Agreed - this announcement started well in detailing the positive changes to workflows and quality assurance, but quickly turned south once the finger wagging and defensiveness raised its ugly head again.
FFS, this is the time to accept responsibility, take the criticisms on the chin, and show how you're going to make things better - not fall back on the "some people are being really mean to us and we're really the victims here" BS.
Fedora, in the sense that I often see it widely recommended, especially to new users.
It's not bad by any means, but it's a very opinionated distro that requires end users to install a bunch of additional repositories and packages just to make it useable for the average user.
It also still doesn't come with out-of-the-box system restore functionality that works well with btrfs even though it is the default filesystem, unlike OpenSUSE Tumbleweed.
All only shows content from instances that Beehaw is federated with, FYI.
Fair points all round.
I totally agree with #1, somewhat agree with #2, and somewhat disagree with #3.
For support, I would point to the fact that both Nobara and Pop OS! have very helpful communities and are quite good about directing users to use those channels to troubleshot problems rather than simply googling them.
As for upstream distros being generally less prone to breaking? I can't say that has aligned with my experience. My laptop had more issues with Fedora than any other distro I tested on it, and while Debian is definitely pretty solid in terms of stability, the age of the packages and the general unfriendliness of the user experience don't quite make up for it, in my opinion.
This is obviously why the question of "which is the best beginner distro?" remains a point of perpetual debate!
Any effort that goes into making Linux more accessible is a worthwhile thing, so props to you for sitting down and putting this together.
That said, it wouldn't be a distro recommendation discussion with out at least some disagreement, so I guess I'll start the ball rolling!
In my view, the primary considerations for new users getting into Linux are:
From this standpoint, distros like Pop OS! and Nobara are leaps and bounds ahead of Debian and Fedora, the former of which is infamous for having one of the least user friendly websites in the Linux distro world (and yes, it's better since Bookworm, but it's still a maze for new users to find the right Live image).
Sure, forks and downstream distros tend to add a bunch of extra software that may or may not be needed, but the overall utility and improved ease-of-use to new users greatly outweigh the drawback of having some extra packages that they don't end up using. The base distros are great if you only want free, non-proprietary software on your machine, but the average new user is much more concerned with having a working computer without having to dig around in config files and find the additional packages they need to install first.
Also, while Linux Mint is still a great distro, its lack of Wayland and multi-monitor support means it is falling behind and is no longer the automatic recommendation it once was, I would argue. Users with a newer machine are going to find distros that offer KDE Plasma or Gnome feel much more slick and modern than Mint does.
TL;DR - Debian and Fedora are not beginner-friendly distros and should not appear on any recommendation list for new users, IMHO. Pop OS! and Nobara are the safest and best two to recommend to most users right now, for my money, with Tumbleweed and Mint following along behind.
Why is that a problem?
Bingo.
Despite what the clickbait headline says, the main barrier to entry is not just knowing what an operating system is but the know-how to go about replacing the one that came with the computer in the first place. The decision over which distro to choose is relatively easy once you've got past that initial stage.
I suppose it depends on your definition of "very little" but I would say that for most Linux users, "Windows 11 can have cluttered start menus with unwanted icons" is definitely accurate.
I did a fresh install of Windows 11 Home the other day and it had at least 10 apps that I manually removed right off the bat. Stuff like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, One Note, Xbox Live and a few freebie games were sitting front and center in the start menu, even though I had not agreed to have any of them installed.
Wish there were simple answer to that question, however it really comes down to do the preferences of the individual user.
First thing you should do is decide which desktop environment you're going to use. This, after all, determines the workflow and the feel of the UI.
None of them are exactly like Windows, so it's hard to say which one is "most like" it. People at this point will typically say Cinnamon or KDE Plasma, but as someone who prefers a keyboard-driven UI, Gnome felt the most comfortable for me when I first ventured into the world of Linux as a Windows user.
To be honest, the best thing to do is to try out different Linux distros in a virtual machine or Live USB so you can see which one feels most natural to you.
Some good starting ones are:
Yup - in the US, pick-ups and SUVs are categorized as "light trucks," which have different fuel efficiency and emission standards and are therefore more profitable to produce.
Add to that some clever marketing to the effect of "big car = more manly/safe" and boom, now you see these big, stupid, fuel-ineffecient, dangerous vehicles everywhere.
Good job 👍
That is fixable via regedit, I believe.
But yeah, I've recently fully migrated to Linux and can run Windows in a virtual machine if I ever need it for work. In setting that up, it made me realize just how much junk and telemetry is included by default in Windows 11 and how sluggishly it runs compared to Linux.
No one is asking for public self-crucifixion - this the point in public relations where you want to make a fresh, positive start and be the bigger person. It's not the time to throw any more fuel on the fires of animosity by shifting the spotlight and directly attacking those critics that you feel did you wrong.
Linus, who obviously can't let it go, does this a few times during this announcement. Firstly in addressing the "people who wanted us to fail", but more noticeably when admonishing the people who allegedly harassed his team on social media and denounced them as "not members of our community".
While the toxic faction doing this don't deserve to be defended by anyone, this is simply not the time and place to call them out. Perpetuating this petty bickering when you should be moving forward positively and building bridges with the community is not a good look.