Watching Linus Tech Tips’ latest Linux challenge video, especially Linus’ sections, is a genuinely painful experience.
I might not be a Linux pro, but I sure am seasoned enough to know my way around. And a few things immediately stood out. So here’s a quick rundown of do’s and don’ts when picking a Linux distro:
- Don’t bother with niche distros. What I mean is don’t get caught up looking for a “gaming distro” or something overly specialised. Most of these are just mainstream distributions with a few extras pre-installed or minor tweaks. You can replicate all of that yourself, so it shouldn’t be your deciding factor.
- Pick you preferred desktop environment first. Start with the UI flavour you actually want to use (your desktop environment), then choose a popular distro that supports it well. For most people, that matters more than the distro itself.
- Avoid distros in transition. I get why Pop OS was given another shot, especially after the feedback from the last challenge. But a bit of research goes a long way. COSMIC may be at version 1.0, but it’s still not fully stable, especially for the niche hardware or edge use cases like the one Linus tends to have.
- Don’t rely on AI to pick your distro. It’s often outdated, lacks nuance, and sometimes confidently wrong. That being said, AI can be genuinely useful for troubleshooting. It’s surprisingly effective for straightforward issues as long as you keep the usual LLM caveats in mind.
I think most of the frustration came from the distro choice and doing the installation at a LAN event. A more relaxed environment, without the pressure, would have helped a lot.
Linux isn’t hard, everyone just needs to stop overthinking the entry point. Most of the time I’ve broken my system, it was me, not the distro. So… just pick a popular mainstream distribution and play around. With time, you’ll naturally get to the distrohopping phase.
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