This has probably been asked before, but I think it's a question that can be asked again and again. I'm trying to make a permanent move from Windows to Linux. I have no issues with Windows, so this decision is based mostly on the idea of Open Source as far as the OS is concerned. Also, of course it's more cost effective.

There are many distros. I'm searching through distrowatch today to try a few out. Installation is usually not an issue, so I have tried a few distros before, but configuration is still sketchy for me. The hardware I'm using is not very new. it's an ASUS P8P67-EVO motherboard and I'm using a Intel Core I7 2600K cpu. The cpu is still great in performance so I'm not upgrading this year. I looked at Debian and decided that I would go with either 9.9 or 9.10 becuase after this, there were a lot of updates that would make installations of software from synaptic too new. In other words for example, by default Gimp 2.8 installs perfectly from those versions while a newer verison will default to the latest Gimp. I still like some of the older software even though I'm using Windows for it now. So if you get the idea, I already have a good perspective in what I need, except I still want a better decision on the distro.
My biggest concern is configuration. In most cases "any" distro that I tried has dozens of ACPI type warnings and errors at boot. Some distros even crash after about 30 minutes use. Debian is very stable, but I get some unknown beeps and no output of what causes it. In other words, I'm not in full control of understanding the installation as a proficient but not pro user. Hunting down each and every error is very difficult on the web. There are too many answers that are solved but don't really work. I know, keep searching, but more realistically I would like an opinion on how to decide on a distro. It does not have to be Debian, but I do need as few errors as possible from the getgo. I believe an end user should still be able to do a default install and not have to worry about very basic errors halting the operating system. The hardware I use is very stable. There are no hardware issues and Windows runs flawlessly. You probably heard that one before. It is a UEFI motherboard, but I don't use UEFI except for windows. I never successfully was able to setup Linux with UEFI.

So basically, that's the long story. The short question is, how can I decide on a decent and stable distro and how do I know the help for the distro is worth investing time in. Most errors are the same from distro to distro, so I certainly need to learn more. Any suggestions are appreciated.

The usage of the installation will be for general office use as well as some programming and use of graphics utilities like gimp. So basically a standard workstation type setup is what I'm trying to put together.

I get unexpected beeps and the occasional "an unknown error has occurred" on Windows.

Since not many people have experience with precisely your hardware, and nobody knows your configuration, nobody can tell you which distro generates the least errors. Try several general-purpose PC distros and settle on one that issues few beeps and other errors.

By the way, the minor release number (e.g. Debian 9.9 vs. 9.10) will change automatically at one of the next software upgrades. I would go for the very last minor number, except if you have very specific requirements that are incompatible with it.

You may find this sticky post on how to choose a distro helpful.

You need to find a distro that suits you, it often comes down to the package management system.
Any distro can use any programs, it just needs to be in its repos.
Basic desktop systems come in all shapes & sizes on disk.
Most distros should install without problems on slightly older equipment.
The two distros that I often suggest are AntiX & MX Linux, both are based on Debian.

A lot of those switching from Windows that I have observed (empirically ) on various forums have good things to say about Mint which one might say is a flavor of ubuntu, and has a Debian as ancestor.


One approach is to go to https://distrotest.net/ and play live with a few

another is to use ventoy to format a usb stick after which on say a 16 gig stick about 5 linux .iso can be drag and dropped onto it. https://ventoy.net/en/index.html

On booting from usb stick via splash you will get a choice to boot any of them. Not all Distro will boot this way. eg For Slackware use Alien Bob iso2usb.sh script and slackware current. ventoy is compiling list of distro that work with ventoy


i've tested Mint 64 bit cinammon and that works with ventoy; also Mint once up live has a "install" icon meaning you can also install from live to PC

I always recommend to use a mainstream Linux distribution because they're documented the best.

Personally I use Ubuntu and I am happy with it. There might be some even better options for me but I have limited time to spend; Ubuntu is very well documented so I can always find an answer using Google quite quickly and Ubuntu suits my needs.

Testing a distro from a live usb will give you a good idea re hardware compatibility. Seeing as you're still with Windows probably the easiest (and fastest) way to make a live usb is with Rufus, https://rufus.ie/

ACPI warnings are common with many motherboards or with some Nvidia graphics but the faults they complain about are usually quite harmless.

I'm not sure about the wisdom of using UEFI for Windows but not for Linux. In fact, I didn't know it was possible, but then I've never dual booted. UEFI has been around for so long that any distro should work with it.

At the risk of starting a flame war, I'd quote a reviewer who described Debian as a first class server distro inadequately adapted to the personal computer: over the years, I've seen a lot of people reporting problems with a lot of hardware. If you like Gnome on Debian, try Ubuntu. If you are happy with a more traditional GUI, try the Mate version of Mint.

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I tend to go with the distro that annoys me the least. The one that requires the least amount of customization. So when I nuke and pave it's a simple thing to do. And most times that is debian for me.

When I have new(er) hardware I will occasionally do arch. But it annoys me and as a daily driver, no thanks. Get my hardware working as good as it currently can, okay, I'll do it.

I've tried fedora a few times and while it's good, there's always some fatal flaw that pushes me away. And it normally doesn't take long to find out what that is. Availability of software, versions of software, just trying to find what fedora calls something I've used for years so I can install it and use it.

I actually started on SuSE version 6.1 and that was good. Up until the point you want to do something special and the OS was so scripted to use the admin tool (YaST), that most/all of the tldp did NOT apply.

Thanks for all the advice. I'm in the process of trying Fedora 32. I tried Debian Mint. Works great pretty solid. ACPI errors as noted still exist but I guess I can ignore. What bothers me is that when I tried linux a while ago, whenever there was a random beep, then switching to console from desktop showed some error dumps. Since then the newer distros dont dump errors to the console. I know I can configure it, but then there is the identification of the error anyway, so the beeps kind of worry me as an inexperienced linux user. I will try to start searching the errors I do get though.

I figure since Fedora is Red Hat and I still get ACPI errors. It is something definitely covered from a commercial sense. So if it's Fedore, I figure I can't go wrong. Otherwise the desktop is very clean. So the base install is pretty good.

dmesg is root only now. Systemd moved things to $(journalctl -a) to view logs. You used to be able to tail -f /var/log/dmesg to see errors/information as they happened. Not sure if that's still a thing. Various ways for various things.

Beeps are usually the terminal "bell" character, an old way of alerting the operator that he has hit the wrong key. They are harmless but annoying. You can turn off the bell from the settings manager or by adding

to ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini
Ed

linux mint

Second this. There are 100s if not more distros out there. When you are first learning stick to something well documented and popular. After you've gained a bit of experience then try the lesser known stuff. Otherwise you will just be fighting for problems that almost no one can help you with because X distro is so uncommon.

I have been using the Fedora/CentOS line for decades. Earlier this year I switched over to POP!OS and I have to say I am very happy with the move.

https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...-a-4175674246/

See link above.

Few things I like about it:

1. if you run Nvidia graphics card, they have the non-free drivers built into their kernel
2. Is Debian with better GUI
3. I do not use the POP store.

The reasons I have ignored Ubuntu and their forks for a long time is the philosophy are not that of Linux. They treat users like Microsoft does and basically gives all users root access by default and hide the true root account.

There are ways around those issues and the ease of management with POP and the fact it is basically Ubuntu you receive all of the benefits of Ubuntu without Ubuntu.

Try the liveOS of a handful of distros, see what works with your hardware and has the features and ease you are looking for.