Ubuntu and Mint have default DEs, and they're literally the only two popular recommendations for newbies
this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2026
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make it without AI and try again
AI trash aside, I think the default recommendation for newbies should be Linux Mint with Cinnamon environment. It's familiar, simple, and fully functional. Lots of people use it as their go-to for general purposes, myself included.
How do you know it's AI?
Just ask your favourite slop generator to shit a suggestion for you, it already replaced your ability to draw stick figures, something every person knows hownto do by the age of 7.
Working pc with low effort? Just use Linux Mint. Is basically an Ubuntu without bloat and less strict on packages. Also cinnamon as desktop is both super windows-familiar and customizable with close to no need for the terminal.
Gaming pc fast and updated? Catchy OS with a KDE plasma desktop. So you can say to other "I use Arch (derivate) btw".
I wish Mint offered KDE out of the box so I could recommend it to people. Cinnamon just looks... I dunno, like the comic-sans of desktops to me.
Is quite customizable and not very heavy. That's quite enough most of the times.
I'm a Linux > Ubuntu > Gnome type of girl. I don't know what any of that means but those are how I use my linux.
I used to dislike Gnome because just not for me.
Then I found out they ban AI generated code from extensions.
And may sraight up ask the programmers to explain logic behind how they came up with suspicious looking parts of the code to confirm.
That's like a stamp of quality. I respect that.
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I am linux mint - cinnamon.
It's easy at least. I just got my wife set up with it on a laptop that was running Windows 10 previously. Even the banking app she has been using in Windows has a Ubuntu release that worked pretty easily. She wasn't even put off by having to use the terminal to install it. I'm calling it a win.
OP is posting AI slop and plagiarizing other people's work. Lead image seems a cyanide and happiness cartoon, but it's a blatent ripoff, and they watermarked it with their own username to boot. And no communication out transparency around any of that as well
"not again" as a punchline is the level of creativity I'd expect from a slopper
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Holy sneaky AI image, Batman!
Fuck this is getting hard.
-
Red shirt guy's eyebrow is a bit weird
-
Ports on the laptop change every frame.
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Scrollbars are a bit weird
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Text in computer window doesn't line up with grey windows in the vertical direction.
Biggest giveaway are the fake compression artefacts.
And here I thought everything in this comic was just sweating profusely, including the words on the laptop screen.
I was wondering if those were compression artifacts were real.
Straight up stealing from the Cyanide and Happiness with the artstyle too. Sigh...
choosing a linux distro can be hard for newcomers. that's why i recommend going on distrowatch and picking a easy to use distro. i know it's weird advice but thats how i wound up picking a linux distro and never looked back.
___ Linux Mint all the way ππ«β¨
So far, I'm Arch with KDE as my top pick (cachyOS).
When i had to start troubleshooting issues for my wife's laptop and kids PCs, I switched everyone back to windows so I could have some peace. Its unfortunate.
Choice is good when you can make an informed choice. Choice is bad if you are forced to make a decisions where you have no idea of the consequences.
Worst when the newcomers chose Arch because they've heard is very configurable.
Then complain that Linux is hard.
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