Hello!

I've been running Linux Mint 19 on my main PC for several months now after a friend of mine convinced me to finally make the switch from Windows.
Now that same friend, who has a lot of experience with Linux and is generally speaking a real computer wiz, is telling me I ought to switch to Manjaro.

I'm looking for a second opinion. Should I switch? Or Should I upgrade? I have a basic idea of how to install a new distro, as I still remember what it was like to install Linux Mint, but after reading through the upgrade instructions on the LM website I felt like I was out of my depth. With enough time and research I can do just about anything, I just want to know if it'll be worth it, whatever path I choose.

I'm not really sure what else to say, but if you have any questions for me feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer promptly.

I doubt the "wizness" of this person if they recommend distro hopping.
There's nothing wrong with Linux Mint. Get aquainted with it, instead of dropping it for the next shiny thing.

1 members found this post helpful.

Actually there's nothing wrong in principal about distro-hopping. Some people here are regular distro whores. But I agree that you should stay with your first Linux distro until you feel
a) that you are tired of it and
b) that you have learned enough from it to be moving on.

If you feel insecure about upgrading, the answer is definitely not to switch distros, because you'll eventually have to upgrade the new one too! Instead, study the documentation and ask questions here about anything in it that you do not understand.

1 members found this post helpful.

Stick with Mint. It's a perfectly good distro.

Manjaro claims to provide "all the benefits of the Arch operating system combined with a focus on user-friendliness and accessibility", but one merely needs to try the Manjaro website to discover how user-friendly and accessible that is. (How many websites show you a full page splash screen between every link click? And won't load at all with JavaScript disabled? It's neither user-friendly nor accessible, and websites are far easier than OSes.)


If you find yourself outgrowing Mint, go ahead and try another distro on a secondary machine and see how you get on with it, but don't switch your main machine until you don't need to ask whether you're ready.

1 members found this post helpful.

You don't even need a secondary machine. Any modern computer will have a hard drive with at least 100 GB of room on it. A distro only takes 20 GB or so. You can install a new distro in a separate partition, add it to GRUB and boot which one you like until you have made up your mind which you like better.

I never said it was the only way, I simply think it's a better approach to have a stable machine and a separate experimental machine, and Oasis_o7's use of "main PC" suggested it could be an option.

Stick with what you're used to, then if you feel the need, try some other distros 'live', pick the one you like.

1 members found this post helpful.

I distro hopped for 20 years and was miserable because I was searching for nirvana and never finding it. Stick with one you like. Just my personal experience and doesn’t mean hopping is bad.

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I also suggest staying with linux mint. If you would like to try manjaro and are not comfortable with hard drive partitioning for a duel boot, install vbox on linux mint and run manjaro in a vm.

Mint 19 is supported until 2023, any reason you want to upgrade to mint 20
If your do decide to upgrade to mint 20, maybe this will help: https://www.itzgeek.com/post/how-to-...linux-mint-20/

2 members found this post helpful.

Oasis_o7,

Stick with Mint for now, but feel free to try other distros, possibly in VirtualBox.

Instead of Manjaro I would recommend another Arch-based distro, EndeavourOS which is a rolling release:
https://endeavouros.com/

1 members found this post helpful.

It basically comes down to a matter of taste. Mint gives you 2 years of stability and then you do a major upgrade. Manjaro gives you constant updates so you never need to re-install. I switched to a rolling-release distro (PCLinuxOS) a year ago and it's gone well, but I can't vouch for Manjaro.

You don't have to mess about with VirtualBox or even double booting. If you want to see what Manjaro is like, just run it live of the installation USB. But first impressions can be deceptive.

Like most people here, I'd say stick with Mint for as long as you are happy with it.

1 members found this post helpful.

Thanks for all the answers!

Well, this was one of my friends chief arguments. He thinks that using a rolling distro might be easier for me since I expressed difficulties understanding how to upgrade to the newest version of LM. That being said, he is a big time distro hopper, and I certainly don't think I could keep up that sort of practice. I have enough to learn as it is. I am willing to switch though, If I think it'll be worth it.

I was under the impression that by not upgrading, I wouldn't have access to the newest features (perhaps even kernals) leading to the software I use sliding out of compatibility. Or in other words, I was under the impression that it would be easier to get things to work with the newest version of LM compared to 19.3.

Yeah, trying out unfamiliar distros via live usb or Virtual Machine sounds like a great idea. I'll definitely try that.

That most times involves newer hardware that isn't well supported by an older version of a distro. Is there a hardware issue that your having?

1 members found this post helpful.

This is not how [Linux software management](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softwa...age_management) works.
If this distro is supported a few more years, I recommend using it for a while longer.

The rolling distro argument is sound, but a distro based on Arch requires just a little more expertise IMO.
Also, as was pointed out, it's a little doubtful whether Manjaro is still to be recommended at all.

There aren't many "easy" rolling distros. Here's a search on distrowatch combining "Beginners" and "Rolling":
https://distrowatch.com/search.php?c...olling=Rolling
Yeah, it's a short list, and Manjaro's not on it.

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Yes, actually, I bought and installed a graphics card (the AMD RX 590) and a good handful of games that previously worked no longer do. And that's after installing the amdgpu drivers and dependencies. Although, it isn't new. It's been on the market for two years.