[SOLVED] Suggesting a new Picking a Distro sticky for Newbie Forum

Hi Mill J,

It's helpful to me if you create your final draft as a new thread in the Newbie section. Please do not edit it. I'll convert that to the sticky. If it happens that someone replies to it before I stick it, I'll clean it up.

I'm fine with the latest few versions I've seen, including hydrurga's edited one.

Best Regards,

- RT

@hydrurga, there were a lot of changes since the last proofreading, I also updated my post to include your modifications

@hazel, Go ahead! three heads are better than one, think of it as an open project

@rtmistler, Will do, I'll pm you when i post the final in the newbie section.

Originally Posted by Mill J @hydrurga, there were a lot of changes since the last proofreading, I also updated my post to include your modifications @hazel, Go ahead! three heads are better than one, think of it as an open project @rtmistler, Will do, I'll pm you when i post the final in the newbie section.

Recommend you do that M-F US typical daytime hours. If you put it out there after like 5 or 6 Friday night my time, there's a good chance I may not get to it until Monday. I'm on during the weekends, but not a lot.

Originally Posted by ondoho guys, this has been hard work and it's probably very good reading. but now imagine the target group; their attention span is too short to do even the most cursory research themselves. they see this wall of words, maybe they click the first three links (itsfoss.com? seriously?), and scroll to the end. how many will actually bother to find the parts that are relevant for them, even if they are below the 50% mark? cut the length by half, is what i suggest.

That assumes that you have an accurate reflection of the target group, but consider that you typically will have a lot more readers than writers. You can't assume that because you may see a lot of questions that could be easily answered with a little research that you have an accurate reflection of the target group. For every simple question posted, there could be 100s or even 1000s of people that found the answer to that question, and others, on their own. Those people are a huge part of the target group.

It's a lot like deciding a product must be crap because there are so many complaints on their support forum...support forums are not where people go to sing the praises of a product, but rather to report problems and seek answers.

OK, here's my verdict. No howlers but a few points of style.

Asking which is the "Best" on a forum will likely not get you very far, since most Linux users have already found what works best for them personally.

Replace "likely" with "probably"

Avoid giving up on Linux because the first distro you try doesn't boot. Try another distro until you find one that boots and go from there.

Better: Don't give up on Linux...

Size/Hardware Age.

Better "Age of your hardware"

Watching videos describing the features of a DE is a good way to see what it is capable of doing, but even then you¿ll likely have to install several different DEs before finding your favorite.

Again "Probably" is better than "likely".

Remember that if you don't like a DE, you can always tweak it or replace it until you do. In Linux there is never any need to settle for less then the "Best" for you.

Take out "until you do" (until you do what?)

The Shell and Terminal Emulators are not the most important choices you will make, and often the distro's default is good enough for most people. But if it is not, you still have plenty of choices.

Better: There are a number of different terminal applications, some fancier than others. The desktop's default terminal is good enough for most people. But if you don't like it for some reason, there are plenty of alternatives.

Most of the problems with the distro have been resolved before releasing it.

Better: Most software problems will have been resolved before the new version is released.

Rolling Releases have small and frequent updates. You install once, but update daily.

Better "frequently" or "daily or weekly". You don't have to do a daily update.

Does your system run UEFI, MBR, or both?

That's misleading. UEFI is an alternative to BIOS, not to MBR. It should read:
Does your machine start up with BIOS or UEFI? If UEFI, do you want to use it in its native mode or in legacy mode where it behaves like a BIOS? Some of the smaller Linux distros need a BIOS or a legacy mode UEFI for their installation.

Do you want to dual boot with Mac/OSX or Windows?

Add: If you are using Windows on a UEFI machine, you must boot it in native UEFI mode, and it is advisable to boot Linux in the same way.

A couple minor suggestions, from my own opinions:

'Testing' (section), to me, is more of 'Trying/Experimenting/Playing' (with Linux).

VBox is my favorite way; it also has the advantage of allowing web-searching while booting, especially useful for boot problems, IF that one computer is the only access to the internet.
It also can be used to (temporarily) avoid EFI/UEFI and device driver problems.
A mention of like osboxes.org might be useful, to skip installation, in the event of install problems, even as a VM.

Per this, clear warnings about mentioning Kali, not first web-searching, and the need for requisite details.

I appreciate everyone's efforts in this.

Edit append: 1 more idea: maybe add a single 'TL;dr' initial paragraph; my example:

To begin with, here's a 'TL;dr' 2-line 'Quick-Start Guide': #1, do some web-researching: DistroWatch.com and maybe osboxes.org Here's a couple links to begin your Linux journey. ENJOY your "journey"! <best 2-3 links; Idk which> #2, then spend some time reading this stickie. This may save you from awaiting a reply, and provide posting guidelines!

@hazel Thanks a lot! I updated the draft now, one thing i did add all the UEFI/BIOS to section #2 I hope it makes sense there.

@Jjanel Thanks for the suggestions. I changed testing to Testing/Trying, I also add a link to OSBoxes in the VirtualBox section.

Originally Posted by Jjanel Edit append: 1 more idea: maybe add a single 'TL;dr' initial paragraph;

I feel that even if they just read to the bottom of "Things To Avoid", they'll get the most important parts == what Linux is, what it's not, search for answers, and some things to avoid.

edit: @everybody I think @hydrurga's suggested title "Newbies - How to choose a Linux distro" makes a lot of sense considering how the post turned out. I'll probably post it as "Linux Newbies - How to choose a Linux distro"

Originally Posted by Mill J edit: @everybody I think @hydrurga's suggested title "Newbies - How to choose a Linux distro" makes a lot of sense considering how the post turned out. I'll probably post it as "Linux Newbies - How to choose a Linux distro"

This is probably a very picky post (apologies), but I would suggest either:

"Newbies - How to choose a Linux distro" or

"Linux Newbies - How to choose a distro"

Otherwise, there are too many "Linuxes" in the one phrase.

I told you it was picky. It's all personal taste anyway, and it's a great sign that we've finally got around to arguing such minor details.

Well done on seeing this through!

Good Point

Hopefully by Monday it will be a sticky

Well you can find the sticky HERE.

Thanks so much to everyone that helped make it possible. There is no way I could have accomplished this without your help and suggestions.

Thanks Again

Mill J

Originally Posted by Mill J Well you can find the sticky HERE. Thanks so much to everyone that helped make it possible. There is no way I could have accomplished this without your help and suggestions. Thanks Again Mill J

Well done!

On reflection, having read it again, do you not think it's a bit wordy?

I'm sure we could edit it down to a single paragraph, two at most.

I liked it. One of my many pet peeves when first starting out using computers was everyone assuming I knew what they were typing out.

Usually . Help docs and even Wiki's. Less wordy than I would have liked. You got to remember. Baby Steps are involved when someone takes this way of life on.
I was clueless as one could get. But. I am a self starter. Instead of needy needy. So my questions are far and few between.

Better a too wordy sticky for me back then, then just assuming I know what is going on. I liked reading the new sticky. Gave Kudos to MillJ for the effort and caring involved he put into his work.

If the reader has the attention span of a bovine. Nothing . Short paragraph. Long paragraph. Will help them.
Nobody reads stickies anyways.
I ought to know.
I am a mod on 2 forums < not just linux > and questions are always bypassing stickies.

Edit: case in point. Me learning the term Console and then reading Terminal had me in loop for a couple of days. Also the words directory, folder, bin, .sh and file. It was like learning Spanish for me.

Just imagine. You are new to this. Some one says symlink. Your mind goes WTF.

What do ya mean

Originally Posted by Mill J I noticed lately

"lately" ?

Good Stuff, Maynard

Lots of Positive feedback!