I can't imagine going back to one of the more standard distributions. Next step in my journey....Nixos.

[@breno_6888]

Me too. I started with Ubuntu, then mint and a couple of others ubuntu-based distribuitions. Now I'm using Arch with Hyprland. I think nixos' too much complicated for me lol

[@jozsefk9]

You don't really need NixOS in my opinion. What would be the reason for using it instead of Arch?

[@sus4793]

​@@jozsefk9 Reproducible configuration. It's also easier to bloat and debloat the system by changing a few lines of code.

[@jozsefk9]

@@sus4793 all the same with Arch. Change a line of code.

[@jeffrodrequez]

@@jozsefk9 Definitely not because I am unhappy with Arch. Partly from what @sus4793 said and partly just to keep learning - I like the concept of how they do the configuration.

[@edmorris1437]

I’m VERY new to Linux and don’t care to tinker too much. I installed Mint on a bunch of old macs gathering dust, and it gave them all new life for lite home computing. Mint is fantastic because things just seem to work and I LIKE the GUI. Then I bought a tiny SBC (Orange Pi Zero 2w 4Gb + expansion board) for my own amusement. Mint doesn’t support ARM processors, so it has been a Linux distro learning experience for me. So far the custom Debian Bookworm distro from OrangePi has required the least hair pulling and best performance. I’ve also tried the custom Ubuntu distro from OrangePi, Armbian and DietPi. I have not tried the OrangePi custom Arch Linux distro because there were known, major bugs (terminal crashes on launch), but maybe I’ll give their most recent build a try. Still trying to figure out how to connect the SBC to a home network.

[@TheDogSix]

I'll make it simple. Arch is for those who like to touch knobs and fiddle all the time with them, Mint is for those who rather leave knobs alone and work. I tried all, I can install Arch from scratch but I don't like fiddling everytime there is an update just to get it started.

[@Dratchev241]

dont really agree with the arch is for those who like to touch knobs and fiddle, cause honestly I don't really do that and i use arch. i pretty much install arch and what I want and that is it and it stays that way. and only time i seem to have an update caused problem its been cause arch changed something and didn't post a "hey we changed this you need to do x to fix" which is usually fixed fairly quick.

[@BWGPEI]

You matter to me for the good advice! I hope you live long and prosper.

[@scottmorgan5212]

There is a part of me that would like to build my own arch box, but I know myself well enough to leave it alone. I don't trust myself to handle something like that so I run Fedora because it just works and that's the space I need to be in. But I love watching content from power users and thinking someday I will build Linux from scratch...but it is not THIS day...

[@marsdrums6298]

Run Arch in a VM. And build that VM to where you think you'd want to use it every day. Once you get there, you may change your mind about that "Arch Box".

[@glidersuzuki5572]

When I first tried Fedora, it had an issue with grub and my system doesn't boot. Didn't have any other issue after that got fixed.

[@sabinopereira1631]

I jumped to arch from fedora to try it out. I loved it but customizing and not managing to screw up the system was a set of skills I don't possess, so I came back to fedora and I am much happier here.

[@scottmorgan5212]

I mean, in my distro hops I did try Endeavor OS, which was fine but at the time Wayland wasn't playing nice with my Invidia card and I didn't know how to swap it out with X. Now on Fedora I'm running gnome in Wayland just fine.❄️🤷

[@Rood67]

I started with Ubuntu and hated it back in 2008, and never went back to Linux until I tried Mint, then Manjaro. From there, I moved to Arch, and not looked back. I like a desktop, because I liked going from DOS 3.3 to Windows 3.1. That said, I do a lot in PowerShell on the servers I maintain for work; and Terminal in Arch when I want to really control something or do what a GUI cannot accomplish. But no bloat Arch is the way I prefer to roll.

[@IndellableHatesHandles]

I've been using Debian-based distros for most of my time using Linux. Debian is rock-solid and will run indefinitely no matter how many update commands you run, which is something I admire over rolling distros. I'll always opt for vanilla Debian over something like Mint or Ubuntu, though, since the vanilla Gnome installation is my preference.

[@jonahdave5826]

I recently moved from Windows 10 to Debian 12. I installed the cinnamon desktop first, because I really disliked the look of Gnome 3, but I eventually decided to take a chance on Gnome 3 and I'm really enjoying it. The mistake some make is to think of a distro as if it is its own OS, rather than being what it is, a spin or flavour of an OS. As far as my needs go, Debian 12 is a good option, but I may dabble with a few distros in a virtual machine to keep up-to date with what other distros are doing. The hobbyist in me may even install and look at Arch in a VM to build up my Linux knowledge.

[@robertjoseph1019]

Joe Collins is a Mint guy. One of the first Linux youtubers

[@AdamEisan]

I’m a somewhat new Linux user, but no stranger to CLI and Unix. Built my first Unraid server late last year which required the occasional CLI work. Then expanded my home lab to include Proxmox on an older Mac mini, on which I have a few Debian VMs spun up for various utilities etc. Just installed Mint Cinnamon on an old Chromebook after a little contemplation on what distribution to go with. I’m enjoying it. But I totally get your point now… Mint is like buying a prebuilt PC whereas Arch is more like building your own PC from scratch. The former comes with a bunch of stuff you may end up upgrading later on ( or may not, depending on your needs/use case) and the latter is more for folks that have a good idea of what they want already. Makes so much more sense to me after watching this. Thank you!

[@folksurvival]

Most Linux youtubers use Debian or Debian derivatives. Mental Outlaw uses Mint, Joe Collins uses Mint, Switched to Linux uses Mint, Kris Occhipinti uses Debian, Veronica Explains uses Pop!OS, Learn Linux TV uses Pop!OS (I think) etc etc

[@microsoftpain]

I'm pretty sure Mental Outlaw uses Gentoo on his main rig lol. He doesn't seem like the type of guy to use Mint.

[@folksurvival]

@@microsoftpain Yes he uses Gentoo on his meme tinkering set-up but Mint on his actual use computer. Well how he seems is irrelevant because he has said himself several times on video that uses Mint and has shown screen recordings of him using it many times.

[@microsoftpain]

@@folksurvival interesting

[@folksurvival]

@@microsoftpain I think there's a certain community of Linux users who underestimate how many other Linux users use distros like Ubuntu and Mint and how many of the very experienced and tech savvy people use those types of distros. Similar for top programmers. For example competitive programmer Erichto uses Ubuntu and so did Terry A Davis.

[@kackotopi]

And Matt from the Linux Cast don't use Arch at the moment, he's on openSUSE now.

[@JasonJonesoriginal]

I've been going heavy into linux lately in the corporate world. I want to use it on my desktop full time so I thought I would use linux mint.. Now I'm wondering if thats more for my mom than an IT Professional! Is there any reason an IT person should avoid mint? Like things being too streamlined and not applying to "real" versions of linux?

[@RavenousFallen]

It's a good question. If Mint is good for software dev. From my understanding Mint is basically a user friendly version of Ubuntu (not official flavor of course) but it tends to "just work" so people can focus on their work instead of fixing issues with the distro itself. But for servers, Debian or Ubuntu may be ideal. Of course, sometimes you just need Windows for an application unfortunately xD

[@damienattard9675]

On my desktop I use Mint and on POS machines I use Lubuntu. Both no fuss easy installs and better than Win 11. I cant wait for 12 to come out so more people move to Mint lol.

[@TheSquidNinja]

TL;DW: Arch lets you build from the ground-up and customize everything you put into it on a use-case basis, where "user-friendly" distros need to be torn down and redone since they're pre-configured.

[@jaronensley]

Arch AUR is still the best place to get software i need. Arch is minimal. I dont like how PPAs stack up rapidly on Deb distros. I also use Manjaro or Arco for the slight delay in updates for safety. Yay is dead simple. Looking into Nix, because i like the container idea and ONE .config to replicate on any machine or machines in the world. New big learning curve though.

[@marsdrums6298]

I've tried Nix and you're right! Big learning curve for sure coming from ANY distro.

[@friedrichdergroe9664]

Oh my. Don't remind me of the PPA hell on Ubuntu. Half the time I was worried about whether those PPAs were safe or Trojan horses, to say nothing about them cluttering up my install.

[@dcutl]

I move around the Linux desktop user world. My first Linux Distro was Mandrake. Mandrake was awesome! After getting bored with that I tried Redhat 9 when it was still free prior to the introduction of fedora. I tried fedora 1 and it was very buggy, so after getting fed up with fedora I jumped to Ubuntu on advice from a friend. I used Ubuntu for a long time up until the Unity desktop came out. Hating the Unity desktop I jumped to Zorin, then Linux Mint, and then to OpenSUSE. OpenSUSE was probably the best distro that I have ever used...it was very stable. Now I have Linux on 3 different laptops: fedora 40, Mageia 9, and Linux Mint. I just use the desktops provided with the distributions because of time. I love Linux but I do not have the time to tinker with the OS because of other life obligations. But, when I retire in about 5 years maybe I'll try Arch or Gentoo and see what all of the hoopla is about. I admit that I use the "easier" distros, but I use what I like and I do not use Windoze! Linux has everything that I could want or need.

[@hamzaal-laham9863]

I have been using Popos for four years, and currently I am comparing Arch Linux and Void Linux, I will take a moment to make the decision to move.

[@SkyyySi]

​@@darthvader1191Trying to troll or to spawn a flame war? EDIT (unrelated): Remind me to not make the mistake of looking at comments under Linux videos. People always go into full drone mode and insert the same thread that has been done six quadrillion times before, with everyone inserting their take / personal experience that no one cares about (because it ultimately means nothing).

[@WildVoltorb]

If you're moving to void, be prepared to on how to deal with things without systemd

[@lambdanil]

Arch definitely has the advantage of a larger community, therefore much better documentation and better software availability with the AUR. Void has its own package collection (void-packages) but it's much smaller. Other than that the differences between the 2 aren't too large - pacman and xbps are fairly similar so the biggest difference is really systemd vs runit. Either one is a good choice.

[@rikehm3735]

Why don't you try LXC LXD and run both distros? Then tell us how it goes!

[@KingKrouch]

​@@WildVoltorb Yeah, while you could agree with others that SystemD is bloated, I do appreciate it's ability to diagnose issues with services and such. Beats the hell out of Windows in that department if you ask me, easier to diagnose an issue on Linux with SystemD than Windows.

[@send2gl]

Chris Barnett of Explaining Computers uses Linux Mint. I'm not worried what a presenter uses, I used Arch - followed an installation video by DT. Also use Linux MX after a positive review by DT.

[@sigillinux]

debian + kde plasma here. reason? had a kernel failure with arch a few ago and lifes to crazy to build out something wild so good old debian got my back till better days. as for de's I admit iam a kde plasma lover lol. penguin cult for life...dont really matter what distro or branch ya use as long as you enjoy it and it works for you.

[@fabrice9848]

Linux Mint and similar distros are for those who want an alternative to Windows but don't want to spend time building a custom OS. Arch Linux is for those who want to build a custom OS, and learn a lot about Linux in the process.

[@FarrellMcGovern]

I've been using Linux since kernel version 0.12...and I have used dozens (hundreds?) of distros over the years. I try to use a new distro every few years so that I am constantly learning the latest flavours of Linux. I've installed Linux on just about every major system architecture, from routers to a Supercomputer, PA-RISC, PowerX, Ulta/Sparc, etc. I ran Mint for a couple of years, but I ended up moving to another distro since i found that the packages in Mint were too old. I do keep on coming back to Slackware, which is the second distro I used, with SLS being first. These days, I am currently running Manjaro on the desktop. I dislike Arch's install, as I feel that it is too user hostile. For servers, I like Slackware, or Ubuntu Server...Slackware if it is a targeted system I would be maintaining, and Ubuntu if I am handing it off to someone else. I used to use CentOS...but, Red Hat. 😞

[@flow5718]

What do you think of Fedora?

[@FarrellMcGovern]

@@flow5718 It's OK...but I haven't used it in a number of years. One think that irked me when I did use it was that the RPM system didn't track versions well. For example, if a package needed somelibrary.2, and you had sublibrary2.2 installed, even though it would almost certainly work. Or, it didn't track what additional packages you needed, and you would have errors that didn't make sense. This is know as RPM Hell, or Dependancy Hell. Read all about it here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependency_hell

[@ozzybiker1013]

I started my Linux journey in 1997 with red hat, ditched windows entirely in 2001, I have used numerous Distro's since then, today me and my wife use Endeavour OS "Arch based easier install" I only have software installed that I want no excess stuff. I have used Mint in the past, it is the distro that i used to introduce my wife to using Linux, but even she has moved on. Thankyou for this video.

[@doctorsocrates4413]

At least linux users have this choice...bet windows users don't have this discussion lol.🤣

[@JamesJacob-lr5gt]

Yeah they just use their computer instead of talking about it, troubleshooting it, and nonstop tinkering with it. Sucks for them.

[@mihairomulus2488]

​@@JamesJacob-lr5gtwindows users do those things all the time as well they just don't change OSes unless downgrading to 10 or even 7

[@Miner-dyne]

I never really thought about how many times people ask that. I have no idea how many distros I have installed currently. I mostly use Mint on my Windows replacement machines lately. We used a very early Ubuntu for my son when he was starting out, and since he was not old enough to read well yet, it was a good fit (plus he liked Warthogs). All that weight is not helpful other places. You have to pick what fits your use case best. I think it was a great explanation for folks that were wondering.

[@MattSinz]

Arch isn't a distro, it's a hobby.

[@snoop13able]

We are just common user, not power user whose always love to run the terminal. As windows user, we just want to productove with our work casually, and not to deep involve with technical thing. Easiest and user ftiendly user interface is what we look for.

[@fsmoura]

Duh, for the social prestige, of course. ( o.o)

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

So there's prestige in running "poor man's Gentoo" then?

[@fsmoura]

Of course, and it also heats up the online be-cool economy as it presents an opportunity for even more invested nerds to one up them with their even more obscure elite distros, creating thus a trickle down cascade of internet clout. Makes the world go round, so to speak 🌏

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@fsmoura Possibly, but I don't consider any single distro to be "elite" in the same way you'll never hear me tell the world that Gentoo is the best distro - it isn't, it has just been my distro of choice for 20 years, it works for me. The "poor man's Gentoo" comment is merely a throwaway "tongue in cheek" one to poke the nest of Arch users with a verbal stick. Use whatever works for you.

[@TradieTrev]

@@fsmoura Nerds will nerd mate!

[@autohmae]

As a Debian user since Debian 2.0 I don't personally care for any of these other distros, but it's good the options exist. I sometimes think it would be better if some of the efforts came together more... but you can't force anyone of course.

[@robsku1]

It's the flip side of what may well be the greatest thing about the whole F/OSS thing - sometimes I hear people saying that it's a weakness of FOSS to have too many variants of same thing, that Linux would fare better without it, not realizing it couldn't exist any other way (because it couldn't be done without losing the F and being proprietary - and I don't think Linux would have become anything more than a niche if it had been proprietary). Peace :)

[@huljaxful]

I distro hop a lot. And linux mint was always a returning point for me. At the moment I'm on pop!_os, before debian, before the shitstorm fedora. But i fell the stigma of linux mint crowd 😂

[@erikisdik432]

You dont need to switch distro's between a same ubuntu based distro, just install the desktop environment from the other distribution and test it, if you dont like it. Remove it. You should try switching to Fedora, and if you like the "newer" feeling maybe even arch, or arco!

[@ringo8410]

I personally don't get the "stigma" over using Mint, unless it's just a pissing contest over who's running the "tougher" distro. It's so odd to me that segments of the Linux crowd (not DT or any of the KZbinrs he mentioned) are so hung up over who uses what distro. Grow up, guys.

Excellent comment, thank you for your contributions in each of your videos, I have learned a lot from each of them. Greetings from Costa Rica....peace

[@joshua_lee732]

Don't use Arch, the package developers don't care about your experience and will blame you if their package doesn't work. The only QA done for Arch package maintenance is whether or not it builds, not that it works.

[@realpainediaz7473]

😱

[@MrFreeGman]

You aren't limited to just the three stock DE's on Mint. I use i3wm on an xfce install and the transition was completely painless as the xfce DM allows you to have multiple DE's installed that you can choose from on login. You even keep some of the xfce stuff like network manager, screensaver, and themes. Disabling them is easy if you don't want them. The only difference between my Mint install and an Arch install is the package manager and kernel version (which is easy to upgrade on Mint as well). I often have to install from source if I want to use software that's less than 1-2 years old. But that also means my system doesn't randomly break all the time, and as a software developer, that's crucial.

[@patricklouisgerardbaustier9578]

Mr. Robot used mint,and the dude kicked ass,i use mint on my mini pc ,but on my gaming laptop its garuda,i tried mint for gamin,and it sucked

[@nietzschescodes]

pretty sure I recall him using Kali.

[@patricklouisgerardbaustier9578]

@@nietzschescodes see all episodes,he used several distros,i know becouse the logos from mint,kali and most drowings from unbuntu,and garuda linux are done by me

[@GeorgeRivera-ci7wf]

I think you nailed it perfectly when you gave the example of your mom. I use Linux Mint Cinnamon. ***For my 11 year old laptop - it has intel i5 processor - on my desk & have 2 older TV's connected as monitor. This is for everyone's use at home. ***For my 10 year old laptop - it has intel i7 processor - Only i use this one. I am learning to code on it an I also use virtualbox on it as I am also studying for A+ certification. ***In short, it depends on your needs &/or what you want to do. I will one day venture into using Arch Linux and Kali Linux in the future. Great video !!!

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

I think a lot of people would be better off spending their time learning to be more self-motivated and less lazy, rather than wasting your time and their time asking stupid questions. Today, the Linux community is infected by "fashionistas" that just want to be seen in public to be "cool" amongst their peers and on social media, posing and crowing about how they run Linux. These are not the people who should ever consider running Linux in the first place because they don't want to put in time themselves to learning Linux and become proficient with it but instead want everyone else in the community to do all the hard work for them and give them all the answers - they can then just pose in front of their peers. No, I am not criticising everyone who claims to be a Linux newbie because there are good and interesting people out there who have a good reason to want to try Linux for the first time and occasionally need a "nudge" in the right direction from the experts when they get stuck on a Linux problem - and we should always help those people. But you need patience and perseverance, the rewards from learning Linux will not appear until you've overcome some steep initial learning curves and after you have "de-radicalised" yourself from the Microsoft or Apple ecosystems.

[@KingKrouch]

What's nice with Linux and something like KDE Plasma is that I can mold my desktop environment (literally speaking) to my workflow rather than constantly having to work around shortcomings (like with Windows, Mac, and iOS).

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@KingKrouch That's a very good point and one that drove me away from Windows originally, though up to Windows 7 I was using it alongside Linux. I think Microsoft peaked with Windows XP and whilst I am not arguing that Windows 7 wasn't as stable as XP, the Aero interface was ugly and too fixed, with nothing in the way of configuration options.

[@OlettaLiano]

Makes good sense. I'm using Mint because I'm new to Linux and need something similar to windows. But a power user like you who has the knowledge to make the own system should make their own. Thanks.

[@GXShade]

Linux is linux Distro Does not matter

[@whoopsimsorry2546]

Arch Linux overdoes it. It's kinda for hobbyists, you'll never end up using anything but grub, there's no point to doing the locale manually considering 99% of the users will always do the same thing, same goes for about 90% of the Arch installation. Most people "customize" 90% of their Arch instance the same way as everyone else. The argument that it's easier to customize is just a bad argument. It's easier to replace 10% of the stuff you don't like than it is to build from a clean slate. Some people just enjoy the process and I think that's fair. This is a hobby. The AUR is a nice argument and I agree. Personally, I don't care about what distro I use, at the beginning of the installation I just download the 5 main programs I spend 99% of the time in, I replace existing programs that do the same thing and I'm good to go. Sometimes I am reminded of the AUR and how easy it is to find cool stuff in there, but at the end of the day that stuff is most likely available on each distro. That stuff is also most likely not experience changing neither. At the same time I'm also quickly reminded of how much of my time I'll have to give up just to gain an additional search engine, masked as a package manager.

[@WildVoltorb]

Mint is for noobs

[@KingKrouch]

Ironically, if you want to use it for games and you want to use FreeSync, you have to configure that manually through X11 configs. I think Cinnamon with the Mint theming is clean looking though.

[@ex0ja]

I like to install debian stable no desktop as a blank canvas and go from there. The Arch package manager confuses the hell out of me and I don't really need everything upgrading all the time.

[@hammerstone365]

I spent years playing with Linux, trying different distros, building my experience from scratch. I'm at a point where I'm just too busy...so I just do a plug and play now.....

[@MarkDavidMcCoskey]

I believe Christopher Barnatt of Explaining Computers uses Mint Linux. I did for awhile, and enjoyed it, but I've since settled on Endeavour Budgie.

[@robr4662]

I can definitely understand starting from a blank slate when you intend to change everything anyway. For me, as a windows "power user" who doesn't mind going into cmd or powershell to do more advanced tinkering when needed, linux mint seems a great alternative. Since having switched my daily use computer to mint, I am gradually learning the commands and syntax of the terminal. Also, in my opinion, the gui is very functional; even in it's stock, out-of-the-box, form.

[@SportsIncorporated]

You stretched that out to 12 minutes. You're a genius.

[@one_little_robot]

Thanks for explaining this, it makes sense. I just switched from windows, landed on mint after pulling my hair out trying to learn stuff on a few other distros. I felt like I needed a degree in computer science and spent weeks trying to make things work. With windows it would take me a day or two to get everything up and running and then I could just get back to working on music. Mint so far has been almost as easy as windows, though I must admit I have been relying on ChatGPT as my pocket nerd helper. Maybe one day I will want to make a purpose built system for music production, especially with how blown away I am by pipewire, but thats not today! Thanks again!

[@jaxxarmstrong]

A very good explanation, DT. My hat off to you.

[@punpck]

I'm too old for customizing the OS - I just want it to work. Even haven't changed the default background for more than 10 years on my Kubuntus and now Mint (to get rid of snap). 7:30 my mom also uses Linux Mint and there was never an issue.

[@roborob347]

The user friendly nature of Linux Mint is what helped me take the final step to deleting windows from my PC permanently. Eventually, I moved on to more advanced distros, but Linux Mint will always hold a special place in my Linux journey.

[@kbaeve]

I used to love Mint, but now run Arco with i3 (or Arch on some other computer). Even use this on my office laptop. I really really want a straight forward guide to set i3 (autorandr/xrandr/whatever) to be able to deal with stressful office work, which normally would be better suited for a full fledged DE - because of jumping in between different monitor setups all day. This might be a super easy tweak for many, but I don't always find the time to fiddle too much. Can this be a video request, or even some simple solution from someone smarter then me? I'll try describe the scenario in short: I run i3 and i3statusbar on my laptop at work as stated. My "base" at my desk includes using my laptop on my left hand, and a separate monitor on my right hand. This is fine until i unplug and replug, where things get messed up. In a workday I will unplug/replug to my base many times - I will also connect other monitors (meeting rooms) occasionally, if not every day at least several times a week. Every time I have to rearrange the desktop positions (which going to laptop monitor, which going to external monitor). Say when I'm docked, I want laptop to serve desktop 0, and the external monitor 1-9. So if I organise my applications for this template, it should also be spread back to the same positions when replugging the monitor. Now it's getting all messed up. It seems like when I maunally organize like this, and unplug - ofc autorandr (i beleive) will collect all the desktop and make laptop monitor the main display. But when reconnecting to external, it does not go (back) to where my external monitor is main. Or, it won't remember my last configuration for multiple monitors. I always just use the laptop alone, or with one external monitor - and for me it's not a big deal which is left or right location except from in my base config at my desktop. But I would love to see all windows and desktops going back to its previous positions after reconnecting to an external monitor. Bah sorry english is not my native language, and trying to explain this dragged out. I hope someone reads it and understands it - and maybe even see a video on making tiling window managers a viable thing for us running from meeting to meeting, and jumping between monitor configs all day every day.

[@robsku1]

I so understand what you mean, and I'm not even in a remotely similar situation - just simply the frustration and the extra hassle caused by unplugging and repligging my laptop to a docking station with extra monitors at home, and a vivid imagination, is enough to understand your situation. I hope one day someone points me towards a good solution for this that will make it easy to slap it on any window manager and simply have it work without issues :) Would love it

[@donaldwillinger4280]

I agree 100% with you about using Arch, Gentoo, etc., for those of us that want to design our own system. If you are new, Ubuntu, Mint, MX-Linux, etc. are the best ones to start with.

[@JohnCastleSmokeless]

I actually get this. It's why, as much as I love Zorin for having been my first full-time single-boot Linux distro, I've moved on to Fedora 40 Workstation. Once I figured out how GNOME's Extension Manager will let me set up GNOME the way I want to set it up, Zorin's 'Layouts' feature -- while initially very convenient -- started to feel more like a constraint than a benefit.

[@ent2220]

I use Fedora 37 with LTS kernel. I don't like Arch. I use GNOME so I don't need some over the top configuration. What I need though is for when something work and an update brakes to be able to restore and stick with it for as long as possible. In Arch it's an absolute nightmare to run with with some outdated components, especially if they're part of the system / DE, and others up to date. Plus I really don't like the package manager pacman's syntax. For the record my Fedora 37 is quite customized, down to the system level. Stable and semi-stable releases rock! I will never use arch.