Ask HN: Recommendations for a Linux Distro and Laptop? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Recommendations for a Linux Distro and Laptop?

27 pointslemonberry61 comments

I'd like to switch to Linux by 2026. I'm comfortable on the commandline, but not an expert. I'd like something that is relatively easy to use and stable. I do enjoy tinkering and will hopefully learn more about Linux, but for now, I'm mostly interested in making the transition as easy as possible?

I build websites and simple web apps so I don't need anything super powerful.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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Assuming you're in the US, System76[0] and Framework[1] both make laptops that support Linux as a first-class OS.

I tried both and ended up preferring Framework. I especially like that they're repairable.

I bought the DIY version of Framework worried I'd hate building it, but it was super easy to put together. You're only putting together a few pieces, not the entire laptop. It ended up being one of the best unboxing experiences of my life.

[0] https://system76.com/

[1] https://frame.work/

Plus you can save some money by reusing ram or m2 ssds th you already have.

Living in EU, had no problem getting a Framework laptop. However, there might be comparatively higher shipping costs if you order parts without also ordering a laptop from their store.

How is the build quality and cooling compared to Thinkpads? I saw some praise (e.g. from DHH) as well as some very critical Reddit posts.

In EU, Thinkpads are sadly very overpriced, except cheap E/L models. The price gap compared to the US is substantial. Whereas MacBook pricing is not too different across markets.

I do own a T460s as well and have to say, the build quality of the Framework is not as good in comparison. But given that the Framework is cheaper, I think it's still a fair deal.

One thing I should point out here: you can order a Framework without RAM and SSD, then buy these components from a regular store with regular pricing.

Last time I checked, in EU Framework has no option for companies to order without paying VAT. They offer to rembours the VAT afterwards though.

If you want to learn more, don't make the transition easy. Get a second laptop that is Linux-compatible and get a difficult distribution. It will force you to learn more faster. Linux From Scratch is the most hardcore (and, imho, fun!) way to deep-dive. I'm not familiar with the newer, more expert-level distros but I'm sure others can give suggestions.

If you don't want to learn more and just want a "working computer", use either Ubuntu or Fedora, as they have the most support. If you use Ubuntu you'll want to use Kubuntu or one of its derivatives as the default Ubuntu desktop is one of the most unusable and featureless things I've ever used.

Laptop wise, look up distributions' officially supported laptop lists, and laptop vendors' laptops that officially support linux. Lenovo and I think Dell have some officially supported Linux laptops. Then there's a smattering of vendors who sell laptops with Linux as the only OS. Any of these will save you lots of headaches; an incompatible laptop can leave you struggling for weeks to get it to work, if it'll work at all. Generally stay away from brand-new gear as it's the most likely to use something that doesn't yet have good Linux support, or may require the newest Linux software which isn't supported on slightly older stable Linux distro releases. Finally, always look up reviews of that laptop with Linux, as you may find quirks like poor performance, overheating, battery issues, wifi/bluetooth connectivity issues, non-working keys, and more.

I recently got a ThinkPad T14s Gen4 and it works very well with Ubuntu 24.04. You need to check the generation of the laptop, though, as the internals change and may make it not compatible anymore. In general I would suggest buying a laptop which you can return within 30 days, as you may find you either don't like the laptop itself, or its Linux support is too quirky.

As for distro, if you want something that works out-of-the-box, with modern desktop features, I'd give Linux Mint (Cinnamon Edition) a try. Personally, I enjoy tinkering and learning, so I set up Arch with Wayland on my laptop. I wouldn't consider it super stable, but I've had surprisingly few issues. There is a learning curve, but it's certainly do-able.

For laptop: I got myself a Framework 13 with Intel 13th gen. I am very happy with the machine and with the Linux support. So, definitely have a look at that.

I don't know why I never see anyone recommend it, but plain fedora with the default gnome is pretty great. In terms of design and usability, it's solid. You can't customize every little thing, so compared to other setups it's not as flexible in that way. But if you want something that is stable and boring so you can get to the stuff you actually have to do, fedora is a decent choice.

This is what I'm using on a old-ish Dell Latitude. Everything works except the fingerprint reader, but I knew that going in and I'm ok with it.

Another vote for Linux Mint. It's very easy to use and has a good blend of recent software and stability.

As long as you don't pick a brand new CPU/chipset the hardware support is nearly flawless as long as the laptop isn't from an overly proprietary manufacturer.

I do like performance, and a 2-in-1 form factor, so I went with an MSI Summit. They have cheaper models without discrete GPUs in a smaller form factor.

What is the battery life of the 2-1? Also any issues with drivers or everything worked without manual configuration?

Echoing mainline Debian + DE of your choice. Switched away from Ubuntu a few years ago and never looked back. If I remember correctly, the Debian setup allows you to specify GNOME, KDE, or Cinnamon.

EDIT: Forgot to mention I'm running this on an Acer Swift 3 flawlessly.

NixOS is something to consider. It is easy to use if all you need is packaged inside NixPkgs (which is enormous). A bonus point is stability. You can upgrade without fear, including changes that would be pretty risky in other distros. You can always roll back to previous system states, unless you have garbage-collected them to save space.

It's also great that everything is declarative. You can define your entire setup in a few LOC. There's a bit of a learning curve for harder things, but IMHO you can get going in an afternoon. On the contrary, if you need to package your own software or install things that have messy build processes, it's probably not worth the effort.

I recently assembled a home server/NAS and decided to try NixOS on it and I have to agree. Using it normally (install packages and use the system) is VERY easy, much easier than I expected. I recently upgraded the main channel from 24.5 to 24.11 (because I noticed I had no more packages update in over a week...) and it was quick and smooth.

But the nix language is scary to say the least. For now I didn't deep dive into it, maybe in the future...

All considered , IMO for a terminal beginner like OP, I think NixOS is too much as the first approach on a laptop.

Pick an image-based distro. I personally use Atomic Fedora Sway but there are many others in this vein.

The point is that out-of-box you get the ability to not only rollback to a previously working state of your distro, but also to run container images you build yourself on your computer. You can boot container images now with bootc.

This makes managing a Linux distro super easy, and rolling back experimental changes or package issues even easier.

Because you have to make the assumption that something will go wrong, sooner or later, you will have to use the commandline to troubleshoot and workaround issues. Unfortunately this is the case in every OS.

That's why a simple rollback process is the best gift to ordinary users.

I have been using Ubuntu on a Asus Zenbooks for almost a decade now. Guess it's a recommendation.

GNOME on the latest LTS Ubuntu (24.04) has a pretty cool Android-like panel for basic settings (wifi/bluetooth/vpn/brightness) and only requires a handful of tweaks.

There's dozens of distros of Linux, and they're all pretty good. (A handy skill to develop would be getting comfortable with installing and trying news ones -- because then you don't have to feel stuck.)

I've heard Linux Mint is an easy choice for beginners hoping to get comfortable and familiar with Linux.

"A handy skill to develop would be getting comfortable with installing and trying news ones -- because then you don't have to feel stuck."

Great tip, thank you.

<< A handy skill to develop would be getting comfortable with installing and trying news ones

I second this advice. While I can safely recommend PopOS, Mint and Nobara ( specifically if you still want gaming ), they all have their own little quirks that will eventually make you want to improve upon. I started with PopOS and started developing opinions on systemd, grub, gnome and all sorts of things I would not think twice before.

That said, I would skip Ubuntu. It is trying to be Windows a little bit too hard and it shows.

edit: And trying stuff in VMs makes it extra easy.

For a first distro, Ubuntu is probably a good idea. Fedora later maybe. Arch or LinuxFromScratch is a good learning experience too.

I'm not sure if I would recommend Ubuntu anymore. Currently typing from an Ubuntu laptop. I doubt my next one will be Ubuntu.

I have found the snap user experience to be quite poor. Popups telling me I need to upgrade. The most annoying being Firefox, where it wants me to to not be running Firefox to upgrade, but fails to notice on reboot that now would be a good time to do that. Consequently even after multiple reboots it persists on the old version and complains about it.

I have the option of manually triggering the snap upgrade when I reboot, or to close everything and either manually trigger or leave the laptop not running anything in the hope will decide to update.

Am now fetching Firefox from packages.mozilla.org which helps that aspect a lot, but I'd rather not have to go through fixing the user experience each time I install.

Also, upgrade messages that seem to imply that there are security fixes being withheld because you do not have Ubuntu Pro are noxious.

Snaps is what made me move away from Ubintu to Fedora. Make sure you add RPM Fusion repos and enjoy plain GNOME and latest everything.

I don't like Ubuntu either, and also ended up on Fedora. I don't know anyone who ever stuck with their first Linux distro and still think Ubuntu first is a sensible first distro recommendation for a web developer who hasn't used Linux before, for many reasons.

Ubuntu is fine. It supports a lot of hardware. Many things work out of box.

Yeah, this is likely still the go-to choice for beginners.

Framework laptops are great, and would be my first choice if I were looking for a new work computer. I've previously run Dell XPS13, Lenovo Thinkpad.

There's no shortage of good distro choices. I've run Mint for ten years on my primary device and trialed a host of others on my secondary laptops. I'd be happy long term with Debian, Fedora, perhaps Arch. I could cope with Ubuntu, at least for as long as it took to overwrite it with Mint.

I stopped distro hopping after switching to Arch (with Sway WM), now my same installation is hopping across laptops instead.

It might not be friendly for new Linux users but I feel in control using it and keep it maintained and clean easily.

I usually recommend Vanilla OS for non-tech savvy people, in case you're looking for something that just works. It will probably become limiting for you after a while since you like tinkering.

I use Pop!_OS for my gaming rig. Pretty well optimized for gaming and light programming. Been enjoying it

I thought Linux didn't support most games, like MacOS?

I think since Steam has been working so hard on Steam Deck and SteamOS the compatibility has skyrocketed to pretty much parity with Windows

I'm assuming since the Steam Deck push it's all changed. Either way, I don't tend to play AAA, but I've been able to play all the games I've wanted to without issue in Steam.

Many games run acceptably well on Linux nowadays thanks to Valve's efforts with the Steam Deck, pushing technologies like Wine -> Proton and DXVK.

The biggest chunk of games that do not work falls into the multiplayer / live-service category, as anti-cheat solutions often don't allow for running on Linux this way.

Compared to macOS, this is probably night vs. day.

Distro: Fedora (default Gnome)

Laptop: LG Gram 16"

There are several variations of the laptop with spec differences, the main thing you want is Intel CPU with integrated graphics.

Great screen (16:10 ratio), great battery life (80Wh), dual NVMe slots (if you care about bit rot).

Last, but not least, very, very light.

Switched to Linux Mint last year. Works like a charm and is pretty ready out of the box

Checkout https://omakub.org (web dev focused setup script for Ubuntu) and https://frame.work

Arch on a Thinkpad is pretty good.

Ironically, arch has been a better "stable" distro for me than Debian, which I used for years previously.

The problem with the stable distros, when used as a desktop, is you inevitably get into a situation where you need a newer version of something, but the whole stack of libraries the system provides isn't compatible. It leads to a "frankendebian" situation which is much worse than just dealing with a binary rolling distro where the latest version of anything you want is a pacman paru install away.

Interesting, thank you. I'll keep this in mind.

Not sure how it compares to Arch, but Debian sid/unstable is pretty stable most of the time too (been using it on my desktops for over a decade). But both are probably bad for beginners unless you're prepared to learn and tinker.

I don't have them (yet), but take a look at the xmg evo 14 or 15 (https://www.xmg.gg/en/xmg-evo-14-m24/). New Versions with amd strix point coming end of february or march I think.

As opposed to other popular recommendations here they don't sound like jet engines, have a meager 5 hours of battery life or praise you for changing the world with your purchase.

Personally I'd go with debian testing

I’ve had multiple Thinkpad X1 carbon laptops with whatever the most recent Ubuntu LTS version. The hardware is well supported by Ubuntu, however I have experienced a few bugs with Gnome and the keyboards on newer X1 carbons are not as reliable. Since much of what people do these days is in a web browser, the difference between operating systems is not as meaningful these days.

Arch linux (migth be a hurdle to install but worth learning if you want to take the time) and any thinkpad t,p,x series.

Wpuld suggest kde as desktop.

I have used Manjaro with i3wm (a tiling window manager) on a number of different Thinkpads and it's generally been pretty trouble free, and a lot of fun sometimes! Currently have an AMD T14s.

Fwiw I tried Ubuntu desktop a few times before settling on Manjaro/Arch about 4 years and and it never clicked for me (though I'll happily use Ubuntu servers).

Regardless of what distro you want: I recommend thinkpads, and check the Arch wiki for that model to confirm driver support.

I haven't checked for driver support for my last 6-7 laptops, and they've all been fine, I don't think people need to check anymore.

My favorite is Debian with Cinnamon GUI.

This. I'm rocking on Debian trixie with Cinnamon right now.

For me distro is NixOS, since Guix System is unfortunately not much focused on desktop.

For laptops... Well... If you REALLY need one, because 90% of the time you just need a desktop, Lenovo Thinkpads, Dell Precisions are the least crappy I knows.

I guess a follow up question might be: what laptop would you recommend to go with the recommended distro?

I'd be curious to see what y'all recommend. Are there non-Mac laptops that sorta feel like Mac laptops and are of similar (or even superior) quality?

I use Macbook Air for the laptop and Debian as the server. Debian is stable and not bloated.

Thank you. I have an old MacBook Air. I'll look into this.

If you want top of the line, system76 dot com is the place to go.

what's your motivation for the switch?

if you want to liberate yourself from corp controlled OS (like me), avoid Ubuntu and probably also Fedora.

I'd recommend to try out EndeavourOS (= Arch in easy mode). Then, once you are familiar with pacman and yay, try vanilla Arch (which is no more problem with archinstall). you won't regret it. I have installed arch on my kids gaming PC and they work like a charm. KDE is fantastic (I love it because it is snappy).

Thinkpad running voidlinux

Very well supported h/w, for decades. True user controlled distribution...

Thinkpad X1 Carbon or X1 Nano, I have use them with ubuntu for many years.

Debian on Thinkpad T480.

I would highly recommend Fedora, but not the default Workstation installation. You can try out the default, but I recommend either the KDE spin, or the Xfce one. These are desktop environments and the default one (Gnome) I don't consider user friendly (didn't even support desktop shortcuts at some point). KDE is also full-featured, while Xfce is a bit lighter in feature-set.

For Laptops I'd have a hard time highly recommending anything. The thinkpad I have works great and heard great things about Thinkpads in general. The frame.work looks like a good suggestion on paper (which I'm also considering to buy) but based on their forums, thermals, noise and AMD firmware bugs are still too prevalent for my taste (including slow uefi firmware updates).

There are a couple of Linux tailored laptop sellers in Europe. Products look nice, but imo make the same mistake of throwing top of the line CPUs in thin laptops, then people wonder why their testis are toasty.

Ubuntu, ThinkPad

Windows 11 with WSL2 & Debian

You'll Google a solution to everything on Ubuntu. Good luck with anything else. For lower RAM usage idle there's Lubuntu.

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