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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Which Linux distro for beginners (with requirements) (programming.dev)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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A friend of someone related doesn't have a laptop nowadays, but needs one. Now we have 2 old laptops at home, and we want to give her one so she can do some things on it. Since she isn't used to laptops and the old laptops wouldn't run a Windows 11 (I don't want to install a Win10 because of end of support and lacking security features), I guess installing a simple Linux is fine. Now comes the big question: Which Linux distro should I install? (see requirements below)

Laptops:

Acer Aspire ES 15, AMD dual-core E1-7010 @1.5 GHz, 4GB RAM, 1000 GB HDD
HP Pavilion 17-e030ez, Intel Pentium @2.4 GHz, 4GB RAM, 10000 GB HDD (I'd choose this)

Tasks:

Office Stuff (I thought about OnlyOffice)
Internet surfing
Banking via Web

Requirements:

needs to have full German support
needs an easy software installation center
should be easy to learn
optionally, her friends (which probably use Windows/ Mac) should be able to help her (since she never had a laptop before)
eventually German forum/ German Guides

I'm using Linux/ Manjaro for myself but don't have any experience with beginner-friendly distros. I used a KDE neon for some time and also have used Ubuntu, and to be honest, they seem beginner-friendly too.

Please let me know your opinions, thanks!

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

New user that didn't exactly choose to try Linux, I'd go with Ubuntu or Mint just for the sake of being compatible with pretty much anything you'd find when looking up "how to X on Linux". On those specs I guess I'd go Xubuntu or Mint Xfce edition.

I'd try a few Wayland compositors and X11 WMs on the thing and see what performs the best. Depending on the graphics situation and drivers, Wayland can be faster or slower. At this vintage I'd guess the best will be Xorg with no compositor at all, just plain 2D acceleration, but sometimes even the crappiest OpenGL can be surprising.

If you put Waydroid on it, it'll also double as a shitty Android tablet. Almost all bank apps will refuse to run because it's not a certified device, but it will be some common interface their friends are more likely to be able to help with.

I guess there's also the option of just installing ChromeOS on it.